I just watched DS9 ‘Far Beyond The Stars’ - Season 6 Episode 13
As a person of colour (I’m Indigenous Canadian) this was a very impactful, thoughtful and striking episode that really hit home on a lot of subjects they were still dealing with in 1998 when this first aired. The main story harkens back to the 1950s but much of the same issues from the mid century were still being felt in the 90s. In many ways, the messages from this show still resonate today.
We all like to think that 1950s style overt racism in the streets is a bygone thing and doesn’t exist or not as prevalent any more but it is still there. I was totally amazed and blown away to watch this and to listen to the story it told. Racism may not be shouted in my face any more but I still feel it come out of the cracks of society every once in while and more often than not in social media forums and platforms where bad actors can anonymously scream and shout whatever they please.
This DS9 episode was a beautiful reminder of why I always loved Star Trek. It is through episodes like this that show us what we could be in the far distant future if we want it enough. As a kid and teenager, I always saw and understood the ideas and images of thinking that we could achieve a world in the future where colour, race, background or gender no longer mattered. I always noticed that in the Original Series and it was something I was really happy to see when I watched The Next Generation and Voyager as a teenager. I never got the chance to watch DS9 until now and after watching this episode I’m happy I did. That message of wanting a world of inclusion and openness is a really hopeful message I’ve always loved in Star Trek.
The bonus was in seeing all the actors, the main cast, and some of the supporting characters appear as they are in real life was amazing as well.
That simple message really resonated with me … ‘You are the dreamer … and the dream’. We can all imagine a future where we can all be at our best and if we work hard enough towards it, we can be part of that dream. It’s a small thing but in many ways, I’m happy to have this small community at c/tenforward with you … I’ve always dreamt of enjoying Star Trek and now I feel that I am part of this digital dream with you all.
In everything else, I will never stop dreaming of a better future, no matter what may happen in the world … I will always hope that we can all become part of that dream.
If you haven’t seen the series yet, I would highly recommend it just to be able to see everything lead up to this episode. It is a definite highlight that will stick with me for a long time.
This is one of the best episodes not just of trek, but of television period. It’s time for a rewatch for me.
I was a bit saddened at the thought that there could be a point in my life where I would have watched all of Star Trek … but I’m realizing as I get older that my memory is fading. I sometimes rewatch some episodes of TNG, which I watched years ago and once enough time passes, it feels like watching them again for the first time. So my failing memory is making me happy to know that I’ll probably be watching Star Trek for the rest of my life.
The Siskos, about to drop some serious new jack city music.
When you finish your DS9 journey, be sure to watch the What We Left Behind documentary they made a few years ago. They get together and plot what would happen in the first episode of a new DS9 season, 20 years later.
Reading up on the episode and learning about the writers and actors as I keep watching the series.
This documentary you mentioned will be added to my list to watch now … unfortunately, it doesn’t seem to be readily available in Canada. I’ll have to find other ways or sources to be able to watch it.
Shows like this are special, not because we get to watch them … but the way we share them with others and get to know that there are many people out in the world who share the same views and ideas.
It’s stuff like this that makes me wish I had seen more than maybe 5 episodes of DS9
Trust me the beginning is not easy … I think I started and stopped watching DS9 about five or six times over the years. I started it again last summer and the first season is a bit of slog, second season felt a lot better and by three and four, I was looking forward to it all. Once you get past those first few episodes, there are some definite jewels to see and you get to enjoy all the major cast members and characters that are part of the show. At times, the good guys become the bad and even the bad guys become the good and sometimes you can’t tell which makes you realize that this is what life and society is all about. You get to love the protagonists and you even grow to enjoy and appreciate the antagonists because there is so much great writing and acting in the series.
DS9 has some of the best story telling in all the treks.
Ronald D. Moore (who went on to do Battlestar Galactica & For All Mankind) & Ira Steven Behr mostly.
This particular episode owes its life to Ira and Avery Brooks, from what I understand. The writer’s room and studio execs wanted it to be a trite little episode featuring Benny just trying to write the stories of Deep Space Nine and get them published. Avery said “hell no we’re doing an episode in the 50s with a black man, it really needs to be uncomfortable because that’s what Star Trek does best”.
And you could tell some of that bled out in other areas. The S7 episode Badda-Bing Badda-Bing about the holosuite casino heist specifically. Kassidy tried to convince Sisko to do it but he kept declining…
Sisko: You really want to know what my probme is? I’ll tell you…Las Vegas 1962, that’s my problem. In 1962 black people weren’t very welcomed there. Oh sure they could be performers or janitors, but customers never.
Kassidy: Maybe that’s the way it was in the real Vegas but that’s not the way at Vic’s. I have never felt uncomfortable there and neither has Jake.
Sisko: But don’t you see that’s the lie! In 1962 the Civil Right’s Movement was still in it’s infancy. It wasn’t an easy time for our people, and I’m not going to pretend that it was!
Kassidy: Baby, I know that Vic’s isn’t a totally accurate representation of the way things were. But it isn’t meant to be. It shows us the way things could’ve been…they way they should’ve been.
Sisko: We cannot ignore the truth about the past.
Kassidy: Going to Vic’s isn’t going to make us forget who we are or where we came from. What it does is reminds us that we are no longer bound by any limitations! Except the ones we impose on ourselves.
