I have been looking forward to this episode since I first started this project, and it didn't disappoint. Far Beyond the Stars is one of the greatest episodes of Star Trek and honestly of any television show I have ever seen. It manages to tell two stories at once without any explanation or narration. It deals with issues of racial discrimination in an way that feels more authentic than just about anything else I have ever seen. It gives the cast a chance to play totally unrelated characters which is especially fun for those who are typically covered in makeup. Not shockingly Colm Meaney gives a performance that exceeds most of the rest of the cast, but that's fine. Michael Dorn is as imposing out of makeup as in makeup and Rene Auberjonois makes a great old boss man. (Note: I am going to refer to the characters in the dream/vision by their usual character names.)
We begin with Sisko feeling down about the war. A ship captained by a friend of his has just been lost and he is questioning why he is still trying to lead the fight. He has a conversation about it with his father but notices a man in a 50's business suit walking by outside his office and jumps up to see who it is, but no one is there. Later while walking through a hallway with Kasidy he sees a man in a 50's baseball uniform and is suddenly in the middle of a busy street and is hit by a cab. He wakes up in sickbay with strange neural patterns but when he takes a PADD it is suddenly a book of science fiction stories and he is on the streets of New York. He buys the stories and gives a book of matches to Miles to light a cigarette. The two walk to work together, they are both science fiction writers. That day they are handed pictures to write stories for and Sisko jumps at the chance to write about a retro-future space station named Deep Space 9. We also learn they are going to get their pictures taken for the next issue, but both Sisko and Kira are to not show up for work that day.
That night Sisko is walking home when he drops his drawing which is caught under the foot of Dukat. He and Weyoun are cops who hassle him about where he got the suit and threaten to take him downtown, but they have other things to do and he makes it home and starts work on his story. A few days later he is getting breakfast at a diner and flirting with Kasidy who runs the place. Worf shows up as a baseball player and we learn even he is feeling the pressure of racial discrimination. He also meets Jake who is a young man trying to make money no matter how, including selling stolen property. The writing staff love the story, but the editor, Odo, isn't sure about the black protagonist. He is devastated that they won't publish his story, but after writing a bunch of sequels one of the other writers has an idea, make it a dream.
The dream idea takes off and Odo agrees to publish it and Sisko goes to Kasidy to celebrate. As they are leaving the club that night they hear gunshots, Jake has been shot by Dukat for breaking into a car. Sisko tries to confront him over it, but is badly beaten for his trouble. Cut to a few weeks later and Sisko is going back to work for the first time since he was attacked. The other writers are supportive and it is the day the magazine is going out so they can't wait to see his story in it. But Odo arrives with bad news, the publisher refused to print the story of the negro space captain. Sisko collapses in rage and after a talk with his father/preacher about whether it was a dream he wakes up in the infirmary. His drive has been renewed, by the prophets it seems, but all he knows now is that he can't give up.
Review: I am not sure this episode would work as well as some of the other greatest episodes out of context, but in context it is as good as it gets. Great performances and writing all around.
10 out of 10
No comments:
Post a Comment