10 Emotional Star Trek Moments That Made The Fans Cry
5. The Subspace Ties That Bind
For what is one of the most emotionally impactful episodes of Star Trek, and undeniably one of the best full stop, it is tough to pick just one moment that made us cry. Deep Space Nine's The Visitor is about as tonally perfect as you can get. When you think you're done with the tissues during a lighter interlude with Captain Nog or grumpy Bashir, you're right back to floods of tears once again. Cirroc Lofton (Jake Sisko) revealed that, when he read the script for The Visitor for the first time, he was "bawling".
Lofton, Avery Brooks (Captain Sisko), and Tony Todd (older Jake) all give powerhouse performances in an episode that is ultimately about the father-son relationship, with the sci-fi twist that Jake and his Dad are not merely bound by the ties of loving family, but also through subspace. In that sense, if we had to choose, perhaps the most emotionally affecting scene comes midway through the episode.
In the infirmary, as Dax, O'Brien, and Bashir attempt a rescue, the captain's attention is naturally focussed on his son. Mere minutes for Benjamin, Jake has spent the last year believing his father was dead. As Captain Sisko begins to fade back into subspace, he cries out for Jake who rushes to the biobed. "Dad! Don't leave me!" are Jake's last tearful words as his father vanishes for a third time.