When Star Trek: Deep Space Nine first aired a quarter of a century ago this year, it immediately earned the mantle of being the “odd one out” when it came to Star Trek shows. It’s easy to understand why: It was the first Trek not created by Gene Roddenberry, nor did it follow the voyages of the Starship Enterprise which the previous two iterations had. Indeed, it bucked the whole basic Trek premise of “boldly going where no one has gone before” in that it was set on a space station rather than a starship. No one would have been surprised if Deep Space Nine had failed.

Star Trek: Deep Space Nine Episode Photos 10 IMAGES

And while it’s true that it never reached the ratings highs of The Next Generation, DS9 proved popular amongst fans and critics alike, with numerous pundits citing it as the best Star Trek series outright. It’s fair to say that Deep Space Nine has aged very well compared to some of the other Trek offerings, largely because the themes it explored, and its method of storytelling, were both ahead of its time. As good as The Next Generation became, and as ground-breaking as The Original Series was, for many fans Deep Space Nine is the pinnacle of Trek storytelling. Here’s why.

Diverse and Complex Characters (and a Brilliant Cast)

“ DS9 had a lead character that was far more complex and nuanced than those that came before… and arguably those who have followed.

Deep Space Nine’s cast of characters was diverse and well-written.

Major Kira Nerys (Nana Visitor)

Serialized Storytelling

“ Storylines that were introduced in the pilot episode weren’t concluded until the series finale.

Benjamin Sisko (Avery Brooks) and Kai Opaka (Camille Saviola) in the debut episode of DS9.

“Emissary,” DS9’s pilot episode, first aired in January 1993, less than a year after the Los Angeles Riots – the casting of a black man as DS9’s lead was a poignant social statement in and of itself. Through Sisko, DS9 was able to explore the historical plight of African-Americans, which essentially culminated in what is often cited as one of the finest and strongest moments in television history: the season 6 episode “Far Beyond the Stars,” which sees Captain Sisko hallucinating that he’s a struggling black sci-fi pulp writer in mid-20th century America who must deal with the bigotry that a black person in that time period experienced on a daily basis. Many felt that Avery Brooks’ performance in the episode was worthy of an Emmy, and the fact that he also directed the episode goes a long way to proving just how passionate Brooks and DS9’s producers were about tackling such confronting material. Throw in the fact that Sisko was both a father and a widower, and unlike Star Trek’s previous leads, was not initially a captain (until the end of Season 3), and you have a main character that was far more complex and nuanced than was typical for the era.But the complexity of Benjamin Sisko was really just the tip of the iceberg. For many, DS9’s defining character was Major Kira Nerys, a member of the Bajoran Militia, Sisko’s first officer, and a former terrorist. One of the most compelling elements of Deep Space Nine is watching how the characters evolve over its seven-season run, and none are more compelling than the growth of Major Kira. When we first meet her, she is brash, arrogant, distrustful and often downright hostile, especially towards the Federation characters. It’s understandable too – she’s spent most of her life as a freedom fighter, staging terrorist attacks on the Cardassian forces which had occupied and brutalized her world for half a century. She’s angry… angry at the Cardassians, angry at the Federation, angry at her own people and, most of all, she’s angry with herself for the past deeds she’s committed and which still haunt her.Remember, Kira was first conceptualised almost a decade before the events of 9/11 changed the world and terrorism became the ultimate of evils in the eyes of western civilisation, and she’s one of many examples of how DS9 was ahead of its time. Kira’s also the first example in the Trek universe of a woman being in a command position. Previously, women on Star Trek largely filled stereotypical roles such as medical, nursing, counselling and communications (with the exception being Denise Crosby’s Tasha Yar, who served as the Enterprise-D’s chief of security… before she was killed off in the first season). Kira was different. She was the highest-ranking Bajoran Militia officer on the station, the outright second-in-command. She often led missions herself and was routinely left in command of the space station when Sisko was absent. She wasn’t equipped with a uniform consisting of a short skirt and plunging neckline, nor was she afraid to express disgust at any unwanted male advancements. Played to perfection by Nana Visitor, the character has certainly withstood the test of time.There’s so much more that could be said for the diversity of Deep Space Nine’s cast. Dr. Bashir (Alexander Siddig) is a British man of presumably Indian or Middle Eastern descent (his specific ethnicity is never said), Sisko’s son Jake (Cirroc Lofton) grows from a boy to a man over the seven seasons and becomes an accomplished writer, and Jadzia Dax (Terry Farrell) has been both a woman and a man numerous times in previous lives and is now a highly competent Starfleet science officer. They’re just three perfect examples of how the show embraces diversity. It’s also the Trek series with the least number of humans in the main cast; the show developed and explored the rich cultures of numerous alien species, who were often used as allegories to real-world cultures in the present era, adding much depth to the story and the Star Trek universe as a whole.Deep Space Nine is also the only series to have built an enormous cast of recurring characters that are just as integral to the series as the main characters. From fan favourites such as Nog (Aron Eisenberg), Rom (Max Grodenchik), Garak (Andrew Robinson) and General Martok (J.G. Hertzler) to some of the best Star Trek villains ever to grace the screen in Gul Dukat (Marc Alaimo), Kai Winn (Louise Fletcher) and Weyoun (Jeffery Combs), DS9’s supporting cast is full of well-written characters that are performed to perfection.While the first season largely stuck to the episodic format that The Original Series and The Next Generation had followed – where everything returns to the status quo at each episode’s conclusion – it was the second season that really began to explore the concept of serialization. The Season 2 opening arc consisted of three episodes, “The Homecoming,” “The Circle” and “The Siege,” which continued and expanded upon a storyline that was introduced in the Season 1 finale, “Tears of the Prophets.” Indeed, it got to the point where almost every episode referenced earlier or ongoing events, even the ones that were largely standalone.The end of Season 5 saw an event which largely came to define Deep Space Nine – the beginning of the Dominion War, which had far-reaching repercussions that were felt and referenced in both Star Trek: Voyager and the Next Generation films. The foundations for the Dominion War had been established as early as the Season 2 episode “Rules of Acquisition” and would become the primary story for the final two seasons of Deep Space Nine. Indeed, the first six episodes of Season 6 told a continuous story, which culminated in the episode “Sacrifice of Angels” which also saw the largest and most visually spectacular space battle that had ever been portrayed onscreen in Trek history. While there were still standalone episodes in the final two seasons of DS9, the Dominion War was always in the background, and mentioned in some way, shape or form in every episode.The final arc of the show saw the conclusion of both the Dominion War story arc and the Prophets/Bajor/Emissary story arc (as well as a number of smaller, long-running stories), and spanned a massive 10 episodes, beginning with the episode “Penumbra” and concluding with the series finale “What You Leave Behind.” By choosing to serialize the show’s final stretch, the writers afforded themselves the screen time to conclude every loose story thread, as well as provide fitting and satisfying endings for each and every character, both regular and recurring.It wasn’t just the main story arcs that were presented in a serialised format. B-story arcs such as the Mirror Universe, Maquis and the Ferengi arcs all spanned numerous seasons, and often all these threads would intersect and crossover, so that you really got the impression that the universe of Deep Space Nine was a living, breathing thing.