Star Trek: EVERY Season Ranked Worst To Best

Deep Space Nine's third season saw Michael Pillar step away from show running to move over and spend more time on Voyager, which was beginning its first year. Ira Steven Behr took over as show runner and Deep Space Nine truly became the show it was to be.

Director of photography Marvin Rush left Deep Space Nine at the end of season two and was replaced by Jonathan West. While there was not much difference in terms of the lighting that he used, he switched to a different type of lens on the camera and there is a clear difference in resolution from the third season onward.

Feedback after seasons one and two from the fans had criticised the show's lack of action and adventure, while the religious elements of the storyline also came under fire. The first step at addressing these concerns came as the USS Defiant de-cloaked just off the station's outer ring. This would be the first Starfleet ship with a full-time cloaking device and was also the very first warship that the Federation had ever commissioned.

This was going directly against what Roddenberry had wanted for his future. However, the rapidly maturing stories called for a greater military presence. The season also delved into social issues, shown in particular in the two-parter Past Tense.

Perhaps the biggest sign of what was to come was shown in The Die Is Cast, with the Cardassian/Romulan invasion of the Founders' homeworld, and their subsequent destruction. The finale suggested that the Changelings had reached deep inside the Federation and a reckoning was coming.

Paramount, however, disagreed.