Far Beyond the Stars

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Star Trek: DS9 episode
"Far Beyond the Stars"

Episode no.	138
Prod. code	538
Airdate	February 2, 1998
Writer(s)	Marc Scott Zicree Ira Steven Behr Hans Beimler
Director	Avery Brooks
Guest star(s)	Jeffrey Combs Marc Alaimo J.G. Hertzler Brock Peters Aron Eisenberg Penny Johnson
Year	2374
Stardate	Unknown
Episode chronology
Previous	"Who Mourns for Morn?"
Next	"One Little Ship"

"Far Beyond the Stars" is a season six episode of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine. The teleplay was written by Ira Steven Behr and Hans Beimler, based on a story by Marc Scott Zicree. Avery Brooks directed.

1 Plot
2 Notes
3 Alternate roles in 1950s
4 References
5 External links

[edit] Plot

Benjamin Sisko is talking to his father about leaving Starfleet, but before he makes a decision, he is distracted by a vision of a man who is dressed in 20th Century clothes. The visions rapidly increase in number. Dr. Bashir's tests of Sisko show the same synaptic potentials as he had when he had visions a year ago (in the episode "Rapture").

The vision, from the Prophets, show him as Benny Russell, an African-American science fiction writer on Earth in 1950s New York City.

Benny Russell writes for the science fiction magazine Incredible Tales, in a New York City populated by human versions of different characters from DS9: Herbert Rossoff (Quark), as a left wing Jewish writer, who often threatens to quit; Julius Eaton (Dr. Bashir), considered to be maudlin in his writing and pretentious in his dress and mannerisms; K.C. Hunter (Kira Nerys), a tough woman writer who has to adopt a nom de plume to disguise the fact that she's a woman from her readers; Albert (Miles O'Brien), a socially awkward stutterer who prefers to write stories about robots; Darlene Cursty(Jadzia Dax), a ditsy, giggly secretary whose intelligence everyone underestimates, who is constantly chewing bubble-gum and who recognizes Benny's story for the masterpiece it is; Pabst (Odo), the editor of Incredible Tales, who expresses sympathy for the discriminatory treatment experienced by Benny (and K.C.), but refuses to help them or take responsibility for his own role in their treatment; an artist (Martok); a newsboy (Nog); two policemen (Gul Dukat and Weyoun); a waitress and Benny's girlfriend (Kassidy Yates); a ball player (Worf); a hustler (Jake Sisko); and a fiery preacher who preaches about the will of the prophets (played by Sisko's father).

Pabst announces photo day and Hunter takes the hint that she should not show up that day so that the readers don't learn she's a woman. Benny Russell realizes he's not expected to show up for photos either because he is black. He is appalled and angered.

Russell is inspired to write a story about a U.S. Air Force space station called "Deep Space Nine", whose commanding officer is Benjamin Sisko, an African-American (or Negro, the term used in the show). The other writers like the story, but Pabst refuses to publish it and gives Benny a new assignment. Instead of completing the new assignment, though, Benny writes six new stories about Sisko. This causes a passionate argument in the office among the various employees. Albert suggests that Benny make the ending of his first Sisko story a dream, a compromise that both Benny and Pabst accept after it is clarified that the dreaming is being done by a negro person.

A hustler (Jake Sisko) friend of Benny's is killed by the police (Gul Dukat and Weyoun), ostensibly because he was trying to break into a car. When Benny protests this injustice, the police severely beat him. On his first day back at the office, excited to see his story in print, he learns that Pabst's boss did not like the story and ordered whole month's run of the magazine “pulped”, preferring to take a loss rather than sell a magazine featuring a negro hero. Angry over this news, and the news that he is being fired over writing the story, Russell has a nervous breakdown and is taken away by ambulance. As he falls unconscious, he looks through the window and sees not a cityscape, but stars streaking by as if traveling at warp speed. Sisko wakes up, to the relief of his father and his son. He is deeply disturbed by his vision, and now wonders what is real, his life on Deep Space Nine, or his life as Benny Russell.

