Well, it's the best Star Trek Show that was produced in that era (and it's definitely way better than Discovery). And I'm saying that although I grew up with TNG and still think that Voyager's Seven of Nine is the best character in all of those shows of that era. TNG was still too much like the original series. Voyager felt too isolated from the Federation (well that's the point of that show I guess). DS9 was bolder. It experimented more. It explored more races, more worlds, was able to create realistic, credible and intriguing characters (especially the female characters are strong) and their relations among each other in that interstellar melting pot. The show touched religion, politics, racism and the universal concepts of love and friendship. All neatly bound together by the most dramatic and most ambitious overarching storyline of any Star Trek show. In the streaming era, DS9 non-serial story telling is perfect (while it may have contributed to show's low rating back in the TV era). Seasons 1 and 2 are weaker - just like TNG they needed time to explore what to do with the show (and how to overcome the disadvantage that a space station can't fly to other worlds and explore space). Not everything was great though. Some lighthearted episodes are mere fillers (they probably produced too many episodes per year!), some races are big stereotypes (but often great fun for the same reason), sometimes the mystic elements (that were admittedly always part of Star Trek) are a bit too dominant and too silly, and the whole stage design isn't very flashy (but memorable and unique thanks to Cardassian architecture but I never got my head around how small the promenade looked like and how few people actually filled the station although the station was clearly a behemoth), sometimes it has too much of a shallow soap opera appeal to it and the last season - however great the overarching story line comes to a conclusion - feels somehow out of place (which is the fault of the guy who denied Farrell a new contract so that Jadzia had to die this pointless and not very well-written death. I mean, Ezri was also a strong character but it took too much time to really get to know her and to care for her).