Was it good? No
Was it convincing? Also No.
Was it better than the Bradford debacle? Absolutely.
Looked like we had an actual plan. Subs made an impact. Players seemed to be trying (in spite of some lack of quality).
Welcome back Uncle Tony.
I'm on my third complete watch-through of DS9. The first was when it aired and I was a kid. I lost interest towards the end of S1 and only really picked it up from The Jem Hadar onwards. The second was a decade ago and I was very much in a "get to the fireworks factory" mindset.
10 years later I'm slowly making my way through the first couple of seasons again and _holy hell_ I had forgotten or just not appreciated how strong some of these episodes are. Yes, there's a lack of depth to Dax and Bashir; however Kira's wrangling with her past and her future, the already slight moral grey area Sisko will play in, the fleshing out of Odo and Quark. They're all great. Not to mention: The introduction of "oh that b*tch". Actual Frank Langella in a major 3-episode arc. The entirety of Duet. Garak and Dukat.
Consider this a pre-goatee/Klingons DS9 Stan post. Seasons 1 and 2, I shall no longer refer to you as "the seasons you need to get through".