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'Deep Space Nine' Might Have Been All a Dream

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I have heard this idea before and all I can say is that it TERRIBLE! People can say whatever they want about Berman but I'm betting he's the one who shot this down and Star Trek is better for it. Making DS9 (and by extension all of Star Trek a dream) completely devalues Roddenberry's vision.

 

I can see how it is a good ending but should have only been used if DS9 was a standalone television series.

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I agree, it's an interesting idea but not one I'd have liked to have happen. I was glad to see Benny Russell brought back in season 7 but I think the way they ended the series was they way it should have been. Though I wouldn't argue if they decided to make a movie... or 2... :welcome:

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I agree, it's an interesting idea but not one I'd have liked to have happen. I was glad to see Benny Russell brought back in season 7 but I think the way they ended the series was they way it should have been. Though I wouldn't argue if they decided to make a movie... or 2... :welcome:

There are basically one key problem with a DS9 movie, IMO:

Despite the overall quality of DS9, it is probably the least recognizable series to the general public (aside from Enterprise) . Therefore, while a DS9 movie would be a huge draw for fans, it may not draw the movie-going public (who would ultimately determine its success or failure). Add to that the fact that any story would basically have to be related to the series (which again is largely unfamilar to non-fans). I'd love to see it but the fact that DS9 really flew under the public's radar (I've heard DS9 referred to as "The best show on TV that no one noticed") doesn't bode well for a movie in the future.

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Trying to sell the whole series as a dream would have upset a lot of fans. On the other hand, it was quite funny when used at the end of Newhart, but that was a comedy.

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The dream end would have made me go insane.

I would have hated that.

I'm glad somebody squashed it. :welcome:

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The last season and most of the story in Roseanne turned out to be nothing but a book Roseanne was writing. It got to me and I liked the way they went, but it would have been a HUGE mistake if done on DS9. There's some references to DS9 in the other series and movies as well, so if DS9 was a dream then everything else would have been also.

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And to think I was annoyed by them making Sisko a "God" ...

 

At least someone laid down the law on the whole "dream" thing. That would have been REALLY stupid.

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Didn't Chicago Hope turn out to be all the imagination of an autistic child?

That was St. Elsewhere.

 

There were some other bad ideas for DS9's finale. One was apparently to let the Dominion win the war and then have Voyager bring Borg technology back with them to defeat them. Terrible.

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I agree; the idea of DS9 being a dream was best left in the arc starting with "Far Beyond the Stars". I also agree that DS9 was too tied into the series and movies to be just a dream. And that it would have been an insult to Gene.

 

The Dominion winning the war and Voyager turning the tide at the end might have been cool, but it would have hurt DS9 to end it on such a downer. And it would have been unreasonable to have Voyager save the AQ.

 

I was not bothered by Sisko becoming a Prophet or whatever happened there. It was kind of confusing, but it -did- tie up the series quite nicely. I loved when Sisko really became passionate about Bajor. The Prophets really transformed him, and while I'm not religious, the story does have a certain appeal for me.

 

Back to topic, I think the dream ending is a way out - an apology, even. It says that everything didn't have to make sense and that nothing the characters did or felt mattered at all.

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I was not bothered by Sisko becoming a Prophet or whatever happened there. It was kind of confusing, but it -did- tie up the series quite nicely. I loved when Sisko really became passionate about Bajor. The Prophets really transformed him, and while I'm not religious, the story does have a certain appeal for me.

 

I believe the opposite. I hated the fact that the Bajorans had brainwashed Sisko into believing that he was actually a religious figure. I like Sisko much better when he referred to the "prophets" as the wormhole aliens because thats all they really were.

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Myself I would have been very displeased if they had ended the series in this way. With the fact that DS9 appeared in TNG and VOY it would have made the entire Trek Universe a dream which would have been a definite insult, not only to the memory of Gene Roddenberry but to all of the fans as well.

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And to think I was annoyed by them making Sisko a "God" ...

 

At least someone laid down the law on the whole "dream" thing. That would have been REALLY stupid.

 

 

I was not bothered by Sisko becoming a Prophet or whatever happened there. It was kind of confusing, but it -did- tie up the series quite nicely. I loved when Sisko really became passionate about Bajor. The Prophets really transformed him, and while I'm not religious, the story does have a certain appeal for me.

 

I believe the opposite. I hated the fact that the Bajorans had brainwashed Sisko into believing that he was actually a religious figure. I like Sisko much better when he referred to the "prophets" as the wormhole aliens because thats all they really were.

 

I don't think Sisko actually believed he was a prophet, or 'god'. beyond the fact that he discovered that he was half-human, half 'wormhole alien.' I think that in the course of learning to love Bajor, and to respect the Bajorans and their faith, that he learned to fulfill the 'calling' their perspective foisted upon him. I do not think he ever thought of himself or the wormhole aliens as gods, just as aliens whom the Bajorans regarded as prophets. I think he respected the gifts that the 'prophets ' had due to their existing outside of 'linear time.' I think he was able to manage the ambiguity of his position as a Star Fleet Officer and his position as 'Emissary' precisely because he did not buy into the religious aspect, beyond certain 'responsibilities,' but did learn to operate within the 'prophets' ' special knowledge of time.

 

I agree that it was better not to end DS9 as if the whole series had been a dream, and not a true part of Star Trek universe. It would have been deeply disappointing to me. To me the reason why the story 'Far Beyond the Stars' was so poignant was that there really was a time when Deep Space Nine could not have been published as a short story, let alone be part of a long running TV series. During that time, Sisko in command would not have been accepted among the general public.....it would be more unfathomable to accept such an idea than it would have been to believe any of the fantastically imagined plots.

 

If DS9 had all been a dream, then somehow, it would not have the same validity of the other Star Trek series. It would be in some kind of limbo where, even within the imaginary Star Trek universe, the role of Commander Sisko would not have to really be accepted as a major part of the Star Trek universe - not in a starring role. DS9 would be like a 'second class' Star Trek series, in my opinion.

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I don't agree that Sisko was brainwashed. I think it was one of the major arcs holding the whole series together, that Sisko went from taking the job only willingly to liking it to feeling so connected with Bajor and the Prophets.

 

He may not have believed that they were gods, but he did say in one episode that they were looking out for Bajor - and either he or someone else made the connection that that's all gods really are - superior beings who look out for lesser beings. Just think, if a given starship in the fleet would have gone back in time to Earth's dark ages, if the crew threw the prime directive out the window, they could pass as gods. Especially if they didn't have a Human among them. But then Kira said a couple of times that faith is all the Bajorans need.

 

 

Back to the original topic - DS9 being all a dream would have failed, because in 7x02 "Afterimage" Sisko acknowledges that the Benny hallucinations were a false vision sent by the Pah-Wraiths. Maybe it was in/with that episode that they turned away from the "it was all a dream" path, because after "Far Beyond the Stars" it became a possibility, I guess.

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If DS9 ended as a dream, Paramount would have been burned down, and the executives slain. The fans would have rioted for weeks.

The origional "Benny" visions were sent by the prophets, and the later "Benny" vision, where the doctor was trying to convince Benny that everything was a story were the false visions. Ironcily, this is almost exactly what the producers must have gone through when trying to decide, Is DS9 all a dream,(Pah-Wraith) or is it real, (Prophets).

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If Deep Space Nine was a stand alone series, then perhaps a dream concept may have worked. But as a show within a larger franchise, it wouldn't have worked. But it was a nice idea.

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IF the series was a dream, then it becomes a mightmare for all of the Trek Fans.

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