was watching DS9 with the roommates earlier (first watch-through of the series for one of them) and today we got to "Far Beyond the Stars," unquestionably one of the greatest sci-fi episodes of television ever made, and since we're fresh off all things Twin Peaks, we were delighted when the episode answered Monica Bellucci's question:
turns out it was Captain Sisko all along
seriously tho, the Lynchian-like stuff in this episode is really fun if you pick at it. Sisko is having something of a psychogenic fugue, which is something that is all over the place in Lynch's work. You're left wondering and questioning: who is the real man? Is it Sisko, is it Benny Russell? The metatextuality of it all! Lynch loves to be metatextual, and you literally have Sisko discussing at the end his own questioning of what is the true reality, that last shot of Benny looking back at Sisko in the reflection is haunting, plus there's the very real truth that DS9 actually *is* a dream of the future. Not Benny Russell's, but Gene Roddenberry's, Ira Stephen Behr, Robert Hewitt Wolfe, Ron Moore, et. al
There's been reams written on the excellent social commentary in this episode but the exploration of identity and the self and the reflexivity of the metatextual bits is a little underexplored, I think? The cast being transformed into sci-fi writers to make commentary on sci-writing, as written by actual sci-fi writers.
Benny is the dreamer, Sisko is the dream. We are all dreaming with him. Sometimes you cherish a dream so much you will risk everything to see it through, at great personal cost
anyway, I could ramble on about this show forever. It's so wonderfully textured. What a ride season 6 especially is: today we went from "Waltz" to "Who Mourns For Morn?" to "Far Beyond the Stars" to "One Little Ship." If that sequence doesn't perfectly encapsulate what makes DS9 so multifaceted, I don't know what does! It's such a joy to binge watch a show that changes its tone up week to week while still maintaining a strong serialized story.
David Lynch's work seeks to point out the importance of balance: I can't think of a show that is much better balanced than DS9? It covers every genre, it's comedic, it's intense, it's philosophical, it's artistic, it's spiritual, it's tragic, it's familiar, and it's heartwarming.
Modern tv, especially of the serialized variety, is such a drag.
also as an aside: the sets on this episode are stunning? Benny's apartment is especially wonderful: it's the lived in, chaotic apartment of a bachelor writer. Nothing is arranged but you can feel that Benny knows in his head exactly where everything is.