A light on Sisko’s character

Rhonda’s Take on Episode 2.9: “Second Sight” 

I’m not sure I agree with the title for this episode. The term “second sight” refers to “the ability to perceive future or distant events; clairvoyance.” While the woman at the center of this episode can project herself as energy, it isn’t really an ability to perceive events, is it? In fact, her waking self isn’t even aware of what this dream self has done. Even though I remembered much of this episode as it unfolded, I stayed distracted by the thought that it seemed to imply that Ben Sisko was having second sight when he saw Fenna. Until Jadzia Dax confirms that she saw him with her, I wondered if the audience was supposed to think he was hallucinating. In some sense, Ben did experience second sight as his connection to Fenna allowed him to see that he would be able to connect with someone after the loss of his love Jennifer. This series of events happening around the fourth anniversary of her death is significant for his healing and the trajectory of his story arc.

In another sense, we might argue that Seyetik is the “second sight” of the title. After all, his ability to terraform worlds involves perceiving the future or end results. He also foresees that Nidell will not leave him until his death and that he is willing to die both for her and that he cannot see beyond his current project. His arrogance remains intact until the end, but his charm does too.

I am again impressed by Cirroc Lofton’s skill. During the opening sequence he recounts Jake’s dream to Ben Sisko with just the right tone of voice and facial expressions to convey a young boy’s sense of loss and inability to find his way without those he loves. He imbues the performance with such pathos that we feel his line, “Dad, I miss her.” Later, Lofton is able to show the breadth of his acting ability when Jake must go from telling the humorous story of a classmate throwing up to advising his father about love. Yet again Nog is Jake’s fount of wisdom that allowed him to diagnose his father’s infatuated state: loss of appetite, daydreaming, and constant smiling. He sweetly grants his father permission to fall in love again. He has the sense not to express judgement when Ben says, “She keeps disappearing.” While Lofton conveys sympathy in his look for a moment, it quickly moves into questioning side-eyed at Ben’s mental state.

Deep Space Nine is perhaps the best ensemble show of the Trek universe. Unlike other series, it is not simply the “top three” (Kirk, Spock, McCoy; Picard, Riker, Data; Janeway, Seven of Nine, The Doctor; Michael, Saru, Tilly). Also unlike the other series, the focus has often been on the other characters with Commander Sisko playing little more than a leadership role in events. This episode gives us a chance to revisit the character and to move his story forward.

When Dax confronts him about his secret love, he picks up the baseball from his desk and tosses it mindlessly. He denies it, but Dax knows, “It’s hard to talk man-to-man with a woman.” However, he does confide his confusion about Fenna. Dax is the friend he calls when Fenna appears to him a fourth time. He doesn’t worry about Dax’s judgement of him, but trusts her to help. He’s also come to trust Odo enough to enlist his help finding this woman who he knows he does not have enough information about for Odo to go on. Quark’s help is not solicited, but the fact that Quark offers a listening ear (or his holosuites) shows the change in their relationship.

Not only is the acting superb in this episode, but the director, Alexander Singer,  plays with light for meaning throughout.

The interaction with Fenna also offers insight into Sisko’s changing story arc. When they first meet, he is staring out a viewport with longing and reflection. They discuss the constellation that Bajor calls The Runners. He questions what they are running from because he has spent much of the last four years running from his loss. She says, “Sometimes it feels good to run,” and then puts words to his anticipation of good things stemming from the quiet moments on the Promenade. He is moving from thinking about the past to anticipation of the future. Her words to him, “I wasn’t looking for a place; I was looking for a person,” elicits such a pained expression from Sisko, but then the pain dissipates with the passion of their kiss. When he says, “What we have is a dream I wouldn’t trade it for anything, but it’s still just a dream,” we see how strong our commander is. He doesn’t try to rekindle the relationship with Nidell, even though he tells her that Fenna was just like her. He simply concludes that he will “remember for both of us.”

A discussion of this episode would not be complete without some praise to Richard Kiley as Seyetik. It isn’t often an actor gets props for Over-the-Top acting, but Kiley’s chewing the scenery is vital to Seyetik’s character. It’s spot on that our resident arrogant doctor finds Seyetik entertaining while Major Kira finds him annoyingly reprehensible. O’Brien never offers an assessment, but his expressions during the dinner scene say all that needs to be said about Seyetik’s ego. Mostly, the audience is allowed to see Seyetik’s charm so that we understand how he has collected numerous wives and also how the charm might not outweigh the ego years into a marriage. There’s a subtle commentary on marriage, women, and freedom in their relationship. During the dinner scene, Nidell patiently listens to Seyetik tell his detailed instructions for the meal that she has prepared, but Salli Elise Richardson plays the scene with a clear sense of detachment. At the end of the episode, her outfit invokes a very Chinese “bound woman” sensibility in the tightness of her dress that is feminine, but not revealing, and the tied shoes that make her steps slow and cautious. However, very little of Richardson’s acting matters. It is Avery Brooks’s playing of Sisko and Kiley’s playing of Seyetik that give impact to the story. Of course, Seyetik has written his own obituary, but he asks Sisko to update it with this final detail that “He sacrificed himself on the altar of science,” which gives a final punctuation mark to this performance.

Not only is the acting superb in this episode, but the director, Alexander Singer,  plays with light for meaning throughout. The episode opens with O’Brien attempting to fix yet another broken system, but it is shown through repeated sparking electrics this time. Sisko and Fenna meet on the Promenade when it is mostly closed so lighting is dimmed. Her first disappearance is a blink of the eyes, her second she runs into a turbo lift, but her third disappearance is a lingering purple light. Finally, Seyetik literally dies in a blaze of glory as his shuttle ignites the star. Each of these moments of light and shadow add to the atmosphere of the story.