Sisko (DS9-R spoilers)

[chris32482]

Why is it that Sisko had to be away for 8 months (or whatever) before returning? I mean, the Prophets don't exist in linear time, right? So... couldn't he have just spent whatever time he needed with them and then returned to the same point in time at which he left? It just seems to me that he didn't have to be away that long, and it doesn't make sense for him to not be with Kas during her pregnancy. Unless that was his plan all along...

 

[DS9Continuing]

Because he had to be in the Temple to handle the parasites and exchange himself for them via the Orbs. If he'd come back earlier, he wouldn't have been able to do that.

He wasn't sent back later because he was needed back on Bajor to deal with the Iliana situation and the upcoming Ascendant situation.

 

[DarKush]

I can accept him being away for a long period early on in the relaunch, plus it gave more space to develop Vaughn, ch'Thane, etc. Those characters and storylines have now been established. For the future DS9-R works, I would like to see more Sisko.

It seems like the DS9-R writers don't know what to do with him, so they keep him on the sidelines. I would like to see him involved more. I don't think he's ready for retirement just yet.

 

[C.E. Evans]

Yeah, I'm slightly peeved that Sisko is on the sidelines too--namely because he's my favorite Trek captain and I thought he kicked major Jem'Hadar butt during the Dominion War.

I can see him taking a much deserved leave of absence from the fleet to spend time with his family (especially the new baby), but I would really like to see him rejoin Starfleet at some point, even if he's no longer the commander of DS9...

 

[ronny]

It was Ira Steven Behr's intention that Sisko not come back so I'm happy with him being on the sidelines.

 

[Marie1]

Maybe its a matter of the Prophets can see time and live outside it- but time is still passing... maybe he pushed to come back as soon as he did.

He wasn't "necessary" up til now- it was good for a Bajoran to be in charge, especially for the entry of Bajor into the Federation. Now, especially for the FS incident, he'll be more important perhaps.

And maybe its better this way for the safety of Taran'atar... given what happened to the other guy who had his face...

 

[DarKush]

It was Ira Steven Behr's intention that Sisko not come back so I'm happy with him being on the sidelines.

It might have been Behr's intention, but the way the series' finale was written it left open the very distinct possibility that Sisko would return. Besides, what does Behr's intentions have to do with the DS9-R? Is he a consultant?

I doubt much of the DS9-R, even the concept of the relaunch itself, was something Behr contributed to or was consulted about. If I'm in error, someone please correct me.

 

[ronny]

As far as I know Behr's had no input on DS9-R at all. I'm just saying his vision was for Sisko to be gone. It was Avery Brooks that insisted it look liked he could come back.

 

[Christopher]

I don't think Sisko staying out of Starfleet has anything to do with honoring Behr's intentions to have him gone from the series, or anything like that. After all, DS9 was never a series that revolved exclusively around Starfleet.

I think it's just about being true to Sisko's character arc. Sisko was always portrayed as a character who was different from Kirk or Picard, who didn't have the same insatiable wanderlust or craving for command. He was a man whose strongest ties were to home and family, a man who didn't mind becoming attached to one place. And over the course of the series, we saw him come to adopt Bajor as his home, even decide to build a house there for his new family. Sisko's role in the Relaunch is a logical extension of that. Heck, as of the last book, his new daughter's only a few months old, so I hardly think it's unreasonable for him to be spending time getting to know her. But he clearly still has a significant role to play in the series, just not in the traditional Starfleet-centric way.

 

[Marie1]

Plus, if Behr didn't want him back- wouldn't that have just been for the end of the series? For those last episodes? If he had meant permanently years in DS9s future, I don't think it would have been written telling Kasidy he would be make, albeit at a vague time. Certainly the need for the Emissary wasn't done by any stroke of the imagination- seems to me he was just getting started. Otherwise they put forth a lot of effort to get the Sisko who did little save keep Bajor out of the war. Well, thats minimizing it, but he was still so skeptical about his role for most of the series...

