I get it's popular to call this series utter crap, but call me a contrarian, I liked it. Yeah, there were stories that needed a lot of rewriting (sorry, Dear Doctor and Carpenter Street) and that a lot of characters were thrust out of focus, but that's true of every series (mostly). That doesn't change the fact that the aesthetics are fantastic, that the actors are great, that the direction of individual episodes was pretty good, and that there are a bunch of GOOD stories written.
Yes, overall, the first two seasons were kind of bland. That kind of happens when the series can't take risks like it once did. However, they were still on the good side of bland: I didn't really regret killing time with them. I even liked a bunch of the episodes, like Broken Bow, Sleeping Dogs, Singularity, Judgment, and Cogenitor. Not to mention it was nice to see the Andorians and Tellarites finally brought back after so long.
Then season three came and I thought it was pretty good. I could see why the characters were changing as they were and I could appreciate the stakes. The crew's decision in "Damage" was actually pretty dark, no two ways about it, but understandable. Furthermore, the action in Countdown and Zero Hour? Pretty top notch.
Finally, season four. I liked the mini-arc structure here setting things up, but I'm a worldbuilding freak like that. It helps that most of the stories were actually really good. It went out on kind of a weak note, but I'm not personally offended by it. I got a lot of good stuff before then anyways.
So, overall, not so bad. You've got good ingredients that get used in a few bad ways, a greater number of good ways, and... honestly a lot more mediocre ways. But that doesn't make the series itself bad. Just not all it could be. Which is still pretty good to me.
P.S. I liked "Where My Heart Will Take Me." Unconventional, but I think it really captures the upbeat side of Star Trek, and when watching it along Deep Space Nine, I appreciate that.
I actually like it
I get it's popular to call this series utter crap, but call me a contrarian, I liked it. Yeah, there were stories that needed a lot of rewriting (sorry, Dear Doctor and Carpenter Street) and that a lot of characters were thrust out of focus, but that's true of every series (mostly). That doesn't change the fact that the aesthetics are fantastic, that the actors are great, that the direction of individual episodes was pretty good, and that there are a bunch of GOOD stories written.
Yes, overall, the first two seasons were kind of bland. That kind of happens when the series can't take risks like it once did. However, they were still on the good side of bland: I didn't really regret killing time with them. I even liked a bunch of the episodes, like Broken Bow, Sleeping Dogs, Singularity, Judgment, and Cogenitor. Not to mention it was nice to see the Andorians and Tellarites finally brought back after so long.
Then season three came and I thought it was pretty good. I could see why the characters were changing as they were and I could appreciate the stakes. The crew's decision in "Damage" was actually pretty dark, no two ways about it, but understandable. Furthermore, the action in Countdown and Zero Hour? Pretty top notch.
Finally, season four. I liked the mini-arc structure here setting things up, but I'm a worldbuilding freak like that. It helps that most of the stories were actually really good. It went out on kind of a weak note, but I'm not personally offended by it. I got a lot of good stuff before then anyways.
So, overall, not so bad. You've got good ingredients that get used in a few bad ways, a greater number of good ways, and... honestly a lot more mediocre ways. But that doesn't make the series itself bad. Just not all it could be. Which is still pretty good to me.
P.S. I liked "Where My Heart Will Take Me." Unconventional, but I think it really captures the upbeat side of Star Trek, and when watching it along Deep Space Nine, I appreciate that.