Odd for a premiere: Picard in Emissary

[Unicron]

I've always enjoyed these scenes in "Emissary" as well.

 

[Cyke101]

People,

Since DSN was a more direct spin-off of TNG, and two of TNG's characters (one minor and one major) had major roles on DSN, it made perfect sense for a major cast member to play such a pivotal role in the beginning. And given Sisko's backstory, it had to be Picard. I think their scenes are among the best in Emissary.

You certainly do feel Picard's guilt at the role he played, albeit as Locutus, in killing Sisko's wife, Jennifer. There are only a few other times we see Picard having to deal with the consequences of his assimilation by the Borg: TNG eps Family, I, Borg, and The Drumhead, where Nora Satie accuses him of not being completely recovered from being Locutus; and of course, in TNG film First Contact.

I seem to recall other TV spin-offs over the years using one or two characters to help bridge the gap between the previous and newer series.

My one regret is they didn't have too many cross-overs with both casts, merely Picard's appearance in Emissary, Bashir's in Birthright, Pt. I, Jonathan Frakes' appearance as Tom Riker in Defiant, Quark's in Firstborn, and of course, Worf's long "crossover," and O'Brien's even longer "crossover," when they join the cast of DSN. After all, on NBC they had a good crossover between Law & Order and Homicide, just to name one crossover between unaffiliated series.

Red Ranger

One could argue that TNG could've used a character like that as well, rather than a quick cameo to strengthen the connection. Though I wouldn't be one to make that argument (I'm just putting that possibility out there).

I think it's interesting that DS9 didn't have to do have a Sisko/Picard conflict. Voyager didn't need anything like that to succeed as a premiere. But DS9 took a gimmick and made it a non-gimmick, using it as an integral part of the story. I believe one of the reasons the creators had was to show that to show it wasn't TNG, it had to have TNG in it, which is a great twist of a concept.

Slightly off-topic, but didn't Deep Space Nine and Quark make appearances in VOY's premiere? And later, we did see Counselor Troi and Reginald Barclay appear on VOY as well. -- RR

That we did, though Quark and DS9 weren't all that crucial; they weren't a major force to drive one of the characters and thus the show as a whole.

One could argue that Barclay was crucial, but that was much later down the run.

 

[diankra]

That we did, though Quark and DS9 weren't all that crucial; they weren't a major force to drive one of the characters and thus the show as a whole.

One could argue that Barclay was crucial, but that was much later down the run.

Indeed, the Quakr/DS9 scene was so skipable that it wasn't even followed up later. Not that it needed to be, and certainly nothing major, but you could (for instance) have done a nice double gag in start of scene conversations, say...
On Voyager: Tom Paris commenting that there's upsides to being stuck in the Delta Quadrant; at least he won't have to pay off his tab with that Ferenghi bartender back on DS9.
...while in a DS9 episode: Quark is heard grumbling that Starfleet had better find the Voyager - 'Do you know how much I let one of its crew put on his tab?'