Certainly, the main characters are given the opportunity to develop over the years and main plot points can be carried on throughout a season, but for the most part, what happens one week is forgotten the next.

The advantage to this sort of storytelling is that viewers need not worry about missing an episode. They can tune in again next week without fear of feeling left out. Unfortunately, this show format quickly becomes repetitive: A crisis is introduced in the first act, the crew becomes aware of it in the second act and a resolution follows in the third act. Characters outside the circle of the main cast are only developed as far as the needs of the particular hour-long episode.

Elements of the continuing story-arc were brought into The Next Generation. The crew was given a bigger ship, to include families, and an effort was made to follow-up and build upon earlier plot points. The result was a richer and more interesting environment.

Still, the creators realized that there was the potential to create a Star Trek franchise that had the opportunity to break free of the hour-long plot resolution restrictions. Thus was born Deep Space Nine.

The notion was the break away from the constantly traveling space ships and plant the characters in a single location. The setting is a space station on the frontier of space, near the plant Bajor. Bajor was once enslaved by an aggressive race known as the Cardassians. The Cardassians fled the area and left behind their orbiting space station.

Realizing that years of enslavement has left their planet struggling to rebuild, the people of Bajor enlist the aid of the Federation. The Federation establishes a presence on the abandoned Cardassian station and names the outpost Deep Space Nine.

The presence of the Federation creates tension within the Cardassians and among some factions of the Bajorans, who distrust the Federation.

To further complicate matters, the planet Bajor is remarkably close to an interstellar phenomenon known as a wormhole. Most wormholes are unpredictable, but the Bajoran wormhole appears to be a stable gateway to an as yet unexplored area of the galaxy. The wormhole places Deep Space Nine and the planet Bajor right at the center of economic growth in this section of the galaxy.

These elements define the core dramatic storylines that will thread their way through subsequent seasons of the show.

Star Trek: The Next Generation is infamous for the manner in which it fumbled through its first couple of seasons. Thankfully, the show improved as it found its footing. Deep Space Nine faired a little better out of the gate, but it still had some awkward moments.

DS9 had to hook its viewers before it could really start biting into the complicated story arcs. We needed to be introduced to the characters and their personalities. The actors themselves hadn't really had time to gel with their roles. Character traits are exaggerated and shoved in our faces. In fact, for most of the first season the only truly comfortable character is Miles O'Brien (Colm Meaney), who had years of development on The Next Generation. Eventually, the rest would settle down, but for this first season, the characters are all a little rough around the edges.

Although some of the groundwork is laid for later seasons, most episodes of the first season are the standard one-hour resolution plots we've come to expect from Star Trek. This isn't necessarily a bad thing because, as I've said, we're still getting to know the characters. To help ease along our acceptance of this new Trek, the writers tread in some familiar territory as well. In addition to Miles O'Brien, we also get an episode featuring the enigmatic Q (John De Lancie), entitled Q-Less.

A number of the first-season episodes personalize the tension between certain factions of Bajorans and the Federation by displaying the personal conflict between station commander Ben Sisko (Avery Brooks) and his Bajoran first officer, Kira (Nana Visitor). A quick pattern of "how will Kira rebel this week" emerges and comes to a head in an episode entitled Dramatis Personae, when a mysterious alien force inspires Kira to mount a mutiny against Sisko.

Perhaps one of this seasons most notable episodes is the second one, Past Prologue. This episode is worth paying attention to because we're introduced to Garak (Andrew Robinson), the last remaining Cardassian on the station. Garak runs a clothing shop, but is suspected of being a spy. He befriends the station's doctor, Bashir (Siddig El Fadil), setting up a relationship that will become vitally important in later seasons.

Almost all of the major players on the station are given an episode to shine in season one. The production values are also very good -- much better than what The Next Generation had to work with in its early outings. There are a few just plain silly episodes, such as Babel, where everyone on the station is reduced to speaking gibberish, but overall it's a good start, with standout episodes, such as Duet, in which Kira (Nana Visitor) confronts a Cardassian war criminal.

The only problem I've ever had with Deep Space Nine is that I'm not a very religious television viewer. I like the concept of season-long story arcs and complex plotting, but I never specifically set aside the time to watch the series develop. This is why having entire seasons available on DVD is a real benefit. Now people like myself have the luxury of watching the entire saga unfold without having to remember what night a week it's on. It should make the series that much more enjoyable.

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