"The Visitor" is the 75th episode of the American syndicated science fiction television series Star Trek: Deep Space Nine and the second episode of the fourth season. The episode was written by Michael Taylor and directed by David Livingston. It originally aired on October 9, 1995.
Set in the 24th century, the series follows the adventures on Deep Space Nine, a space station located near a stable wormhole between the Alpha and Gamma quadrants of the Milky Way Galaxy. In this episode, an accident leaves Captain Benjamin Sisko frozen in time, leaving his son Jake with a lifelong obsession with rescuing his father, having his resolve tested when they briefly reunite every few decades.
The episode was nominated for a Hugo Award for Best Dramatic Presentation in 1996, but lost to Babylon 5s "The Coming of Shadows". It consistently ranks in polls as one of the most popular episodes of the entire series, often vying for first place with "In the Pale Moonlight" and "Trials and Tribble-ations", with one critic writing that the episode "sums up everything that made DS9 so unforgettable." a prolific director of Star Trek franchise episodes in the 1990s and 2000s.
Although the episode was always intended to be the second episode of the season, it was filmed third; "Hippocratic Oath" was filmed prior to accommodate Colm Meaney's (Miles O'Brien) schedule on a film. Rachel Robinson also later auditioned for the role of Ezri Dax.
The future Starfleet uniforms and combadges were the same as those seen in the alternate future parts of the Star Trek: The Next Generation series finale "All Good Things...".
Critical reception
190px|thumb|right|Tony Todd was praised for his performance as the adult Jake Sisko
Writing for Tor.com, Keith DeCandido felt that the episode was among the ten best Star Trek stories and praised the acting of Avery Brooks (Benjamin Sisko), Cirroc Lofton (Jake Sisko), and particularly Tony Todd (adult Jake Sisko). He felt that "Everyone who gets substantive screen time puts in a great performance here", also commending Terry Farrell (Jadzia Dax), Alexander Siddig (Julian Bashir), and Aron Eisenberg (Nog). DeCandido summarized his thoughts on the episode by writing, "Just a great great hour of television. One of the finest there has ever been", and awarded the episode a rating of ten out of ten. The A.V. Clubs Zack Handlen reviewed the episode standalone rather than alongside another episode – he had done so similarly in his review for "Duet" – and interspersed his review with memories with his own father. Handlen explained that he was reduced to tears when old Jake woke up to find his father watching him and smiling towards the end of the episode.
Analyzing Star Trek: Deep Space Nines representation of black fatherhood in America through the characters of Benjamin and Jake Sisko, Vultures Angelica Jade Bastién wrote how the "beauty of [their] relationship is perhaps never better portrayed than in the season-four episode "The Visitor." [...] Seeing black men cry, grapple with the historical importance of their existence, and remain beautifully, dynamically human is something no other science-fiction series on television has done with such panache." In 2018, the website had rated "The Visitor" the second-best episode of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine.
"The Visitor" was nominated for a Hugo Award for Best Dramatic Presentation in 1996, although Babylon 5s "The Coming of Shadows" won;
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It has consistently ranked in polls as one of the most popular episodes of the entire series. About.com's Nigel Mitchell ranks it at third place (between "In the Pale Moonlight" and "Duet").
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"The Visitor" has been rated as one of the best Star Trek episodes in the franchise: IGN ranked it the 15th best episode of all Star Trek series; Radio Times ranked it the seventh best episode of Star Trek for those unfamiliar with the franchise; CBR ranked it the sixth best time-travel episode of all of Star Trek; and a binge-watching guide for Star Trek: Deep Space Nine by Wired recommended not skipping this "essential" episode. SyFy said "The Visitor" was "one of most powerful" episodes of the Star Trek franchise, praising it for perfect acting and powerful script. UK science fiction magazine and website SciFiNow ranked this one of the top ten episodes of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, commenting "Not a dry eye in the house". James Whitbrook of Io9 said this was one of the "must watch" episodes from the series, remarking "be ready to cry".
Releases
On August 5, 1998, "The Visitor" was released on LaserDisc format in Japan, as part of the 4th Season Vol. 1 box set.