My partner is into DS9 and suggested we watch some last night. For some reason episode 1 was not available on Amazon Prime.(?) We watched Past Prologue and A Man Alone. As someone who is only barely familiar with the Star Trek universe, here are my thoughts:

• Sisko is a fantastic leader and also terrifies me. His smile makes me uneasy. “Go over my head again, and I’ll serve yours on a platter.”

• Kira’s morality is super questionable and I’m amazed they didn’t kick her off the station after episode 2.

• Bashir is a dork and also needs to take a hint and leave Dax alone. Clearly they aren’t interested.

• I do love Dax as a sort of early mainstream media conversation starter on gender. The Trill overall are just a brilliant way to frame the idea of how gender and sex work.

• It’s rough seeing Odo so accustomed to hatred. When he just dips behind a glass door to watch as a mob call for his death…

I’m surprised by the level of dysfunction in the crew. I sort of always saw Star Trek as a bunch of Space Paladins that always did the right thing but in DS9 everyone has their own motives and interests and it’s super interesting to watch them come together. I think I’ll keep watching and see where things go.