“Star Trek: Deep Space Nine” is kind of an odd entry in the “Star Trek” franchise, as no one boldly goes much of anywhere and the series focuses heavily on war (something franchise creator Gene Roddenberry was explicitly against). Despite these apparent setbacks, “Deep Space Nine” is one of the best “Star Trek” shows ever made and features an incredible and diverse cast of characters that provide very unusual perspectives for a “Star Trek” series. “Deep Space Nine” also has characters that hail from outside of the Federation (including Bajorans from their nearby planet, a Cardassian tailor/spy, and a whole mess of Ferengi), which helps to make the show feel unique from its more Starfleet-focused brethren.
Among the characters who brought a bit of fun and sweetness to “Deep Space Nine” was Leeta, played by Chase Masterson. Leeta was a Bajoran who worked at Quark’s (Armin Shimerman) bar as a dabo girl, in addition to occasionally selling jumja sticks (a sticky Bajoran treat) on the promenade. Though she started out dating Dr. Julian Bashir (Alexander Siddig), she eventually ended up marrying Quark’s brother Rom (Max Grodénchik), which meant she became a part of the big Ferengi clan. But which episode stood out most to Masterson?
In 2011 article for StarTrek.com where she answered fan questions, Masterson shared that her favorite episode to film was also one of the most entertaining to watch: season 7’s “Take Me Out to the Holosuite.”
Masterson’s favorite episode is a rare moment of pure joy during the end of the Dominion War
The Dominion War, which pitted Starfleet and the Federation against the forces of the Gamma Quadrant, was a controversial element of “Deep Space Nine” that was just too dark for some audiences. Thankfully, however, there were a few episodes of pure fun to break things up. In “Take Me Out to the Holosuite,” the DS9 crew get a chance to play an Earth sport against a team of Vulcans and really bond even more, both onscreen and off. As Masterson explained:
“We all had a huge amount of fun with “Take Me Out to the Holosuite,” partly because it was a drastic change of scene — everybody loved getting out of the studio, into the fresh air, and onto the baseball diamond. And the episode itself was highly spirited, based around the Niners’ “courage, teamwork, and sacrifice,” as Sisko called it. It was an interesting parallel in that, halfway through DS9’s seventh season, we all had that same spirit — partly because we had a sense of how soon the show would come to an end. I remember sensing a cast-wide feeling of appreciation for being together, much like the Niners. As cheesy as that sounds, it was very real. Lastly, that episode was fun because everyone has his or her own relationship with baseball. For instance, Max [Grodénchik] is an excellent ball player, and he is a particularly good pitcher. So, in order to sell the idea to the audience that he was awkward, he threw with his left hand. There’s nothing quite as disarming as the chance to get to play. Without mentioning names, even the most dignified cast members cut loose a bit. Quite a bit.”
While fans can guess at who might have needed to loosen up a bit, Masterson refused to name names. In the episode, the generally intense Captain Sisko, played by Avery Brooks, learns how to appreciate the game instead of focusing on winning, and it’s likely Brooks had a similar reaction behind-the-scenes. There’s a lot of joy on the cast’s faces that doesn’t feel forced at all, and it makes this particular “Deep Space Nine” episode so much fun.
Deep Space Nine used the holodeck to great effect
While holosuite episodes often gave the “Deep Space Nine” cast and crew the chance to get a little bit of sunshine, they also gave the show’s writers the opportunity to do all kinds of zany things within the confines of the “Star Trek” universe. Indeed, “Take Me Out to the Holosuite” gives us plenty of great moments for comedy, like the Klingon Worf (Michael Dorn) yelling “death to the opposition!” while trying to intimidate a Vulcan batter, but it also allows some of the show’s secondary characters to really shine, too. Rom, for example, gets the chance to be the hero despite mostly being put-upon throughout the series (outside of an incredible rally to unionize Quark’s), and it’s kind of funny that Grodénchik is so good at baseball, because Rom is not.
There are some other incredible holosuite episodes in “Star Trek: Deep Space Nine,” including one where the cast all got to pretend to be James Bond knockoff characters, which eventually led to several fantastic episodes loosely centered around a 1960s Las Vegas lounge singer, Vic Fontaine (James Darren). Wherever the holosuite took the characters of “Deep Space Nine,” it was always guaranteed to teach us something new about them and our own world. In the case of “Take Me Out to the Holosuite,” we learned that Rom really rules and winning isn’t everything, and we had a lot of fun along the way. It’s great to hear the cast did, too.