Season 1, Episode 1: “Emissary”

By now, I will assume that you have viewed the episode that I listed in my first post, which I will now recap, but first, here's the story that happened in between the exposition I gave for the planet of Bajor and its occupation by the Cardassians. What happened was that after the Cardassians withdrew, the governing body for Bajor asked for Starfleet to have a presence on it. Starfleet then found an old mining outpost orbiting the planet called Tarek Nor, refurbished it and renamed it Deep Space Nine. (For those who are curious, a space station in this universe is “Deep Space,” followed by a number.) Now, here are the characters. First, there's Benjamin Sisko, a commander in Starfleet. He was commander of a ship that got destroyed by the Borg attack on Wolf 359. He obviously survived, but his wife, Jennifer, wasn't so lucky. He apparently also holds Captain Jean-Luc Picard responsible for her death, as through his grief, he cannot separate the man from the machine. Ever since he lost Jennifer, he's been working in some kind of mine, and, as the story opens, he has been called to be the commander of Deep Space Nine. Then there's Kira Nerys, the Bajoran major in Starfleet on Deep Space Nine. She resents Starfleet's presence in Bajor, because she's been fighting for Bajoran independence “since [she] was old enough to pick up a phaser.” (I don't know about you, but that seems a bit young to lobby for independence.) Then is Odo, a Changeling, someone who can change appearance at will. What you see in the picture is simply his preferred appearance. He's the chief of security at Deep Space Nine, and apparently really curious if he's the only Changeling in the universe. Then Julian Bashir, the chief medical officer at Deep Space Nine, and he cracks me up, which is pretty much all I can say about his character at this point. Then is Lieutenant Jadzia Dax, a Trill, which means that she has possibly indefinite copies of her persona. She was Sisko's friend in her original body, Curzon. By the way, her last name is her proper name, as the copies of her have different first names. She, as of the moment I first saw her onscreen, is also my new crush in the sci-fi world (come on, guys reading this, you gotta admit, she's GORGEOUS). I'm not talking about Terry Ferrell, who plays her, either. I'm talking about Dax herself. Then there's Miles O'Brien, who used to serve on Picard's Enterprise. That's pretty much all I know about him, too. Then there's Sisko's son, Jake. (Can I just say, the actors playing Sisko and Jake may not be related in real life, but they share so much chemistry and look so much the same, it's totally conceivable that they are.) I don't know much about him, either, but I'm sure he'll be more developed as time goes by. Finally, there's Quark, the bartender on Deep Space Nine's promenade (in case you were wondering, he's a Ferengi, which I somehow left out in my description last post, who are a species who strive on pure capitalism, and have ingrained sexism, also). Quark, who, from what I can tell, is also quite grumpy and mainly serves as the show's comic relief, unlike other Ferengi, displays a moral code on more than one occasion, and over time, becomes quite likable for those who stick with him.
Now, to the story: As the show's main story opens, Sisko and Jake are arriving at Deep Space Nine, which the Cardassians trashed almost completely on their last day of occupation of it, killing four Bajorans. Also, since the primary systems were damaged, the cleanup crew is exclusively focused on that, rather than on the promenade (that's the commercial portion of the station). To make matters worse, all defenses were also stolen. Also, most shopkeepers decide to leave the station. After being told all this, Sisko is confronted by a some weird Bajoran guy in a religious-looking outfit who tells him, “The prophets await you.” He declines the offer for the moment. Also, O'Brien's wife bailed out on the station when she saw the quarters for her and him. Picard also asks to see Sisko, and, after a confrontation with Kira and her skepticism, and our intro to Quark and his nephew, Nog, and their intention to leave the station, which is put up in the air by Nog's purloining (that's “stealing”) of ore samples, whatever that is, we finally see the exchange between Picard and Sisko I'm sure none of us were looking forward to, where we find out that, apparently, the Cardassians, during their time occupying the planet, robbed it of every valuable resource and, when they left, didn't leave the planet with much of a means of being self-sustaining. Sisko also tells Picard that he's planning to retire to civilian service, but that he'll continue to do his job in the meantime. Quark is then sent a plea bargain to let Nog go in exchange for keeping his bar open, which he agrees to. Kira and Quark also believe that Starfleet will be gone in a week, which would lead to a civil war between the Cardassians and Bajorans. Kira also says that their Kai (spiritual leader), named Opaka, would be the one who Kira (and, by that extension, all Bajorans) would listen to if they needed unity between the two factions, as the Bajorans are commonly linked by their religion. The Cardassians, obviously, have attempted to get to her, but she lives in seclusion (is it too early to say that that's the reason she does?). Then the weird guy from the beginning comes back and says that “it's time.” Opaka then says that Sisko is supposedly their emissary. There's some kind of orb that contains Bajor's “tear of the prophet.” Opaka then says that Sisko will find a “celestial temple” in space, and that he must do so before the Cardassians do.
