Babel (OB 24 Jan. 1993) score: 5

Whereas TOS made a "Journey to Babel," everyone comes to DS9.  

Jaheel will try to ditch multiculturalism

Virtually the entire station catches (viral) aphasia, making communication impossible, in a borderline episode that I've downgraded slightly. 

From 2003 notes: "the main problem is the episode isn't about anything."  

In 2008, I was less literal: 

"every society's held together by common beliefs, here symbolized by language.  Disrupt these, you divide and conquer."  

Then and now, it seems unfortunate the inventor of a weaponized contaminant is named "Dekon."  Maybe the writers were distracted: the aphasia has little to do with Bajorans vs. Cardassians.  Instead it materializes cultural anxieties, as the fractious station reaches breaking point.  The message (for the U.S.) is still timely: is a common language enough?  Note also the virus begins in the replicators, food being central to cultures and, sometimes, to culture clash.

Themes aside, the flaw is more prosaic: the aphasia scenes don't work.  (Per IMDb, director Paul Lynch never returned to Trek after DS9's first year.)  That leaves a hand-me-down version of "Darmok," partially redeemed by Odo/Quark interplay.  Whereas Brooks and Visitor still seek their character, Auberjonois and Shimerman are up-to-speed.    

A Man Alone (OB 17 Jan. 1993) score: 4

The heavy lifting here is character development, with the emphasis on Odo as stubborn loner even as he realizes the stance is increasingly untenable.  As one character says, his enemy (Quark) is the closest Odo has to a friend.

DS9 is the least science-fictional Trek, an occasional problem as the series finds its legs: there's nothing in "A Man Alone" that couldn't be crime drama or Western, until the last-act reveal of cloning.  It doesn't help when the motivations are flat and broad, down to comic relief: watch the extras milk Jake and Nog's prank.

Still, I can't be too hard on this one, as it further develops the complicated backstory -- genocidal Cardassians, traumatized but proud Bajorans, canny Ferengi, alien-to-be-named Odo -- soon to yield better narratives.
The character-name "Ibudan" is a near-anagram for Danube, perhaps an early German/Nazi reference.
In retrospect, as TV matured past comforting cliches, so did Trek: Odo will stay a misfit, Kira's loyalties remain divided, and Julian spends six years vainly chasing Jadzia. 

Past Prologue (OB 10 Jan. 1993) score: 7

Tahna Los: looks are deceiving

This episode has an early-days clunkiness, e.g., the characters are unsure how to pronounce "Bajor(an)."  Also, Tahno Los isn't quite convincing, but I have trouble taking a blond (man) seriously.  That foible aside, a solid episode, and early showcase for the series' secret weapon, "simple tailor" Garak.
 
DS9  wastes no time locating one of its major themes, the shifting line between national allegiance and progressive diplomacy.  Star Trek always made time for terrorists, although the spitefulness of this one's mission (blowing up the wormhole), and the story's emphasis on action over theme, soothed studio nerves as their new show launched.

As such, "Past Prologue" is a window to both of the political issues bound to sunder the franchise.  In the 21st century, even mixed sympathies for terrorism got pushed to the margins, while the franchise's resistance to gay rights became disastrous.

Admittedly I realized this long after the fact, but Season 1 teases Kira as a possible lesbian: there's no hint of flirtation with Tahna, and she's gradually less butch as the series unfolds.  Presumably, this was a half-hearted gauging of fan reaction, and again for Voyager (Torres, maybe Kes) and Enterprise (Malcolm).

When an organization becomes an institution, change is agonizingly slow.  Still, this long delay before inclusion is the franchise's greatest cowardice.

Emissary (OB 3 Jan. 1993) score: 9

"Emissary" is probably the best (aired) Trek pilot, a blink ahead of "Where No Man Has Gone Before."

On first viewing, I considered this "very promising."  Like TNG's debut "Encounter at Farpoint," it's entertaining despite a diffused storyline.  Hallucination sequences recall "The Cage" (the original TOS film later folded into "The Menagerie"): "Emissary" appreciates franchise lore.  Sisko's flashbacks to Wolf 359 might imply a coded Vietnam veteran.

In 2003, I added:

"Kira's a one-note character, but Brooks is brilliant, as is David Carson's direction.  Takes Trek cliches (like the godlike alien) and makes them new.
The Cardassians and Bajorans could be read as Iraq and Kuwait, or Israelis and Palestinians."  

In outline, the introduction of Ben Sisko is routine, similar to that of Hawk in 1980's "Time of the Hawk" (the Season 2 premiere of Buck Rogers in the 25th Century).  In both, the ethnic Other blames the (audience's) white hero for the death of his wife, and in a broader sense for abuses suffered by his people.  The ensuing story is structured for forgiveness, but this pacification achieves dignity through treatment and performance (Thom Christopher in the prior case).  A key difference: unlike Hawk, Ben has son Jake to carry the line. 

Brooks's theatrical vocalizations are remarkable, variously expressing horror, grief, joy, excitement, etc.  These may not have been well-received (never again as prominent), but they help make "Emissary" a classic of mainstream science fiction.