| "Emissary" | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Star Trek: Deep Space Nine episodes | |||
| Episodenos. | Season 1 Episodes 1 and 2 | ||
| Directed by | David Carson | ||
| Story by | |||
| Teleplay by | Michael Piller | ||
| Featured music | Dennis McCarthy | ||
| Production codes |
| ||
| Original air date | January 4, 1993 (1993-01-04) | ||
| Guest appearances | |||
| |||
| Episode chronology | |||
| |||
| Star Trek: Deep Space Nineseason 1 | |||
| List of episodes | |||
"Emissary" is theseries premiere of the Americanscience fiction television seriesStar Trek: Deep Space Nine. It was aired as a single two-hour episode on its initial broadcast,[1] but was divided into two one-hour episodes when it aired in reruns.[2]
Set in the 24th century, the series follows the adventures onDeep Space Nine, a space station located near the planetBajor, as the Bajorans recover from a brutal decades-long occupation by the imperialisticCardassians. In this premiere episode, CommanderBenjamin Sisko (Avery Brooks) and his sonJake (Cirroc Lofton) arrive withStarfleet personnel on the station shortly after Cardassian occupation forces have departed. While working to repair the station and assist the Bajoran people, Sisko discovers an unprecedentedwormhole connecting Bajor to the distant, unexploredGamma Quadrant of the galaxy and the mysterious, incorporeal beings that inhabit it.
During theBattle of Wolf 359,Starfleet is under attack by the alien hive mind known as theBorg, which has temporarily assimilated the human Starfleet captainJean-Luc Picard. The battle is a rout, and Lieutenant Commander Benjamin Sisko - executive officer of the U.S.S. Saratoga - orders his crew to abandon ship. He rushes through the crumbling ship to find his son Jake and wife Jennifer buried under a pile of rubble. He saves Jake and tries to rescue Jennifer but she is already dead, and he is forced to leave her behind as the ship is destroyed.
Three years later, Commander Sisko is assigned to command space stationDeep Space Nine in orbit of the planet Bajor. He finds the station in ruins with many inhabitants leaving and the rest struggling to rebuild the station. Bajor has won independence from Cardassian occupation and invited Starfleet to assist in their recovery, much to the disgust of MajorKira Nerys, the station's Bajoran first officer. Sisko strongarms the FerengiQuark into staying on at the station. Meanwhile, Sisko is contemplating resigning from Starfleet. He receives orders from CaptainJean-Luc Picard — he is to prepare Bajor for membership in theUnited Federation of Planets — and can barely contain his hostility toward the man he blames for Jennifer's death.
Desperate to unify a Bajoran people whose government is on the verge of collapse, Sisko visits the Bajoran spiritual leaderKai Opaka, who shows him an orb that the Bajorans believe was sent by their gods, "the Prophets". Opaka calls Sisko the "Emissary" and tells him he is destined to discover the Prophets' home, the Celestial Temple. Sisko's science officer, Lt.Jadzia Dax, determines that the orb is connected to mysterious phenomena in the nearby Denorios Belt.
Sisko receives an unwelcome visit fromGul Dukat, the Cardassian former commander of the station; Dukat unsubtly makes it clear he's looking for the orb Sisko was given. Seeking to investigate the Denorios Belt without the Cardassians following, Sisko concocts a ruse that allows the station's security chief,Odo, to temporarily disable Dukat's warship.
Dax and Sisko investigate the Denorios Belt in arunabout, discovering awormhole leading to theGamma Quadrant on the opposite side of the galaxy. As they attempt to return, Dax is teleported back toDeep Space Nine, while Sisko remains in the wormhole.
Kira, recognizing the wormhole's value, orders the station moved to its mouth. Dukat enters the wormhole, but the station's staff are unable to follow, as the wormhole seemingly disappears after Dukat enters it. Cardassian ships arrive to investigate Dukat's disappearance, assuming he has been killed. Disbelieving Kira's claims about the wormhole, they order Kira to surrenderDS9 or be destroyed. Kira bluffs that the station is heavily armed.
Sisko encounters entities in the wormhole who have no understanding of corporeal and linear existence. When Dukat's ship attempts to pass through, they close the wormhole, irritated by the presence of corporeal lifeforms. When Sisko attempts to explain linear time, the entities point out that he continually returns to the moment of Jennifer's death. Sisko realizes he is "living in the past" by not moving on from his grief.
The Cardassians attackDeep Space Nine, but as Kira prepares to surrender, the wormhole opens up, with Sisko's runabout towing Dukat's ship from it, and the Cardassians stop their attack. Sisko reveals that he negotiated with the wormhole aliens to allow ships to pass through. Later, Sisko informs Picard that he plans to remain in Starfleet, letting go of his anger and making peace with Picard, who wishes him luck.
