What the hell, why is this so good. Like, I absolutely loved the show beforehand but I figured like other trek shows, it would stick to the status quo. But this is actual plot across multiple episodes. Things aren’t being resolved immediately and the escalation and intertwining of all these plot lines is just amazing.
Good shit.
Yeah shows like DS9 and The X-Files showed the world you can have good overarching plotlines in a serial format. In the past series were stuck with the plot of the week, with maybe a double episode sometimes (especially at the end of a season to get people invested for the next season). It also changed the way networks handled TV series. In the past the episode order was pretty random, with mixed in re-runs in order to fill time with a limited number of episodes. Later episode order became more important and stations usually broadcast the show in the proper order. In syndication this lagged behind a lot, with smaller stations not giving a F and just putting in a random tape of the pile. This ruined a lot of shows for a lot of people. I remember people telling me they hated DS9 and didn’t understand what was going on. Later when they saw the show again in the proper order, they loved it.
Yeah I feel like a lot of these old shows benefit from modern streaming. I recently rewatched Farscape, and it has a similar format of a serialized plot but with an episodic style. The ways it takes advantage of that has made it one of my favorite shows. What might seem like a standalone episode might later turn out to be one of the most important events in the show. It really keeps you on edge and lends the universe a sense of consistency.