Star Trek’s Best Episode Was Almost About The Wrong Person
Star Trek: Deep Space Nine's "In the Pale Moonlight," often hailed as one of the best episodes of Trek ever, was almost told through the point of view of Jake Sisko.
Star Trek: Deep Space Nine‘s “In the Pale Moonlight” is often heralded as not only one of the best episodes of the series, but of all Trek. However, in an interview marking the episode’s 25th anniversary, writer and producer Ronald D. Moore said the original story was much different. Rather than having Ben Sisko (Avery Brooks) break the fourth wall to tell the story, it was originally going to be told through the point of view of his son Jake (Cirroc Lofton), and any Trek fans should thank their lucky Bat’leths things turned out the way they did.
In case you’re unfamiliar, Star Trek: Deep Space Nine‘s “In the Pale Moonlight” finds Ben Sisko crossing moral and ethical boundaries unthinkable for a Starfleet captain. Working with the Cardassian exile Garak (Andrew Robinson), and with Starfleet‘s full approval, Sisko schemes to trick the Romulan Empire into entering the war with the Dominion on Starfleet’s side. The plan ultimately succeeds but by the time the credits roll, Sisko has become an accomplice to multiple crimes, including political assassination and murder.
But according to Moore’s discussion with The Hollywood Reporter, the Star Trek script that became “In the Pale Moonlight” originally would have had nothing to do with the Romulans or the Dominion. It originally found Jake, in his capacity as a Starfleet reporter, digging up some dirt on Bajor’s First Minister Shakaar (played by Duncan Regehr earlier in the series). Because of the chaos Bajor would endure if the story is published, Ben steps in to stop his son from reporting.
Even after the story shifted from Bajor to the Dominion War, Moore said, at first Jake remained the central figure. Ben and Garak would still have been working together on some dark scheme, but rather than being told from the point of view of Ben Sisko entering a personal log, we would have seen the story through Jake’s eyes. Ben and Jake would eventually find each other in conflict, which is why the story ultimately changed:
“And [the writers] felt that it was false to have those two in conflict. We were so deep into the Dominion War at that point, and putting Jake in the center of it, as I recall, just felt like the wrong impulse.”
-Ronald D. Moore on “In the Pale Moonlight”
There are a number of reasons why this makes sense. As Moore notes, Star Trek: Deep Space Nine‘s Season 5 finale features the opening salvos of the Dominion War, and by the time “In the Pale Moonlight” comes along, the titular station has already been captured by the Dominion, been held by the villains for months, and been liberated. Jake was at DS9 the entire time and an eager member of Kira’s (Nana Visitor) resistance group, so it’s questionable whether or not he would even have a problem with his father’s actions in the episode.
More importantly, part of what makes Star Trek’s “In the Pale Moonlight” such a groundbreaking episode for the franchise is that the only negative consequences Ben Sisko suffers as a result of his crimes (beyond having to spend more time with Romulans, who are, historically, jerks) are the ones he imposes on himself. Starfleet gives him a thumbs up from beginning to end, and while certain characters clearly can tell something is going on, we never get any indication that any of the DS9 recurring or regular characters other than Sisko and Garak have any idea what they’ve done.
And that’s the way “In the Pale Moonlight” needed to end. The only thing torturing Ben at the end of the episode is the weight of his own conscience. If Jake knew what his father had done, that would change.
