In the tenth episode of the fifth season of\u00c2\u00a0Deep Space Nine<\/i>, Sisko becomes obsessed with his role as the Emissary after an accident. Intrigued? Then it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s time for Mark to watch\u00c2\u00a0Deep Space Nine<\/i>.<\/p>\n
What a gloriously complicated and uncomfortable episode. Much like \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Sacred Ground\u00e2\u20ac\u009d over on\u00c2\u00a0Voyager<\/i>, this episode got me thinking about faith and the challenges that come with belief, especially a belief that is so all-encompassing and scary as this one. I say \u00e2\u20ac\u0153scary\u00e2\u20ac\u009d not to imply that being religious is frightening, but to quantify the way in which Sisko\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s connection to B\u00e2\u20ac\u2122Hala compels him to act against his own self interest. And why shouldn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t he behave that way if he\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s so close to obtaining a truth that would positively affect the Bajorans as a whole?<\/p>\n
And yet, this episode is still heartbreaking, because for the first time in the history of this show, Benjamin Sisko chose something over his son. The show doesn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t ignore that, nor does it try to gloss over how traumatizing that is for Jake. Again, \u00e2\u20ac\u0153scary\u00e2\u20ac\u009d works here. Because\u00c2\u00a0what if Sisko was right<\/i>?<\/p>\n
I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ll return to that question later. It was utterly fascinating that Sisko was given a story about this specific phenomenon because he\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s historically been apathetic to Bajoran spirituality. Coming off of \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Accession\u00e2\u20ac\u009d from last season, this felt like a natural journey for him. What if Sisko\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s role as the Emissary was vital for the survival of the Bajorans? Which is a super complicated question to ask because, as we see in this episode, Sisko\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s got a responsibility to the Federation that puts him at odds with a spiritual journey that he might be on. How do you rectify that? Initially, though, that\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s not what this story is about. I kept expecting that the lost city of B\u00e2\u20ac\u2122Hala would reveal some long-lost secret of Bajor, but I now realize it was always just a catalyst. Sisko\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s obsession with it was only exacerbated after the plasma explosion.<\/p>\n
Yet the show never gives us an explanation for what was happening inside of Sisko\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s head. And you know what? I don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t think we should have been given one. That way, the show puts us into an active participant role. Like those who surround Sisko, we see the external affects of his behavior and we get none of the internal struggle. We don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t see his visions, we don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t get to experience any of them ourselves, and we just have to\u00c2\u00a0trust<\/i>\u00c2\u00a0that they\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re real as Sisko says they are. It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s an act of faith, and as Sisko\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s condition gets worse, that act becomes increasingly harder to maintain. Sisko is certain that the city of B\u00e2\u20ac\u2122Hala holds some crucial secret, but how can\u00c2\u00a0anyone<\/i>\u00c2\u00a0validate that?<\/p>\n
Even further, \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Rapture\u00e2\u20ac\u009d demonstrates the myriad of complications that this brings. I know it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s uncomfortable to think about, but isn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t this a version of the trope where an outsider makes themselves the god of a native group\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s religion??? Granted, Sisko didn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t choose this, and I absolutely believe that he sincerely felt like he was doing good. I don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t doubt that, but if I were in Starfleet, I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122d probably be horrified with what Sisko had done.<\/p>\n
Of course, it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s all made worse by a succession of acts: Sisko refuses surgery, despite that his son is begging him to stay alive, despite that Kasidy (!!!!!) has returned and is ready to resume her relationship with him, despite what Julian recommends. He rejects it all \u00e2\u20ac\u201c which is his right, and the show explicitly acknowledges that \u00e2\u20ac\u201c and EVERYTHING HURTS. Sisko made his son cry, I WAS NOT READY FOR THIS. But what of Sisko\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s weird alliance with Kai Winn, who finally accepts that Sisko is the Emissary? What of him bursting into the ceremony to admit Bajor into the Federation, warning of \u00e2\u20ac\u0153locusts\u00e2\u20ac\u009d that will destroy Bajor if they don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t stand alone? These are irreversible acts, at least for now, that have changed the course of history. Again, perhaps Sisko did something to save Bajor. (What if the locusts are the Dominion? WHAT IF.) Perhaps this will be viewed as a stroke of tactical brilliance in a couple years. But for now, Sisko nearly threw away his relationships and his career, all for a belief. All for faith.<\/p>\n
Is that worth it? I don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t know. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Rapture\u00e2\u20ac\u009d doesn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t tell us either, and so this episode becomes a haunting exploration of faith and duty. I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m haunted by Sisko\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s anguish over the loss of his visions, and I hope he didn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t just make everything worse. I want the best for him, but that\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s the thing with faith; you can\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t ever really know.<\/p>\n
The video for \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Rapture\u00e2\u20ac\u009d can be downloaded\u00c2\u00a0here for $0.99<\/a>.<\/p>\n Mark Links Stuff<\/b><\/p>\n – I am now on Patreon<\/a>! There are various levels of support, from $1 up to whatever you want! You’ll get to read a private blog, extra reviews, and other such rewards.<\/b> In the tenth episode of the fifth season of\u00c2\u00a0Deep Space Nine, Sisko becomes obsessed with his role as the Emissary after an accident. Intrigued? Then it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s time for Mark to watch\u00c2\u00a0Deep Space Nine.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[640,614],"tags":[615],"class_list":["post-5794","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-deep-space-nine","category-star-trek","tag-mark-watches-star-trek"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/markwatches.net\/reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5794","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/markwatches.net\/reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/markwatches.net\/reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/markwatches.net\/reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/markwatches.net\/reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5794"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/markwatches.net\/reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5794\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/markwatches.net\/reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5794"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/markwatches.net\/reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5794"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/markwatches.net\/reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5794"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\n– I\u00c2\u00a0will be at numerous conventions in 2016! Check the full list of events on my Tour Dates \/ Appearances page.<\/a>
\n– My Master Schedule<\/a> is updated for the near and distant future for most projects, so please check it often.\u00c2\u00a0My next Double Features for Mark Watches have been announced here.<\/a>
\n<\/b>-\u00c2\u00a0Mark Does Stuff is on Facebook!<\/a>\u00c2\u00a0I’ve got a community page up that I’m running. Guaranteed shenanigans!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"