Seven ways they could have improved... Star Trek: Deep Space Nine
Let's be real: DS9 is already the best thing Trek ever did, and it's never going to be that good again. Nevertheless, even great things have their imperfections. Here are some ways DS9 could have been even better:
— Remove the whole part where Sisko is an Emissary of the Prophets. Keep the Prophets much more vague and much less involved in the plot. The Bajorans believe they are supernatural, Starfleet theorises they are extradimensional beings who inhabit the wormhole, and no conclusion is ever reached. Sisko has a vision of them in the first episode, but this happens while he's in distress inside the wormhole. Was it all in his head? We're never told. But apart from being a factor in Bajoran religion (and religious politics), they don't really play a role again. Some events may occur that could be ascribed to the Prophets, but again: we're never given any proof.
— On that note: definitely no Pah-wraiths, nor demonic possessions by them. That whole plot-line should be completely cut.
— Cut out (most of) the "Ferengi episodes" and other "light-hearted" stand-alone episodes, including all that stuff with the holographic lounge singer guy. The conventional wisdom back then was that series with season-long or series-long arcs need episodes like that as "breathers". That conventional wisdom was wrong. Those kind of episodes detract from the rest of the series, and it would be stronger without such incongruent filler.
— If in any way possible, keep Terry Farrell on board for the last season. Ezri was eminently okay as late-in-the-game character replacements go, and it was handled as well as it could be, but keeping Jadzia would have been better.
— No sudden switch in Dukat's character development. (This also ties into the Pah-wraiths thing.) Dukat is evidently a monster, but the character was going somewhere. And then, it was completely turned around and the whole arc was abandoned. The way I see it, Dukat's and Damar's final arcs should be flipped. Damar crosses the moral event horizon when he kills Ziyal, so he should be the one who goes off the deep end and ultimately has to be put down like a rabid dog. Dukat should finish his arc: his daughter is killed in front of him, which confronts him with the exact kind of monstrosity he's been committing his whole life. This prompts him to take on Damar and the Dominion in an undertaking he knows to be suicidal... but which he nevertheless sets out on, because by this point he's a broken man looking for what little redemption he can get. He dies in the attempt, with the general conclusion being "he died better than he lived".
— We all know Garak was really gay for Bashir, and I'd have been fine with that being made explicit instead of just being implied about a gazillion times.
— I'd have preferred Sisko not to disappear off to a higher plane at the end. I really hate that trope, I really hate bittersweet endings, and I don't like the whole Prophets-plot to begin with. And it'd have been much nicer to see that life goes on, and that as Commander of DS9, Sisko will have his most interesting days still ahead of him now that the war is over and a new era of contact and exploration can begin... with his station as the jump-off point.
— Remove the whole part where Sisko is an Emissary of the Prophets. Keep the Prophets much more vague and much less involved in the plot. The Bajorans believe they are supernatural, Starfleet theorises they are extradimensional beings who inhabit the wormhole, and no conclusion is ever reached. Sisko has a vision of them in the first episode, but this happens while he's in distress inside the wormhole. Was it all in his head? We're never told. But apart from being a factor in Bajoran religion (and religious politics), they don't really play a role again. Some events may occur that could be ascribed to the Prophets, but again: we're never given any proof.
— On that note: definitely no Pah-wraiths, nor demonic possessions by them. That whole plot-line should be completely cut.
— Cut out (most of) the "Ferengi episodes" and other "light-hearted" stand-alone episodes, including all that stuff with the holographic lounge singer guy. The conventional wisdom back then was that series with season-long or series-long arcs need episodes like that as "breathers". That conventional wisdom was wrong. Those kind of episodes detract from the rest of the series, and it would be stronger without such incongruent filler.
— If in any way possible, keep Terry Farrell on board for the last season. Ezri was eminently okay as late-in-the-game character replacements go, and it was handled as well as it could be, but keeping Jadzia would have been better.
— No sudden switch in Dukat's character development. (This also ties into the Pah-wraiths thing.) Dukat is evidently a monster, but the character was going somewhere. And then, it was completely turned around and the whole arc was abandoned. The way I see it, Dukat's and Damar's final arcs should be flipped. Damar crosses the moral event horizon when he kills Ziyal, so he should be the one who goes off the deep end and ultimately has to be put down like a rabid dog. Dukat should finish his arc: his daughter is killed in front of him, which confronts him with the exact kind of monstrosity he's been committing his whole life. This prompts him to take on Damar and the Dominion in an undertaking he knows to be suicidal... but which he nevertheless sets out on, because by this point he's a broken man looking for what little redemption he can get. He dies in the attempt, with the general conclusion being "he died better than he lived".
— We all know Garak was really gay for Bashir, and I'd have been fine with that being made explicit instead of just being implied about a gazillion times.
— I'd have preferred Sisko not to disappear off to a higher plane at the end. I really hate that trope, I really hate bittersweet endings, and I don't like the whole Prophets-plot to begin with. And it'd have been much nicer to see that life goes on, and that as Commander of DS9, Sisko will have his most interesting days still ahead of him now that the war is over and a new era of contact and exploration can begin... with his station as the jump-off point.
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