In Defense of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine

Let me guess--you saw the title of this blog, and thought "oh, brother," right?  As if the world needed another brave little soldier defending the Trek franchise...

Well, I'm big fat gonna defend it, OK? It's late, and I'm bored.  Get used to it.

But I won't defend it for the reasons of which you're probably thinking right now.  And I'm not going to touch The Original Series (TOS, to Trek fans) or The Next Generation (yep, you guessed it--TNG, for short [we're really creative]).  Specifically, I want to talk about Deep Space Nine, the basement-dwelling relative, the unwelcome visitor, and the slow driver in the fast lane of the Star Trek universe.  

Here's the thing:  in my humble opinion, DS9 (points to those of you who deciphered the code and know that DS9 stands for Deep Space Nine) is often ostracized by Trek purists because of its radical departure from Gene Roddenberry's vision of the universe as something of a utopia, where money isn't needed and science is hailed as the principle virtue that unites the various galactic species.  This is an oversimplification, I know.  But this is a blog, not a book, so you'll just have to let it go this time.  

DS9 presented a somewhat darker perspective of humanity, but I still feel that pieces of Roddenberry's vision remained in tact; diversity, for example, was championed in a major way, presenting Trek fans with the first African-American in the Captain's chair (the wonderful Avery Brooks as Benjamin Sisko), as well as the first female first-officer.  But it is true that in general, DS9 painted a grittier picture of the Trek universe than any series before or after it.

Trek has long been known for its love of asking difficult questions of its viewers, and DS9 did it better than most.  Kirk was a "shoot first, ask questions later" kind of Captain, but supremely confident and (aside from a weakness for chasing the ladies) a rather self-righteous fellow.  Picard possessed Kirk's confidence, but lacked his more human qualities; however, Picard always sided with the angels, saw things in black and white, and rarely strayed beyond the confines of his "Starfleet Rules and Regulations" manual.  Sisko, however, well...Sisko cared little for rules, and strayed into morally gray territory more than just about any other Trek captain.  It's one of the things that made the show so interesting to watch, because you really never knew quite what was going to happen.  I remember an episode entitled "By the Pale Moonlight" which saw Sisko trying to find a way to bring the Romulans into the Federation war with the Dominion.  The means by which he attempts to do this don't just accent black and white with a little gray; they grab a paint sprayer and douse the whole canvas in a pretty shade of it.  And when things don't go the way Sisko had planned, the situation escalates and becomes even more precarious.  Rather than backtrack, Sisko forges ahead and accomplishes his purpose--but not without a cost.  It's disturbing, troubling--and absolutely some of the most compelling television I've ever watched.  Check it out sometime; the episode occurs in Season 6.

DS9 also flirted with religion, and whether you are religious or not, you can't deny that religion plays a major role in the lives of a lot of people.  Trek didn't always ignore religion, but it never went out of its way to explore it, either (at least, not consistently).  DS9 boldly goes where no Trek had ever gone before by placing its lead character in the role of a religious icon.  Now that takes guts.  And throughout its run, DS9 continued to return to the "religion vs. science" debate, arguing (to some degree, I think) that the universe is a big enough place for both--that the presence of one doesn't necessarily preclude the existence of the other.  It's Deep stuff.  

I guess I didn't really defend DS9 after all...I just shared my enjoyment of it.  And now I don't think it really needs defending.  The quality of the writing, the professionalism of the cast, and the boldness and uniqueness of the concept pretty much speak for themselves. 

So now, if you'll excuse me...I'm halfway through Season 7, and I'd like to finish it before my conference next week.

Later.