Far Beyond the Stars (DS9 episode)
Encyclopedia
"Far Beyond the Stars" is a season six episode of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine
. The teleplay was written by Ira Steven Behr
and Hans Beimler, based on a story by Marc Scott Zicree
. Avery Brooks
directed. It is special in that almost the full cast of DS9 plays human characters, without their alien costumes.
is talking to his father about leaving Starfleet
, but before he makes a decision, he is distracted by a vision of a man who is dressed in 20th Century clothes. The visions rapidly increase in number. Dr. Bashir's
tests of Sisko show the same synaptic potentials as he had when he had visions a year ago (in the episode "Rapture").
The visions show him as Benny Russell, an African-American science fiction writer on Earth in 1940s New York City
. Benny Russell writes for the science fiction magazine Incredible Tales, in a New York City populated by human versions of different characters from DS9: Herbert Rossoff (Quark
) as a left-wing short-tempered Jewish writer; Julius Eaton (Dr. Bashir), a British writer; K.C. Hunter (Kira Nerys
), a tough woman writer who has to adopt a nom de plume to disguise the fact that she's a woman from her readers; Albert (Miles O'Brien
), a socially awkward stutterer who prefers to write stories about robots; Darlene Cursty (Jadzia Dax
), a secretary whose ditsy, giggly personality belies her intelligence; Douglass Pabst (Odo), the editor of Incredible Tales, who feigns sympathy for the discriminatory treatment experienced by Benny (and K.C.), but refuses to help them or take responsibility for his own role in their treatment; Roy Ritterhouse, an artist (Martok
); a newsboy (Nog); two bigoted policemen (Gul Dukat
and Weyoun
); Benny's girlfriend (Kassidy Yates); a baseball player (Worf
); a local hustler (Jake Sisko
); and a fiery preacher who preaches about the will of the prophets (Joseph Sisko).
Pabst announces photo day and Hunter takes the hint that she should not show up that day so that the readers don't learn she's a woman. Benny Russell realizes he's not expected to show up for photos either because he is black. Though frustrated, he volunteers to write a story based on a stylized drawing of a space station. His story, "Deep Space Nine
", is about the station's commanding officer, Benjamin Sisko, a human of African descent (or Negro, the term used in the show). The other writers consider it an important work, but Pabst refuses to publish it due to its racial content. Instead of writing something else, Benny writes six new stories about Sisko. This causes a passionate argument in the office among the various employees with some suggesting that Benny should self-publish. Albert suggests that Benny make the ending of his first Sisko story a dream, a compromise that both Benny and Pabst accept after it is clarified that the dreaming is being done by a Negro person.
While out with his girlfriend to celebrate his story being published, Benny overhears gunshots. He rushes to the scene to find that a hustler
(Jake Sisko
) friend of Benny's has been killed by the police (Gul Dukat
and Weyoun
), ostensibly because he was trying to break into a car. When Benny protests this injustice, the police beat him savagely.
On his first day back at the office, excited to see his story in print, he learns that the whole month's run of the magazine has been “pulped”, as the owner preferred to take a loss rather than sell a magazine featuring a Negro hero and that Benny is being fired for writing the story. Benny breaks down; he screams that although the world can deny him, they cannot destroy his ideas and the the future he envisions is real. He collapses to the floor sobbing and is taken away by an ambulance. As he falls unconscious, he looks through the window and sees not a cityscape, but stars streaking by as if traveling at warp speed. The preacher sits by him and tells him that he is both the dreamer and the dream. Sisko wakes up back on the station, to the relief of his father and his son. He is deeply moved by his vision, and wonders if somewhere Benny Russell is dreaming of them.
as the main character, and did not deal directly with racial issues. Zicree originally patterned the Bashir/Kira characters on Henry Kuttner
and C. L. Moore
, and the O'Brien character on Isaac Asimov
.
Zicree's story was combined with ideas that story editor Robert Hewitt Wolfe
had written for a script called 'Cold and Distant Stars', a very early draft for the Season Three two-part episode Past Tense, in which Wolfe suggested a story about Sisko as a contemporary homeless man who believes he is a star base captain, but who is diagnosed as schizophrenic and drugged to suppress his visions. At that time, producer Ira Behr had rejected the hallucinatory element in favour of a time-travel story.
Star Trek: Deep Space Nine
Star Trek: Deep Space Nine is a science fiction television series set in the Star Trek universe...
