Star Trek: Deep Space Nine — 2x09 — Second Sight

Aired 1993-11-21

SpaceOpera.com rating:3

Average reader rating:4.09

Synopsis

Sisko falls in love for the first time since his wife's death, but the object of his affections may not be all that she seems.

Filler rating: bad filler

Unless you consider blatantly defying the continuity of the even worse episode TNG: Force of Nature to be worthwhile, this rather lame episode is thoroughly skippable.

Remarkable scenes

Sisko's odd behavior the next morning in ops.
I love Seyetik's cheerful arrogance.
Sisko's conversation with Odo about his phantom girl.
Sisko: "Seyetik is one of the Federation's greatest minds." Kira: "I know. He told me."
Seyetik's death. His final words: "Let there be light!"

Review

This episode is certainly original, but in many ways annoying. Sisko's profound loss of his wife is exploited in an inappropriate and annoying way, and the much more interesting plot thread of reviving dead stars along with Seyetik's wonderful character are all thoroughly wasted in the process. I give it extra points for Seyetik's heroic end and all the coolness associated with it, but other than that, a disappointment.

5 reader comments

I agree, interesting episode but somewhat 'flat' and pedestrian.
Not sure I liked the way Avery Brooks played it either, if this episode is supposed to 'deal' with his feelings about his wife then it fails badly. (We still await the rejuvenated Sisko that is due to appear complete with shaven head later on). He fawns after Fenna and then when he realises she is married… nothing. It's like setting up some sort of betrayal and then just dropping it.
Perhaps this could have played better using the Defiant later in the series too. There could have been slightly more tension between Sisko/Seyetik/Seyetik's wife and also Sisko might have felt more responsibility for what happens…
I'm clutching at ideas here, it's a pretty poor episode and that's it really.
by Bernard | 10/16/2010 at 9:05 am

This episode represents yet another example of Star Trek's use of the "onesie", the tight, form-fitting, one piece outfit worn by young, attractive females for the purpose of pandering to the male prurient interest.
Not that I am complaining. As an attractive young female, Fenna does not disappoint. It seems obvious to me tha Sisko is not in love with Fenna (at least not yet); he simply has the hots for her. (And who can blame him?)
Other uses of the onesie: Troi after losing the micro-mini outfit she wore in TNG: Adventure at Farpoint, Seven (of course), Kira (although it doesn't really work with Kira, Nana Visitor is not that hot), TNG: Legacy where the main guest character, Ishara Yarr (Tasha's sister) gets an electric blue onesie (with a color coordinated phaser holster!) to show off her smoking' hot bod which is given oodles and gobs of airtime by the camera folks.
The onesie is a reminder that, for all its pretensions, Star Trek is largely for us horny, sexually repressed geeks.
by Jeff Browning | 10/19/2011 at 10:13 am

Wouldn't it be a better idea to just consider the nonsense of "TNG: Force of Nature" to be the problem, and not hold it against all future episodes when they blatantly ignore the stupid "warp drive destroys the universe" premise? I mean, If you're gonna give "Force of Nature" a zero rating, why should you consider it a problem when nearly every subsequent episode ignores it? I rather like future episodes not reminding me of such an arbitrary "rule."
Anyway… I found this episode to be pretty boring. Not because it was a romance episode, but because I just wasn't buying the Fenna character. Her calm demeanor seems way too studied to work with Sisko's boisterous/laid-back dual nature.
by John DC | 12/08/2011 at 5:19 am

It's episodes like this that made my friends describe this show as, "Soap Opera in SPACE," back during its run. Sisko is getting over the death of his wife, and he meets a new woman! But a twist! She's Married! But another twist-she's not really Fenna, she's a psycho-productive illusion of Fenna! Oh, how will our crazy cast sort this out?!
I have no issue with a romance plot, and no issue with Sisko dealing with his grief. Those are good human issues to explore. This kind of cheesy plot manipulation, trying to shove both of those down our throats in order to set up a lame, uninteresting twist, is what this show wasn't meant to be about. I adored Cassidy Yates when she showed up later, because she actually made more sense than Sisko falling for the AOTW.
And yeah, I agree with the sentiment that the B-Plot for the week was much more interesting. This would have made a much better episode without the Fenna character.
by Bronn | 07/02/2013 at 6:38 am

As i understand it, a gigantic, massive thing as a star has only so many ways to "die". None of wich includes becoming something like we see in this episode…looks more like a gigantic dead planet or something, no light emitted of any sort. So i looked it up, turns out there's this theory that tells us that a white dwarf star (what a small-middle sized star becomes after it dies) cools down over the eons and it's supposed to become a "black dwarf star", cristalized, solid and with no light emitted whatsoever. Anyway, besides the fact that we couldn't see this type of dead stars and we clarly see it on the viewing screen of the Prometheus, it's quite impressive to me that the writers took so many detail on this sort of thingies…loved it.
by Martin | 03/19/2014 at 4:31 am