This is the best pilot for ST out there! Let's just say that this is just the pilot, and it seems a little time passed before the shot the second episode because it has a completely different feel that will become the norm for the rest of the series. Avery Brooks will tend to over-act but this becomes more balanced as the series progresses. Finally we get a child character you can like too, in Jake Sisko (way less annoying than Wesley IMO).<br /><br />I think this is the greatest Star Trek nay sci-fi series ever made, and when it ended, I was left with an overwhelming sense of loss. I felt like I had lost some really great friends and I would never see them again. So I ask why? Why did they end it and never look back? This series was rich with spin-offs, potential movies - a never-ending cash cow, and yet it ended abruptly after wasting an entire season devoping Ezri instead of tying up the loose ends. Why? Now that you know how I feel about the show, I will point out some major plot holes in this and all episodes of the series DS9.<br /><br />Chief O'Brien was a Lieutenant Transporter Chief on the Enterprise, a commissioned officer. On DS9 he suddenly becomes a non-commissioned officer Chief rank and loses the ability to give orders to anyone but the engineers- and later submits to Ensign Nog who was but a child a year before to him. As I understand the only way to rid yourself of a commission is to lose it via insubordination or to resign it. Neither of these were likely to occur when they were sending him to the MOST important place in the quadrant at that time - DS9. So I ask again. Why? Second of all, I don't know if there are branches of service in ST since they never mention it as far as I know, but a star base is basically territory. And territory is held by an Army, so why send a commander in the Starfleet Navy to do that job? Isn't that the job of a StarArmy or perhaps an elected official?<br /><br />If people of the future don't need money, yet ferengi still value the non-replicatable gold-encased liquid latinum(the gold is a worthless container for up to a few drops of latinum) for it's rarity, then how does the cast ever afford to go to Quark's, or the holo-suites, or anywhere on the promenade, including tailoring by Garak? If Starfleet gave them some sort of pay, the rest of Starfleet would want pay too and that would unsettle the entire concept of the entire ST universe. They kind of address this a tiny bit later on by Sisko threatening Quark to do his bidding because they let him operate for free, but he never says "free services for the crew" and there are times when they make payments on quark's thumbpad so money is being exchanged. Oh by the way, in the first season of TNG they mention gold as being valuable still - so that's weird. Plus, no one complained about replicated food on the Enterprise they thought it was great, so why now on DS9? Why pay for food when you can get it for free in your room?<br /><br />Lastly, why dock on the station at all? They have transporters that can beam them anywhere aboard the station (they could only beam you to a few set locations on the enterprise mind you) and their cargo. So why not park outside at full stop in a "parking lot", unattached, and transport in? You would think quarantining thru bioscrubbers in the transporter to maintain station welfare would be a major concern. They never address this issue, people just hop right on the station and exchange hugs and handshakes and air as it decompresses onto the station.<br /><br />And now I will answer a Why for you. The reason why you rarely see Bajoran ships (Season 7 Episode 2 "Shadows and Symbols") is because they basically have none of their own. The ones they do have are decades old and from "The Occupation" or before. They are sub-warp, and have vastly inferior weaponry and shields. Because they are in the process of joining the Federation they are under Federation protection and (we assume) will soon acquire new non-Bajoran Federation ships as part of that induction.