Visionary (Star Trek: Deep Space Nine)

Set in the 24th century, the series follows the adventures on Deep Space Nine, a Starfleet-run space station adjacent to a wormhole leading to the distant Gamma Quadrant of the galaxy; the Gamma Quadrant is home to a powerful empire known as the Dominion. In this episode, Deep Space Nine's operations chief Miles O'Brien begins having visions of the future after an accident, while a delegation from the Romulan Empire visits the station.

When "Visionary" was broadcast in 1995, it achieved ratings of 7.9 and third spot in its time slot. This was in line with much of the ratings for Season 3 which varied between about six and nine Nielsen points over the course of its run (from October 1994 to July 1995). This was a popular time for the franchise, with Star Trek Generations hitting theaters in November 1994, and Star Trek: Voyager coming out in January 1995.

Plot

A Romulan delegation visits Deep Space Nine in order to receive intelligence about the Dominion promised to the Romulans by Starfleet. Complicating matters is the presence on the station of a crew of Klingons, another alien race with a history of poor relations with the Romulans.

Chief O'Brien, as an unexpected side-effect of radiation exposure, begins experiencing time shifts, each five hours into the future. He witnesses a bar brawl, in which he saves his future self from being stabbed by Klingons. In another time jump, he sees his future self killed by an explosion in a corridor near the Romulans' quarters. On returning from the time jump, he reports the incident; the resulting investigation detects the trap being installed by the Klingons, leading to the Klingons' arrest, preventing the explosion O'Brien witnessed.

In another time jump, he witnesses the destruction of the station. He deliberately subjects himself to more radiation in order to time shift only three hours into the future in order to see exactly what causes the destruction: a cloaked Romulan warship reveals itself and begins firing on the station. After telling his future self about his mission, he dies of radiation poisoning. It falls to the future O'Brien to go back in time to warn Commander Sisko about the Romulans' plot. Sisko, speculating that the Romulans intend to destroy the station and the wormhole in order to cut off further contact with the Gamma Quadrant, aims the station's weapons at the cloaked ship and has the Romulan delegates ejected from the station.

Later, O'Brien uses his limited knowledge of the future to annoy the profit-hungry Quark.

Reception

In 2018, Comic Book Resources rated "Visionary" the 13th best time-travel episode in Star Trek, noting it as a 'showcase' for O'Brien and calling the plot 'intriguing'.

Writing for Tor.com in 2013, Keith R.A. DeCandido gave the episode a mixed review, with a rating of six out of ten: he praised the character portrayals and the episode's connections to the larger plot arcs of Deep Space Nine, but criticized the plot's reliance on technobabble.

Releases

This episode was released on LaserDisc in Japan on October 2, 1998, in the half-season collection 3rd Season Vol. 2. The set included episodes from "Destiny" to "The Adversary" on double sided 12 inch optical discs; the box set had a total runtime of 552 minutes and included audio tracks in English and Japanese.

The episode was released on home video by Paramount on VHS (catalog number) VHR 4143, paired with "Distant Voices".

References

^ "WebTrek - Star Trek: Deep Space Nine * SEASON 3 NIELSEN RATINGS". users.telenet.be. Archived from the original on 2019-05-12. Retrieved 2018-04-13.
Weyer, Michael (2018-11-30). "Star Trek: Ranking the 20 Best Time-Travel Episodes". Comic Book Resources. Retrieved 2021-02-20.
DeCandido, Keith R.A. (December 17, 2013). "Star Trek: Deep Space Nine Rewatch: "Visionary"". Tor.com. Retrieved February 24, 2021.
^ "LaserDisc Database - Star Trek Deep Space 9: 3rd Season vol.2 [PILF-2441]". www.lddb.com. Retrieved 2021-02-20.
"Star Trek: Deep Space Nine Vol. 3.9 - Visionary/Distant Voices". www.videocollector.co.uk. Retrieved 2021-02-20.

External links

"Visionary" at IMDb
Visionary (episode) at Memory Alpha
Visionary at Wayback Machine (archived from the original at StarTrek.com)

v t e Star Trek: Deep Space Nine episodes
Seasons 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
Season 3	"The Search" "The House of Quark" "Equilibrium" "Second Skin" "The Abandoned" "Civil Defense" "Meridian" "Defiant" "Fascination" "Past Tense, Part I" "Past Tense, Part II" "Life Support" "Heart of Stone" "Destiny" "Prophet Motive" "Visionary" "Distant Voices" "Through the Looking Glass" "Improbable Cause" "The Die Is Cast" "Explorers" "Family Business" "Shakaar" "Facets" "The Adversary"

Star Trek: Deep Space Nine episodes

Seasons: 1; 2; 3; 4; 5; 6; 7

Season 3

v t e Star Trek: Romulan stories
The Original Series	"Balance of Terror" "The Deadly Years" "The Enterprise Incident"
The Animated Series	"The Survivor" "The Practical Joker"
The Next Generation	"The Neutral Zone" "Contagion" "The Enemy" "The Defector" "Tin Man" "Data's Day" "The Mind's Eye" "Redemption" "Unification" "The Next Phase" "Face of the Enemy" "Birthright" "The Chase" "Timescape" "The Pegasus"
Deep Space Nine	"The Search" "Visionary" "Improbable Cause" "The Die is Cast" "By Inferno's Light" "In the Pale Moonlight" "Image in the Sand" "Inter Arma Enim Silent Leges"
Voyager	"Eye of the Needle" "Message in a Bottle"
Enterprise	"Minefield" "Kir'Shara" "Babel One" "United" "The Aenar"
Discovery	"Unification III"
Picard	"Remembrance" "Maps and Legends" "The End Is the Beginning" "Absolute Candor" "Stardust City Rag" "The Impossible Box"
Strange New Worlds	"A Quality of Mercy"
Films	Star Trek: Nemesis Star Trek
Category:Star Trek

v t e Star Trek time travel stories
The Original Series	"The Naked Time" "Tomorrow Is Yesterday" "The City on the Edge of Forever" "Assignment: Earth" "All Our Yesterdays"
The Animated Series	"Yesteryear"
The Next Generation	"We'll Always Have Paris" "Time Squared" "Yesterday's Enterprise" "Captain's Holiday" "A Matter of Time" "Cause and Effect" "Time's Arrow" "Timescape" "Parallels" "Firstborn" "All Good Things..."
Deep Space Nine	"Past Tense" "Visionary" "The Visitor" "Little Green Men" "Accession" "Trials and Tribble-ations" "Children of Time" "Wrongs Darker than Death or Night" "Time's Orphan" "The Sound of Her Voice"
Voyager	"Time and Again" "Eye of the Needle" "Non Sequitur" "Death Wish" "Future's End" "Before and After" "Year of Hell" "Timeless" "Relativity" "Fury" "Shattered" "Endgame"
Enterprise	"Cold Front" "Shockwave" "Future Tense" "Twilight" "Carpenter Street" "Azati Prime" "E²" "Zero Hour" "Storm Front" "In a Mirror, Darkly"
Discovery	"Magic to Make the Sanest Man Go Mad"
Picard	"Assimilation" "Watcher"
Strange New Worlds	"A Quality of Mercy" "Those Old Scientists" (crossover with Lower Decks)
Films	Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home Star Trek Generations Star Trek: First Contact Star Trek

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