#lisa cusak

[sshbpodcast]

Top 3 Star Trek Deep Space Nine characters

By Ames

A Star to Steer Her By is continuing our trend of spotlighting minor and one-off characters from all the series. We did it with The Original Series. We did it with The Next Generation. And after having a lot of nostalgic vibes from this week’s podcast episode, we’re ready to give some glory to our favorite characters from Deep Space Nine!

There are just a TON of great characters throughout a series known for its amazing character work, and we did a pretty good job limiting ourselves to those who we didn’t see that much of since so many folks become familiar faces over the course of the show. So spin the wheel with us as you see all our picks below and listen to our very difficult decisions over on the podcast (discussion starts at 1:03:03). These characters will have you yelling “Dabo!”

[images © CBS/Paramount] 

Jake – Honorable fights

Aamin Marritza

Tekeny Ghemor

Grilka

Walk a mile in the shoes of any of Jake’s picks and you’ll be exhausted by the hardships you have to endure just to do the right thing. From a pair of Cardassian men whom we’ve discussed in our Cardassians blogpost, one who is trying to atone for the wrongs committed by an entire people and one who is secretly leading a dissident movement on Cardassia, we move on to one of our favorite Klingon lasses who just wants to bring honor to her house in defiance of some of the more sexist laws on Q’onos. Qapla’!

—

Ames – Voices of a generation

Tosk

Pel

Lisa Cusak

I am Tosk! The three one-off characters that I’m highlighting all make us not only look differently at how we treat people, but also in how we tell our stories. Let’s start with the first species we meet from the Gamma Quadrant who relates the complicated history of his hunted people with simplicity and humility. Next is the first female Ferengi in Star Trek, who starts us on a journey of change on Ferenginar that becomes a theme throughout the series. And finally, here’s a character who is downright fascinating despite the fact we never even see her on screen, but the sound of her voice is all we really need.

—

Caitlin – Found family

Lwaxana Troi

Liam Bilby and Chester

Tekeny Ghemor

Caitlin’s choices for DS9 characters are all complicated parental figures in their own ways, but like good mothers and fathers, they care for their flock and lead by example. We see a repeat from one of Caitlin’s faves from TNG, who has returned to show Odo a new side of herself. We also have a new sorta father figure for O’Brien when he temporarily infiltrates the Orion Syndicate just to have his heart broken a bit, and also Kira’s Cardassian sorta dad who treats her as he would his own daughter… who happens to have her face.

—

Chris – One day more to revolution

Michael Eddington

Aamin Marritza

Leck the Eliminator

“Do you hear the people sing? Singing the song of angry men?” Okay, that’s enough Les Misérables quoting for this post. Chris’s picks are all ready to fight for their beliefs, whether they be as leaders within the Maquis, resisting that Federation-Cardassian treaty that boned so many people; as a martyr making a statement about how his people need to be brought to justice for their cruel occupation of Bajor; or just as a normal guy who really loves killing for whatever reason you throw at him!

— We’re going to keep chilling here on the promenade, having a jumja stick, maybe dangling our legs over the second floor landing. There’s more in store for our Deep Space Nine friends next week when we’ll try to thwart our favorite villains of the series. So definitely keep your eyes here for that, keep up with all of our coverage over on SoundCloud or wherever you listen to podcasts, and hop in a roundabout to join us on Facebook and Twitter. There will be no running on the promenade!

[walkingstackofbooks]

After "meeting" Lisa Cusak, Julian finds he wants to get something off his chest that's been weighing him down for the longest of times. Unfortunately for Miles, it's two in the morning.

Hurt/comfort. CW: suicidal ideation.

--

They'd both been lying in silence for nearly an hour, but just as Miles was finally beginning to drop off to sleep, Julian's voice drifted up from the bottom bunk.

"Chief?"

Miles didn't bother to stifle his groan. "Yeah?"

"Do you—Do you ever think about dying?"

The unexpectedness of the question gave Miles pause, but after a second he scoffed, shaking his head. He was too tired for this.

"Go to sleep, Julian."

"But do you?

"'Course I do. We're in the middle of a bloody war."

Julian fell silent for a few seconds. Then Miles heard the sound of covers being pulled back and found himself looking into the anxious face of Julian Bashir.

