Successfully Completing Star Trek: Deep Space Nine After 25+ Years

I’ve been a Star Trek fan for as long as I can remember. From watching The Original Series on TV as a kid to catching Star Trek III at the local drive-in, this franchise has been a big part of my life. Recently, I decided to dive into Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, a show I had never seen all the way through. Binge-watching shows with lots of seasons has become my new hobby, so I set out to watch all of Deep Space Nine on my Paramount+ subscription. Let me tell you, the show was fantastic overall, but the finale left me with a couple of major issues.

Wrapping up a Star Trek series is no easy task. Many have struggled with their final episodes, whether due to cancellations or rushed conclusions. Deep Space Nine’s finale did try to tie things up neatly, but there are a few key problems that I just can’t overlook.

Compared to other Star Trek series finales, Deep Space Nine’s final episode holds up fairly well. While The Original Series left fans hanging and Enterprise had a hectic ending, Deep Space Nine makes a solid effort to wrap things up. However, the conclusion for Captain Sisko felt lacking in a couple of ways.

In the last episode, we see Captain Sisko resolve his role as the Emissary of the Bajoran Prophets and bring the Dominion War to a close. His final face-off with Cardassian Gul Dukat in the Bajoran Fire Caves ends ambiguously. It’s implied that Sisko dies initially, only for his wife Cassidy to have a vision of him saved by the Prophets. Sisko pledges to return, leaving his fate uncertain.

Interestingly, this ending wasn’t the original plan. The initial idea was for Sisko to become one with the Prophets forever, but actor Avery Brooks pushed for a different resolution. The compromise we got may have been better than the first idea, but it still feels like a bit of a letdown. The finale falls somewhere between a dark, dramatic conclusion and a more upbeat happy ending, leaving viewers somewhat unsatisfied.

Looking back, I can’t help but feel that a more definitive ending for Sisko would have been more fulfilling. Whether a sacrifice to save Bajor or a traditional happy ending, a clearer resolution would have better suited the complex character of Benjamin Sisko and the overall tone of Deep Space Nine as a dark and gritty take on Star Trek. The ending we got seems like a compromise that didn’t quite hit the mark.