Question about a non-fan watching The Visitor for the first time

[digger]

Could use a piece of advice from my fellow Niners.

This episode has always been my favorite, in all of Trek. If only because I am very close to my father, and this episode always got me in the feels. I always cry like a baby throughout it, even though I'm now 43 years old.

Anyway, my father passed away last week. And I want to honor him by watching "The Visitor" with my mother and sister. But they're not Trek fans. They don't hate Trek; they're just not as familiar with it as my father and I were/are. As for DS9, they might be aware of it as "the one with the black Captain," but, other than that, they know nothing.

So, what kind of background can I give them of DS9 in general before we watch this episode together, so, (a) they're not lost, (b) they get as much of an emotional impact from it as possible, even though they're not "attached" to the characters as much as I am, but (c) I don't overload them with useless information that they don't need.

I'm sorry for such a stupid question. I know I should be able to know what to tell them. I just don't want to ruin the experience for them and really am at a loss for what to tell them.

 

[Alexander Corrino]

Why tell them anything? From what I remember about “The Visitor”, the story works well even without knowing anything about DS9.

 

[digger]

I just feel like, unless one goes into the episode already knowing about the relationship between Ben and Jake and the bond they share, it might not have an impact on them. They might get lost in the sci-fi/time travel aspect of the story, which my mother and sister tend to not really enjoy. But, maybe you're right. Maybe the best thing is to just let them watch. (And then I can still cry my eyes out. ;-) )

 

[Richard S. Ta]

I just feel like, unless one goes into the episode already knowing about the relationship between Ben and Jake and the bond they share, it might not have an impact on them. They might get lost in the sci-fi/time travel aspect of the story, which my mother and sister tend to not really enjoy. But, maybe you're right. Maybe the best thing is to just let them watch. (And then I can still cry my eyes out. ;-) )

Sorry to hear about your Father. I know what that's like and it's rough.

Just watch the episode. Tell 'em it makes you think of Dad. That should be enough and I dearly hope you can all take some comfort from it.

 

[digger]

Thank you all. Just got done watching it. My mom fell asleep about 20 minutes in, so it didn't really matter. :-) But she's 80 years old, so I guess I kind of should have expected that. But, as always, a great episode. I cried my eyes out again. :-)

 

[STEPhon IT]

Could use a piece of advice from my fellow Niners.

This episode has always been my favorite, in all of Trek. If only because I am very close to my father, and this episode always got me in the feels. I always cry like a baby throughout it, even though I'm now 43 years old.

Anyway, my father passed away last week. And I want to honor him by watching "The Visitor" with my mother and sister. But they're not Trek fans. They don't hate Trek; they're just not as familiar with it as my father and I were/are. As for DS9, they might be aware of it as "the one with the black Captain," but, other than that, they know nothing.

So, what kind of background can I give them of DS9 in general before we watch this episode together, so, (a) they're not lost, (b) they get as much of an emotional impact from it as possible, even though they're not "attached" to the characters as much as I am, but (c) I don't overload them with useless information that they don't need.

I'm sorry for such a stupid question. I know I should be able to know what to tell them. I just don't want to ruin the experience for them and really am at a loss for what to tell them.

1st off, I am sorry for your loss, I can't imagine what you've gone through and how you've carried such a heartbreaking. As for a set up for the episode, I would have your family watch the pilot episode "Emissary"; in a way it sets up the ground work of Sisko's relationship with his beloved wife and his deep love of his son. The connection was magnetic for me and Sisko's conclusion with the wormhole aliens about "Linear and non-linear" was so on point and it really does define what DS9 was about in the 1st 3 seasons. "The Visitor" was a residue of those great seasons past until the boring war seasons; that episode was heartfelt and the last episode of DS9 I thought was relevant to its great premise.

 

[at Quark's]

The only 'prerequisite' I can think of is that they must be somewhat comfortable with (or open to) the concept of a time loop (even if only in a fictional setting). Which isn't too high of a bar since this concept has surfaced in mainstream entertainment too.

Other than that, I think it has fairly universal story elements about a boy missing his father terribly for the rest of his life, and I think they'd pick up on that quickly enough, even without the specific background information of the DS9 universe.

 

[Legate Duhmar]

This episode is great because they don't really need to know much to appreciate the story of this episode or its beats. It is a very stand alone classic science fiction story embedded in the universe of DS9.

The only things to maybe note for an outsider is that the relationship between father and son is very close and that they have a shared trauma of losing their wife/mother in a space battle with the Borg. This gives some context to Jake's spiraling, having witnessed not one but two parents be "killed" in Starfleet missions. You could also mention the wormhole is inhabited by god-like aliens who live apart from time but this really isn't necessary as the prophets were not written into the episode, I suspect deliberately, to make it more palatable to an outside audience and get attention for allocates etc.

They are in for a good, Twlight Zone or Philip K Dyck style story that anyone fan or otherwise should be able to enjoy.

 

[Finn]

It'd depend on how they respond to sci-fi. I think The Visitor would confuse certain folks. I knew someone who were quite intelligent and educated, not that into sci-fi and trek, and he was confused with what was going on in TNG's All Good Things...

I know The Visitor had less technobabble, but SOME might not process the old Jake's flashbacks well.