While there are plenty of iconic quotes from throughout the Star Trek franchise, Sisko’s best line comes shockingly early in Deep Space Nine’s run. If McCoy’s most iconic Star Trek line proves anything, it is that the franchise has never been as worthy and self-serious as some of its detractors assume. It is easy for casual fans to presume that Star Trek shows take themselves very seriously, but, in reality, the franchise has displayed a sense of self-aware humor since The Original Series debuted.
That said, there’s also a valid reason that Star Trek shows developed their reputation for earnestness. While shows like Battlestar Galactica’s reboot were even more ambitious in their existential exploration of sci-fi tropes, Star Trek shows like The Next Generation always had characters like Picard on hand to provide deep and meaningful thoughts from time to time. Even one of the earliest terrible episodes of The Next Generation, season 1, episode 5, “The Last Outpost,” provided viewers with the unexpectedly profound Riker line: “Fear is the true enemy, the only enemy.”
While all the Star Trek shows have their moments of philosophizing, The Next Generation was particularly famous for this. Having a celebrated Shakespearean actor as the show’s lead will do that for a series. However, as a follow-up to the ‘90s hit, the seven-season series Deep Space Nine understandably felt the need to live up to this penchant for thought-provoking one-liners. As early as its pilot episode, the show gave its Starfleet Commander Sisko one such memorable quote.
The Real Meaning Behind Sisko’s Best Deep Space Nine Quote Explained
Directed by David Carson, Star Trek: Deep Space Nine episodes 1 and 2, “Emissary,” follow Sisko’s arrival at the titular ruined space station. The two-part premiere sees Sisko discover, as he helps the Bajorans recover from the devastating invasion by the Cardassians, that there is a wormhole linking Bajor to the Gamma Quadrant. This results in an encounter with incorporeal beings that inhabit the wormhole, forcing Sisko to confront his inability to move on from his wife’s death.
The discovery prompts Sisko’s unforgettable line, ”We are searching, not just for answers to our questions, but for new questions,” which acted as both a killer quote on its own terms and a mission statement for the series itself. Picard’s iconic final line in The Next Generation reminded viewers that, at the end of the day, the series was about the ship’s crew and their relationships with each other as much as space exploration and discovery.
Sisko Has Always Been Underrated As A Star Trek Protagonist
In contrast, Deep Space Nine’s premiere quote made it clear that the series would be about Sisko’s own journey of self-discovery, as the Commander came to terms with the loss of his wife and its impact on his life. While The Next Generation always had a moderately cynical attitude toward the bureaucracy of the Federation, the show’s setting on a starship allowed Picard’s crew to mostly focus on meeting new races, exploring new planets, and going on new weekly adventures.
In stark contrast, the decision to center most of Deep Space Nine’s 176 episodes on the titular space station forced the Star Trek spinoff to focus on the aftermath of the Cardassian’s attacks on Bajor, leading viewers to question the Federation more than ever before. Where The Next Generation was always clear about its protagonists being the heroes, Deep Space Nine almost acted as a blend of Star Trek and The Expanse, adding new levels of grit and moral complexity to a once-simplistic setting.
This was what made Avery Brooks’ Sisko arguably the most underrated Star Trek series protagonist to date. Where characters like Kirk and Picard were unquestionably heroic, if understandably human and imperfect, Sisko was a realistic, nuanced protagonist whose flaws shaped him as much as his merits. The Star Trek legend was also always striving to be a better Commander, as epitomized in Deep Space Nine’s iconic quote.
- Release Date
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1993 – 1999-00-00
- Network
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Syndication
- Showrunner
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Michael Piller, Ira Steven Behr
- Directors
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David Livingston, Les Landau, Allan Kroeker, Winrich Kolbe, LeVar Burton, Avery Brooks, Rene Auberjonois, Cliff Bole, Michael Vejar, James L. Conway, Alexander Singer, Kim Friedman, Paul Lynch, Reza Badiyi, Corey Allen, David Carson, Stephen L. Posey, Victor Lobl, Jesús Salvador Treviño, Jonathan Frakes, Michael Dorn, Alexander Siddig, Anson Williams, John T. Kretchmer
- Writers
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Ronald D. Moore, Michael Taylor, Bill Dial, Morgan Gendel, Cindy Marcus, Evan Somers, Flip Kobler, Gordon T. Dawson, Jane Espenson, Jim Trombetta, Joe Menosky, John Whelpley, Katharyn Powers, Mike Krohn, Sam Rolfe, Jill Donner, Steve Warnek, D. Thomas Maio, Martin A. Winer, Lisa Klink
