Star Trek: 10 Greatest Captain Sisko Speeches
9. You Can't Kill An Idea
Avery Brooks pulled double duty in Far Beyond The Stars. Not only was he tasked with one of the deepest performances of his career but he also directed the episode, managing to deliver a staggering slice of Sci-Fi realism.
As Benny Russell, Brooks encapsulates some of the struggles that African-American people faced in the 50s in the USA. Though Star Trek went to great lengths to depict a future free of racism and prejudice, Deep Space Nine rarely shied away from reminding the audience of their existence. This was exemplified with Benny's breakdown, speaking to the power of creation and reality
Do you hear what I'm telling you? You can pulp a story but you cannot destroy an idea, don't you understand, that's ancient knowledge, you cannot destroy an idea.
Though this is delivered in the wake of crushing news for Benny personally, it speaks to the efforts and strife of all of those who have been stepped on with casual brutality. Earlier in the episode the audience had seen Jimmy, played by Cirroc Lofton, gunned down in the street by racist police officers, and yet the simple disregard for Benny's ideas, his career, and his person - by Mr. Pabst, played by René Auberjonois - feels almost more painful to bear.
Far Beyond The Stars could easily rank as the show's finest hour. While technically it is not a speech delivered by Captain Sisko, omitting it from this list feels criminal.