*This 2 part episode was where Picard was taken by the Borg and the Borg used his knowledge to try to invade the Federation. The major battle happened at Wolf 359. The Starfleet officer that commands Deep Space 9 (Benjamin Sisko), his wife was killed in that battle. He was the first officer on a ship and he had his family with him.
**The episode "Ensign Ro" tells about a race of people known as the Bajorans who were taken over by another race called the Cardassians. The planet Bajor was stripped of it's natural resources and then the Cardassians left them on their own to get along the best they could. Ensign Ro is a Starfleet officer who is a Bajoran woman. She is the one who tells Picard and the rest of the Enterprise crew how bad off her people are. In the pilot of Deep Space 9, Bajor has asked the Federation for help.
Both of these episodes come before season 6 of Next Generation.
If you ever want to start watching Voyager (the other spin off of Next Generation) you should watch the following episodes. Journey's End, and Pre-Emptive Strike. Also The Maquis, parts 1 and 2 on Deep Space 9. These episodes sort of set up the plot of Voyager. Also, the Next Generation episode The First Duty. It is not directly related, but a minor character in it is similar to a major/main character on Voyager. By that, I mean a character with a similar back story, but a different name. And played by the same actor in both roles.
You'll want to watch TNG through "Best Of Both Worlds" pt. 1 & 2 before you start DS9.
To Karl, I much prefer DS9 over TNG because DS9 presents a darker, more complex side to the Star Trek universe. We see that not every Human agrees with The Federation nor is The Federation the staunch group of moralistic White Hats that TNG would have us believe they are. Many episodes of TNG would end with Picard sitting on high, preaching about morality. Oh, many of them were fine speeches, but it got a bit tired after awhile. DS9 was a much more realistic view where sometimes morals fail, or at least situations aren't in stark black and white.
If you want a good example of how TNG and DS9 differ, watch the DS9 episode early in Season 1 when Q visits the station for the first -- and last -- time. Q tries to tease and torment Sisko like Picard, but Sisko doesn't take the bait. Instead, he decks Q with a single punch. "You're no fun" Q says, rather disappointingly. I'm sure Q felt that Sisko's action was the typical barbaric response expected of our race but I'd like to think Q learned quite a bit from his brief encounter with Sisko
I wouldn't really call it a "spoiler". It doesn't matter where you start either. They are in overlapping timelines. However you don't NEED to watch TNG to see DS9 or understand it.
I also believe that Voyager was the 2nd best series after TNG. Not DS9. Although most people went with DS9, after sticking with Voyager a while I found it to be better.
I have to respond to this. I can't stand when some starts about how great DS9 was. I found it frustratingly boring. It a matter of taste. It has a huge following. So does TNG, but even some people say its not their cup of earl grey. DS9 started airing January 93. TNG was still airing at the time and was midway through season 6. So start late into TNG or after it.
I watched both next gen and ds9, and ds9 has a little spoiler about next generation! maybe wait until you watch some more episodes of next gen! but if you ask me ds9 is more fun!
DS9's pilot episode, "Emissary", aired on 01/03/93, following TNG's season 6 episode "Chain of Command, part II" which aired on 12/21/92.
I've just started watching next generation after years of not seeing it. I'm starting from the start and watching it right through. I want to watch deep space nine also but at what point should I start DS9? Wait until next generation is over? Or at what point in next generation did DS9 start?
