Star Trek: Deep Space Nine
Star Trek: Deep Space Nine is a
science fiction television series that debuted in 1993 and ran for seven seasons, finishing in 1999. Based on
Gene Roddenberry's
Star Trek, it was created by
Rick Berman and
Michael Piller, and produced by
Paramount Pictures. The main title is sometimes shortened to
ST:DS9, or simply
DS9.
DS9 began while
Star Trek: The Next Generation was still on the air, and there were several crossover episodes between the two series. Unlike its predecessor,
DS9 often broke the rules laid down by Gene Roddenberry.
[The featurette "A Bold New Beginning" can be found on the DVD set, Star Trek: Deep Space Nine - The Complete First Season. In it, Rick Berman and others detail the early design phases of the series and what their goals were in creating it.] In contrast with the other series,
Deep Space Nine took place on a space station instead of a starship. It also relied heavily on continuing story arcs, many recurring characters, and darker themes.
Originally conceived in 1991, shortly before Gene Roddenberry's death,
DS9 chronicles the events surrounding space station
Deep Space 9, a former
Cardassian ore-processing station, which has recently been placed under joint control of the
United Federation of Planets and
Bajor, the planet it formerly orbited. The station was repositioned to monitor traffic through the recently discovered
Bajoran wormhole. As a result of the wormhole, the station became a cornerstone of interstellar trade and political activity in the Bajoran sector particularly, and the quadrant at large. This unique premise makes it the first, and so far only,
Star Trek series not to be set aboard a
starship.
According to co-creator Berman, he and Piller had considered setting the new series on a
colony on an alien planet, but they felt a space station would both appeal more to viewers and save money due to the high cost of on-location shooting for a "land-based" show. However, they were certain that they did not want the show to be set aboard a starship because
The Next Generation was still in production at the time and, in Berman's words, it "just seemed ridiculous to have two showsâ"two casts of charactersâ"that were off going where no man has gone before."
In the first episode, the crew discovers the presence of a nearby stable
wormhole, which provides immediate transportation to and from the distant
Gamma Quadrant; this makes the station an important strategic asset, as well as a vital center of commerce with a largely-unexplored area of space. Inside the wormhole live aliens who exist beyond time and do not understand the linear temporal nature of other lifeforms. To the people of Bajor, these aliens are the
Prophets and the wormhole itself is the long-prophesied
Celestial Temple. Commander
Benjamin Sisko, who discovers the wormhole with Jadzia Dax, becomes revered as the
Emissary of the Prophets, a
spiritual role with which he is initially extremely uncomfortable.
 |
Space station Deep Space Nine. |
Deep Space Nine was well received by critics, with
TV Guide describing it as "the best acted, written, produced, and altogether finest"
Star Trek series.
[Although it does not specify an issue or volume, the publisher's description for the DS9 relaunch novel Unity uses this quote to tout the book.] However, some fans grew dissatisfied with the show's generally darker themes and objected to the notion of a series set on a space station. Some fans of the series call themselves "
Niners", after a
baseball team of the same name, which appeared in the seventh-season episode "
Take Me Out to the Holosuite".
Although
DS9's ratings were initially solid, it was never as successful as
Next Generation had been, and its ratings declined in later seasons. A number of factors were given for this decline, including an increasingly crowded television marketplace, cannibalization of viewership between
Deep Space Nine,
Next Generation and
Star Trek: Voyager, and viewer fatigue. Nonetheless, it remained the top rated first-run syndicated drama series throughout most of its run.
The show is best remembered for its well-developed characters and its original, complex plots. The main writers for
DS9, in addition to creators Berman and Piller, included
Ronald D. Moore,
Peter Allan Fields,
Ira Steven Behr,
Robert Hewitt Wolfe,
Joe Menosky,
René Echevarria.
Richard Manning, and
Hans Beimler.
Main characters
 |
The cast of DS9 in season six. |
Featuring the most diverse cast in
Star Trek history,
DS9 was the first series to include main characters that were not members of
Starfleet.
Kira Nerys is an officer in the Bajoran militia,
Odo is a
Changeling who worked for the Cardassians during the
Occupation of Bajor, while
Jake Sisko and
Quark are both civilians.
Ro Laren (
Michelle Forbes) was reportedly the first choice of the producers for a First Officer, but as Ms. Forbes did not wish to commit to a television show, Kira Nerys was created instead.
[Source: "New Frontiers". DVD extra included with Star Trek: Deep Space Nine - The Complete Second Season. (In an interview conducted on October 17, 2002, Piller stated of the second season, "I would put that on a par with any season in the history of Star Trek.")] Among Starfleet characters,
Miles O'Brien is the first enlisted (non-commissioned) main character, reprising a supporting role he played on several episodes of
The Next Generation.
