‘EMISSARY’ (DS9)
Please feel free to comment on my review.
As I write this review, I reflect on when I attended the ‘Destination Star Trek Birmingham’ convention in October 2018. I saw and had many photos with the stars that appeared in ‘Star Trek: Deep Space Nine’, my favourite ‘Star Trek’ spin-off series. It was surreal seeing the first episode again and know this.
Here we are on the most innovative and creative of ‘Star Trek’ shows made during the 1990s. ‘Star Trek: Deep Space Nine’ is a brilliant incarnation of the ‘Star Trek’ series. It has a slow start to begin with in its first two seasons, but it got a lot better by the time we reached the third season and beyond.
‘Deep Space Nine’ is a bolder and darker series compared to ‘The Original Series’ and ‘The Next Generation’. The most unique thing about ‘DS9’ is that it’s a ‘Star Trek’ show set on a space station. With an idea like that, there are bound to be limitations and not much ‘trekking’ aboard a space station.
Thankfully that didn’t happen as the producers and writers ensured the show had a lot of weight to keep it going and last for seven seasons on TV. Things were set up in ‘TNG’ to get it starting, but ‘DS9’ soon had its own life and it eventually became a saga that was dramatic, emotional and action-packed.
Let’s talk about the show begins, shall we? Like ‘TNG’, ‘DS9’ begins with a season opener that is the equivalent of a two-parter called ‘Emissary’. The episode begins with a prologue that takes places during the ‘TNG’ two-parter ‘The Best of Both Worlds’. It’s when the fleet of Wolf 359 fought the Borg.
Captain Picard has become Locutus by this point. On board one of the Federation starships fighting the Borg during the Battle of Wolf 359, there’s a battle-hardened Starfleet officer. This is Avery Brooks as Commander Benjamin Sisko. His ship gets attacked and badly damaged in battle by the Borg here.
As the crew and civilains of Sisko’s ship try to escape in the escape pods from the Borg, Sisko tries to save both his son Jake and his wife Jennifer. He manages to save young Jake but his wife Felecia M. Bell as Jennifer gets killed during the battle. Sisko is forced to leave her behind as the ship gets blown up.
Three years later, Sisko gets assigned by Starfleet to be the commander of a space station called Deep Space Nine. He takes his son, Cirroc Lofton as Jake, with him. Deep Space Nine is in orbit of Bajor, a planet once occupied by the Cardassians. The space station was used by Cardassians in the occupation.
The Bajorans now own the space station after the Cardassians were made to leave. As Bajor hopes to enter the Federation, Starfleet comes by to assist the Bajorans in their recovery from the Cardiassian occupation. Times are hard and tensions are raised despite the Federation’s willingness to assist Bajor.
Sisko isn’t happy about having to be the commander of an alien space station during a troubled time for Bajor after the Cardassian occupation. He hoped Starfleet would grant his request to not be commander of DS9 and be reassigned somewhere else. Sisko even considers resigning his commission.
Upon arrival, Sisko and Jake find the space station is a bad state. The Cardassians had recently attacked the station after being forced to leave. The station’s defences are down and there’s anarchy among civilians and shop owners on the promenade. The station’s staff are working very hard to repair things.
One of the station staff is a new member – Colm Meany as Chief Miles O’Brien! Yes, that’s right! Chief O’Brien from ‘TNG’ is now a regular cast member of ‘DS9’. I was happy to see Chief O’Brien in ‘DS9’. It provides the familiar connection from ‘TNG’ into ‘DS9’ when venturing into this unfamiliar TV spin-off.
O’Brien has the brunt of the work laid upon him regarding repairs to the station. He’s now promoted from transporter chief of the Enterprise-D to chief of operations aboard DS9. O’Brien explains the circumstances of DS9’s state of disarray to Sisko once he arrives on the space station with his son Jake.
Sisko also meets Nana Visitor as Major Kira Nerys, in the charge of the Bajoran staff aboard the space station. Major Kira is an angry Bajoran woman who is very distrustful of Starfleet’s presence in Bajor’s territory. She was once a terrorist that fought for Bajoran independence in the Cardassian occupation.
Despite Sisko trying to find ways to get along with Major Kira, she’s unconvinced about the Federation helping Bajor out being a good thing. She’s certain the alliance between Bajor and the Federation won’t last long. Despite anger management issues and grudges, Major Kira does the role asked of her.
