Despite its consistent acclaim for its performances and writing, Star Trek: Deep Space Nine series has not achieved the same mainstream recognition as other Trek series in its era such as The Next Generation and Voyager. Still, die-hard Trek fans love Deep Space Nine.
Season 4 Episode 2 “The Visitor” is a microcosmic example of Deep Space Nine’s lesser popularity. While “City on the Edge of Forever” and “Yesterday’s Enterprise” are often in the conversations for the best Trek episode of all time, “The Visitor” is often overlooked.
The episode chronicles the life of an adult Jake Sisko following the disappearance of his father, Benjamin Sisko, into subspace. Benjamin Sisko repeatedly reappears throughout various points in Jake’s life allowing the two to spend a few moments together at a time. Eventually, Jake abandons his writing career and his marriage to study subspace mechanics in an attempt to free his father. After calculating when his father will appear, Jake injects himself with a hypospray that will allow him to die in his father’s presence and free him from the subspace tether. The plan works and the older Sisko returns to the time of the accident where he avoids the discharge that trapped him in the first place.
The episode has received praise for the performances of the late Tony Todd as the adult version of Jake Sisko and Avery Brooks in his regular role as Benjamin Sisko. However, the performance of Cirroc Lofton as the younger Jake Sisko cannot be overlooked. Both Lofton and Todd bring an emotion to their roles that strikes serious empathy from the audience.
Anyone who has had a strong relationship with one or both of their parents can identify with this episode. The episode nails the feelings of grief and loneliness that humans experience if we feel we have lost our whole world. As someone who grew up with a strong father-son relationship, this episode is particularly emotion-invoking.
Deep Space Nine is excellent at exploring relationships. Particularly a black father-son relationship such as Jake and Benjamin’s. This episode only confirms that fact. It should absolutely be considered one of the all-time great episodes of Trek and I would highly recommend any Trek fan check it out.