"That's not quite—I meant, like... do you ever still have Agrathi thoughts about dying?" Julian asked quietly, eyes searching Miles' face, before darting down towards his feet.

"Bloody hell," grumbled Miles, sitting up and banging his head on the ceiling for his troubles. "It's two in the morning, Julian. What's brought this on?"

It was a stupid question, really. He knew the answer before the words had even left his mouth.

"I just... can't stop thinking about Captain Cusak, I guess," Julian says. "And some of the things she said. About talking to people, you know?"

"And you think I need to talk about this."

Julian shrugged. "I don't know. Do you?"

Taking a deep breath, Miles gave Julian the most reassuring smile he could muster - which was probably still more of a grimace - and shook his head. "I promise you, if I got that way again, I'd tell you, or Keiko: and she'd make me tell you. Go back to bed and stop worrying. I'm fine."

In all honesty, it was nice that Julian cared enough to ask - but it would be even nicer if it weren't in the middle of the freaking night, and so with that, Miles pulled up his blankets, rolled over, demonstrating to Julian what going to bed looked like. To his credit, Julian took the hint, and Miles soon heard the sounds of crumpling sheets and mattress creaks.

Peace returned, but that was far from enough to lull Miles back into even a comfortable doze. While he'd been quite honest in answering Julian's question, he couldn't help feeling like he'd missed something. The longer he lay there, the more uncomfortable he got with the silence below him.

By the time he'd figured out what it was, he was almost certain Julian must have fallen asleep - but that was no real deterrent.

"Do you?" he asked, into the darkness. The response came almost immediately.

"What?"

"Do you, you know... ever get those thoughts?"

"A bit." He could hear the hesitation in Julian's voice. "A lot, actually. Sometimes."

Miles' heart dropped. "For how long?"

"How long's a piece of string?"

"What's that meant to mean?"

When Julian didn't respond, Miles sat up again, intending to peer over the side of the bunk at his friend.

"What's that meant to mean?" he repeated, and - realising he was not nearly flexible enough to peer over the edge - swung his legs over the side of the bed and climbed down.

Julian was moving again, shuffling across, clearly making room for Miles to sit next to him. "Sorry, Chief," he said. "I didn't mean to worry you. I just... I was just thinking about it, that's all. Not—not that - about telling you, I mean."

"You're avoiding the question," Miles said gruffly, and Julian looked away.

"It means—It means I can't remember. Feelings... they're more difficult to pinpoint than events. I just don't know, Miles."

Miles frowned. "Not even an estimate? A few months? A year? Two?"

A bitter laugh escaped Julian, one that Miles really didn't like. "Try twenty," he replied, the number slipping off the tip of his tongue like it was nothing.

Twenty years was not nothing. Twenty years was a lifetime in an Argrathi prison. For Julian, twenty years was a lifetime. Period.

"Since you were a teenager?"

Julian shrugged. "Thereabouts."

Miles looked at him, really looked, at the well-worn lines creasing his friend's face, the ones he'd thought had only appeared with the onset of war. At his dark, sad eyes that Miles could remember being full of youth and hope and light. How could he reconcile that Julian with a teenager who—

Oh.

"The enhancements?"

His voice was quiet, as though that would make this conversation any easier on Julian.

"They didn't help."

"You... you didn't ever—"

"Do you really want to know?" Julian interrupted, his eyes hard and tired and wet with unspent tears. Miles was tired too; his heart was sore and his friend was far too complicated.

"Why start this if you don't want to tell me anything?" he asked.

"I have told you something!" Julian replied incredulously. "I'm just - I didn't expect you to make a whole conversation out of it!"

"Hah, as though you never made me talk after Argra—"

"That was different," Julian argued. "I was there, I saw you— I stopped you. This was years ago."

"So you did..."

Julian let out a long exhale, a sure sign that Miles had won the argument. If you could call it winning.

"Yeah," he said eventually. "Not immediately, but yes. With everything else that had been bubbling up over the years, when I found out what my parents had done..."

"Everything else?" Miles had thought that his voice couldn't get any softer, that his heart couldn't break any further. He'd been wrong.

Julian gave snort and a shake of his head. "We're not going there."

"Right."

