Season 1 is Deeply Under-Appreciated

It's a little awkward in places, sure, but it sets up so much that gets called back to later.

I'm on another rewatch at S1E15 - Progress.

In Who Mourns for Morn (Season 6!), Jadzia refers to having had a crush on Morn (which leads to Worf getting huffy). But that's established in the episode I'm in, 5 full seasons prior. They didn't have to mention it or call back to to it, but they did and that's neat.

There is so much set-up for little things like that in this season that gets called back to later. It happens in other Trek, but DS9 does it more, and better, even before it become super serialized.

While it's not DS9's best season, I feel like it often gets skipped or overlooked, maybe even just because it's being compared to the masterful later seasons.