10 Times Star Trek Showed Us That There Is A Chance At A Progressive Future
4. Somewhere Far Beyond All Those Distant Stars, Is Benny Russell Dreaming Of Us?
Far Beyond The Stars remains one of Star Trek Deep Space Nine's greatest episodes for several reasons. One of those reasons is Avery Brooks. Not only does he play the dual role of Captain Sisko and Benny Russell, but he also directed the episode. He spoke on the theme of racism that inspired the episode:
'If we had changed the peoples' clothes, this story could be about right now.'
The story had gone through several versions, one that saw Jake Sisko travelling in time back to the '50s and another that saw Michael Dorn playing a boxer dating a white woman, who is beaten to death by policemen.
The episode delivers gut punch after gut punch, encouraging the audience not only to sympathise with Russell and his plight, but also to understand exactly what kind of environment he was dealing with. Brooks described the setting as a world where very reasonable people can exist in the same space as bigots such as Pabst or the policemen that viciously attack him.
The episode also features Nana Visitor as K.C. Hunter, a woman who has to hide her gender so she can be published. She is married to Jules, a brown man with an English accent who faces similar discrimination.
Far Beyond The Stars shines a light on the environment that Star Trek itself began in, reminding the audience that though the world had come a long way, with many more miles to go.