Over the course of its seven-year run,
DS9s core cast underwent two major changes. The first change, at the start of the fourth season, was the addition of Michael Dorn as Worf, who had recently spent seven years aboard the Enterprise
on The Next Generation
. The original reason for this addition was to boost ratings[Source: "Charting New Territory". DVD extra included with ]Star Trek: Deep Space Nine - The Complete Fourth Season
. Of Worf, writer/producer Robert Hewitt Wolfe said in an interview conducted on October 20, 2002 that the studio felt DS9s ratings were sagging at the end of the third season, and he and the other writers were asked to give viewers a new reason to watch. Their answer was to make Worf a part of the cast., but the
Klingon soon became an integral part of the show and fit in well. Worf eventually married
Jadzia Dax.
The second change was the removal of Terry Farrell (Jadzia Dax) and subsequent addition of
Nicole de Boer (
Ezri Dax). This was more of an abrupt change, and it came about because Farrell did not wish to renew her contract at the end of the sixth season, stating that she felt she would receive more screen time elsewhere due to the increasingly large cast of
DS9. However, the writers did not want to lose Dax, so the Dax "symbiont" was saved when Gul
Dukat killed Jadzia, and de Boer was brought on as its new host.
[Source: "Crew Dossier - Jadzia Dax". Included with Star Trek: Deep Space Nine - The Complete Second Season.]Alexander Siddig (
Julian Bashir) appeared in the opening credits by a shortened form of his birth name, "Siddig el Fadil", for the first three seasons. He appeared as
Alexander Siddig after he married co-star
Nana Visitor (
Kira Nerys), which placed their names together in the alphabetical cast credits, although his stated reason for the name change was that he discovered that nobody watching the show knew how to pronounce 'el Fadil'. Siddig continued to be credited as "Siddig el Fadil" when he directed episodes.
Recurring characters
Main article: List of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine characters.
The very nature of the showâ"being set on a space station rather than aboard a starshipâ"fostered a rich assortment of recurring characters, and it was not unheard of for "secondary" characters to play as much, or even more, of a role in an episode as the regular cast. For example, "
The Wire" focused almost entirely on
Garak, while "
Treachery, Faith, and the Great River" featured an A-story about
Weyoun and a B-story about
Nog. Lasting consequences and the presence of familiar faces aboard the station were among the reasons
Berman and
Piller chose to set the series aboard a space station.
Of particular note to
Star Trek fans is
Jeffrey Combs (of
Re-Animator fame), who made his
Star Trek debut on
Deep Space Nine. Combs has stated that he had auditioned for the role of
William T. Riker on
Next Generation, but when
Jonathan Frakes (who won the part) later directed the
DS9 episode "
Meridian", he recommended Combs for a part.
[Combs, Jeffrey. Interview conducted January 30, 2003. Included as a "Hidden File" with Star Trek: Deep Space Nine - The Complete Third Season.] Combs would go on to appear in thirty-one episodes of
Deep Space Nine, playing four distinct charactersâ"five if one counts the "
mirror universe" version of
Brunt as a distinct character. In "
The Dogs of War", he also became the only
Star Trek actor to play two distinct roles (those of Brunt and
Weyoun) in a single episode. He later played a prominent role as
Shran on
Star Trek: Enterprise.
Morn, a minor character who frequents Quark's bar, is silent but omnipresent. According to
Emmy Award-winning
make-up designer
Michael Westmore, on the first day of filming the series, the
director chose Morn somewhat randomly from among several prosthetic characters to be a barfly at Quark's, and the character went on to spend the next seven years there. Westmore and others named Morn as an anagram of the character Norm from
Cheers, who also spent seemingly all of his time sitting on his favorite bar stool and drinking. Ironically, although Westmore went to great lengths to ensure that Morn could talk in case the character ever got a line, he remained silent; this became a running joke, with other characters frequently referring to Morn and commenting on what an extremely talkative person he was.
[Westmore, Michael. Interview conducted on November 3, 2002 for the DVD extra "Michael Westmore's Aliens (Season 4)". Included with Star Trek: Deep Space Nine - The Complete Fourth Season.] So great was the affection for the silent character that a special episode called "
Who Mourns for Morn?" was written for him in the sixth season.
Several of the series' prominent recurring characters are also known for their work on other projects, the most prominent of whom were
Academy Award winner
Louise Fletcher (the Bajoran spiritual leader
Kai Winn) and sci-fi veteran
Salome Jens (the
Female Changeling). Other prominent celebrities seen in guest and recurring roles included
Vanessa L. Williams,
Wallace Shawn,
Lark Voorhies,
James Cromwell,
Gabrielle Union,
Iggy Pop,
Steven Berkoff and
James Darren.
