I avoided watching this for 20 (!) years, because the reviews were ambivalent. But it's really fun. It's not awesome, like the Kirk/Spock series, but it's also (thus far) not excessively moralizing like TNG.
This is the only Star Trek (for me) that captures the wonder of the original series. The writing isn't great, but that was never a thing with Star Trek. They're also a bit kinetic, say, with discovering new Warp-Civilizations.
I also really appreciate that the crew is basically white, except for one black guy that's not blackity-black.
Even the chicks are fine. The writing for the Asian chick is a bit insipid, but it accurately reflects the chick version of the 'hero's journey'.
Unfortunately, they've introduced Time Travel, so I guess a few of the episodes are going to be tedious.
Frankly, because once it does fall off it falls off hard and you'll wonder why you keep watching. I don't think I ever finished the series.
Pretty much this. I've tried watching it through a couple times, and it is genuinely enjoyable with likeable characters and some interesting plots, but it does go downhill to the point that it's just not very fun anymore. It feels like they were starting to experiment with grand narratives, but were still stuck in the serialized mindset of the older series, and never really hit a good balance between the two. Over all I'd certainly recommend watching it for as long as you enjoy it.
The only Star Trek to ever successfully blend the two was arguably DS9, and even then it wasn't on purpose I think. That was a consequence of the show runners demanding more Gul Dukat since he was such a popular character.
Man, what a great character. The slow shift from "foe but sometimes uneasy ally" to pawn of the Dominion ala Vichy France and then crazy cult leader was quite a ride. I thought it was unintentional, but I always kind of felt sorry for him.
He and Garak were the best parts of the show. I also liked what they did with Nog; pivoting from a stereotypical greedy and shitty little ferengi into a Starfleet officer was great. Especially given how boring Jake's growth into a "journalist" was.
Unfortunately, I never felt that Benjamin Sisko was very interesting. He had pretty much none of the gravitas that Picard had. Even Janeway pulled off being a commander and authority figure better than he did.