LogFAQs > #933429537

#48 Jake Sisko
"Daaaayad!"
"Jake-Oh!"

I think whether or not Jake Sisko ranks in the upper half of a Star Trek fan's character list is predicated on one thing and one thing alone: whether or not they consider DS9's fourth-season episode "The Visitor" a masterclass enough episode to justify it. I do not.

Jake is Benjamin Sisko's son. His mother died years ago thanks to the attempted Borg invasion of the Alpha Quadrant at Wolf 351. Now his father must raise him as a single parent whilst commanding a space station in contested territory at the galaxy's edge. This is a pretty great premise and for Captain Sisko it sometimes pays off in spades. For Jake himself, however, it's middling. As Anagram notes, he exists predominantly as a cipher for his father. There's nothing inherently wrong with that, but it puzzles me to this day that Cirroc Lofton remained on the opening credits list for all seven seasons yet the late Aron Eisenberg (RIP), whose portrayal as Nog far eclipsed anything the writers ever did with Jake, is forever credited as a guest star.

When we first meet Jake, we quickly learn that he likes baseball, girls, and being mischievous with his delinquent friend. Cool story, bro. As Deep Space Nine progresses, a lot of this basically remains stagnant, though "The Visitor" is enough of a one-off shakeup that for a lot of fans it singlehandedly makes up for it. To me, the episode is significantly overrated, though my complete lack of a father figure growing up (or even much of a mother figure) is the principle factor I contribute to my apathy on the matter. I have never once teared up during the episode; label me a monster.

In truth, I prefer the Jake of the Dominion occupation arc the most. Here, Lofton is given the rare chance to really test his chops as an actor. Jake's subplot involves a commitment to honest journalism (oh right, he becomes a writer; this is neat but let's not talk about the "muse succubus" episode please) and Dominion leaders insisting he tone things down and deliver galactic propaganda. It's pretty good stuff. Less impressive is the fifth season's allegedly special outing entitled "Nor the Battle to the Strong", which is another popular DS9 episode I don't really care about. It's like some kind of war story against the Klingons even though the brief war with the Federation has already ended and it involves Jake running around going AWOL until he meets a character whose shtick as a hard-as-nails type leads to some of the most overwrought bad acting outside of the early seasons of any Rick Berman spinoff series.

Jake basically disappears after the Dominion occupation arc, mostly only showing up whenever his father and Kasidy Yates need a domestic dispute scene together, but to his credit he does share the very last scene in a superb series finale alongside the (far superior character of) Kira Nerys. It's a scene that hits me like a ton of bricks every damn time in the best possible way.

Too bad Jake's fairly whatever elsewhere.

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Hi! I'm Quinton.
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