 

[Christopher]

Plus, if Behr didn't want him back- wouldn't that have just been for the end of the series? For those last episodes? If he had meant permanently years in DS9s future, I don't think it would have been written telling Kasidy he would be make, albeit at a vague time.

In the original script, Sisko was permanently with the Prophets, effectively dead. Avery Brooks insisted on having it rewritten so that Sisko would promise to come back, because in his mind the original ending struck too close to home with regard to the widespread present-day problem of African-American men abandoning their families. To him, Sisko's loving commitment to his family made the character a valuable role model, and he didn't want an ending that undermined that by having him leave his family forever.

Still, I think it's reaching to assume from that fact that Behr wanted Sisko to be gone forever and that any departure from that is somehow compromising his "vision," as a couple of posters here seem to be suggesting. Behr may have run the show, but he developed the series in collaboration with multiple other people, and frankly they were making a lot of it up as they went along. It's not like there was some predetermined plan for how the whole thing was "supposed" to go -- let alone for what was "supposed" to happen after the show ended. Heck, if they'd given any thought to what would happen after the finale, they wouldn't have left so many huge dangling loose ends.

 

[DarKush]

Chris,

I take exception to your description of a widespread probably regarding African-American men and their families. I think Avery Brooks was more concerned about the perception, esp. in the media of black men abandoning their families, more than the 'reality', which might not be a virulent as your statement seems to suggest.

 

[Christopher]

Chris,

I take exception to your description of a widespread probably regarding African-American men and their families. I think Avery Brooks was more concerned about the perception, esp. in the media of black men abandoning their families, more than the 'reality', which might not be a virulent as your statement seems to suggest.

Hey, I'm not making some kind of political statement or voicing a personal opinion on the issue. I'm just describing my understanding of Brooks's motivations, and am not claiming anything about the world beyond that. Maybe my choice of words was ambiguous or inaccurate, but I'm not intentionally "suggesting" anything "virulent."

 

[Ktrek]

Personally I think the DS9-R series has been more interesting without Sisko. I think the restructuring of command on DS9 was only a good thing. I'd rather that Sisko had not promised to come back as it makes him out too much like a Christ figure. Even if Avery Brooks' personal motives were different.

Kevin

 

[Marie1]

Plus, if Behr didn't want him back- wouldn't that have just been for the end of the series? For those last episodes? If he had meant permanently years in DS9s future, I don't think it would have been written telling Kasidy he would be make, albeit at a vague time.

In the original script, Sisko was permanently with the Prophets, effectively dead. Avery Brooks insisted on having it rewritten so that Sisko would promise to come back, because in his mind the original ending struck too close to home with regard to the widespread present-day problem of African-American men abandoning their families. To him, Sisko's loving commitment to his family made the character a valuable role model, and he didn't want an ending that undermined that by having him leave his family forever.

Still, I think it's reaching to assume from that fact that Behr wanted Sisko to be gone forever and that any departure from that is somehow compromising his "vision," as a couple of posters here seem to be suggesting. Behr may have run the show, but he developed the series in collaboration with multiple other people, and frankly they were making a lot of it up as they went along. It's not like there was some predetermined plan for how the whole thing was "supposed" to go -- let alone for what was "supposed" to happen after the show ended. Heck, if they'd given any thought to what would happen after the finale, they wouldn't have left so many huge dangling loose ends.

Thanks CB.
I think Brooks was right- it would compromise the character- someone who valued family so much- to have him abandon his wife and unborn child.

DarKush-
As for the "present-day problem of African-American men abandoning their families," even though of course the abandonment of families is not isolated to a particular race or gender- there is a problem. Men from African countries are coming to North American and deserting their families. In fact, Obama was talking about it not long ago. So CB's statement isn't malicious, it sounds exactly like something Brooks would be concerned about- especially since if I'm not mistaken, he's been married longer than I've been alive. Which is pretty cool.