John Colicos reprised his
TOS role as
Kor on several occasions.
| Character | Role | Performer | Appearances |
| Bareil Antos | Bajoran Vedek | Philip Anglim | Seasons 1 through 3 and 6 |
| Brunt | FCA (Ferengi Commerce Authority) liquidator | Jeffrey Combs | Seasons 3 through 7 |
| Damar | Dukat's aide, later leader of the Cardassian Union and then leader of the Resistance against the Dominion | Casey Biggs | Seasons 4 through 7 |
| Dukat | Cardassian military officer; arch-nemesis of Benjamin Sisko | Marc Alaimo | Seasons 1 through 7 |
| Michael Eddington | Starfleet Security Chief, later Maquis leader | Kenneth Marshall | Seasons 3 through 5 |
| Vic Fontaine | Vegas lounge singer (Hologram) | James Darren | Seasons 6 and 7 |
| Elim Garak | Plain, simple tailor; exiled former spy for the Obsidian Order | Andrew Robinson | Seasons 1 through 7 |
| Gowron | Chancellor of the Klingon Empire | Robert O'Reilly | Seasons 3 through 7 |
| Ishka | Quark and Rom's mother (aka Moogie) | Andrea Martin
Cecily Adams | Season 3 and 4 through 7 |
| Leeta | Dabo girl, and later Rom's wife | Chase Masterson | Seasons 3 through 7 |
| Martok | Klingon General and later Chancellor | J.G. Hertzler | Seasons 4 through 7 |
| Morn | Barfly (anagram of Norm) | Mark Allen Shepherd | Seasons 1 through 7 |
| Nog | Rom's son and the first Ferengi in Starfleet - Cadet, later Ensign and then Lieutenant | Aron Eisenberg | Seasons 1 through 7 |
| Keiko O'Brien | Schoolteacher, botanist, wife of Miles O'Brien | Rosalind Chao | Seasons 1 through 7 |
| Molly O'Brien | Daughter of Miles and Keiko O'Brien | Hana Hatae | Seasons 1 through 7 |
| Kai Opaka | Kai of Bajor | Camille Saviola | Seasons 1, 2 and 4 |
| Rom | Quark's brother; waiter and engineer | Max Grodénchik | Seasons 1 through 7 |
| William Ross | Admiral, Fleet commander during the Dominion War | Barry Jenner | Seasons 6 and 7 |
| Shakaar Edon | Former Leader of a Bajoran Resistance cell, later First Minister of Bajor | Duncan Regehr | Seasons 3 through 5 |
| Joseph Sisko | Father of Benjamin Sisko, grandfather of Jake Sisko | Brock Peters | Seasons 4 through 7 |
| Luther Sloan | Section 31 operative | William Sadler | Seasons 6 and 7 |
| Enabran Tain | Former head of the Obsidian Order and Garak's father | Paul Dooley | Seasons 2, 3 and 5 |
| Lwaxana Troi | Betazoid ambassador | Majel Barrett | Seasons 1, 3 and 4 |
| Weyoun | Vorta leader of the Dominion forces on the Alpha Quadrant | Jeffrey Combs | Seasons 4 through 7 |
| Winn Adami | Bajoran Vedek and later Kai | Louise Fletcher | Seasons 1 through 7 |
| Kasidy Yates | Freighter captain and Sisko's second wife | Penny Johnson Jerald | Seasons 3 through 7 |
| Zek | Grand Nagus of the Ferengi Alliance | Wallace Shawn | Seasons 1 through 7 |
| Tora Ziyal | Dukat's illegitimate daughter, Garak's love interest | Cyia Batten, Tracy Middendorf, and Melanie Smith | Seasons 4 through 6 |
| Female Changeling | Leader of the Dominion | Salome Jens | Seasons 3 through 7 |
Deep Space Nine also differs from previous
Star Trek series in that it contains more story arcs that span several episodes and, indeed, seasons. Previous
Star Trek series tend to restore the
status quo ante at the end of an episode so that the episodes could be seen out-of-order without compromising their plots. On
Deep Space Nine, however, not only are events in one episode often referenced and built upon in later episodes, but sometimes several episodes in a row are
cliffhangers. This trend is especially strong near the end of the series' run, by which point the show is very much a
serial, and it was very much intentional, as the producers have all stated that they felt it enriched the show.
One such story arc is Benjamin Sisko's role as a religious icon. He initially faces it with open discomfort and skepticism, referring to the Bajoran Prophets simply as "wormhole aliens" and striving to keep his role as commander of the station distinct from any obligations that the Bajorans try to place on him. Later, he becomes more accepting of his role and, by the end of the series, he appears to openly embrace it.
