Sisko "dreaming" about Benny the author.
- Thread starter urrutiap
- Start date
I guess it depends who you ask. I believe Ira thinks it was real and wanted to end the show with Benny rocking up at Desilu/Paramount or something with a pitch. If DS9 was it's own original story then sure fine, but it doesn't sit right with me as part of the rest of the Trek universe. I just think that if you pair "Far Beyond The Stars" with "Shadows and Symbols" the whole thing was just a hallucination, one by the Prophets and one by the Pah-Wraiths.
Ummmm. yes.
I've never been a fan of them calling back to it. It was an interesting story device in Far Beyond the Stars, which made for one of the best episodes, but bringing it back in Season 7 felt out of place. I'm not a fan of that arc in general though, I think making Sisko secretly the child of a Prophet takes away a lot of his agency. A generous interpretation is that it's an attempt by the Pah Wraiths to keep Sisko away from being the Emissary, but I think the writers do present the open question of "What if DS9 is just a fiction". To which I've always felt: ...yeah. It is a fiction. It's a science fiction television program. Telling me it didn't exist doesn't add anything to the story they've built, and if anything, presents the idea that these seven seasons were a waste of time, as the real story is one they didn't show.
Neither. Both. They are both the dreamer and the dreamed.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Drawing_Hands#/media/File:DrawingHands.jpg
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Drawing_Hands#/media/File:DrawingHands.jpg
Last edited:
Benny is both a real character in DS9 and its creator. Deal with it.
For what it's worth, SNW has revealed there really was an author named Benny Russell, that's the name of the author who wrote the book Dr. M'Benga reads to his daughter.
That the episode doesn't give a conclusive answer doesn't mean there isn't one. Sisko dreamt being Benny, the end.
A story with an uncertain ending like this only works for a standalone story, not for a franchise that even at that point already consisted of 5 tv shows and 8 movies.
But it does. It works just fine.
I would rather than the Benny parts weren't real. If the Benny parts were real, and DS9 isn't, then why did I invest so much into DS9?
It reminds me of Buffy the Vampire Slayer where there's the possibility Buffy has been in a mental ward making the whole thing up the whole time. I hate that too. If I'm taking the time to watch a show, I'd like for the show to be real in-universe.
It reminds me of Buffy the Vampire Slayer where there's the possibility Buffy has been in a mental ward making the whole thing up the whole time. I hate that too. If I'm taking the time to watch a show, I'd like for the show to be real in-universe.
Nope. It would work just fine if DS9 was a standalone story but it's not, it is a part of a much larger franchise. If Benny was real he and by extension DS9 would become the lynchpin of the entire franchise and that's a no go. DS9 as good as it is does not deserve that level of importance.
The origin point of DS9 was Brandon Tartikoff proposing a series about a man and son in space, a sci-fi version of The Rifleman. It was not Gene Roddenberry or Star Trek. This is well documented.
Good. Benny recovered from the cruelty he suffered, moved on, and wrote stories that would remain beloved 300 years after "Incredible Tales" was a memory. Living well will always be the best revenge.
Benny writing about DS9 when 'inhabited' by Ben Sisko doesn't mean it's not still real.
It would have been easier to root for the Terrans if we hadn't known what jerks they were when they were in charge.
There was actually only one "Benny" episode. And a tiny snippet in "Shadows and Symbols".
And I'd have gladly dispensed with a lot of the Ferengi ones. Why build a culture based in capitalism and greed if you're going to turn around and demolish it?
