Ben’s Breakdown | “What We Left Behind”: A Love Letter for Deep Space Nine
Fathom Events presented a special theatrical viewing of the documentary What We Left Behind, which is slated to be released on home video August 6th from Shout Factory. Producer Ira Steven Behr narrates this documentary about this unusual series, and from the beginning the film shares all of the negative reactions the show initially received. Featuring all of the cast we are treated to a variety of scathing reviews and comments about everything that is wrong with Deep Space Nine from it’s concept and in to the first season of the series. Drawing from conversations with cast and crew, as well as commentary from fans, Behr starts to paint a picture of what this series was about, what were the initial ideas for some of the cast, and how the characters themselves ended up dictating the overall direction of the series. From an editorial standpoint it appears to just jump all over the place, but after a time a clear narrative starts to emerge. Behr presents the viewer that, despite primarily taking place on a space station, this series contained all of the heart that made Star Trek so popular with fans, starting with a captain who was a man of color, only to be followed with how he was surrounded by women of incredible strength and character. The documentary interview segments with Avery Brooks who played Captain Benjamin Sisko, along with Behr interviewing Nana Visitor (Kira Nerys) and Terry Farrell (Jadzia Dax) as they shared their experiences with the characters they played. That would be followed up with some wonderful added commentary from fans, either at convention appearances or through video recordings, expressing how these strong female characters would go on to inspire a new generation of future female scientists.
This documentary doesn’t take itself all that seriously. From its opening with Andrew Robinson (Garak) it is filled with moments ranging from mirth to outright irreverence. One memorable moment is a slightly contentious conversation between Visitor and Behr about a proposed romance with the character Nerys that had much of the audience laughing pretty loudly, proving the fact that the people who make up the cast and crew are indeed a family in the truest sense of the word. It’s an idea that is further driven home by Cirroc Lofton (Jake Sisko) as he describes his relationship with Avery Brooks in a moment that was very heartfelt and touching. However, one rather serious and even self-referential moment came about when Behr was checking off some of the topical successes in addressing a number of social issues. When the issue of sexuality came up there is a wonderfully validating point made by Behr saying that they cannot take credit for addressing sexuality as it pertains to the LGBTQ community. It is true that there was one episode where it was approached in a somewhat veiled manner, but out of 7 years that would be the only time the series would touch on it, and because it was never addressed fully and more frequently the show cannot take any credit in covering that specific area of potential diversity.
Final verdict? What We Left Behind is a marvelous documentary that is original in its approach, is highly entertaining, and extremely touching. In other words, when it comes out on Blu-Ray it deserves to sit right next to any boxed set of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine on the shelf!