"Emissary" first aired on January 4, 1993. It received aNielsen rating of 18.8 percent,[1] placing first in its time slot and becoming the highest rated episode of the season.[3] According toVariety, "Emissary" was the highest-rated syndicated series premiere in history at the time of its broadcast.[4] It achieved the top spots in number of television markets on its debut.[1]
Tom Bierbaum ofVariety called the script a mixed bag, "too complex and ambitious at times but generally admirable in its mix of deft characterization, old-fashioned space opera and sophisticated science-fiction concepts."[5]
In 2012, Zack Handlen ofThe A.V. Club pointed out there were several significant differences compared to previousStar Trek shows. For instance, he noted the primary protagonist was an "angry man" with a tragic backstory, and commended the fact that the main characters were a more "disparate ensemble" with conflicting viewpoints, neither of which were featured in past installments in the franchise. Handlen reacted positively to the new characters, calling them "fascinating individuals", while complaining of a few instances of poor acting and writing. He disliked the scenes involving the magical orbs and wormhole aliens, finding them unnecessary. Handlen concluded his review by saying that, of theStar Trek pilots, this was "the one most rife with possibility" he had seen.[6]
In 2013,Keith DeCandido reviewed "Emissary" forTor.com, writing that while the episode served its purpose to set up elements of the series, "as a story, it doesn’t have much life to it". He called the characters the episode's most compelling aspect, saying "it's a refreshing change to have characters with a bit more acid in them". He gave the episode a score of six out of ten.[7]
A 2015binge-watching guide forStar Trek: Deep Space Nine byWired recommended not skipping this essential episode.[8]
In 2015,Geek.com recommended this episode as "essential watching" for their abbreviatedStar Trek: Deep Space Ninebinge-watching guide, along with "Past Prologue", "Vortex", "Battle Lines", "Duet" and "In the Hands of the Prophets" from season one.[9]
In 2016,SyFy ranked "Emissary" as the best out of the six mainStar Trek TV show pilots.[10]
In 2016,Vox rated this episode one of the top 25 essential episodes of allStar Trek.[11]
In 2018,CBR ranked the "Emissary" two-part episode as the 19th best multi-episode story ofStar Trek overall.[12]The Hollywood Reporter ranked "Emissary" ofStar Trek: Deep Space Nine as the fourth best presentation of the series.[13] In 2017,Gamespot ranked this as the second best pilot episode of aStar Trek series.[14]
In 2018,SyFy included this episode on theirbinge-watching guide for episodes featuring Jadzia Dax.[15]
Space.com ranked "Emissary" the seventh best episode of allStar Trek television.[16]
In 2019,ComicBook.com ranked "Emissary" the tenth best episode ofStar Trek: Deep Space Nine.[17]
SciFiNow ranked this one of the top ten episodes ofStar Trek: Deep Space Nine in 2020, describing it as an "excellent pilot" establishing the character of Benjamin Sisko as "a man with a deep sense of duty and grief".[18]
"Emissary" was nominated for fourEmmy Awards.[19] It won in the category "Outstanding Individual Achievement in Special Visual Effects" and was also nominated in the categories "Outstanding Individual Achievement in Art Direction for a Series", "Outstanding Individual Achievement in Sound Editing for a Series", and "Outstanding Individual Achievement in Sound Mixing for a Drama Series".[20] It also received Emmy nominations for Best Sound Editing and Sound Mixing.[20] ComposerDennis McCarthy also won for his Outstanding Individual Achievement in main title music.[21]
It was aired as a two-hour-long pilot in broadcast syndication.[1] On its debut, "Emissary" received a lot of attention, including interviews with cast and production staff and a feature onEntertainment Tonight.[4]
The two-hour-long version of the episode has a production code of 721.[22] It may also be aired as two roughly 45-minute episodes, with production codes 401 and 402.[22] The two-hour-long version was premiered as a television movie, and on later airings it was separated into "Emissary, Part I" and "Emissary, Part II".[2]
On the launch of theParamount+ streaming service, on March 4, 2021, a freeStar Trek marathon was presented, featuring the pilots of the variousStar Trek television series, including "Emissary".[23] The marathon started at 7 am PT/10 am ET and wasLive streamed on theYouTube internet video platform on that day, with "Emissary" airing at 9:59 am PT / 12:59 pm ET.[23]
The first home media release of the episode was onVHS cassette in the United States on September 10, 1996. It was part of the initial launch of cassettes byParamount Home Video which saw the first six episodes released and was on a single episode cassette.[24] It was released onDVD as part of the season one box set on June 3, 2003.[25]
This episode was released in 2017 onDVD with the complete series box set, which had 176 episodes on 48 discs.[26]
"Emissary" parts I and II were released on September 24, 1996 onLaserDisc in the United States.[27] Released by Paramount Home Video, the double sided 12 inch optical disc had a run time of 87 minutes.[27]
On February 8, 1997, this episode was released on LaserDisc in Japan as part of the half-season box set1st Season Vol. 1.[28] This included episodes from "Emissary" to "Move Along Home" with both English and Japanese audio tracks.[28]
"Emissary" was released onPAL-format LaserDisc in the United Kingdom as part ofThe Pilots collection, in April 1996.[29] This included the color version of "The Cage", "Where No Man Has Gone Before", "Encounter at Farpoint", "Emissary" and "Caretaker", with a total runtime of 379 minutes.[29]
