![]() ![]() She’s angry… angry at the Cardassians, angry at the Federation, angry at her own people and, most of all, she’s angry with herself for the past deeds she’s committed and which still haunt her. It’s understandable too – she’s spent most of her life as a freedom fighter, staging terrorist attacks on the Cardassian forces which had occupied and brutalized her world for half a century. When we first meet her, she is brash, arrogant, distrustful and often downright hostile, especially towards the Federation characters. One of the most compelling elements of Deep Space Nine is watching how the characters evolve over its seven-season run, and none are more compelling than the growth of Major Kira. For many, DS9’s defining character was Major Kira Nerys, a member of the Bajoran Militia, Sisko’s first officer, and a former terrorist. Deep Space Nine’s cast of characters was diverse and well-written.But the complexity of Benjamin Sisko was really just the tip of the iceberg. Throw in the fact that Sisko was both a father and a widower, and unlike Star Trek’s previous leads, was not initially a captain (until the end of Season 3), and you have a main character that was far more complex and nuanced than was typical for the era. Many felt that Avery Brooks’ performance in the episode was worthy of an Emmy, and the fact that he also directed the episode goes a long way to proving just how passionate Brooks and DS9’s producers were about tackling such confronting material. ![]() Through Sisko, DS9 was able to explore the historical plight of African-Americans, which essentially culminated in what is often cited as one of the finest and strongest moments in television history: the season 6 episode “Far Beyond the Stars,” which sees Captain Sisko hallucinating that he’s a struggling black sci-fi pulp writer in mid-20th century America who must deal with the bigotry that a black person in that time period experienced on a daily basis. “Emissary,” DS9’s pilot episode, first aired in January 1993, less than a year after the Los Angeles Riots – the casting of a black man as DS9’s lead was a poignant social statement in and of itself. ![]() The series lead, Benjamin Sisko (portrayed so passionately by Avery Brooks), was far removed from Kirk and Picard – and the fact that he was Star Trek’s first black lead was only part of it. “Not only was the general premise of Deep Space Nine so different to what had come before, so too was its cast of characters. ![]()
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