By Chris Snellgrove
| Published
THE New deep space The final of season 1 “In the Hands of the Prophets” inadvertently made the story of Star Trek by breaking with The next generation TRADITION OF CLIFFHANGERS END in the season. This helped the spin-off to establish his own identity, but a first idea of ​​this episode would have ruin The final by directly attaching it to the adventures of the Enterprise-D. This is because the producers of DS9 played with the idea of ​​making this final a TNG crossover in which Picard, Sisko and their two crews should fight an invasion of Cardassian.
Deep Space Nine Final has almost become a crossover
On paper, it would have given the first New deep space Final A connection with “Emisary”, the first episode which presented a memorable cameo by Captain Picard. However, Rick Berman decided to kill this crossing plan, which prompted Michael to prolong Michael Piller with a different approach. “In the hands of the prophets” shares the religious themes of “the emissary”, but by abandoning the plans for an ambitious Tng Crossover, the controversial producer Berman may have accidentally saved this derivative show in his first days by forcing DS9 to stand up.
To understand why the original plans for that New deep space The final would have been disastrous, you have to take a closer look at the rest of season 1.. Although there are major episodes in there (“Duet” was a first showcase of the program’s potential), too many DS9 relied on the cames of TNG characters. In addition to Picard making a cameo in “Emisary” and the constant presence of Miles and Keiko O’Brien, the first season saw the return of the characters TNG Lursa, B’etor, Q, Vash and Lwaxana Troi.
Other TNG characters would appear later in this spin-off, the most important of them Pass And his compatriot Klingon, Gowron. While these characters have made great additions to New deep spaceThey also illustrate why this first final being a TNG crossover would have been disastrous. Such an episode would have made sure that DS9 would always be in the shadow of Tng, and the producers would have been forced to bring even more familiar characters and intrigue points to ensure the odds.
Now, hardcore tng fans may have not subjected such New deep space Final, especially if she provided more appearances by Captain Picard and other familiar characters. But the blunt truth is that the originality of DS9 is its greatest strength, and to date, it remains the best Star Trek show Because it’s like nothing else in the franchise. And if his first final paid our attention to characters like Sisko so that Picard and Crew could have attracted even more attention, then DS9 would have withered on the vine as a failed fallout that could Never Do it alone.
Star Trek: The next generation And New deep space are both great shows, but they are completely different in tone, characterization, narration and much more. By ensuring that “in the hands of the prophets” has not become a TNG crossover, Rick Berman gave this spin-off a chance to develop his own style and his voice. Soon the whole world knew what Sisko was trying to tell us when he struck q … he is not Picard, and he and his show would do something completely different from everything we had seen before.
