Summary
Star Trek: Deep Space Ninedid something that Captain Jean-Luc Picard (Patrick Stewart) was unable to do on the USS Enterprise-D inStar Trek: The Next Generation. With its space station setting and combination of Starfleet and non-Federation crew members,DS9was specifically designed to stand apart fromTNG. However, for all their differences, there’s an interesting similarity betweenDS9season 2 andTNGseason 2. BothStar TrekTV shows' second seasons introduced new existential threats to the Federation, that set up major conflict in season 3.
Star Trek: The Next Generationseason 2 introduced the Borg Collective, who would later attack the Federation inTNG’s thrilling season 3 finale, “The Best of Both Worlds”.Star Trek: DS9’s Dominion were an anti-Federation, who opposed everything that Starfleet stood for. Both of these threats proved that traditional Federation diplomacy wasn’t a viable solution, putting the crews of the USS Enterprise-D, and Deep Space Nine in the line of fire. However,whileStar Trek: DS9addressed the effect of the Dominion on its civilian crew,TNGcarried on as if having a ship full of civilian families was perfectly normal during the Borg crisis.
Star Trek: The Dominion War Timeline, Explained
The Dominion War was the bloodiest conflict in Star Trek history, and its complicated timeline was filled with shocking twists and turns.
Star Trek: Deep Space Nine Took Its Children Out Of Harm’s Way, Unlike Picard’s Enterprise
After Commander Benjamin Sisko (Avery Brooks) fails to reason with the Dominion inStar Trek: Deep Space Nine’s season 3 opener, it has an immediate effect on the station’s civilian populace. InDS9season 3, episode 3, “The House of Quark”,Keiko O’Brien (Rosalind Chao) reveals that the Dominion threat has shut the school, due to the Bajorans evacuating the station for the safety of the planet below. This is in stark contrast to how, inStar Trek: The Next Generation’s season 3 finale, the multiple families aboard the USS Enterprise-D weren’t evacuated in the face of the Borg threat.
The closure of the school was written intoStar Trek: Deep Space Nineto remove Keiko O’Brien from the series temporarily while the writers developed the friendship between Chief O’Brien (Alexander Siddig) and Dr. Bashir (Alexander Siddig).
Kids inStar Treklike Jake Sisko (Cirroc Lofton) or Wesley Crusher (Wil Wheaton) were regularly put at risk because they were being cared for by their single parents, who happened to be Starfleet officers.Star Trek: Deep Space Ninemade this distinction clear by establishing in “The House of Quark” that the only kids left on the station were Jake, Nog (Aron Eisenberg) and Molly O’Brien (Hana Hatae). Meanwhile,Picard’s Enterprise inStar Trek: The Next Generationcontinued to put multiple civilian children in harm’s way through battles with the Borg and the eventual crash on Veridian III inStar Trek Generations.
Captain Picard wasn’t fond of having children aboard the USS Enterprise-D, which begs the question of whyStar Trek: The Next Generationhad so many junior crew members.Picard’s Enterprise had families aboardthanks toTNG’s creator, Gene Roddenberry. In Roddenberry and David Gerrold’sStar Trek: The Next Generationseason 1 bible, the show’s new approach to families is explained:
As humanity probes deeper and deeper into space with ten-year or longer missions becoming the norm, Starfleet has begun encouraging crewpersons to share space exploration: adventure with their families. Twenty-fourth century humans believe that life should be lived, not postponed.
In essence,the reason thatStar Trek: The Next Generation’s Enterprise had kids aboard was because there was a better work-life balance in the peaceful 24th century. Indeed, Roddenberry and Gerrold’s bible asserts that “people need people” and having family members aboard will reduce the isolation felt by deep space explorers. However, asStar Trek: Deep Space Nine’s pilot proved, the effects of losing a loved one during times of conflict are devastating, and a hefty price to pay for the privilege of having one’s family aboard. It’s only when the Dominion War began that Starfleet clearly began to rethink this policy.
All episodes of Star Trek: The Next Generation and Star Trek: Deep Space Nine are available to stream on Paramount+.
Star Trek: Deep Space Nine
Cast
Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, also known as DS9, is the fourth series in the long-running Sci-Fi franchise, Star Trek. DS9 was created by Rick Berman and Michael Piller, and stars Avery Brooks, René Auberjonois, Terry Farrell, and Cirroc Lofton. This particular series follows a group of individuals in a space station near a planet called Bajor.
Star Trek: The Next Generation
Star Trek: The Next Generation follows Captain Jean-Luc Picard and his crew aboard the USS Enterprise NCC-1701D as they embark on interstellar explorations, seeking out new worlds and civilizations.