. The teleplay was written by Ira Steven Behr
Ira Steven Behr
Ira Steven Behr born 23 October 1953, in New York City, New York, USA is an American television producer and screenwriter, most known for his work on Star Trek, especially Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, on which he served as showrunner and executive producer...
and Hans Beimler, based on a story by Marc Scott Zicree
Marc Scott Zicree
Marc Scott Zicree is an American science fiction author, television writer, and screenwriter. He is also the author of "The Twilight Zone Companion", a detailed history of Rod Serling's series The Twilight Zone...
. Avery Brooks
Avery Brooks
Avery Franklin Brooks is an American actor, television director, jazz musician, opera singer and college professor. Brooks is perhaps best known for his television roles as Benjamin Sisko on Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, and as Hawk on Spenser: For Hire and its spinoff A Man Called Hawk, and in the...
directed. It is special in that almost the full cast of DS9 plays human characters, without their alien costumes.
Plot
Benjamin SiskoBenjamin Sisko
Benjamin Lafayette Sisko, played by Avery Brooks, is the main character of the television series Star Trek: Deep Space Nine.-Early life and career:...
is talking to his father about leaving Starfleet
Starfleet
In the fictional universe of Star Trek, Starfleet or the Federation Starfleet is the deep-space exploratory, peacekeeping and military service maintained by the United Federation of Planets . It is the principal means by which the Federation conducts its exploration, defense, diplomacy and research...
, but before he makes a decision, he is distracted by a vision of a man who is dressed in 20th Century clothes. The visions rapidly increase in number. Dr. Bashir's
Julian Bashir
Lieutenant Julian Subatoi Bashir, M.D., played by Alexander Siddig, is a main character in Star Trek: Deep Space Nine. Bashir is the chief medical officer of space station Deep Space Nine and the USS Defiant.-Overview:...
tests of Sisko show the same synaptic potentials as he had when he had visions a year ago (in the episode "Rapture").
The visions show him as Benny Russell, an African-American science fiction writer on Earth in 1940s New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
. Benny Russell writes for the science fiction magazine Incredible Tales, in a New York City populated by human versions of different characters from DS9: Herbert Rossoff (Quark
Quark (Star Trek)
Quark is a fictional character in the American television series Star Trek: Deep Space Nine. The character, which was played by Armin Shimerman, was depicted as a member of an extraterrestrial race known as the Ferengi, who are stereotypically ultra-capitalist and only motivated by...
) as a left-wing short-tempered Jewish writer; Julius Eaton (Dr. Bashir), a British writer; K.C. Hunter (Kira Nerys
Kira Nerys
Kira Nerys , played by Nana Visitor, is a main character in Star Trek: Deep Space Nine.-Backstory:Per Bajoran custom, her family name, Kira, precedes her given name, Nerys. She has two brothers , and her parents' names are Kira Taban and Kira Meru...
), a tough woman writer who has to adopt a nom de plume to disguise the fact that she's a woman from her readers; Albert (Miles O'Brien
Miles O'Brien (Star Trek)
Miles Edward O'Brien, played by Colm Meaney, is Chief of Operations in Star Trek: Deep Space Nine. Before DS9, he appeared as a recurring transporter chief in Star Trek: The Next Generation...
), a socially awkward stutterer who prefers to write stories about robots; Darlene Cursty (Jadzia Dax
Jadzia Dax
Jadzia Dax , played by Terry Farrell, was a main character during the first six seasons of the science fiction television series Star Trek: Deep Space Nine....
), a secretary whose ditsy, giggly personality belies her intelligence; Douglass Pabst (Odo), the editor of Incredible Tales, who feigns sympathy for the discriminatory treatment experienced by Benny (and K.C.), but refuses to help them or take responsibility for his own role in their treatment; Roy Ritterhouse, an artist (Martok
Martok
Martok is a recurring character in Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, played by actor J. G. Hertzler.-Overview:Little backstory is given regarding the early life of Martok, except for a brief history sketched by himself in the Deep Space Nine episode "Once More Unto the Breach"...
); a newsboy (Nog); two bigoted policemen (Gul Dukat
Dukat (Star Trek)
Gul Dukat is the main antagonist of the fictional television series Star Trek: Deep Space Nine. He is a member of the fictional Cardassian species, and leader in the Cardassian Union. At times he is an enemy, whilst at others an ally of the series' protagonist Benjamin Sisko. He was played by actor...
and Weyoun
Weyoun
Weyoun is a fictional character from the television series Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, in which he is portrayed by Jeffrey Combs. In the series, Weyoun is a diplomat and advisor of the Vorta species who is a member of the ruthless and militaristic Gamma quadrant state the Dominion.Combs, who also...