Quark's bar becomes a commercial hub at the station and Dax and Bashir arrive. O'Brien also signs up formally. Dax also finds out what's been going on with the orb, but before that happens, but just after the Enterprise leaves, the station's former prefect, Gul Dukat, comes to the station looking to investigate them. Dax eventually reveals that the orbs all came from one location, and at that location, it was once said that an earlier Kai claimed he had a vision of the heavens opening up and almost swallowing his ship. Sisko then concocts a plan to get the Cardassians temporarily out of commission so they can explore the place. They are successful (though I'm surprised they managed to predict their movements so effectively). When they get to the “temple,” it's revealed that it's a wormhole, a big deal because they hadn't discovered any stable ones up to that point. On the other side of the wormhole is the yet-unexplored Gamma Quadrant. They then, on their way back, stumble on the so-called prophets on their planet (yes, a planet in a wormhole), life forms who aren't bound by normal time or space. Dax is transported back to the station through complex means that aren't described explicitly, but Sisko is left on the planet where they are.
Not a whole lot happens in to Sisko, except that he accepts Jennifer's death after three years and negotiates an agreement with the “prophets” to allow anyone who wishes to pass through the wormhole to do so. For now, though, my attention is focused on the station. There, the crew decides to take the station into the wormhole using their six thrusters (not very strong in space). Also, Odo decides to come with them so he can find out who he actually is. A roundabout vessel (those mini-vessels you see for short-range trips into space) departs the station, and, after an intense encounter with the natural order of things working against the station's mobility, the Cardassians reveal themselves to be attempting to get to the orbs, and Dukat declines Kira's attempt at helping him, then goes into the wormhole and ends up on the other side of it. At around the time that the roundabout vessel is about to go in after them, the “prophets” disassemble it (this was pre-negotiation-conclusion). This leaves the station without any way to prove the presence of it, causing Gul Jasad, another Cardassian, to believe that Dukat's ship was destroyed by the station, for which he demands the unconditional surrender of the station. Kira then says that she needs a day to make the preparations, but Jasad gives her an hour only (which doesn't make sense to me, but to each his own). At the end of that hour, Kira fires torpedoes at Jasad's ship, and just as things look like they're going to be very tense for a few years, Sisko comes out of the wormhole towing Dukat's ship with the roundabout's tractor beam, causing the Cardassians to withdraw their fight, though once Picard comes back to the station, he predicts that the wormhole will attract the Cardassians to the planet some other time. Sisko also tells Picard to ignore the request for his replacement. The wormhole also turns Deep Space Nine into a thriving commercial hub.
Well, that's it for the blog for now. The next episode to watch is “Past Prologue.” I also am deeply sorry this is two days late. For now, this is Luke, signing off.