The station crew early on contend with a terrorist group known as the
Maquis[More than likely, the Maquis were named for the French resistance group of the same name that fought against Nazi Germany in World War II.]. Rooted in the events of
The Next Generation episode "
Journey's End", in which a group of
Native American settlers refuse to leave when their colony world is given to Cardassia as part of a treaty, the Maquis are an example for the show's exploration of darker themes: Its members are Federation citizens who take up arms against Cardassia in defense of their homes, and someâ"such as
Calvin Hudson, a long-time friend of Sisko's, and
Michael Eddington, who defects while serving aboard the stationâ"are former Starfleet officers. The show's violent departure from traditional
Star Trek themes can be seen in episodes such as "
For the Cause", in which Eddington tells Sisko, "Everybody should want to be in the Federation. Nobody leaves paradise. In some ways you're even worse than the
Borg. At least they tell you about their plans for assimilation. You assimilate people and they don't even know it."
 |
The Bajoran wormhole |
The second-season episode "
Rules of Acquisition" introduces the
Dominion, a ruthless empire in the
Gamma Quadrant. It is led by "the
Founders", a race of shapeshifters known as
Changelingsâ"the same race as station security chief Odo. They were once persecuted by non-shapeshifters (whom they call "Solids") and they seek to instill "order" upon those who might otherwise cause them harmâ"including the Solids. The Founders have created or genetically modified two races to serve them: the
Vorta, sly and subversive diplomats, and the
Jem'Hadar, their fearless shock troops. These races worship the Founders as gods.
The Dominion forms an uneasy alliance with the Cardassians in the fifth-season episodes "
In Purgatory's Shadow" and "
By Inferno's Light" and goes to war with the other major powers of the
Alpha Quadrant. Throughout the series, loyalties and alliances change repeatedly: pacts with the Cardassians are made, broken, and remade; a short war with the Klingons flares up and is settled, and (through Sisko's machinations) the formerly neutral Romulans ally with the Federation.
Another example of
DS9s darker plot material is Section 31, a secret organization that exists within the Federation, dedicated to preserving the Federation way of life at any and all cost. This undemocratic shadow organization, introduced in "Inquisition", justifies its unlawful and ethically questionable tactics by claiming that it is essential to the continued existence of the Federation. Section 31 features prominently in several episodes of the Dominion War arc; such darker plot elements, as well as DS9s relative lack of exposure compared to its predecessor, garnered the show a reputation as the "black sheep" of the
Trek family.
[The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette used this phrase in a November 30, 1999 editorial (which can be found archived on Brannon Braga's official website), as did Exclaim! magazine in a March 31, 2003 review. (Despite the connotations associated with the phrase "black sheep", however, the writers of both articles spoke highly of the series.)]At the start of
Deep Space 9s third season ("The Search"), with the threat of a Dominion attack looming on the other side of the wormhole, Commander Sisko returns from a trip to Starfleet Headquarters on Earth with the USS Defiant
, a prototype starship that was built to fight the Borg, but is determined to be 'overgunned and overpowered'. It remains stationed at Deep Space Nine
until its destruction in season seven, providing not only defense but also an avenue by which plotlines could progress without being limited by the stationary nature of DS9
itself. After the ship is destroyed in a skirmish against the Breen, a new Defiant-class ship is assigned to Deep Space Nine.
Many fans believe that the Dominion War was the height of DS9
and, according to Michael Piller, tend to overlook the first two "pre-Dominion" seasons. However, Piller has indicated that the second season was his favorite.
In DS9
, the Ferengi are no longer an enemy of the Federation, but rather an economic power whose political neutrality is, for the most part, respected. Several episodes explore the capitalist nature of the Ferengi, while others delved into the race's sexist social norms. Ferengi are guided in their lives and in their business transactions by the Rules of Acquisition.
Interpersonal conflict between regular characters was something previously forbidden by Roddenberry in Star Trek and The Next Generation
, but features prominently on DS9
. This was brought about at the suggestion of The Next Generations writers (many of whom also wrote for
DS9) because they felt that the prohibition on interpersonal conflict between the main characters limited their ability to develop new and interesting stories. The intentional coming together of different people whose values and agenda regularly conflicted with one another was intended to bring a new dimension to the series; in Piller's words, "people who come from different placesâ"honorable, noble peopleâ"will naturally have conflicts".
Several of the characters also have their own personal demons and stories that are rather specific to their character. For instance,
Jadzia Dax, a
Trill, has seven lifetimes' worth of memories as a result of her joining with the
Dax symbiont. Security chief
Odo, a
Changeling, yearns to find others like him and believes he is the only one of his kind; later, he finds his own people are the ruthless leaders of the Dominion and is torn between his desire to join them, his sense of morality, and his love for Kira Nerys. Meanwhile, Worf struggles (even more so than on
The Next Generation) with conflicting loyalties to the Federation and his own people, the
Klingons – as well as life on the station, which he finds is not at all what he expected.
 |
Rugal, a Cardassian boy, and his adoptive Bajoran father in "Cardassians" |
Deep Space Nine sheds some of the
Utopian themes that embodied the previous versions of
Star Trek.
Its darker setting—being based on a station in a region of space recovering from sixty years of brutal occupation—focuses more on war, religion, political compromise, and similar issues.