 

[JD]

Personally, I'm pretty happy with the way things have worked out with Sisko in the DS9-R. IMO his being gone for a while gave us a chance to get to see Kira in command, which I thought was pretty coo, and it also allowed the new characters to be developed more. It was also allowed Sisko's return to be a big event in the series, which IMO given who/what he is is how it should be.

 

[Marie1]

On that note, I like the continued theme of family. I'm glad Sisko's devotion to Kasidy hasn't in any way diminished, or he doesn't get too caught up in swirls of duty. An interesting contrast to Vaughn. I think he's a bit more human or something... I don't know how to phrase it, I'm don't have any kind of military etc. mindset.

 

[DarKush]

Plus, if Behr didn't want him back- wouldn't that have just been for the end of the series? For those last episodes? If he had meant permanently years in DS9s future, I don't think it would have been written telling Kasidy he would be make, albeit at a vague time.

In the original script, Sisko was permanently with the Prophets, effectively dead. Avery Brooks insisted on having it rewritten so that Sisko would promise to come back, because in his mind the original ending struck too close to home with regard to the widespread present-day problem of African-American men abandoning their families. To him, Sisko's loving commitment to his family made the character a valuable role model, and he didn't want an ending that undermined that by having him leave his family forever.

Still, I think it's reaching to assume from that fact that Behr wanted Sisko to be gone forever and that any departure from that is somehow compromising his "vision," as a couple of posters here seem to be suggesting. Behr may have run the show, but he developed the series in collaboration with multiple other people, and frankly they were making a lot of it up as they went along. It's not like there was some predetermined plan for how the whole thing was "supposed" to go -- let alone for what was "supposed" to happen after the show ended. Heck, if they'd given any thought to what would happen after the finale, they wouldn't have left so many huge dangling loose ends.

Thanks CB.
I think Brooks was right- it would compromise the character- someone who valued family so much- to have him abandon his wife and unborn child.

DarKush-
As for the "present-day problem of African-American men abandoning their families," even though of course the abandonment of families is not isolated to a particular race or gender- there is a problem. Men from African countries are coming to North American and deserting their families. In fact, Obama was talking about it not long ago. So CB's statement isn't malicious, it sounds exactly like something Brooks would be concerned about- especially since if I'm not mistaken, he's been married longer than I've been alive. Which is pretty cool.

I don't think Chris's statement was malicious. I just wanted to point out that Avery Brooks's stance on bringing Sisko back was, IMO, based in part on what he felt was the tendency of many movies and TV shows to separate black males from their families, or to kill off black males. He didn't want Sisko to be part of that trend.

I think one of the main reasons Brooks took the role to begin with was the positive role it might have for many young people, particularly African-Americans, to see that they had a part in the future, and a prominent and meanginful one, which wasn't always shown in sci-fi stuff. There is a real-world issue of abandonment, and much has been made about the problems black families in America are dealing with, and I'm not saying there aren't problems, but I think too often 'abandonment' becomes too race-specific and is used as a bludgeon, instead of talking about the issue across racial and class lines because it affects every race and ethnic group in this country and beyond.

 

[Christopher]

^^Well, what I meant to say was just what you said, nothing more. I guess I chose my words poorly.

 

[Baerbel Haddrell]

I am surprised that people seem to forget that Sisko has been raising his son Jake on his own for many years and I think he did a very good job. Sisko is definitely not the type who abandons his family. He is not only a good role model for black people but an excellent example of a responsible, loving father, no matter what race he is.

If Sisko would have died, thoughts about black fathers abandoning their families would never have crossed my mind. I would know that Sisko would never intentionally do this.

Nevertheless, I can understand Avery Brooks` viewpoint and I am very glad that Sisko came back. I don`t want him to return to what he did before. I want him to move on with his life. I very much agree with his choice to be with his family and find his own path. Being the Emissary always had a more diplomatic ring to it for me and reminded me more of being an ambassador. That means although Sisko should never lose his ties to Starfleet, he shouldn`t be limited by that.