Miles didn't know what else to say. What was there to say to that? A completely new history of Julian Bashir had been uncovered, one that Miles should surely have been able to discover before: if only he'd thought more deeply, asked more questions, been less afraid to entangle himself in awful, messy, emotional conversations like this...

"God, you were only fifteen—"

"Sixteen," Julian corrected, "by the time I actually tried—"

"Great. Sixteen," Miles repeated with a mirthless chuckle. "Because that makes it so much better."

Julian snorted, his face contorting into some strange sort of half-grin, and then he was laughing, and then he was crying, and Miles was holding him close, rocking him and soothing him and pretending not to be quietly terrified.

When Julian finally sat up, wiping his face roughly with his sleeve, they both looked away from each other, as though a lack of eye contact was enough to pretend that no emotional outburst had just happened.

"Seems to me," Miles said, standing up, "that you owe me a promise."

"Probably," yawned Julian, laying back down. Miles wasn't sure why he was bothering. Neither of them were going to get any sleep now.

But he guessed they had to try. "So do you?" he asked, as he clambered back into his own bed.

"I promise," came the quiet response. "I'll tell you, or Jadzia, or the captain, if—if... You know."

"Yeah. I know."

The room was silent once more, but only for a few minutes.

"Miles?"

Miles hated the way his heart started to jackhammer as soon as he heard Julian.

"Mmm?"

"Captain Cusak was right, wasn't she. It is good to talk."

"I'm not sure she meant we should substitute it for sleeping."

"I'm glad we did, though. I feel better now. Lighter."

I don't, thought Miles, but he couldn't say that. Julian's confession was a burden he'd gladly carry if it gave his friend even an ounce of peace.

"That's good," he said instead.

"I'd do the same for you, you know. Listen, I mean. If you want to—"

"I know."

"I know you don't like talking but—"

"Julian," Miles groaned. "I love you, but there's a time and a place and we both need to get some bloody sleep before it becomes morning again."

For a minute, Miles thought it had worked.

"Miles?"

Maybe if he stayed quiet, Julian would think he'd fallen asleep.

"Chief?"

Although, knowing Julian, he could probably tell if he was faking from hearing his ruddy heartbeat or something.

"Miles," Julian hissed. "What did that mean, 'you love me'?"

Well that settled it. Heartbeat or no, Julian would definitely not be getting any more responses from him.

"Miles?"

The bunk shook slightly, but thankfully it seemed Julian wasn't getting out again, only turning over and settling down. Miles dared to start counting sheep again.

"Don't worry, Chief," came the quietest of whispers. "I know you meant it."

[usstrekart]

"The Sound of Her Voice" (S06E25, Stardate 51948.3) is a solid Trek reminder of the importance of communication - on all levels. Especially in tough times when we are dealing with so many things that take our energy and focus. That it is couched in a simple sc-fi concept makes it so much better for me.

I had a clear idea of what I wanted to feature in my episode poster for "The Sound of Her Voice" early on. Captain Lisa Cusak's worn and tatterd badge and uniform, waiting to be rescued.

[walkingstackofbooks]

I've never thought about it like that, but hard agree, actually... There are definitely characters I like *less* than Jadzia, but Odo, Quark or Worf dying would have taken away something essential I think.

Man, her death sucked so much though. I knew that Ezri Dax replaced Jadzia Dax at some point, but I didn't know when, so from season 5 onwards every episode where Jadzia was somewhat in danger was extremely tense. (But also excited, I guess, because I do like shows that makes me cry.)

I was absolutely CONVINCED she was going to die in Change of Heart, and while at the time I was relieved she didn't, I do really wish she had because /that/ - having to make the sacrifice for the Cardassian intel, having Work have to leave her - would have been an excellent way to go. Plus a midseason death would have been so much more gutting to see the immediate aftermath rather than have a time skip.

And I'm always going to be mad that Morn had a better send-off/funeral than she did in the episode where he faked his death. And Lisa Cusak too - the end of that episode had me convinced that whatever they did for Jadzia was going to be amazing, because they'd have to make it *better* than for a one-episode character but no. Sigh.

