You’re in for a really good experience. Gene Roddenberry had a very specific vision for Star Trek. The federation was his vision for humankind. He wanted us to be those people - at least, to want to be those people. So the federation became something of a Mary Sue. It’s something I really love about the show - it’s good to have a Lancelot around
DS9 has two things that set it apart from previous (and some subsequent) Treks. First and foremost, there’s a full story arc that travels throughout the series. It does have some more episodic, us, episodes, but it was the first Trek with a storyline that wasn’t about exploring the galaxy. TNG had some multipart episodes and some plot lines that ran across the better part of a season, but the entirety of DS9 takes place against a continuous plot line. The fact that they’re (generally speaking) not Boldly Going anywhere is kind of a metaphor.
It also explores some much darker themes than the other Treks, including colonization, genocide, terrorism, and what we might give up when we believe the ends can justify the means. It’s a side of the federation that Roddenberry wanted to reject, but I think having it throws his vision of what humans can be into even sharper relief.
Like with the other Treks, it takes about a season or so before the writers and actors settle into the characters. I happen to agree with you about Sisko. He’s the most military-like of any Trek captain I’ve ever seen. I’m not going to say anything else because you’re going to love watching everything unfold.
Oh I forgot to talk about Garak! I really like how expressive he is, something about him reminds me a lot of Robin Williams. The bit where he tells Bashir to buy a suit at precisely 2055 and Bashir just totally doesn’t get it… I’m hoping the doctor grows on me but he’s probably my least favorite so far ha.
Bashir definitely gets better. There are a few episodes that recontextualize his character and each one makes him come across much better. He also just grows a lot.
On my first rewatch now and I can say that season one Bashir threw me for a loop because of just how obnoxious he is!! His interactions with any female character, or O’Brien… I guess I forget that the writers had to lay the bedrock of an annoying character in order to cover his later transition into a character we were excited about 🤣
Garak is arguably my favorite character in all of Trek, especially after reading “A Stitch in Time” which fleshes out his background considerably.
I don’t think this is much of a spoiler but >!Garak basically becomes a regular without Andrew J. Robinson’s name appearing in the opening credits. I don’t have exact numbers but it feels like he appears in later seasons as much as Jake does!<.
TNG had some multipart episodes and some plot lines that ran across the better part of a season, but the entirety of DS9 takes place against a continuous plot line.
"Entirety" is doing a lot of work in that sentence, IMO. While there is a general setting and eventually a serialized plot, it really doesn't get to the point where there's a continuous story until at minimum season 3 and in practice doesn't stop being episodic until even later.
Even once the main baddies are introduced--which does not actually happen until the final episode of season 2--there are still multiple self-contained episodes that have nothing to do with any kind of ongoing story or character development.
Don't get me wrong, compared to TNG and even Voyager or Enterprise, DS9 definitely had a story in mind that took multiple seasons to tell, but it's not like things were carefully known from the beginning. Lots of details change or are quietly retrofitted to fit better once the writers knew where things were actually headed. And that's fine, by the way! There is still a great story to be told.