10 Stand-Alone Star Trek Episodes More Important Than You Realise
5. The Muse
The Muse is often maligned when discussing Deep Space Nine's fourth season, which is generally one of its strongest. Because Lwaxana and Jake, two marmite characters, are at the lead in this story, it tends to get a little bit of grief. However, it does have the honour of having Majel Barrett's last on-screen appearance in Star Trek.
She had in fact pitched the original idea to the producers, who went on to write a plot concerning four couples. They then felt that it didn't work, so it was narrowed down to two - Lwaxana and Odo, and Jake and Onaya.
The story sees Lwaxana pregnant with a son. While that son would never again be discussed in Star Trek, despite being the half-brother of Deanna Troi, the episode allows for beautiful scenes between Rene Auberjonois and Barrett, who had genuine chemistry together. Original Series actor Michael Ansara, better known to most as Kang, appears as Jeyal.
Jake's plot is probably the bigger letdown, although his experience with Onaya ties the episode directly back to The Visitor. He finally writes his novel Anslem, which had been shown published in the earlier story.