Hello everyone.
It's getting close to the release of Star Trek X--Nemesis, and naturally there are a ton of debates going on about the different series, or about how much TNG movies sucked, or how Worf just happens to pop up in them when he's so obviously stationed at DS9, but thats ok. We are going to be different.
This is what I want. I want you to vote on who you think was the best Captain, not because he was the intergalactic space pimp of the century, or you think he had the coolest ship, was half alien stationed on a junkheap, lost in space, or can't go past Warp 5.9 but has a Vulcan as Science officer like you know who.
Instead, give some serious consideration to their actions and weigh the pros and cons of what you saw, episode and series wise and base your decision on that. Then tell us what it was that influenced your decision.
I'll go first.
Benjamin Sisko. I really enjoyed Deep Space Nine because it was something different. Sisko was different. It was the first Star Trek series that wasn't shot on a Ship, that had a Black Captain, and to me the situations on the series felt more real because whatever decision Sisko and his senior staff made, affected them long after the choice was made. No zipping off for space unknown and ignoring or forgetting about a problem, and each decision made, no matter how freaked up caused the Sisko character to grow. I love the fact that he wasn't JUST Ben Sisko--Starfleet Officer, but the Bajoran Emissary. It made him feel more real to watch him struggle to juggle both "job" sucessfully. He didn't always succeed, but thats life. You don't always suceed. I think between Kirk and Picard, we've gotten a little spoiled to the whole "good guys win the day" thing, then here come's Sisko to blow it up.
I also loved the fact that he had a child, something he shared with Kirk. This added another side to Sisko and soften up the harsh, bitter Starfleet commander we saw when DS9 aired. More things for him to juggle. The Benjamin Sisko character did nothing but overcome. He was grieving, His First Officer hated him, the station was in ruins, the Cardassians was threatening, the Prophets was yanking him out of continuum when they felt like it, his son wasn't happy, and his best friend who started out a man, was now a woman.
He was not having a good day.
But time and time again, I watched him deal, and while not always successful, he did learn a thing or two. You always saw the growth. Not just in him, but in the other characters. If DSN did nothing else, it matured the hell out of characters.
Nothing was easy. He fought for every piece of ground he won. I loved the fact that there was no quite in him, and wasn't afraid to kick the prime directive to the curve if it helped someone. Maybe not a good strategic choice, but when it comes to the human factor, the right one every time.
Real situations, Real problems, Real issues, and Real answers.
Ben Sisko.
Kenya
