Star Trek: Deep Space Nine is one of my favorite shows, but the quality of episodes is all over the place, especially in the first two seasons. I made this list so that people I recommend the show to can skip the bad episodes and also follow the longer-term story arcs. Episodes colored in yellow have important implications for subsequent episodes, introduce a new character, or change the nature of some important relationship. This currently only goes through season 5, I will add to this over time.
| Season | Episode | Title | Rating | Comments |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1 | Emissary, Part 1 | Fine | Series debut. Some context: the reason Sisko doesn’t like Picard is because in an episode of TNG, Picard was kidnapped by cyborgs (the Borg), turned into a cyborg, and he became their leader and went on a killing spree (which killed Sisko’s wife) before ultimately being saved and reverted to a human |
| 1 | 2 | Emissary, Part 2 | Fine | |
| 1 | 3 | Past Prologue | Fine | Introduces Garak, the best character |
| 1 | 4 | A Man Alone | Meh | |
| 1 | 5 | Babel | Meh | |
| 1 | 6 | Captive Pursuit | Meh | |
| 1 | 7 | Q-Less | Skip | The only Q episode, which just grates against the entire theme of the show (even more so than in TNG) |
| 1 | 8 | Dax | Fine | Explains the Trill species |
| 1 | 9 | The Passenger | Meh | |
| 1 | 10 | Move Along Home | Unwatchable | |
| 1 | 11 | The Nagus | Poor | |
| 1 | 12 | Vortex | Meh | Changeling backstory |
| 1 | 13 | Battle Lines | Fine | Ehrmantraut from Breaking Bad in space |
| 1 | 14 | The Storyteller | Unwatchable | |
| 1 | 15 | Progress | Fine | Occupation worldbuilding. The old man is a bit much |
| 1 | 16 | If Wishes Were Horses | Unwatchable | |
| 1 | 17 | The Forsaken | Very meh | Mostly bad, but has a sweet ending. |
| 1 | 18 | Dramatis Personae | Skip | |
| 1 | 19 | Duet | Excellent | Incredible performances, great story |
| 1 | 20 | In the Hands of the Prophets | Meh | |
| 2 | 1 | The Homecoming | Good | |
| 2 | 2 | The Circle | Fine | |
| 2 | 3 | The Siege | Good | |
| 2 | 4 | Invasive Procedures | Frustrating | I would skip because a character does something really unforgiveable and it’s better to think of this as non-canon. The rest of the characters certainly do |
| 2 | 5 | Cardassians | Great | Garak absolutely annihilates this episode |
| 2 | 6 | Melora | Bad | |
| 2 | 7 | Rules of Acquisition | Very meh | The Ferengi go to the Gamma Quadrant. Some important foreshadowing but nothing critical happens. |
| 2 | 8 | Necessary Evil | Decent | |
| 2 | 9 | Second Sight | Bad | |
| 2 | 10 | Sanctuary | Bad | |
| 2 | 11 | Rivals | Bad | |
| 2 | 12 | The Alternate | Meh | |
| 2 | 13 | Armageddon Game | Decent | O’Brien must suffer |
| 2 | 14 | Whispers | Good | O’Brien must suffer |
| 2 | 15 | Paradise | Fine | O’Brien must suffer |
| 2 | 16 | Shadowplay | Fine | |
| 2 | 17 | Playing God | Meh | Trill background |
| 2 | 18 | Profit and Loss | Fine | |
| 2 | 19 | Blood Oath | Fine | A scene in this episode is often referenced by trans rights activists |
| 2 | 20 | The Maquis, Part 1 | Decent | Wikipedia: Maquis (World War II) |
| 2 | 21 | The Maquis, Part 2 | Decent | |
| 2 | 22 | The Wire | Good | Iconic Garak episode. His philosophy on the truth had a big effect on me. |
| 2 | 23 | Crossover | Skip | I personally hate Mirror Universe episodes |
| 2 | 24 | The Collaborator | Good | |
| 2 | 25 | Tribunal | Fine | O’Brien must suffer |
| 2 | 26 | The Jem’Hadar | Decent | Nog is very annoying but it’s otherwise a good episode |
| 3 | 1 | The Search, Part 1 | Good | Scepter |
| 3 | 2 | The Search, Part 2 | Good | |
| 3 | 3 | The House of Quark | Fine, goofy | Some great moments, but you have to buy into the ridiculousness of Klingon culture to enjoy this |
| 3 | 4 | Equilibrium | Meh | |
| 3 | 5 | Second Skin | Decent | Garak |
| 3 | 6 | The Abandoned | Fine | Quark makes a hilarious purchase |
| 3 | 7 | Civil Defense | Good | |
| 3 | 8 | Meridian | Meh | |
| 3 | 9 | Defiant | Good | I’m not actually that into these episodes, but here is a quote from Wikipedia about it: “as this episode was finishing production an article appeared in the Los Angeles Times describing a proposal by the mayor to create fenced-in "havens" for the city's homeless, to make downtown Los Angeles more desirable for business. The cast and crew were shocked that this was essentially the same scenario that Past Tense warned might happen in three decades, but was now being seriously proposed in the present." |