The most prominent theme in the series is that of the deeply religious Bajoran people attempting to rebuild their world and their economy after sixty years of oppression from Cardassia. The relationship between the Bajorans and the Cardassians is intentionally portrayed as a powerful
Holocaust allegory mixed with other themes such as
Soviet-era Russia.
[Herman Zimmerman in the 1993 documentary Deep Space Nine: Behind the Scenes hosted by Terry Farrell said: "The Cardissians are a mix of German Nazis and Russians before Glasnost.] The Cardassians had put the Bajorans to work in forced slave labor camps under terrible conditions, killed them with impunity, and now refuse to acknowledge the atrocities that occurred during the Occupation, which is explored in episodes such as "
Duet", "
Necessary Evil", and "
Waltz".
The relationship between the Cardassians and the Bajorans could also be regarded as colonial in nature. Much like
Kipling's "
The White Man's Burden", the Cardassians believed themselves both technologically and culturally superior to the Bajorans they had subjugated. According to
Dukat (in "Waltz"), at the time of
first contact, Cardassia was at least a century ahead of Bajor "in every way", and the brutality of the occupation would not have happened "if [the Bajorans] had accepted their place in history". The Cardassians strip-mined Bajor for resources and instituted forced labor camps under the guise of civilizing a lesser people .
Guerrilla tactics by Bajoran fighters led to their freedom in the same way that many colonies gained their independence in the 1960s and 1970s.
As with many former colonies, Bajor struggles to establish a stable
democracy and is wary of the involvement of the well-intentioned
United Federation of Planets. Kira Nerys in the pilot episode states, "We finally drive the Cardassians out, and what do our new leaders do? They call up the Federation and invite them right in!" The planet, thrust into the galactic spotlight after lying in obscurity, nearly falls into
civil war on several occasions, most notably the three-part arc of "
The Homecoming", "
The Circle" and "
The Siege", and again in "
Shakaar".
The
Star Trek universe portrayed in
Deep Space Nine is thus one of
power politics among the galaxy's
great powers. Prior to the series, the Federation was depicted as a near
utopian society guided by
human rights (or, more accurately,
sentient rights). In contrast, the Federation in
Deep Space Nine tries to balance its high ideals with the practical realities of galactic politics. Episodes revolving around this theme include "
Improbable Cause" and "
The Die is Cast", where the major powers sit by while a joint
Cardassian-
Romulan fleet attempts to obliterate the Changeling homeworld; "
The Way of the Warrior", a two-part tale of political intrigue and conflict between the
Klingon Empire,
Cardassian Union, and Federation; "
Homefront" and "
Paradise Lost", in which the Federation risks turning into a military
dictatorship; and "
In the Pale Moonlight", which focuses on Sisko, who, in his own words::"I lied, I cheated, I bribed men to cover the crimes of other men. I am an accessory to murder. But the most damning thing of all... I think I can live with it. And if I had to do it all over again, I would.
Garak was right about one thing: A guilty conscience is a small price to pay for the safety of the
Alpha Quadrant."
Another theme
DS9 visited on several occasions, including Sisko's struggle in "Pale Moonlight", is the idea that the universe is not perfect and there is often no right or wrong answer to difficult situations. This theme is embodied by the Maquis storyline; members of the Maquis were neither enemies nor criminals; they take up arms against Cardassia in defense of their homes. Perhaps a quote from Sisko in the second-season episode "
The Maquis, Part II" best describes not only the Maquis but also the stark contrast between
DS9 and its predecessors:
"On Earth there's no poverty, no crime, no war. You look out the window of Starfleet headquarters and you see... paradise. Well, it's easy to be a saint in paradise. But the Maquis do not
live in paradise. Out there in the Demilitarized Zone, all the problems haven't been solved yet. Out there, there are no saints... just people. Angry, scared, determined people who are going to do whatever it takes to survive. Whether it meets with Federation approval or not."
Despite arguably debuting in the shadow of
Next Generation,
DS9 maintained a high profile. According to a press release through the
Newswire on
April 7 1999, it was the #1 syndicated show in the
United States for adults 18-49 and adults 25-54 (
National Television Index). Additionally, the series was nominated for Emmy Awards every year of its run, winning some of them. It was also nominated for two prestigious
Hugo Awards as well. (This
link has a list of awards.) The characters of
DS9 were also featured on the cover of
TV Guide ten times during its run, including several "special issue" editions in which a set of four different-covered versions of the issue were printed.
Critically, the show has received much acclaim for its character and plot development. Even minor characters tended to be multi-faceted; for instance, StarTrek.com in an article about
Star Trek's greatest
villains described Gul
Dukat as "possibly the most complex and fully-developed bad guy in
Star Trek history"
[Source: http://www.startrek.com/startrek/view/features/specials/article/1617.html]. Dukat in particular was the focus of several episodes, such as the sixth-season episode "
Waltz", in which he has gone insane and begins to hallucinate, and "
Covenant", in which he becomes a twisted
messianic figurehead for a group of
Pah Wraith-worshipping
Bajorans.
