Star Trek: Deep Space Nine
| Name: | Star Trek: Deep Space Nine |
| Abbreviation(s): | DS9 |
| Creator: | Rick Berman, Michael Piller |
| Date(s): | 1993-1999 |
| Medium: | Television series |
| Country of Origin: | United States |
| External Links: | |
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Contents |
Show Synopsis
Commander Benjamin Sisko (played by Avery Brooks) is the commander of a Federation space station known as Deep Space Nine. On the edge of the Alpha Quadrant, he and the station's inhabitants must deal with old resentments, new and fragile alliances, and threats from unknown forces outside of Federation space.
Deep Space Nine was the second spinoff of the Star Trek franchise. It is arguably the most ethnically and gender diverse of the ST with multiple characters of color and female characters in lead positions.
Whereas the other Star Trek shows dealt more with exploration, by its nature DS9 was more sedentary. Concentrating less on boldly going and more on dealing with the ramifications of changing alliances and reconstruction, DS9 dealt strongly with political intrigue, religion, and conflicting loyalties.
The cast of characters includes a mix of Starfleet officers, private Federation citizens, and others, some of whom had also appeared on Star Trek: TNG: Sisko's son Jake, the Bajoran liaison officer Kira Nerys, Lieutenant Commander Jadzia Dax, Doctor Bashir, Miles O'Brien, Worf, the Changeling Constable Odo, the Ferengi businessman Quark, and later Ezri Dax. Because of the show's complex plot arcs, there are a large number of significant recurring characters, including the Cardassian tailor Garak, Quark's brother Rom, Quark's nephew Nog, the former commander of DS9 Gul Dukat, Miles's wife Keiko, the Bajoran spiritual leader Kai Winn Adami, ....?
Fannish Reaction
While many enjoyed the dense and multiple storylines, a number of fans found it difficult to follow or boring in the early days. The show was also much darker in its depiction of both the future in general and the Federation in particular than either the original Star Trek or Star Trek: The Next Generation.
In the early days, there were many rumors and a fan push for GLBT representation on the show, which seemed to fall mostly on deaf ears. However, in the fourth season episode called "Rejoined", Jadzia Dax, a character from a race which carried genderless symbiotes which were passed to another upon each person's death, meets up with the former wife of her symbiote and attempts to rekindle the relationship. This episode featured the first same-sex kiss in Star Trek canon.
Online and Offline Fandom
Begining in the early 90s, the fandom straddled fandom's migration to the internet, having many stories and discussions both online in the Usenet forums and websites, and offline in zines.
Garak/Bashir
As with any ensemble, favorite characters and pairings were varied, but there was a large subfandom for slash with Julian Bashir (played by Alexander Siddig) and Elim Garak (Andrew Robinson). Bashir was first presented as an eager and naive young Federation doctor assigned as the chief medical officer of the station. The mysterious Garak, the Cardassian tailor on the station who may be a spy, introduces himself to Bashir in the first episode as "plain and simple Garak," though he is obviously anything but. Their relationship throughout the series changes, but seems the main touchpoint for Garak until the finale.
The onscreen relationship between the two characters was most intense during the first two seasons of the show, but cooled off considerably afterwards. Andrew Robinson stated in an interview that he played Garak as neither gay nor straight, but "inclusive". Of Garak's sexuality, he elaborated, "I loved the man's absolute fearlessness about presenting himself to an attractive human being. The fact that the attractive human being is a man (Bashir) doesn't make any difference to him". Robinson said this portrayal was later toned down due to a lack of writer support.[1]
Fanzines
Kira Nerys/Odo:
- Love and Justice #1-8
Garak/Bashir slash:
- Tarkalean Tea
- The Plain and Simple Zine - multi-issue, no frills Garak/Bashir anthology zine with all stories written by DSV.
- No Holds Barred - specific issues of this normally multi-media zine had several all-Garak/Bashir issues
For a list of more fanzines for DS9 fanzines:
Archives
- Cardassian Sutra - Garak/Bashir archive, featuring a number of stories from usenet, among others.
References
- ↑ Robinson, Andrew. Interview with Liz Sourbut. "Tailor Made." Amazon.co.uk. No date. (Accessed 12 February 2009.)