| 3 | 10 | Fascination | Bad | |
| 3 | 11 | Past Tense, Part 1 | Meh | |
| 3 | 12 | Past Tense, Part 2 | Meh | |
| 3 | 13 | Life Support | Fine | |
| 3 | 14 | Heart of Stone | Mixed | A story: bad, B story: great |
| 3 | 15 | Destiny | Fine | |
| 3 | 16 | Prophet Motive | Meh | |
| 3 | 17 | Visionary | Good | O’Brien must suffer |
| 3 | 18 | Distant Voices | Bad | |
| 3 | 19 | Through the Looking Glass | Skip | Mirror Universe episode |
| 3 | 20 | Improbable Cause | Good | |
| 3 | 21 | The Die is Cast | Good | |
| 3 | 22 | Explorers | Meh | |
| 3 | 23 | Family Business | Bad | Two recurring characters are introduced, but man this episode has some bad takes |
| 3 | 24 | Shakaar | Fine | |
| 3 | 25 | Facets | Mixed | A story is lame, B story with Nog is decent |
| 3 | 26 | The Adversary | Good | |
| 4 | 1 | The Way of the Warrior, Part 1 | Good | |
| 4 | 2 | The Way of the Warrior, Part 2 | Good | |
| 4 | 3 | The Visitor | Good | |
| 4 | 4 | Hippocratic Oath | Good | In case you forgot this was made in the 90s, the episode opens with a very unfortunate gay panic |
| 4 | 5 | Indiscretion | Decent | |
| 4 | 6 | Rejoined | Decent | Gay rights allegory in space. “Hippocratic Oath” must have had a completely different production team |
| 4 | 7 | Starship Down | Decent | |
| 4 | 8 | Little Green Men | Fine, goofy | |
| 4 | 9 | The Sword of Kahless | Fine | |
| 4 | 10 | Our Man Bashir | Good, extremely goofy | Garak’s emphatic defense of cowardice left a big impression on me as a youth |
| 4 | 11 | Homefront | Decent | This episode aired almost six years before 9/11 |
| 4 | 12 | Paradise Lost | Decent | |
| 4 | 13 | Crossfire | Meh | Odo becomes an incel |
| 4 | 14 | Return to Grace | Fine | |
| 4 | 15 | Sons of Mogh | Decent | |
| 4 | 16 | Bar Association | Decent | “He was more than a hero - he was a union man!” |
| 4 | 17 | Accession | Fine | I think this is the episode that introduces the weird way that Bajorans clap. They clap weird. Look at their hands when they clap. |
| 4 | 18 | Rules of Engagement | Decent | |
| 4 | 19 | Hard Time | Good | The epitome of the “O’Brien must suffer” episodes |
| 4 | 20 | Shattered Mirror | Skip | Mirror Universe episode |
| 4 | 21 | The Muse | Bad | |
| 4 | 22 | For the Cause | Good | |
| 4 | 23 | To the Death | Good | |
| 4 | 24 | The Quickening | Decent | |
| 4 | 25 | Body Parts | Decent | |
| 4 | 26 | Broken Link | Good | |
| 5 | 1 | Apocalypse Rising | Good | |
| 5 | 2 | The Ship | Good | |
| 5 | 3 | Looking for par'Mach in All the Wrong Places | Fine | |
| 5 | 4 | ...Nor the Battle to the Strong | Good | You’d think this title was a Bible quote, but nope |
| 5 | 5 | The Assignment | Good | O’Brien must suffer. Nana Visitor (who plays Kira Narys) was written out of this episode as she went into labor on set. Alexander Siddig (Julian Bashir) was the father. |
| 5 | 6 | Trials and Tribble-ations | Goofy fun | Basically one continuous reference to a famous Original Series episode |
| 5 | 7 | Let He Who Is Without Sin… | Bad | |
| 5 | 8 | Things Past | Meh | Odo occupation backstory |
| 5 | 9 | The Ascent | Decent | |
| 5 | 10 | Rapture | Decent | |
| 5 | 11 | The Darkness and the Light | Decent | |
| 5 | 12 | The Begotten | Meh | |
| 5 | 13 | For the Uniform | Decent | |
| 5 | 14 | In Purgatory’s Shadow | Good | Garak’s trolling of Worf was another formative interaction |
| 5 | 15 | By Inferno’s Light | Great | |
| 5 | 16 | Dr. Bashir, I Presume? | Fine | |
| 5 | 17 | A Simple Investigation | Bad | Odo loses his virginity but somehow remains an incel |
| 5 | 18 | Business as Usual | Decent | |
| 5 | 19 | Ties of Blood and Water | Decent | References a character from S3E05 “Second Skin” |
| 5 | 20 | Ferengi Love Songs | Meh | Quark and Rom have to decide if misogyny is good or bad |
| 5 | 21 | Soldiers of the Empire | Meh | They do Martok’s character dirty here. He’s so much better in every other episode he’s in. It is also revealed that the infirmary has carpet that’s difficult to get blood out of. |
| 5 | 22 | Children of Time | Good | |
| 5 | 23 | Blaze of Glory | Decent | |
| 5 | 24 | Empok Nor | Good | |
| 5 | 25 | In the Cards | Goofy, meh | |
| 5 | 26 | Call to Arms | Good |