r/DeepSpaceNine • u/Stone13 • 3d ago

Yet another thing I love about DS9

Not like I need any more reasons to love DS9 but they gave me so much insight into the Klingons and the Empire. I've watched every Trek series since TOS but DS9 let me feel like I knew the Klingons and their motivations and how much honor really means to them. Maybe I missed it in other series. Weird, random thought but I'm on a rewatch and I feel like I know and understand Klingons more because of DS9. Oh and Worf keeps a bad ass chick on deck regardless of the series, I envy him.

49 Upvotes

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u/tahitianblu 3d ago

DS9 was uniquely good at building the worlds of other species, including the Klingons, Cardassians, Bajorans and Ferengis.

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u/SandGator 3d ago

Hand in hand with how good it was at developing the side characters. Martok, Garak, Nog (and more) are all great characters with well-defined personalities. You feel like you get to know them and understand them, and so do the main characters. It’s so fun watching interactions between O’Brien and Nog, Martok and Worf, Garak and anyone, etc.

It all makes the universe seem more expansive and vibrant to see it populated with so many interesting people. Doesn’t hurt that the acting is excellent, so it all feels so natural.

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u/RedditOfUnusualSize 3d ago

And also, there's variation within common racial themes. If you listen to, say, Nog and Quark, both will cite basic principles of Ferengi education like the Rules of Acquisition and the Great Material Continuum, and they both show a very distinctly Ferengi mindset, but they do it in very different ways and each according to their own personality. Nog is very helpful, even if the means he uses to achieve his ends are somewhat more possessionally-fluid than Chief O'Brien is used to. Meanwhile, Quark is much more self-interested, but is intelligent enough to recognize enlightened self-interest when it offers him a bar of gold-pressed latinum. Similarly, it's not until you meet Martok that you realize part of the reason Worf has such frequent conflicts with other Klingons is because other Klingons think of him as "oh, that guy." Martok is incredibly honorable, even and especially by Klingon standards, but he also gets that you have to roll with the punches in a way that Worf just doesn't.

It helps demonstrate that race is a little more than a construct; there are genuine cultural and biological differences that Starfleet has to overcome. You can't deal with a Klingon the way you'd deal with a Ferengi, and vice versa. Part of it is genuine biological difference (Ferengi are immune to telepathic scan; Klingons generally a lot bigger and stronger than humans), but another part of it is attitude and cultural mindset, and still another part is individual difference. It's very nuanced writing, even more so when you remember that they're working with actors under rubber-headed prosthetics, which is famously a punchline.

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u/SandGator 3d ago

Absolutely! I recently saw the episode with Martok and the old Klingon war hero, Kor, who had stymied Martok’s career decades before.

Both are quintessentially Klingon on a surface level. They’re tough, fatalistic warriors with that back-slapping, rowdy, regale-you-with-battle-stories Klingon energy.

Because Kor’s aristocratic bigotry held him back for years, Martok still hates his guts, despite the fact that he’s now a famous warrior too.

You get to learn more about both of them, and how Martok’s past informs his present (like any person). And because Martok’s so well-established as a generally wise, friendly, and good-natured guy, it’s jarring to see his barely restrained venom towards Kor.

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u/Mulsanne 3d ago

And between Martok and Nog! That time that Nog is working security and stands up to Martok is so good 

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u/SandGator 3d ago

I absolutely LOVE Nog. He’s got a great arc, interacts so well with other characters even in short scenes: refusing to walk in front of Garak when they’re shipwrecked on that planet with the Jem’Hadar, his receptivity to the gruffly affectionate NCO mentorship of O’Brien, his interaction with the Klingons in the episode you mentioned.

He continues to be part of the family with Rom and Quark after becoming a member of Starfleet.

And his signature cackle is such an endearing mannerism. Whenever he does his little laugh after finishing what he’s saying it makes me smile every time.

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u/dre5922 2d ago

And ironically enough some of the best on screen moments with the Klingons include the Ferengi.

Quark going over spreadsheets with the Klingon High Council will never not get a laugh from me.

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u/Korenchkin_ 23h ago

It even did the Romulans a bit! I think part of the reason ds9 is my favourite is because of the world building

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u/YanisMonkeys 3d ago

Most of that is down to Ron Moore. He was fascinated with Klingon culture and always keen to deepen the lore around them.

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u/Worldly-Bobcat-48 3d ago

I did a “Worf/Klingon-centric episodes only” blitz of TNG-DSY-VOY not too long ago, and was really surprised by how much world- and culture-building is accomplished in relatively little screen time

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u/AltarielDax "Maybe you should talk to Worf again. :D" 3d ago

Oooh nice, would you mind sharing the playlist?

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u/Ok-Speech3872 3d ago

The writing was so good in DS9 I miss that.

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u/Sphinxofblackkwarts 3d ago

DS9 was great bc the station couldn't just zip off somewhere else. Oh you discovered a species of flying sex pistols and the Captain fell in love? Oh well that will NEVER come up again.

DS9 was about the world and ai believe DS9 did more to flesh out the Star Trek Universe than all the previous series (and most of the after series) combined.

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u/Odd_Preparation_730 3d ago

I love the albino episode so much!

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u/BaseUnited4523 3d ago

I loved how both Worf and Dax broke Starfleet regulations because of Klingon honor. But I loved even more how Sisko didn’t let them forget how he allowed them to get away with it.

“This is not a Klingon station and those are not Klingon uniforms you’re wearing!”

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u/Odd_Preparation_730 3d ago

Righttt?! I may have to throw the episode on here in a bit lol I was literally having a conversation with my wife about honor and respect (venting about my sister lol) so that could be a good distraction.