Having watched the Original Series, the Next Generation, all the movies, four seasons of Voyager (God help me) and six of Deep Space Nine, this episode is by far one of the boldest and most daring Star Trek episode I've ever seen.
Despite it being in the sixth season it, like some other episodes, has little to do with the Dominion War. Instead, Ben Sisko begins to have some flashbacks and hallucinations, culminating in him showing up in 1950s America, as a science fiction writer.
And everyone's there! Aron Eisenberg, who plays Nog, plays a newspaper vendor here, out of makeup. Virtually all the main cast members appear as 'characters' and completely out of makeup. For some, like Armin Shimerman and Rene Auberjonois, they seem entirely unidentifiable, if not for the slight gestures, manners of speech, and general behavior and chemistry that they retain from the actual show as Quark and Odo.
It's great fun to see an illustrator walk in to the writer's office drawling as he shows off his drawings for the sci-fi magazine, and realize by his voice that he's General Martok, or that the the way that sleazy officer tilts his head and stiffens his neck utterly gives him away as Gul Dukat.
Despite that, the episode does not rely on this gimmick to stay idly by as filler. If anything, the episode's message could appear outdated to some, as it deals with issues of race and discrimination of a level not experienced outside the deep south since the 60s, yet such a message can still be relevant, and comes across powerfully in the hands of writers such as these.
Unlike the path taken by "Voyager" and "Enterprise" and even some episodes of TNG, this one is bold and daring, stepping outside the mold of monotony that is offered by the likes of "Voyager". Ben Sisko is Benny Russell, a sci-fi writer who, upon viewing a drawing by Roy Ritterhouse (General Martok) of a space station (DS9), begins formulating a deeply engrossing science fiction story epic that everyone loves...
And yet Douglas Pabst (Odo) can't publish it because the main character is black. A "Negro", and the episode does not censor itself in using the term Negro or Colored. In an especially bold decision, they even use the N-word, with Jimmy (Jake Sisko) just telling it like it is to Benny; publishers will never accept him or his story, because to them, he's just a n***er.
There's great chemistry between everyone, with loads of opportunities for everyone to chew scenery with great relish (Michael Dorn blazes with tremendous ham as Willie Hawkins, a black baseball player), and the story is very deeply thought out, with these 1950s versions of DS9's cast having just enough personality traits to mirror their Trek counterparts, occasional paranoid slips, such as when Benny Russell briefly sees Kay Eaton as Major Kira, or the Preacher (Joseph Sisko) preaching about the Prophets, and touching Benny's ear like the Bajorans do.
In the end, the decision is made to publish the story, with the compromise that it all turns out to be a dream of a common, lower-class black man. Yet despite this, the entire magazine issue is "pulped" by the owner, and Benny is fired, culminating in a glorious monologue that wonderfully shows off Avery Brooks' acting abilities, and a subsequent breakdown or panic attack that has Russell carted off in an ambulance...
...and return to Deep Space Nine as Benjamin Sisko.
The ending adds a nice tease, with Sisko wondering if indeed his entire life and Deep Space Nine is just a dream, and that he really is Benny Russell. No real purpose to it, nor does it go anywhere, but it's always a neat addition.
Despite it being in the sixth season it, like some other episodes, has little to do with the Dominion War. Instead, Ben Sisko begins to have some flashbacks and hallucinations, culminating in him showing up in 1950s America, as a science fiction writer.
And everyone's there! Aron Eisenberg, who plays Nog, plays a newspaper vendor here, out of makeup. Virtually all the main cast members appear as 'characters' and completely out of makeup. For some, like Armin Shimerman and Rene Auberjonois, they seem entirely unidentifiable, if not for the slight gestures, manners of speech, and general behavior and chemistry that they retain from the actual show as Quark and Odo.
It's great fun to see an illustrator walk in to the writer's office drawling as he shows off his drawings for the sci-fi magazine, and realize by his voice that he's General Martok, or that the the way that sleazy officer tilts his head and stiffens his neck utterly gives him away as Gul Dukat.
Despite that, the episode does not rely on this gimmick to stay idly by as filler. If anything, the episode's message could appear outdated to some, as it deals with issues of race and discrimination of a level not experienced outside the deep south since the 60s, yet such a message can still be relevant, and comes across powerfully in the hands of writers such as these.
Unlike the path taken by "Voyager" and "Enterprise" and even some episodes of TNG, this one is bold and daring, stepping outside the mold of monotony that is offered by the likes of "Voyager". Ben Sisko is Benny Russell, a sci-fi writer who, upon viewing a drawing by Roy Ritterhouse (General Martok) of a space station (DS9), begins formulating a deeply engrossing science fiction story epic that everyone loves...
And yet Douglas Pabst (Odo) can't publish it because the main character is black. A "Negro", and the episode does not censor itself in using the term Negro or Colored. In an especially bold decision, they even use the N-word, with Jimmy (Jake Sisko) just telling it like it is to Benny; publishers will never accept him or his story, because to them, he's just a n***er.
There's great chemistry between everyone, with loads of opportunities for everyone to chew scenery with great relish (Michael Dorn blazes with tremendous ham as Willie Hawkins, a black baseball player), and the story is very deeply thought out, with these 1950s versions of DS9's cast having just enough personality traits to mirror their Trek counterparts, occasional paranoid slips, such as when Benny Russell briefly sees Kay Eaton as Major Kira, or the Preacher (Joseph Sisko) preaching about the Prophets, and touching Benny's ear like the Bajorans do.
In the end, the decision is made to publish the story, with the compromise that it all turns out to be a dream of a common, lower-class black man. Yet despite this, the entire magazine issue is "pulped" by the owner, and Benny is fired, culminating in a glorious monologue that wonderfully shows off Avery Brooks' acting abilities, and a subsequent breakdown or panic attack that has Russell carted off in an ambulance...
...and return to Deep Space Nine as Benjamin Sisko.
The ending adds a nice tease, with Sisko wondering if indeed his entire life and Deep Space Nine is just a dream, and that he really is Benny Russell. No real purpose to it, nor does it go anywhere, but it's always a neat addition.