Jadzia dying was definitely sad (in the sense of unjust and poorly done) but, if I'm being honest, I went into DS9 with vague half remembered recollections of reading its tvtropes page once, misremembered it as being Kira who died, and was immeasurably relieved to be wrong

[stopthatbluecat]

It's nice that Lisa Cusak got hope and company in her final days tbqh. I'm glad for her in that respect.

[lessattitudemorealtitude]

When you make ridiculously small connections between fandoms 

(The actress who plays Cere in JFO is in an episode of DS9, specifically in The Sound of Her Voice, the voice of the woman the Defiant’s is trying to save but it turns out she died 5 years previously)

[mannytoodope]

Rob: Hi, Marie.

Marie: Everything go alright?

 Rob: She just wanted to pick up some stuff.  No big thing.  A relief, actually.

Marie: God, I hate that time.  That pick-up stuff time.  I just went through that before I came here.  You know that song “Patsy Cline Times Two” I play?  That’s about me and my ex dividing up our record collections.

Rob: It’s a great song.

Marie Thank you. Rob: A while back, Dick and Barry and I agreed that what really matters is what you like, not what you are like…Books, records, films – these things matter.  Call me shallow but it’s the  real truth, and by this  measure, I was having one of the best dates of my life.

[funnywormz]

i'm always a sucker for the idea of digital/electronic ghosts and the whispers of the dead coming through on radio waves and this episode is no exception. lisa was already dead for 3 years by the time they caught her distress call....... she was only ever a ghost............. but she still became their friend and got to hear the voices of people in her final hours. she was alone in body but not in spirit. they never got to see or touch each other and by the time they found her she was a dessicated corpse but they KNEW her. and she knew them. she was dead but she knew them.

it's like her lonely ghost was reaching out for company through the static and the void of space and she found someone. she listened to their problems and laughed with them and helped them through, even as the last echoes of who she was faded from reality forever. i like to think that when she closed her eyes for the last time she genuinely believed she was going to be rescued, that she would just sleep for a while and then be safe.

in a way, she wouldn't be wrong for thinking that either. lisa cusak was only ever a ghost, but they still carried her with them back up into the stars, and she was finally among friends once again

"the sound of her voice" is such a good ds9 episode i had forgotten how good it was.......... so funny and sweet and sad and haunting....................

[weremustelidae]

why can't ds9 episodes ever have a happy ending. "We're answering a distress call for a survivor of a crash-landed ship! But she's low on supplies so we might not get there in time! Oh no!!" is a good enough plot/conflict on its own they did NOT need to add "Psych! The communications were actually travelling back and forth through time so the person we were going to rescue has been dead for years!" They could have just rescued the lady and gone home. my god.

[lionowlonao3]

SUMMARY:  Lisa Cusak encouraged everyone to take a long hard look at where their lives were going, and Worf was no exception.

For: @benicebefunny (it won’t let me tag you) for round 8 of the @trek-rarepair-swap

thanks to @prisdreamsbravely and @writhingbeneathyou for beta-reading.

[deepspacedukat]

Saddest ds9 episode (well one of) is “The Sound of Her Voice” not only because of the fact that you realize there was never any one of saving captain Lisa Cusak but you see how the war has pulled everyone apart and the foreshadowing of Dax’s death when O’Brian says one day we will wake up & someone will be missing from our circle but we don’t have to mourn alone. Did you know the cast didn’t meet the actress playing Lisa Cusak until after filming. Your thoughts friend?-Azora

OH MY GOD, THAT EPISODE MADE ME SOB. 😭 Lisa was so kind and helpful to the whole crew with their personal problems.

Also ??? For some reason I didn't put together that little bit of foreshadowing about Dax. God, that makes me even more emotional about the whole thing. *sobs*

Woah, really? Did they not? That's so cool! It really gives an air of authenticity to their performances and shows how good they are at their jobs.

Honestly, I really enjoyed that episode in an ow-that-hurt-my-heart kind of way. I can't put my finger on why, but I really felt that the writing in that episode was top notch. It just felt...right. Sad, but right. It has a painful ending, but it's an important episode to watch.

[spockvarietyhour]

Defiant arrives at an uncharted planet following Captain Lisa Cusak’s distress signal, “The Sound of Her Voice”

[weerd1]

Star Trek DS9 Rewatch Log, Stardate 1909.19: Missions Reviewed, “Time’s Orphan,” “The Sound of Her Voice,” and “Tears of the Prophets.”