The series was not without its detractors , but ultimately
Michelle Erica Green, reviewer for the fan site
Star Trek Nation, said in her
review of the series finale "
What You Leave Behind": "This is a grand, satisfying conclusion to this greatest of
Star Trek series."
Star Trek: Deep Space Nine was conceived while
Gene Roddenberry was still alive but not put into production until after his death. This has led to debate over whether he would have approved of the show, and a contingent of
Star Trek fandom felt it took its darker themes too far. Although writer/producer
Ira Steven Behr has acknowledged that some fans feel the show has "gone away from the image of the future as a paradise", he defends the show as moving forward and believes Roddenberry would have understood their motivations and, as a "forward thinker", been pleased with the results. Additionally, Michael Piller, who spoke very highly of Behr's contributions to the series, believed one of the series' most redeeming qualities was that the repercussions of past episodes remained with the show and characters were forced to "learn that actions have consequences".
Another contingent of fans believe that
DS9 went too far in serializing its stories. They maintain that each
Star Trek episode should be its own self-contained story because the strength of
TOS lay in social commentary and not in long, complicated storylines. As with Roddenberry's take on the series, there is no consensus about the issue, but there is less evidence to support it. While
DS9 exhibited many
soap-like qualities, it still allowed for issue shows such as "
Far Beyond the Stars", which was the first
Star Trek episode to deal directly with
racism among humans, and "
The Siege of AR-558", which dealt with the effects of
war, desperation and isolation. Further, one could argue that the heavier reliance on drama and action is less a product of
DS9s individual contributions and more a general shift in all of Star Trek
.
Some fans of Babylon 5, another science-fiction show based on a space station, contend that DS9
plagiarized elements of Babylon 5s premise. There are indeed many
similarities between the two shows, although later seasons of
DS9 and particularly the introduction of the
Defiant (introduced prior to a new ship called the
White Star on
Babylon 5) took the show in a new, more original direction. (See
Similarities between Babylon 5 and Star Trek: Deep Space Nine.)
Taboos
Deep Space 9 is also notable for breaking several cultural
taboos during its run. Most prominent among these is the issue of
homosexuality.
Gay and gay-friendly fans of the franchise had been waiting for a
Star Trek television spin-off to address how the utopian society dealt with the issue of
sexual orientation since Gene Roddenberry had promised to tackle the issue in 1987
[The fan site Gay League maintains a Gay Star Trek Timeline, which details the franchise's treatment of homosexuality. Of the first "lesbian kiss", it states, "Reaction to the episode was strong: some stations refused to air the episode, a Southern affiliate edited the kissing scene out. Mail and phone calls ran very negative, although some positive feedback emerged." (Spike TV, which holds the rerun rights to the series, currently shows all episodes unabridged except where time constraints are concerned.)]. While
Star Trek: The Next Generation would occasionally gingerly address the issue through
gender identity,
DS9 had two episodes with lesbian kisses.
The first same-sex kiss on a
Star Trek television series was shown in the episode "
Rejoined". In the episode,
Jadzia Dax and another Trill named Lenara Khan are in love and at one point embrace in a passionate kiss. While it was only technically a
lesbian kiss – as the two had been married previously when the Dax symbiont was in a male host and in love with the previous (female) host of the Kahn symbiont – none of the other characters expressed any shock at temporary homosexuality. Writer Rene Echevarria made a conscious effort
not to glamourize the kiss and make it a ratings boost, wanting the kiss to be romantic rather than sensational.
This aired a year and a half before the controversial "out of the closet" shift in the sitcom
Ellen, and proved controversial among some local affiliates.
It would be followed up by the seventh-season episode, "
The Emperor's New Cloak", which features the
Mirror Universe versions of
Kira Nerys and
Ezri Dax kiss in a clearly
lesbian or bisexual context and the Mirror Universe
Leeta depicted as having been assigned to "debrief" Mirror Ezri. Although none of these instances dealt directly with a homosexual character
per se, the pre-
Ellen same-sex kisses were often compared to the
TOS episode "
Plato's Stepchildren", which featured the first interracial kiss to air on United States
network television.
[The groundbreaking nature of the kiss, which occurred between William Shatner (James T. Kirk) and Nichelle Nichols (Nyota Uhura), is described in the product description for the VHS release, Star Trek- The Original Series, Vol. 34, which contains "Plato's Stepchildren" and "Wink of an Eye". It is worth noting that the kiss was technically forced by alien beings.] See also
LGBT characters in the Star Trek universe.
