3 minor characters with important roles on Star Trek: Deep Space Nine

I find holodeck or holosuite episodes to be kind of a hit and miss (no pun intended in regards to the baseball holosuite episode of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine.  Some of the storylines surrounding holodecks and holosuites fall flat, but others, for whatever reason, seem to work, and the recurring character of Vic Fontaine was one that I felt truly worked.

Perhaps it is because I myself have an affinity for jazz and big band music, but the only way I could have been happier with the character of Vic Fontaine, the holographic lounge singer and dispensary of romantic advice, is if he had been a recurring character throughout the series’ seven season run.

Vic Fontaine (played by James Darren) is, to my knowledge,  the only recurring character on a holodeck or holosuite. Fontaine’s self-aware and completely endearing personality provided him with immediate popularity among the crew of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, who began to regularly seek him out for advice, especially of a romantic nature.

Fontaine would play match maker between Odo and Kira, causing both of them to finally realize and act on their feelings for one another.

Nog greatly struggled with the loss of his leg, both physically and emotionally, which caused him to immerse himself in the world of Vic Fontaine and his Las Vegas Lounge.

Throughout the course of the episode, Vic convinces Nog that he needs to return to the real world and continue to live out his life, and in return, Nog arranged for Vic’s program to run continuously, giving Vic the closest thing he would ever have to a real life.

Fontaine was very instrumental in helping both Quark and Dr. Julian Bashir in getting over their love for Dax and moving on with their respective lives.

At the end of the Dominion war, Fontaine held a special concert in his lounge in the holosuite, that was attended by the entire crew of DS9, during the series finale “What You Leave Behind.”

Fontaine’s rendition of “The Way You Look Tonight” perfectly and beautifully encapsulates the bitter sweet ending of the series, that sees the O’Briens returning to earth, Worf becoming an ambassador, Odo rejoining the link, Sisko taking his place as Emissary, and life going on on DS9, under the watchful gaze of Colonel Kira. “What You Leave Behind” had one of the more emotional endings of a Trek series, and left this Trekkie misty eyed.

Fontaine would make only a handful of appearances in DS9, and not until the final two seasons of the show, but because of the way the character and his episodes were written, and the way the character was played by James Darren, he would leave a lasting impression with not only the crew of DS9, but the fans of the series as well.

While Vic Fontaine never flew a starship or negotiated a piece treaty with an enemy alien race,  the two seasons in which he appeared, and the series as a whole, simply would have not been the same if not for the talents of the holographic lounge singer and love guru.

If you have a favorite minor character from Star Trek: Deep Space Nine that you feel the series would have been seriously lacking without and I overlooked them, please feel free to let me know.