Sisko also meets Rene Auberjonois as Odo, the shape-shifting chief of security aboard Deep Space Nine as well as Armin Shimerman as Quark the Ferengi. A unique aspect of this ‘Star Trek’ show is that not all the regulars are Starfleet officers. This is unusual as it provides distrust between characters and varying points of view.
Patrick Stewart from ‘TNG’ makes a special guest appearance as Captain Picard as well as Locutus of Borg in the episode. Sisko gets to meet Picard aboard the Enterprise regarding the Bajoran situation. Sisko still holds the grudge against Picard as he holds him responsible for his wife’s death three years ago.
Despite this, Sisko intends to carry out his duty as station commander of DS9 to the best of his ability. He even sees to it that Quark the Ferengi stays on the station, persuading him to be the community leader. This works pretty well as Quark eventually decides to run his own bar aboard the space station.
Sisko also meets Camille Saviola as Kai Opaka, Bajor’s spiritual leader. Opaka shows Sisko the Orb of Prophecy and Change. Several similar orbs were sent to the Bajorans by their prophets. After experiencing a vision of his wife Jennifier, Sisko is requested by Opaka to look for the ‘celestial temple’.
This ‘celestial temple’ becomes important in the series as the DS9 crew soon discover a wormhole in Bajoran space. Sisko also gets claimed to be the ’emissary’ of the prophets, a messiah figure to help Bajor in their time of need. Sisko gets given the Orb of Prophecy and Change by Opaka to study further.
The episode also introduces series regulars Terry Farrell as science officer Jadzia Dax and Siddig El Fadil (who later changed his stage name to Alexander Siddig) as Dr. Julian Bashir. Jadzia Dax happens to be an old friend of Sisko’s. Or rather the Trill worm inside Dax as she was once the ‘old man’ Curzon Dax.
Yes, Jadzia is a Trill host that carries a worm creature inside her body that gets carried from one person to the next. Trills were an alien species introduced in the ‘TNG’ episode ‘The Host’ and they get reintroduced here. Jadzia becomes a complex character with memories of Curzon Dax and other hosts.
Julian Bashir is a young, eager, inexperienced and rather smug Starfleet officer who becomes the chief medical officer aboard Deep Space Nine. From what I’ve gathered, not many people like Bashir’s character when he was introduced in the series early on. But honestly, I found him to be a fine character.
In this episode, Sisko and Jadzia work together to study the Orb further and find out where the Bajorans’ ‘celestial temple’ is. They go together in a Starfleet runabout vessel where they discover the wormhole for the first time. The wormhole seems to be manufactured and contains odd aliens inside.
These aliens are actually the Bajoran prophets whom Sisko tries to communicate with. He tries to explain the concepts of linear time and existence to which the Bajoran prophets don’t understand as they experience his memories. Those scenes where Sisko’s with the prophets were confusing on first watch.
This episode also features the first appearance of Marc Alaimo as Gul Dukat, the Cardassian officer who becomes a major antagonist in the series. There is also brief appearances of Aron Eisenberg as Nog, the Ferengi boy as well as Max Grodenchik as Rom, Nog’s father and Quark’s brother in the series.
There’s also the introduction of the ‘Star Trek: Deep Space Nine’ theme music composed by Dennis McCarthy. I like the ‘DS9’ theme music as it feels melancholy at first before becoming bold and majestic. The opening titles is different to the ones for ‘TOS’ and ‘TNG’ as no opening narration is in it.
The space station design for DS9 is pretty unique, especially with it not being of Starfleet origin and instead being of Cardassian origin. The Cardassian architecture feels very different compared to Starfleet standards of space station design. At least we get the runabout vessels recognisably Starfleet.
‘Emissary’ is a very good beginning to the ‘DS9’ series. It sets up the characters well and introduces Sisko well as a man who finds a purpose to remain in Starfleet and be station commander of DS9. It does take a while to appreciate the style and atmosphere of this series, but overall I found this very engaging.
‘Emissary’ (DS9) rating – 9/10
| The previous story
For ‘The Next Generation’ was |
The next story
For ‘The Next Generation’ is For ‘Deep Space Nine’ is |
| Return to Star Trek | |
| Return to Sci-Fi |
Bradley's Basement 