The Star Trek Episode Inspired By A Famous Cannibal
Once upon a time, we figured the only connection between Star Trek and Hannibal Lecter was that Hannibal showrunner Bryan Fuller co-created Discovery. However, we recently discovered that a forgotten episode of Deep Space Nine was originally written with our favorite cannibal in mind. According to Morgan Gendel, the show’s staff originally wanted him to create a Hannibal-like character for the episode “The Passenger.”
The Passenger
For this connection between Star Trek and Hannibal to make much sense, you’re going to need a quick refresher on what “The Passenger” was all about. This episode features Kira and Bashir rescuing two people from a freighter, one of whom soon dies. However, the seemingly deceased Vantika has the ability to transfer its consciousness from one body to another, resulting in an episode where our heroes must find and stop the culprit while keeping the station and its residents safe from a killer who can hide in plain sight.
While he was one of three people who worked on the screenplay, this episode’s story was created solely by Morgan Gendel. To hear him tell the tale, the pitching process was more stressful than usual because the staff flip-flopped on what they wanted from the episode. According to Gendel, the Star Trek: Deep Space Nine staff was initially “looking to do a Hannibal Lecter-like character” but soon told him “We want to make sure we’re not doing that.”
To Hannibal Or Not To Hannibal?
The script drama got big enough that two Star Trek bigwigs weighed in, and one seemed keener to pursue the Hannibal angle than the other. Gendel said that he initially pitched the idea to both Ira Steven Behr and Peter Allan Fields, and they wanted to run everything by then-showrunner Michael Piller. Piller was initially eager to “give it a whirl,” but Behr initially talked him down by pointing out the different problems the episode might face. However, Gendel was unrelenting and pleaded to Behr that “I can explore it and make it work in story.”
Problems With The Story
With some humor, Gendel recalls “I don’t know if it was that enthusiasm or Michael [Piller] felt sorry for me that day,” but he got the green light for the episode. Piller decided to give it a shot, but Behr was soon proven right. While Gendel didn’t drop any specific details, he noted that, as warned by Behr, “there were problems” with the story, and Piller himself stepped in to help flesh out the script
Straight Out Of A Horror Movie
Given what Gendel said, we know this Star Trek: Deep Space Nine episode was originally going to make the body-hopping Vantika character into someone more reminiscent of Hannibal. This may have been why Alexander Siddig originally channeled horror movies for his possessed voice, giving a performance that Rick Berman later claimed sounded too much like Bela Lugosi.
Whether the voice was that bad or they just wanted to distance themselves from cinematic horror altogether, the show’s producers ended up having the actor re-dub all of his own lines.
Star Trek Never Got A Proper Hannibal
Sadly, this means that Star Trek never got a proper Hannibal character…had he lived longer, the sociopathic Betazoid Lon Suder on Voyager might have channeled the cannibal from his confinement. Frankly, it would have been big fun to see him more fully embody a Lecter-like role like what was originally intended for Vantika. Now, we’re stuck without any characters who can answer this big question: will the replicator let you create dishes made with human meat, or does that send up an instant red flag to the ship’s captain?