Keiko O’Brien has brought the kids back to DS9 finally, and they plan a long overdue family outing. Traveling to a small Bajoran colony world, they are having a delightful picnic when eight year old Molly finds herself inside a cave and in danger. Miles tries to save her, but she falls into a portal leftover from an extinct civilization and they realize she��s been thrown back in time.  The station sends help and they manage to send a transporter beam locked on to her DNA through the portal, but when they beam her back, ten years have passed for her, and Molly is now a feral 18 year old.  Back on the station, Bashir prescribes a series of methods to try to reconnect to her, but even her language skills have atrophied after a decade alone. Worf volunteers to help keep an eye on Kiarayoshi (the O’Brien’s son whom of course Kira delivered) as he wants to prove to Jadzia he can be a good father (meeting Alexander certainly has not helped with that). 

Molly starts to make some progress, and asks to go home. They take her back to her quarters, but she reacts badly until she sees a picture of them on the colony planet, and they realize she wants back into nature. They take her to a holosuite, which goes well until their time expires, and Molly becomes angry, assaulting several of Quark’s patrons. Starfleet orders the girl to a treatment facility where she won’t be a danger, but O’Brien instead decides to take her and steal a Runabout, returning her to the time portal and destroying it behind her. Odo initially catches them, but lets them go.

 They put older Molly back, but she arrives at the same time as her earlier self, and sends the eight-year-old version of herself back through the time portal, erasing her existence, but restoring her family. Worf meanwhile has decided he likes Yoshi despite some problems, and he and Jadzia decide he could be a father.

We waited until late in the season for our “Screw with O’Brien” episode, but indeed here it is. There are a few echoes of the fifth season “Children of Time” here (and in the next episode honestly) but overall this is an effective science fiction plot that serves as an nice analogy for families dealing with sick children, and what it takes to be a parent with the Worf story line. Worf coming at babysitting like it is a Warrior’s task is amusing, and all the more poignant very soon.  I am interested in where this time portal came from, as much of it seems a little reminiscent of the Guardian of Forever, though the control interface looks rather pointedly like the TARDIS console from Doctor Who.  

“The Sound of Her Voice” starts with Odo citing Quark for installing unsafe barstools and Quark deciding he has to come up with something to distract Odo so he can sell some elicit merchandise. 

 With Jake watching for “research” purposes, he pushes Odo to celebrate his one month “anniversary” with Kira to provide a distraction allowing him to move his goods.  Meanwhile the Defiant is tracking a Starfleet distress signal to a lone survivor, Captain Lisa Cusak, of the USS Olympia (PNW, Represent!) who is on a class J planet, trying to stay alive.  As they track her, the establish two way communications and to keep her company, each officer takes a turn talking to her. In their own way she begins to talk them each through problems they have experienced in their personal lives.  On DS9, Odo shifts the day of his “anniversary” date, and that means Quark’s client will be there while Odo is on patrol. Without Quark and Jake knowing Odo overhears Quark lament how bad the war has been on him, and how he would like some recognition for helping bring Odo and Kira together.  Odo abruptly goes back to his original plan, allowing Quark to operate. Odo tells Kira that he owes Quark one���but just one. The Defiant makes it to the planet and finds that the strange energy field that caused the Olympia to crash in the first place has acted as a time dilation effect, and Captain Cusak actually crashed three years ago, and her oxygen ran out then. Sisko brings her body back to DS9 and they throw an “Irish Wake” for her (which Worf comments seems like a very Klingon ritual) to remember the time they got to know her, and the advice she gave. 

O’Brien toasts the fact that one day, it will be one of them not standing in the circle, and they should enjoy each others’ company while they can. The camera flashes to Jadzia Dax.

