25 Best Episodes Of Star Trek EVER
15. Far Beyond The Stars - Star Trek Deep Space Nine
Directed by Avery Brooks, this episode explores the racism that was rife in the years before and during the time that Star Trek was originally being conceived. Benny Russell stands in for many black authors who found themselves as hidden figures in the literary world.
Anyone who has watched or read interviews with Brooks throughout the years will know that his passion for representing the struggle faced by people of colour is boundless. Here, not only does he direct but he stars in this episode that puts that struggle directly to the fore. Black people are beaten. Black people are harassed. Successful Black people are kept at arms length. And at the climax of Benny's experiences, Black voices are silenced.
Beautiful and at times unsettling to watch, Far Beyond The Stars is a reminder than even in the bright and utopian future of Roddenberry's Star Trek, it is important not to forget the combined effort, pain and sacrifices that built the world the characters are from.
Viewed under today's microscopes and under the lens of Black Lives Matter, this episode strikes an even deeper note, even though at the time it was only five years since the L.A. Riots after the Rodney King beatings. Deep Space Nine, more than any other of the series, managed to highlight race relations and remind viewers that the future is only possible when the present works to make it happen.