Was killing Jennifer Sisko twice the cruellest bit of ST writing?

It was truly, truly heartless. Killing off Jake Sisko's mum once, then reuniting him with the mirror universe counterpart, letting them form a mother/"son I never had" bond and then killing her off too. Surely they could have settled with Jennifer Sisko staying in the mirror universe to help the Rebels fight the Alliance or something?!

 

Jennifer should not have even been brought back.

 

Ooh, that's harsh But I see your point. Watching DS9 through first time, I quite liked idea that Jennifer still alive in MU and Jake got to know her (but I like Jake) and Sisko ambivalent (it's Jennifer, but not his Jennifer). Killing her off again, cruel yes, but necessary...

 

It was cruel for Jake, no doubt, but I never got attached to the character, so I didn't care much about it or her.

I'm not a fan of DS9 MU in general.

 

Same here. Was never really attached to Jennifer, anyway.
The MU was fun to visit with just one episode, but then it just got more silly with each return visit.

Sean

 

I don't think it was cruel to Jake, because he really didn't care at all that his mom died.

IIRC the series bible represents Jake as a guy who is very bitter about his mom's death, which would have made him a much more interesting character. But the actual show took the exact opposite, easy cop-out route.

If they did make the show with a bitter Jake, that might have made Jennifer's return a lot more interesting too.

They also copped-out with the Sisko character by having Jennifer's death have zero impact on him after Emissary.

As it is, both Jennifer's original death, and her return, have no impact on the audience IMO. Since Jake doesn't care about her death, and Sisko doesn't care about her death (aside from in one episode: Emissary) why should anyone else care?

 

I like the idea that Jennifer was killed at first. It gave Sisko an edge that no other captain has. The fact that Picard killed his wife makes it even more interesting. The captain that everyone likes and then in a new series we are to find out that he killed the new captain's wife is an interesting twist.

I do however resent the idea of the writers reprising Jennifer in the MU. It didn't make much sense to me and didn't need to be done.

 

I liked the whole mirror-Jennifer arc. I think Sisko had a truly human result, he would be angry, and throw that anger at mu-Jen. As for her death, I think it was best... I just wish DS9 would have touched on it a little more after the fact.

 

They didn't just drop it for Sisko. They surely could have done more with it, but there are instances after Emissary where it affects him - such as in Second Sight, when he gets depressed for almost letting the anniversary of her death go by unnoticed and in Indiscretion, when he flat out says that it scares him that his job could get Kassidy hurt like Jennifer.

 

The worst thing about DS9 MU was Sisko sleeping with MU Jadzia.

 

I'm sure Sisko would beg to differ...

 

With life-alternating experience like this, I would have liked to see some lingering effects over at least a few episodes. Picard spent a lifetime away in his mind, and the next episode seemed fine.

The worst thing about DS9 WAS the mirror universe. I never cared for the concept-- though I didn't mind the novel's explanation that the Prophets were ultimately responsible for the weakness in the universe's "borders"

 

They couldn't, because, though she was a lovely woman, she was a bad actress.

 

The Mirror Universe in DS9 was only interesting in season 2 and 3. The S4 undid what was great about "Through the Looking Glass" - Sisko replacing Mirror Sisko without anyone noticing but his mirror wife, while still making a difference for good - and it propelled the silliness that endured the rest of the MU episodes. It had some good stuff, like Regent Worf and what not, but I tend to pretend those episodes never happened.

As far as I'm concerned, DS9's only Mirror Universe episodes are "Crossover" and "Through the Looking Glass". Everything is just... Like bad fanfiction.

 

Cruel but true...

 

I think killing the MU Jennifer was a bad idea. I hoped she was going to come to deep space 9 on the reg. I wonder why they didn’t beam her to deep space nine when she was shot so Jillian could save her life.

 

Shrug; I wasn't exactly thrilled at bringing the MU back. Any of the times it was brought back.

 

Yes, if they were being realistic at all O'Brien should have been having flashbacks to prison for the rest of the series.