145: Stuck in a Moment You Can’t Get Out Of

“Emissary” 30th-anniversary reflections

Commence station log. When Deep Space Nine premiered on January 3, 1993, it marked an unprecedented moment for Star Trek. Not only did Gene Roddenberry capture lightning in a bottle twice, the success of The Next Generation led to a second spinoff of the 1960s classic. But simply putting another crew on another starship to boldly go where no one had gone before wasn’t going to cut it this time. After all, the Enterprise was still busy doing just that. Instead, creators Rick Berman and Michael Piller took the original premise of Star Trek to heart and delivered the Wild West theme on which Roddenberry pitched the adventures of Kirk and Spock. The concept provided the foundation for an incredible exploration of the human condition and stories that have stood the test of time, continuing to teach, warn, and engage three decades later.

In this episode of The Orb, hosts C Bryan Jones and Matthew Rushing shift from our format of exploring the minutiae of DS9 to begin a 30th-anniversary retrospective that will take you through all of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, one episode at a time. In this installment, we begin with the pilot, “Emissary,” as we discuss how it establishes the story and tone of DS9 and sets the series apart from TNG.

Chapters
Intro (00:00:00)
Commence Station Log (00:00:53)
Memories of First DS9 Viewing (00:05:42)
Connections Matter (00:09:14)
Consequences Also Matter (00:13:00)
Finding Identity (00:17:53)
Standing the Test of Time (00:31:29)
And Now for Something Completely Different (00:34:21)
Conflict is Okay (00:39:48)
Final Thoughts and Ratings (00:49:15)
Closing (00:51:53)

Host
C Bryan Jones and Matthew Rushing

Production
C Bryan Jones (Editor and Producer) Matthew Rushing (Executive Producer) Norman C. Lao (Associate Producer)