Welcome and Introduction to the Universe Behind it All

Hello, my name is Luke Altman. I am an aspiring writer, but for now, I'm still a high-school senior awaiting what'll happen on my dream college front. But that's all irrelevant at the mo’. For now, I'll just say that I am a humongous nerd... for anything that's good, that is. Books, television, film, music... anything considered good by the general public, I'll want to see, read, play or listen to. I have attempted a few blogs in the past, but I have never been able to stick with them. However, I have a totally new setup now. This blog will be devoted to my viewing of the classic sci-fi TV series, “Star Trek: Deep Space Nine,” which, while not as popular as its parent series, “Star Trek: The Next Generation,” hardly floundered in the ratings during its six-and-a-half years and seven seasons on the air. You may be asking, “Why ‘Deep Space Nine?’ Why not another ‘Star Trek’ related show?” Well, the big thing about this particular show is that, instead of restoring the status quo ante (that's “the way things were before,” for those of you not versed in Latin) or better at the end of each episode, “Deep Space Nine” told one cohesive story throughout its run, often with its episodes ending with cliffhangers, especially near the end, where it was told like a science fiction serial. For this reason, the show gives me much more to work with in recaps than any of the other shows in the “Star Trek” oeuvre. To give you the chance to follow what I'm talking about when I do the recaps, I invite you to watch the show with me as I write. I will give you the title of the next episode so you will know which one to select on the DVD or the Internet, whichever platform you may choose.
Now, a little schooling in the rules of this universe: The show is set in the 24th century (and, for those without much knowledge of the mythology, by all means, skip this paragraph), where our world is no longer a bunch of separate governments but one really big one. Our world founded a branch of government called the United Federation of Planets, as a way of telling which alien species’ were our allies, which were enemies and which were neutral. The defense branch of our government, Starfleet, was founded to explore new life forms on new planets, “to boldly go were no man has gone before,” quoth the old intro to the 1966-1969 series.
Since each episode of that show, as well as the succeeding films and its follow-up, “The Next Generation,” introduces a new race, species or even entity, many viewers may need a guidebook to keep track of which ones are allies and which are enemies. However, wherever people who haven't seen “The Next Generation” will get confused, I will provide a summary of who the person or persons featured in the episode in question in the preceding week of said episode's viewing. First, let me tell you about the Borg, whose existence will figure prominently in “Deep Space Nine's” set-up. The Borg are a cyberkinetic race whose whole existence is bent around the “assimilation,” or conversion from human to Borg. In a famous two-part episode of “The Next Generation” (the season three closer and season four opener), the Borg transported Captain Jean-Luc Picard (Patrick Stewart, who would later play Professor Xavier in the “X-Men” films, as well as several Shakespearean roles) of the Federation starship Enterprise aboard their cube-shaped ship to assimilate him, which they do successfully, causing the Borg to attempt an assault on Earth, which is temporarily blocked by a whole armada of other starships (at a place apparently called Wolf 359), but the Borg destroy all ships concerned in said armada without even straining themselves. Later, the rest of the crew of the Enterprise get Picard back on the ship, and, after a great effort, Picard is unassimilated, and then tells them how to defeat the Borg (through one word, “sleep”), which the crew uses to put the Borg Collective (each Borg ship operates like a single unit, hence the “Collective” part) to sleep. This also causes a self-destruct sequence for the Borg ship, effectively saving Earth. Picard subsequently has all implants from the Borg removed, though he is still severely shaken from the encounter, which is fixed in the next episode, but, as characters in “Airplane!” frequently say, “that's not important right now.”
Now, to Bajor: Many years before the events of the pilot of “Deep Space Nine,” a race called the Cardassians came to a planet called Bajor and took over it in a Nazi-like way. Several Bajorans joined refugee camps where they formed terrorist attacks against the Cardassian Occupation. Eventually, the Cardassians withdrew from Bajor. Once you've seen the show, you'll see what happens next.
I will attempt to tell you which episode to view next week. I will attempt an uninterrupted weekly schedule each Tuesday. The first episode (also the first episode listed in the DVD set and on Amazon Instant Video) we will see is “Emissary.” I will allow a week to have my audience view the episode. Meanwhile, I will also watch the “Next Generation” season five episode “I, Borg,” as that will introduce a portion of its plot as a later part of a major two-part episode in “Next Generation” history that can be viewed by itself in between the first and second seasons called “Descent.” For now, this is Luke Altman signing off, hoping that people will read this blog.