One of Star Trek’s greatest ideas is that its world isn’t only populated with captains, scientists, explorers, and warriors. There are also bartenders, gardeners, barbers, artists, and yes, writers. And perhaps the greatest metafictional writer of them all is Jake Sisko (Cirroc Lofton), son of Captain Benjamin Sisko (Avery Brooks). Unlike the resident teen in The Next Generation, Wesley Crusher, Deep Space Nine’s Jake didn’t want to join Starfleet or explore space, only explore the human condition. And although Jake’s journey is often analyzed in the context of his famous father, his story is unique within all of Star Trek.
Although Starfleet Academy’s fifth episode, “Series Acclimation Mil,” is focused on the legacy of Sisko, and even gives us a new version of Dax, Lofton’s Jake Sisko is the legacy character whose appearance is perhaps the most bittersweet.
