Story: Emissary
Written By: Rick Berman and Michael Piller
Series: Star Trek: Deep Space Nine
Year: 1993
As Star Trek pilots go, “The Emissary” is probably the best. In terms of quality storytelling as well as introducing all our main story elements and characters this one does the best job of setting up the show for the series.
Is it a bit dull at times? Yeah. Does that really hurt it? No. I think the episode has enough to counter balance some boring moments in some interesting and thought provoking ideas that would serve the show well for the next seven years.
We get Bajoran mysticism, Cardassian sinister behavior, the Ferengi bar…and the Wormhole.
The plot is as follows. Ben Sisko is a Starfleet officer. At one point he was a happy Starfleet officer. But then a Starfleet Captain was abducted by the Borg and assimilated, and he helped destroy several ships. Sisko’s ship, the Saratoga, was among those destroyed. He managed to escape with his young son Jake, but not before his wife was killed in action.
So he is a bit jaded. He isn’t the pleased to serve officer we are used to in Trek. And that is great. When the episode begins he thinking of resigning. But before he has a chance to do so he must take command of a new Space Station the Bajoran people have acquired from the Cardassians, after ending the Cardassian Occupation of Bajor.
The man giving Sisko this assignment is Captain Jean-Luc Picard (clearly it is our passing the torch scene). Picard tells Sisko it his job to do everything short of breaking the Prime Directive, to make Bajor is ready to join the Federation. Sisko hates Picard. Their scene together is great, because Sisko blames Picard for the death of his wife, and Picard is still not entirely comfortable with his experience of being assimilated.
Also joining Deep Space Nine (as the station is being called), is a Trill Science Officer, Jadzia Dax, the current host of the Dax symbiot. The former host was Curzon Dax, and Curzon was once a mentor to Sisko. So we get a great interesting relationship between those two. Sisko looks at Dax and sees the “old man” he used to be friends with, but at the same time she is also this young attractive woman. It is an interesting thought.
The Federation have also sent a fresh out of the academy doctor…Julian Bashir, who is somewhat of a dweeb in the first couple of seasons: and I like that. Of all the characters in the whole of Trek, nobody has a better arc than Julian Bashir. He literally starts off fresh faced and ready for “Frontier Medicine” and by the end of the show he is a mature doctor, who has become very skilled in war medicine.
The final Federation person to join is a familiar face. Promoted from Transport Chief on the Enterprise-D to Chief of Operations for Deep Space Nine, Miles O’Brien. I think adding him to the cast did a couple of good things. First it gave TNG fans someone we all like. The second is that Colm Meaney is a great actor, and on TNG he was stuck being a recurring character beaming people on and off the ship. Here he has room to grow as a character.
So we get all our characters together with the Bajoran liaison to Deep Space Nine Major Kira, the shapeshifting chief of security Odo, and the Ferengi bar owner Quark…and we have one helluva cast.
The plot basically unfolds that they discover a wormhole. Not just a wormhole…but a stable wormhole. With aliens living inside it. It is stable and runs directly to the Gamma Quadrant…this is one hell of a find. So they move DS9 from near Bajor to closer to the Wormhole, in order to claim it in the name of Bajor and the Federation, and to not let the Cardassians at it.
So this may be one long review, but it is a feature length pilot that sets up a lot, more so than “Encounter at Farpoint” did for TNG. We actually get plot elements seeded in this one, elements that would go right up to the end of the series. As pilots go, this is a good one.
NEXT TIME: Bajor for Bajorans
Written By: Rick Berman and Michael Piller
Series: Star Trek: Deep Space Nine
Year: 1993
As Star Trek pilots go, “The Emissary” is probably the best. In terms of quality storytelling as well as introducing all our main story elements and characters this one does the best job of setting up the show for the series.
We get Bajoran mysticism, Cardassian sinister behavior, the Ferengi bar…and the Wormhole.
The plot is as follows. Ben Sisko is a Starfleet officer. At one point he was a happy Starfleet officer. But then a Starfleet Captain was abducted by the Borg and assimilated, and he helped destroy several ships. Sisko’s ship, the Saratoga, was among those destroyed. He managed to escape with his young son Jake, but not before his wife was killed in action.
So he is a bit jaded. He isn’t the pleased to serve officer we are used to in Trek. And that is great. When the episode begins he thinking of resigning. But before he has a chance to do so he must take command of a new Space Station the Bajoran people have acquired from the Cardassians, after ending the Cardassian Occupation of Bajor.
The man giving Sisko this assignment is Captain Jean-Luc Picard (clearly it is our passing the torch scene). Picard tells Sisko it his job to do everything short of breaking the Prime Directive, to make Bajor is ready to join the Federation. Sisko hates Picard. Their scene together is great, because Sisko blames Picard for the death of his wife, and Picard is still not entirely comfortable with his experience of being assimilated.
Also joining Deep Space Nine (as the station is being called), is a Trill Science Officer, Jadzia Dax, the current host of the Dax symbiot. The former host was Curzon Dax, and Curzon was once a mentor to Sisko. So we get a great interesting relationship between those two. Sisko looks at Dax and sees the “old man” he used to be friends with, but at the same time she is also this young attractive woman. It is an interesting thought.
The Federation have also sent a fresh out of the academy doctor…Julian Bashir, who is somewhat of a dweeb in the first couple of seasons: and I like that. Of all the characters in the whole of Trek, nobody has a better arc than Julian Bashir. He literally starts off fresh faced and ready for “Frontier Medicine” and by the end of the show he is a mature doctor, who has become very skilled in war medicine.
The final Federation person to join is a familiar face. Promoted from Transport Chief on the Enterprise-D to Chief of Operations for Deep Space Nine, Miles O’Brien. I think adding him to the cast did a couple of good things. First it gave TNG fans someone we all like. The second is that Colm Meaney is a great actor, and on TNG he was stuck being a recurring character beaming people on and off the ship. Here he has room to grow as a character.
So we get all our characters together with the Bajoran liaison to Deep Space Nine Major Kira, the shapeshifting chief of security Odo, and the Ferengi bar owner Quark…and we have one helluva cast.
The plot basically unfolds that they discover a wormhole. Not just a wormhole…but a stable wormhole. With aliens living inside it. It is stable and runs directly to the Gamma Quadrant…this is one hell of a find. So they move DS9 from near Bajor to closer to the Wormhole, in order to claim it in the name of Bajor and the Federation, and to not let the Cardassians at it.
So this may be one long review, but it is a feature length pilot that sets up a lot, more so than “Encounter at Farpoint” did for TNG. We actually get plot elements seeded in this one, elements that would go right up to the end of the series. As pilots go, this is a good one.
NEXT TIME: Bajor for Bajorans