); Benny's girlfriend (Kassidy Yates); a baseball player (Worf
Worf
Worf, played by Michael Dorn, is a main character in Star Trek: The Next Generation and in seasons four to seven of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine. He also appears in the films based on The Next Generation. Worf is the first Klingon main character to appear in Star Trek, and has appeared in more Star...
); a local hustler (Jake Sisko
Jake Sisko
Jacob "Jake" Sisko, played by Cirroc Lofton, is a character on Star Trek: Deep Space Nine. He is the son of Deep Space Nine's commanding officer, Benjamin Sisko.-Overview:...
); and a fiery preacher who preaches about the will of the prophets (Joseph Sisko).
Pabst announces photo day and Hunter takes the hint that she should not show up that day so that the readers don't learn she's a woman. Benny Russell realizes he's not expected to show up for photos either because he is black. Though frustrated, he volunteers to write a story based on a stylized drawing of a space station. His story, "Deep Space Nine
Deep Space Nine (space station)
Deep Space Nine is a fictitious space station, and is the eponymous primary setting of the science fiction television series Star Trek: Deep Space Nine. It serves as a base for the exploration of the Gamma Quadrant via the Bajoran wormhole, and is a hub of trade and travel for the sector's denizens...
", is about the station's commanding officer, Benjamin Sisko, a human of African descent (or Negro, the term used in the show). The other writers consider it an important work, but Pabst refuses to publish it due to its racial content. Instead of writing something else, Benny writes six new stories about Sisko. This causes a passionate argument in the office among the various employees with some suggesting that Benny should self-publish. Albert suggests that Benny make the ending of his first Sisko story a dream, a compromise that both Benny and Pabst accept after it is clarified that the dreaming is being done by a Negro person.
While out with his girlfriend to celebrate his story being published, Benny overhears gunshots. He rushes to the scene to find that a hustler
Hustling
Hustling is the deceptive act of disguising one's skill in a sport or game with the intent of luring someone of probably lesser skill into gambling with the hustler, as a form of confidence trick...
(Jake Sisko
Jake Sisko
Jacob "Jake" Sisko, played by Cirroc Lofton, is a character on Star Trek: Deep Space Nine. He is the son of Deep Space Nine's commanding officer, Benjamin Sisko.-Overview:...
) friend of Benny's has been killed by the police (Gul Dukat
Dukat (Star Trek)
Gul Dukat is the main antagonist of the fictional television series Star Trek: Deep Space Nine. He is a member of the fictional Cardassian species, and leader in the Cardassian Union. At times he is an enemy, whilst at others an ally of the series' protagonist Benjamin Sisko. He was played by actor...
and Weyoun
Weyoun
Weyoun is a fictional character from the television series Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, in which he is portrayed by Jeffrey Combs. In the series, Weyoun is a diplomat and advisor of the Vorta species who is a member of the ruthless and militaristic Gamma quadrant state the Dominion.Combs, who also...
), ostensibly because he was trying to break into a car. When Benny protests this injustice, the police beat him savagely.
On his first day back at the office, excited to see his story in print, he learns that the whole month's run of the magazine has been “pulped”, as the owner preferred to take a loss rather than sell a magazine featuring a Negro hero and that Benny is being fired for writing the story. Benny breaks down; he screams that although the world can deny him, they cannot destroy his ideas and the the future he envisions is real. He collapses to the floor sobbing and is taken away by an ambulance. As he falls unconscious, he looks through the window and sees not a cityscape, but stars streaking by as if traveling at warp speed. The preacher sits by him and tells him that he is both the dreamer and the dream. Sisko wakes up back on the station, to the relief of his father and his son. He is deeply moved by his vision, and wonders if somewhere Benny Russell is dreaming of them.
Conception
Zicree's original pitch for the episode featured Jake SiskoJake Sisko
Jacob "Jake" Sisko, played by Cirroc Lofton, is a character on Star Trek: Deep Space Nine. He is the son of Deep Space Nine's commanding officer, Benjamin Sisko.-Overview:...
as the main character, and did not deal directly with racial issues. Zicree originally patterned the Bashir/Kira characters on Henry Kuttner
Henry Kuttner
Henry Kuttner was an American author of science fiction, fantasy and horror.-Early life:Henry Kuttner was born in Los Angeles, California in 1915...
and C. L. Moore
C. L. Moore
Catherine Lucille Moore was an American science fiction and fantasy writer, as C. L. Moore. She was one of the first women to write in the genre, and paved the way for many other female writers in speculative fiction....