Holy foreshadowing, Batman.  They do, they cut RIGHT to Jadzia when O’Brien laments one of them may die.  Dammit, what are you people trying to do to me? Beyond that, I was struck by the similar circumstances between this episode and “Children of Time:” a planet with an strange energy field around it which displaces things in time. Being caught up with season 2 of “Star Trek: Discovery” I am struck how much the character of Captain Cusak (whom we see only as a body, three years deceased) has a personality and wit that reminds me of Tig Notaro’s character of Jett Reno. I just kept imagining her on the planet, similar actually to the situation which the Discovery crew WILL end up saving Reno from following the Klingon War in 2257 (about 117 years before this episode). I am not sure though why NO ONE tried to look up records on the Olympia, even just to see what her crew compliment was to aid in the rescue, and don’t notice the three year discrepancy in timelines.  As a bit of reference, since Cusak discusses the Olympia being on an eight year mission and the ship crashed three years earlier, they Oly’s mission would have started roughly the same time the 1701D launched under Jean-Luc Picard, and she would have crashed roughly the same time the Voyager ended up in the Delta Quadrant.

“Tears of the Prophets” opens with Sisko receiving the Christopher Pike medal of valor and with Admiral Ross deciding Starfleet, Qo’Nos, and Romulus will invade Cardassian space, specifically to knock out a new type of weapon platform in the Chin’Toka system.  The Romulan senator on scene is initially resistant, but becomes convinced. 

Meanwhile Dax and Worf become public about deciding to have a child, and Dukat returns to the Dominion.  He has recovered the Pah-Wraith Kosst Amojan (last seen possessing Jake Sisko in the apocalypse Kai Winn cancelled in “The Reckoning”) and will use it to attack the wormhole. When Sisko prepares to leave to invade Cardassia, he receives a vision from the Prophets warning him not to go, but he defaults to his Starfleet duty. While the battle is being hard fought (with the weapons platforms coming online mid-fight) Dukat infiltrates DS9 with the Pah-Wraith to deliver it into the Orb on the station. 

In the sanctuary he finds Jadzia Dax, having a rare moment of religious curiosity, and blasts her with the Wraith’s power. The ancient being enters the orb, and the wormhole collapses. When the Defiant returns, Dukat is gone, and Worf arrives just in time to say goodbye to Jadzia; Bashir saved the symbiont, but could not save the host. The Celestial Temple collapsed, his friend dead, and Bajor looking to an Emissary who has suffered such major blows, Sisko decides to return to Earth for a time to clear his head.  Kira assumes command of DS9, and when she enters Sisko’s office, is heartbroken to see that Sisko does not know if he will return: Benjamin has taken his baseball with him.

The death of Dax is almost arbitrary and just a senseless tragedy, which I think makes it all the more affecting. You would have expected her warrior’s death, but the almost meaningless happenstance of being in the wrong place when Dukat appears just hurts.  Dramatically it is effective; the behind the scenes story about how Rick Berman treated Terry Farrell leading to this death is infuriating. I know Berman kept Trek alive a long time, but damn, am I glad he’s no longer affiliated, and Terry gets to be married to Leonard Nimoy’s son (no, seriously) and appear at conventions alongside Nicole De Boer whom we will meet next season as the new Dax host Ezri. Jadzia was an amazing character, and I will miss her as the show continues, but it is effective and visceral storytelling that brings us Ezri Dax. At least something good came out of Berman’s abuse, and Jadzia, as I rewatch, re-meet, and re-lose her 20 years later will ALWAYS be one of the best things about DS9 and Star Trek in general.  And SCREW YOU  Kai Winn! This Pah-Wraith  being on the lose is YOUR fault. Also, I really like David Birney as the Romulan here, wish we'd seen a little more of him!

NEXT VOYAGE: A broken Sisko receives a distant mysterious vision, and an old friend with a new face appears to help find the “Image in the Sand.”

[regina-cordium]

ive only heard her voice but i love lisa cusak

[longroadstonowhere]

god, i really hope lisa cusak survives to the end of this episode - i don’t care about seeing her, i just want her to live

[lala-sara]

DS: The Sound Of Her Voice

Gosh it looked like Julian wanted to come out on the wake but chickened out in the last second. Also - Garak is still going with them on Defiant or not? I’m always thinking about where he is when he wasn’t shown. Station is big but when he’s with Julian on Defiant it seems so intimate somehow. There are not enough fics with them two on Defiant. And talking about them did someone write a fic with Julian talking with Lisa about Garak yet? Lisa instantly seeing that he’s in love and giving advices on a subject... yum.