25 Best Episodes Of Star Trek EVER
6. The Visitor - Star Trek Deep Space Nine
Jake Sisko was a bit of an oddity on Deep Space Nine. For the first few seasons, he appeared to be the voice of the audience, asking questions about why things were the way that they were. In those few seasons, he was something of a plot device to show the caring side of Ben Sisko.
And then, in season four's The Visitor, Jake Sisko becomes the most important character in the show. He witnesses his father disintegrate before his eyes and now faces growing up as an orphan. The episode begins with the framing device of an old Jake, played by the wonderful Tony Todd, speaking to an aspiring writer, herself played by Andrew Robinson's daughter Rachael.
He tells her his story, detailing how his father kept returning to him throughout his life, tethered to him through subspace. He finally bids her farewell and the penultimate scene of the episode has Ben return to see Jake once more. But the moment is beyond bittersweet as the poison Jake has taken leads him to fade away, allowing Ben to go back to the moment of the accident and avoid it.
The acting and writing in this episode are superb. There were originally plans to have Cirroc Lofton play the older Jake but, despite the relationship that he had with Avery Brooks off-screen, it was decided he wasn't ready to play the older man. This decision allowed one of the all-time great performances by Todd, breaking hearts as the dying Jake, desperate just to get his Dad back. One of the finest.