, and the O'Brien character on Isaac Asimov
Isaac Asimov
Isaac Asimov was an American author and professor of biochemistry at Boston University, best known for his works of science fiction and for his popular science books. Asimov was one of the most prolific writers of all time, having written or edited more than 500 books and an estimated 90,000...
.
Zicree's story was combined with ideas that story editor Robert Hewitt Wolfe
Robert Hewitt Wolfe
Robert Hewitt Wolfe is an American television producer and screenwriter. He is mostly known for his work as a writer on Star Trek: Deep Space Nine and for developing and producing the series Gene Roddenberry's Andromeda...
had written for a script called 'Cold and Distant Stars', a very early draft for the Season Three two-part episode Past Tense, in which Wolfe suggested a story about Sisko as a contemporary homeless man who believes he is a star base captain, but who is diagnosed as schizophrenic and drugged to suppress his visions. At that time, producer Ira Behr had rejected the hallucinatory element in favour of a time-travel story.
Alternate roles in 1950s
- Benjamin SiskoBenjamin SiskoBenjamin Lafayette Sisko, played by Avery Brooks, is the main character of the television series Star Trek: Deep Space Nine.-Early life and career:...
as Benny Russell/Benjamin Sisko - Kasidy Yates as Cassie, diner waitress
- QuarkQuark (Star Trek)Quark is a fictional character in the American television series Star Trek: Deep Space Nine. The character, which was played by Armin Shimerman, was depicted as a member of an extraterrestrial race known as the Ferengi, who are stereotypically ultra-capitalist and only motivated by...
as Herbert Rossoff, writer - Julian BashirJulian BashirLieutenant Julian Subatoi Bashir, M.D., played by Alexander Siddig, is a main character in Star Trek: Deep Space Nine. Bashir is the chief medical officer of space station Deep Space Nine and the USS Defiant.-Overview:...
as Julius Eaton, writer - Kira NerysKira NerysKira Nerys , played by Nana Visitor, is a main character in Star Trek: Deep Space Nine.-Backstory:Per Bajoran custom, her family name, Kira, precedes her given name, Nerys. She has two brothers , and her parents' names are Kira Taban and Kira Meru...
as K.C. Hunter, writer - Miles O'BrienMiles O'Brien (Star Trek)Miles Edward O'Brien, played by Colm Meaney, is Chief of Operations in Star Trek: Deep Space Nine. Before DS9, he appeared as a recurring transporter chief in Star Trek: The Next Generation...
as Albert Macklin, writer - Odo as Douglas Pabst, editor
- Jadzia DaxJadzia DaxJadzia Dax , played by Terry Farrell, was a main character during the first six seasons of the science fiction television series Star Trek: Deep Space Nine....
as Darlene Kursky, Pabst's secretary - WorfWorfWorf, played by Michael Dorn, is a main character in Star Trek: The Next Generation and in seasons four to seven of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine. He also appears in the films based on The Next Generation. Worf is the first Klingon main character to appear in Star Trek, and has appeared in more Star...
as Willie Hawkins, baseball player in diner - Jake SiskoJake SiskoJacob "Jake" Sisko, played by Cirroc Lofton, is a character on Star Trek: Deep Space Nine. He is the son of Deep Space Nine's commanding officer, Benjamin Sisko.-Overview:...
as Jimmy, teenage hustler - Joseph Sisko as street preacher
- Gul DukatDukat (Star Trek)Gul Dukat is the main antagonist of the fictional television series Star Trek: Deep Space Nine. He is a member of the fictional Cardassian species, and leader in the Cardassian Union. At times he is an enemy, whilst at others an ally of the series' protagonist Benjamin Sisko. He was played by actor...
as Burt Ryan, policeman - WeyounWeyounWeyoun is a fictional character from the television series Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, in which he is portrayed by Jeffrey Combs. In the series, Weyoun is a diplomat and advisor of the Vorta species who is a member of the ruthless and militaristic Gamma quadrant state the Dominion.Combs, who also...
as Kevin Mulkahey, policeman - Nog as newsboy
- MartokMartokMartok is a recurring character in Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, played by actor J. G. Hertzler.-Overview:Little backstory is given regarding the early life of Martok, except for a brief history sketched by himself in the Deep Space Nine episode "Once More Unto the Breach"...
as Roy Ritterhouse, magazine artist