[edit] Notes

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Zicree's original pitch for the episode featured Jake Sisko as the main character, and did not deal directly with racial issues. Zicree originally patterned the Bashir/Kira characters on Henry Kuttner, and C. L. Moore and the O'Brien character on Isaac Asimov.^[1]

Benny Russell appears in another vision in the episode "Shadows and Symbols".

Joseph Sisko quotes a passage from the Holy Bible, which Benjamin remarks is unusual for him (it is also unusual in Star Trek in general).

The hustler Jimmy (Cirroc Lofton) uses the racially charged word "nigger" in this episode, in reference to the fact that black people, in his view, will never get into space except to shine white people's shoes. This is the first and only use of the word in the Star Trek universe.

Alexander Siddig and Nana Visitor, who portray Julian Bashir and Kira Nerys, respectively, portray married couple Julius and Kay Eaton in this episode; the pair were married in real life at the time.

During an argument, Julius Eaton (Bashir) says "We're writers, not Vikings" in the style of the typical Star Trek doctor's line, "I'm a doctor, not a ...".

Many of the covers for the science fiction magazines list titles of original Star Trek episodes, including some by D.C. Fontana (analogous to Kay Hunter in this episode, who, like Fontana, publishes using her initials to prevent her gender being discovered, although the relationship between Hunter and Eaton might also reflect C. L. Moore and Henry Kuttner).

Incredible Stories' offices are in the "Arthur Trill building", a reference to both the Trill species and the real-life Brill Building.

Aron Eisenberg (Nog) is a newsboy, vending magazines, one of which shows Starbase 11 from the original series episode "The Menagerie." Jeffrey Combs (Weyoun, and Brunt of the FCA) and Marc Alaimo (Gul Dukat) play policemen. J. G. Hertzler (Martok) plays the artist at the magazine whose drawings inspire the writers. Michael Dorn (Worf) plays a baseball player, the first African-American player for the local major league team (the New York Giants). Penny Johnson (Kasidy Yates) plays a waitress at a diner, aspiring to own the diner. Cirroc Lofton (Jake Sisko) plays a delinquent teenager who scoffs that black people might ever have equality with whites. Brock Peters (Joseph Sisko) plays a priest who counsels Benny Russell to write his story boldly. Terry Farrell (Jadzia Dax) is Pabst's secretary (she exclaims about the "worm" in Jadzia's belly).

Pabst remarks that Herbert has "been in a bad mood ever since Joseph Stalin died." This statement, in addition to being an accusation of Communist sympathies on Herbert's part, would place the 20th century events of the episode sometime after March 5, 1953. Benny remarks to Michael Dorn's character that his team, the New York Giants, are in fifth place, which would be analogous to 1953, as the Giants' best player, Willie Mays, was then in the Army serving in the Korean War and unable to help the team. The latest that the events experienced by Benny Russell could have taken place would be 1957, the year that the Giants moved to San Francisco, California. A novelization of the episode places the events in 1953, and also includes scenes from 1940, as a younger Benny attends the 1939-40 New York World's Fair and has an experience that inspires his interest in science fiction.

Although dressed as a Christian priest, Brock Peters' street preacher refers to the "Prophets" and at one point touches Benny's ear as a Bajoran cleric would to sense one's pagh.

At one point, Benjamin's dream slightly derails and he sees Kira Nerys instead of K.C. Hunter. At another point, while dancing with his bride to be in his apartment, Benjamin sees himself dancing with Kasidy on DS9 for a brief moment. He also sees Worf in a Klingon uniform instead of Willie the baseball player, and Dukat and Weyoun as the detectives while they are beating him.

Although Casey Biggs (Damar) did not play an alternate role in this episode, he was later cast as Doctor Wykoff in season 7, episode 2 Shadows and Symbols.

The office set features a model of the Moon rocket from the comic Destination Moon, an adventure in Hergé's The Adventures of Tintin series.