In addition to homosexuality, there were several instances of potentially offensive language during the series' run, unprecedented for the
Star Trek franchise (although
Star Trek: Enterprise went much further, even using the phrase "you son of a bitch" in its pilot). The episode "
Far Beyond the Stars", much of which takes place in 1950s
Earth, features a scene in which
Cirroc Lofton, as an
African-American man, claims that blacks will never get to space except to "shine the shoes" of whites, to whom his character feels blacks "would always be
niggers." Although not the first time the word had been used on American television (it was commonly used in dramas in the 1970s as well as the groundbreaking sitcom
All in the Family), by the late 1990s utterance of the word in any context in the mainstream media had all but vanished. Another instance of offensive language likely went unnoticed among American audiences occurred in the episode "
Time's Orphan" which features the
Irish Chief O'Brien exclaiming the swear word "
bollocks". The word was edited out in daytime UK showings. In addition to these, the series spawned and used several
racial epithets for alien races in the series, namely "spoonhead" and "Cardies" for
Cardassians.
Music
On
June 30, 1993, between seasons one and two,
DS9 followed other series of
Star Trek in releasing the
original score from its pilot episode, "
Emissary", on
CD. The title theme was also made available as a CD single, although not in wide circulation. Another compilation entitled "Warped" was also released later in the series' run. Several episodes received awards for their scores, such as "
Our Man Bashir", which received an
Emmy Award nomination for Outstanding Score. However, as with other post-
TNG series, no further scores were made available on CD.
|
James Darren's album of songs performed on DS9. |
Musically, the series is far better known for one of its most original elements: the character of
Vic Fontaine, a
holographic Las Vegas lounge lizard from the 1960s. Introduced in the sixth-season episode "
His Way", Vic (played by 60s heart throb
James Darren) was very popular with the crew of the station and performed many period songs, most notably
Frank Sinatra tunes. Among the songs in Fontaine's repertoire were "
The Best is Yet to Come" (performed in "
Badda-Bing, Badda Bang"), "
Come Fly with Me", and "You're Nobody âtil Somebody Loves You" (both performed in "His Way"). In addition to providing a backdrop for some of the series' more memorable moments, such as a battle scene in "
The Siege of AR-558", where he sang "I'll Be Seeing You", and the series finale "
What You Leave Behind", in which "The Way You Look Tonight" played during a series of flashbacks, Darren's role as Fontaine allowed him to release a new album on
August 24, 1999, entitled
This One's From the Heart.
VHS and DVD releases
Episodes of
DS9 were made available on
VHS cassettes, which generally contained one episode each (two-part episodes were combined on a single cassette). The first of these releases came on
November 19,
1996 in the United States, but due to the inherent space-consuming nature of the cassettes, as well as the rise of
DVD as the standard for home-video releases, the line was discontinued once all of
DS9 had been released on DVD. The VHS covers can still be found on many review websites, which sometimes use them in place of a screen capture. The entire series was released on VHS in the UK starting from
August 2,
1993 onwards, with one or two releases per month and with two episodes per cassette. Each video box contained unique artwork and character/plot information.
Following the
DVD release of
The Next Generation in 2002,
DS9 was released on DVD beginning in late February 2003. As with other
television shows, the
DS9 was released in the form of boxed sets containing one season each and released approximately a month apart. On
26 October 2004, a compilation of all seven season sets was also released; however, for unexplained reasons (perhaps due to the unique packaging) the
DS9 boxed set costs considerably more than other
Star Trek series.
The DVD release of
DS9 contains more "special features" than that of
The Next Generation. Each season contains a Crew Dossier that gives a biographical look at one of the main characters, a section where make-up designer
Michael Westmore details how the various aliens were created for the show, and numerous behind-the-scenes featurettes. These include original interviews with cast members, writers, and other members of the staff. Unique to the
DS9 release are "Section 31" files (also known as
easter eggs), which give a brief (between two and five minute) look at something unique about the show. Each season contains between ten and fifteen Section 31 segments. The Region 2 DVDs also came with bonus CD-ROM discs, that allowed the user to build their own 'virtual' DS9 station on their computer with each release.
|
The cover of Avatar, Part I |
See also Deep Space Nine relaunchPocket Books has published several dozen books based on
DS9 since its premiere in 1993. Some of these were
novelizations of memorable episodes, such as "Emissary", "The Search" and "What You Leave Behind", which were usually published a few days after the episode officially aired in the United States. Several novels were part of "crossover" series between the
Star Trek franchises, while others were part of other franchises but dealt with events laid out in
DS9. For example,
The Battle of Betazed tells of how
Deanna Troi attempted to resist the Dominion occupation of her world (Betazed had fallen to the Dominion in
DS9 episode "
In the Pale Moonlight"). Most focus on the station and its crew, with a notable exception being
Ira Steven Behr and
Robert Hewitt Wolfe's
Legends of the Ferengi.
