The Forgotten Star Trek Episode Starring A Breaking Bad Legend

His Trek episode is “Battle Lines,” one of the more memorable stories from the first season of Deep Space Nine. In this Star Trek spinoff, Banks played someone his Breaking Bad character likely would have appreciated: he’s the leader of a group of aliens who, along with their rivals, were exiled to a planet as a special form of punishment.

Their collective crime was that they couldn’t stop battling with one another, so these brawlers were sent to a planet where they couldn’t die, effectively imprisoning them in an endless conflict.

You probably won’t be surprised to learn that Jonathan Banks impressed the bigwigs at Star Trek the same way that he later impressed Breaking Bad showrunner Vince Gilligan. DS9 producer Rick Berman specifically praised the actor, noting that he “did a nice job” in “Battle Lines,” an episode with “some wonderful action in it.”

The producer also thought the plot about “warring factions” who “never die was fascinating.” Performances from Banks and others helped to humanize a script that Berman admits had “a lot of technobabble in it that got quite complex.”

Another Star Trek mover and shaker that the future Breaking Bad star impressed was David Livington, a producer and very prolific director for Deep Space Nine. These two knew each other from when Banks starred in Otherworld, and Livingston went on to give a rather odd compliment, noting how Banks “is a very odd and unusual actor” but one who “wears this wonderful makeup and did terrific jobs.”

That may sound like a bit of a backhanded compliment, but considering how much makeup is in this franchise, the ability to convincingly rock some makeup and deliver serious dialogue is a rare gift.

Of course, if you’ve never seen this particular Star Trek episode, you’re probably wondering what happened to everybody’s favorite supporting character from Breaking Bad. In “Battle Lines,” Banks’ character (a man named Golin Shel-la) plays a ruthless leader, and when Dr. Bashir comes up with a plan that could allow people on the planet to die, this character instantly begins plotting a fatal move against the enemy faction.

This forces a disappointed Bashir to abandon the plan, and the only real way Banks’ character and others will find lasting peace now is by embracing the wisdom of Kai Opaka, who chooses to stay on the planet.

Long story not very short, this Star Trek: Deep Space Nine episode is a must-watch for fans of Breaking Bad. You get to see Jonathan Banks chewing the scenery in the best possible way and basically stealing every scene he’s in. Plus, the whole episode makes for a great, high-concept science fiction story, one worth watching even for genre fans who (gasp!) aren’t already major fans of Jonathan Banks.