I've been rewatching old episodes of DS9 on Kaaza and I've been thinking: the show really peaked in season five.

Season five was, IMHO, the best season of Trek to date because it had the perfect combination of interesting episodes that had built off each other and of episodes that didn't feel like forced filler. "The Ship", "Trials and Tribbalations", "Rapture", "Nor Battle To The Strong", "In Purgatory's Shadow", "In The Cards", "Call To Arms", and others really made the season feel like the sum of its parts and not just a collection of individual episodes.

Come seaosn six, though, and things just get bad. People say they liked the arc because everything wasn't sweeped away in one episode. I totally disagree: "Sacrifice of Angels" was even worst than a part two of a two parter. We had all this build up and then its gone in one episodes. The upcoming Dominion fleet? Lets have the prophets get rid of it. Signs of a four month long Dominion occupation? Nah. Odo's betral almost cost the Alpah Quadrant? Easily forgiven.

And, then, suddenly, the war vanishes for something like fifteen episodes until the great "In The Pale Moonlight". I mean, the Dominion did lose their reinforcements, but, um, weren't they just kicking everyone's ass in the previous five episodes? I wouldn't have mind a season long of filler as much if the filler had been better. Season four had a lot of filler, but it included such stand outs as "The Visitor", "Hard Time", and "For The Cause". What did seaosn six have? "One Little Ship", "Profit And Lace", "Reserreuction", "Time's Orphan". Outside of a couple fo the opening arc episodes, "Pale Moonlight", and "Inquistion", the season felt like waste.

Season seven got even worst. When your in the middle of a war, you just simply can not go fifteen striaght episodes with only four related to the war (and only the first two episodes of the season didn't happen in a vaccum like "Treachy, Faith, and the Great River" or "The Siege of AR-558"). Instead, waaaaay too much time was spent on Ezri. And the final arc, where things had to wrapped up, a good opening third of it was spent on Ezri trying to find a prom date and the last third had two real stinkers ("The Dogs of War" and "Extreme Measures"). In all of seaosn seven, there's only two episodes I'd ever really want to rewatch ("Chimera" and "Taking In The Wind").

Too much dumb comedy, too much dumb romance, too much use of the reset button, and too much a lack of war (excluding the two arcs, only about five episodes really focused on the war) ruined "Deep Space Nine"'s last two seasons.

So, I imagine some of you disagree. Speak up. This is a discussion form, no? ;-)

I will agree with some of what you said: Season Five was probably DS9's peak in terms of consistency and continuity in writing. While Season Six's ambition wasn't executed as well as it might have been, I must disagree with your overall assessment of it (starting with my enjoyment of "Sacrifice of Angels"). As for the war "disappearing" until "Pale Moonlight," what about "Statistical Probabilities," "Waltz," "Change of Heart," and even "One Little Ship"? All took place in the backdrop of the war.

And what about frelling "Far Beyond the Stars"??? Granted, it wasn't a "war" episode per se, but it was hardly a "waste."

As for Season Seven, what about "Once More Unto the Breach" or "It's Only a Paper Moon"? Both were related to the war or characters reactions to it in some way. Still, I will grant that the midpoint of the season was definitely its low point.

But it was fully redeemed for me with "Inter Arma, Enim Silent Leges" and the whole war arc, warts and all. The arc is best analysed as a whole, anyway, rather than based on individual episodes. Damar's and the whole Cardassian arc was magnificent, and I enjoyed the Dukat/Winn plot, though it didn't have quite the payoff it should have. Sisko's final destiny worked very well, I thought.

Anyhow, it's rather late for me... not sure I'm making much sense! Suffice it to say, I agree the show was most consistent in its fifth season, but it still had plenty of redeeming features in the last two seasons. More than enough for me, anyway.

I actually found the seventh season to be more enjoyable upon repeated viewings, because I wasn't caught up in the "when are they going to get back to the war" hysteria that I was in when the shows originally aired. Looking back on it, the season's longest stretch without doing a war episode was three shows, from "Afterimage" to "Take Me Out to the Holosuite". This was rather annoying when it was unfolding, but I find it holds up well when I look back on it.

Oh, I agree for the most part - the seventh season had a wonderful epic sweep, and I was happy to be carried along with it.