Of particular importance among the books published after
DS9 concluded its run is
Avatar, a two-part novel published on
May 1,
2001, which continued
DS9s legacy by picking up where the series left off. It began season 8 of DS9
, into which A Stitch in Time
(a biographical look at the life of Elim Garak, written by Andrew Robinson) was incorporated retroactively. The events of "What You Leave Behind", DS9s series finale, caused some radical changes to occur in season 8. As
Benjamin Sisko had entered the
Celestial Temple, Colonel Kira was given command of the station while a new Commander named
Elias Vaughn took over her position, Garak became the leader of post-war Cardassia,
Odo (now a part of the Great Link) helped the
Changelings rebuild, and
Rom presided over the
Ferengi Alliance, among other things.
Outside its line of
novels,
DS9 has been the subject of several
comic books and other publications. One comic is a spin-off of DS9, detailing
Nog's experiences at
Starfleet Academy. Another
DS9 comic series became an exceptional example of licensed
Star Trek works influencing each other, a major character from WildStorm Comics'
N-Vector, Tiris Jast, appeared in the
Avatar, Part I novel. Other publications, such as the
Deep Space Nine Technical Manual and
Deep Space Nine Companion, are common to all
Trek series.
DS9 series influences were included in role-playing game reference books from Last Unicorn Games and Decipher. Additionally, several novels have also been released in audio form, narrated by
Rene Auberjonois (Odo).
Several video games have been released over the years focusing on
DS9, although they are relatively few in number compared to
TNG. The first was
Crossroads of Time, a side-scrolling platform game released for the
Super Nintendo and
Sega Genesis in 1995. The game takes place around the time of the series premiere, borrowing some stories from early episodes such as "
Past Prologue" and creating others. A number of problems reportedly impeded the game's development process,
[On his personal website, lead designer Maurice Molyneaux provides behind-the-scenes information and personal reflections about the development of Crossroads of Time.] and it met with mixed reactions. No further games were released outside the
PC platform, although
DS9s influence (particularly the presence of the Dominion) is present in many other games.
Other games had similar results. Three DS9-themed games were released for the PC: Harbinger
(1996), The Fallen
(2000) and Dominion Wars
(2001). A little-known board game was released as part of the now-defunct "component board game" series, which included an intercompatible board name for The Next Generation
. DS9s
role-playing book, was one of several which went unpublished when
Decipher, publisher of the
Star Trek role-playing game, discontinued its line.
[Sources: http://www.boardgamegeek.com/game/12937 (board game); http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0671035002/103-4133841-0615823?v=glance&n=283155 (role-playing book)]The series features prominently in the
Star Trek
Customizable Card Game, particularly its second edition. In the game's first edition (originally the
Star Trek: The Next Generation Customizable Card Game),
Deep Space Nine was the titular fifth set released, followed by one entitled "The Dominion" and several other
DS9-themed sets. In the second edition, however,
DS9 has a much stronger presence. In this version, there are two types of cards for the United Federation of Planets, which may be placed at
Earth or Deep Space Nine. The
Ferengi, Dominion,
Cardassian,
Bajoran, and
Maquis affiliations are comprised primarily of
DS9-derived material, while the
Klingon affiliation also borrows strongly from it.
[Card lists for the second edition can be found at http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0671035002/103-4133841-0615823?v=glance&n=283155, while a comprehensive history of the first edition is at http://www.jklm.net/atn/pdp.html. Of note, particularly in the second edition, are the Bajoran and Dominion affiliations and the "Deep Space Nine"-oriented United Federation of Planets option; the material for all three comes almost exclusively from DS9. The Cardassian, Ferengi and Maquis affiliations also draw the majority of their source material from the series.] |
Promotional photo for Quark's |
Along with the rest of the
Star Trek franchise,
Deep Space Nine has been the subject of many merchandizing attempts.
Action figures,
keychains, and
models, and other items have been released. The station itself, which is highly recognizable and iconic of the series, is the subject of many of these items. Paramount also sells
Starfleet uniforms; among the styles is the so-called
"DS9-style" uniform, which is primarily black with a division colour (red for command, yellow for engineering or security, blue for medical and the sciences) on the shoulders.
DS9 is also well represented at
Star Trek: The Experience, where both Quark's Bar & Restaurant and the Promenade have been recreated faithfully. The former takes formal reservations or walk-ins, and is open daily from 11:30am-10:00pm (11 on Fridays). It serves
Star Trek-style food and drinks, hosting gatherings such as conventions as well. The latter (called the Shopping Promenade) was the natural choice for a place to sell various souvenirs and rarities; among the items for sale are Niners jerseys, official Starfleet uniforms and action figures.
General references
*
Star Trek: Deep Space Nine - The Complete Seasons 1-7 (DVD)
*
Notes
*
List of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine episodes*
Star Trek: Deep Space Nine DVDs*
Deep Space Nine relaunch*
Similarities between Babylon 5 and Star Trek: Deep Space Nine*
Star Trek: Deep Space Nine at StarTrek.com
*
*
*
Star Trek: Deep Space Nine at TrekCore.com
*
Star Trek: Deep Space Nine DVDs at DVD Journal
*
Star Trek: Deep Space Nine Scripts
