VaBeachGuy 12 Posted May 27, 2005 Season: 6 Episode No: 538 Episode Name: Far Beyond The Stars Director: Avery Brooks Teleplay By: Ira Steven Behr & Hans Beimler Story By: Marc Scott Zicree Original Air Date: 11-25-1996 As casualties mount in the Dominion war, Sisko grows weary of the fighting. As he contemplates leaving Starfleet he begins to have unexplained visions of himself and his fellow crew members on Earth in the United States in the 1950's. As the visions intensify Sisko becomes Benny Russell, a science fiction writer for a small Sci-Fi publication. His fellow writers at the magazine are the members of the crew on Deep Space Nine. We follow Benny Russell through the struggles of 1950's racism and his struggle to get a story he has written published. The story that he has written is entitled "Deep Space Nine" and takes place on a space station deep in outer space, but because the captain of this fictional space station is a black man the publishers refuse to print the story. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
youbroughtheryouRiker 2 Posted June 2, 2008 So many votes, no replies. Until now. 5. Excellent episode. A whole lot of inside jokes going on. "What if it was a dream?" "Nah, just guts the whole thing." So funny right there. I think the whole "Maybe it's US who are the dream" bit was a little worthless, but really a fantastic episode. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
DaboGirl 7 Posted June 25, 2008 Powerful episode! 5 all the way!!! The path of least resistance was for Benny (Sisko) not to fight. But you have to fight, and stand up to what you know is wrong. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Gummy 0 Posted June 25, 2008 I thought it was the best episode of the series. I gave it five-out-of-five stars. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
VaBeachGuy 12 Posted April 25, 2011 I've always loved this episode, it was the first time I ever saw Quark without makeup. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
He Who Shall Not Be Named 2 Posted April 26, 2011 I thought these Benny Russell episodes were an unnecessary distraction. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
VaBeachGuy 12 Posted April 26, 2011 I thought these Benny Russell episodes were an unnecessary distraction. There were only 2, this one and Season 7 episode 1 Images in the Sand which was needed to re-open the wormhole. I read that they were considering having the final episode end with Benny writing the words that we had just watched, the implication being that none of it happened and was all just a 7 year "Benny Russell story". Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Mr.Picard 12 Posted April 26, 2011 I liked this episode somehow... I have a thing for episodes that give Trek actors the ability to play someone other than their Trek character. While I, not being a Niner at all, do like the idea of it all simply being a story, I can see why it would most likely have infuriated a lot of DS9 fans. ^_^ Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
VaBeachGuy 12 Posted April 26, 2011 I liked this episode somehow... I have a thing for episodes that give Trek actors the ability to play someone other than their Trek character. While I, not being a Niner at all, do like the idea of it all simply being a story, I can see why it would most likely have infuriated a lot of DS9 fans. ^_^ Yeah, making it all a story would have been a horrible idea. Like if at the end of TNG they had William Shatner as Kirk wake up from a dream and tell Leonard Nimoy as Spock about this nightmare he had about the future and about this bald captain, making the whole thing just a Captain Kirk nightmare. That sort of thing worked with the show "Newhart", but wouldn't be a good idea in Star Trek. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Mr.Picard 12 Posted April 27, 2011 I liked this episode somehow... I have a thing for episodes that give Trek actors the ability to play someone other than their Trek character. ^_^ While I, not being a Niner at all, do like the idea of it all simply being a story, I can see why it would most likely have infuriated a lot of DS9 fans. Yeah, making it all a story would have been a horrible idea. Like if at the end of TNG they had William Shatner as Kirk wake up from a dream and tell Leonard Nimoy as Spock about this nightmare he had about the future and about this bald captain, making the whole thing just a Captain Kirk nightmare. That sort of thing worked with the show "Newhart", but wouldn't be a good idea in Star Trek. LMFAO! I can just see Kirk being all horrified, "Spock, I had this horrible nightmare about a future in which the Klingons were our allies - there was even one serving in Starfleet! Can you imagine that? And then there was this bald captain who surrendered on his first mission as captain of the Enterprise! Whoever decided to hand over command to that man should've been thrown into a Federation prison! We need fighters, not diplomats!" Oh it would've been brilliant. From a fan fic point of view. Probably not so from a canon point of view, though... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites