The thing is, whenever I watched this since its airing I usually skip the 'filler' episodes so I stick with the story. I think DS9 opened up the Star Trek universe more than most of the other series imo which is why I appreciated it, they also ditched the squeaky clean idea. It also had some of the best characters (still short of TNG) and plots with plenty of variation

Bajor in general were a bunch of idiots tho, I hated any of the storylines to do with the prophets (This kind of storytelling also completely ruined BSG). The sisko and son thing was a pain in the arse too and just cringeworthy at times. He was like a Wesley with too much screen time.
Its peak was during the Klingon empire being infiltrated and the dominion / Cardasians forming an alliance imo, Season 4/5 ?. I think after that they went prophet heavy. My last re-run I don't think I bothered with season 7.