Well, that's DS9 done with. At one point I wrestled with the whole notion of considering this superior to TNG, now that it is all said and done, however, that notion doesn't seem so grey to me. As far as I'm concerned TNG is far superior. Yes DS9 achieved things that I quite enjoyed and it certainly had its moments, but in retrospect the journey was really never as good.

The Good: I enjoyed DS9 consistent narrative. Seeing a Star Trek series in a constant state of war (have yet to watch any of the movies), the ever present threat that the Dominion showcased, was compelling and felt like a completely different type of narrative for Star Trek (unlike the exploration, discovering the unknown, that was the bases of TOS & TNG). The shows highlights & best episodes come from the war theme, like #In the Pale Moonlight - imo the series best episode - and #The Siege of AR-558.

The Bad: DS9 lacks character. The characters in this compared to TOS & TNG are rather dire. I think it says a lot when I say that my favorite character out of the entire series is Garak, a bit player that has close to 40 episode appearances in a 173 episode series. I think it says a lot when I think that there is more character to Lt. Barclay - a bit player of TNG that has only 5 episodes appearances to his name - then the main cast of DS9. What illustrated this best to me was the final episode. The episode wraps up the series's plot lines and then - rather lazily, I might add - reflects back on some of the series's characters. I'd say that there were two good ones (The one that shows the growth in friendship between O'Brien & Bashir & the one that shows some of the father/son moments between Jake & Benjamin). Those were quite good, especially the one between Jake and his father cause it definitely was a character highlight of the show (represented best in #The Visitor) - it was simple, drama free, and I loved it. Worf's really put into perspective just how inconsequential he was to the show - like I seriously don't see any good reason for him being on the show at all. One who as apart of the show for 6 season didn't even get one (for spoiler reasons I won't say who) - guess even the show knew we didn't give a fuck about them. I just look through the character list and the only one that sticks out as the most memorable one is Garak - he says some of the shows best dialogue & the reason why I even consider #In the Pale Moonlight to be the series best is because of his involvement. There was just not enough character episodes for this show (like what is presented best in TNG) nor was their much personality/conflicting personalities to these characters (like what is presented best in TOS).

Overall though I quite enjoyed DS9. It has some great episodes and it definitely does stand on its own. It's not as good as its predecessors but it does get close. On to Voyager.