When it comes to on-set pyrotechnics, DS9 beats Voyager as the hottest Star Trek show, according to actors on The Delta Flyers.
Summary
- Deep Space Nine showcases more fire than Voyager, with pyrotechnics enhancing dramatic tension throughout the series.
- Major Kira Nerys’ bold move to torch Mullibok’s home in “Progress” highlights the intense conflict in DS9.
- The use of fire in DS9, both practical and visual effects, adds urgency and intensity to pivotal moments in the show.
Star Trek actors say that Star Trek: Deep Space Nine has more fire than Star Trek: Voyager, and not just in terms of the dramatic tension, but quite literally. Voyager certainly has its fair share of pyrotechnics during its Delta Quadrant journey, but Deep Space Nine has more reasons for fire to play a part in its scripts. The crew of DS9 deals with common miscreants, spies, and criminals, while torpedoes rock the USS Defiant and planets deep in the throes of the Dominion War. The final episode of DS9 season 1, “In the Hands of the Prophets”, even centers around a bomb threat at the DS9 station’s school.
However, Star Trek: Deep Space Nine season 1, episode 15, “Progress”, sees Major Kira Nerys (Nana Visitor) take a torch to the home of an elderly Bajoran man named Mullibok (Brian Keith), in an effort to convince Mullibok to leave Bajor’s moon, Jeraddo, before drilling for resources renders the moon uninhabitable. It’s a bold move, especially after Kira spends most of the episode appealing to Mullibok’s tender side, but Kira and Mullibok are equally stubborn. Mullibok insists he will remain on Jeraddo “as long as that cottage stands”, so destroying Mullibok’s home is the only way to keep Mullibok from dying on Jeraddo once the drilling starts.
A breakthrough Bajoran hero, Major Kira Nerys’ arc in Star Trek: Deep Space Nine was one of the most nuanced in all of Star Trek.
The Difference Between Voyager and DS9: “We’re Pyros”
DS9 gives new meaning to the term “hot set.”
On The Delta Flyers podcast, Star Trek: Voyager actors and hosts Garrett Wang and Robert Duncan McNeill discuss the plot and behind-the-scenes information of “Progress” with Star Trek: Deep Space Nine‘s Terry Farrell, who played Lt. Jadzia Dax. Kira’s thorough pyrotechnic display late in the episode comes as a surprise to the actors, particularly Wang. Read their quotes below and listen to The Delta Flyers, starting at the 1:06:40 time stamp:
Garrett Wang: “To show the difference between Voyager and DS9, never once in seven years did anybody on Voyager torch anything.”
Robert Duncan McNeill: “That’s a lot of fire.”
Terry Farrell: We’re pyros.”
Garrett Wang: “It was nerve-wracking, watching that scene.”
Robert Duncan McNeill: “I think it was a VFX-enhancement, they probably had some fire there.”
How Star Trek Shows Used Fire
DS9 used fire safely, and as part of the plot.
When scripts require fire effects, Star Trek effects artists employ the use of live flames as well as VFX enhancement, and in some cases, both methods, as McNeill suggests on The Delta Flyers. Outdoor, on-location sets are often used in the interest of safety for actors and crew alike, which Farrell surmises is the case in the house-burning scene in “Progress”. For interior sets, however, strict safety measures have to be in place. A common practice for enhancing the perceived danger in fire scenes is to film through smaller, contained flames held in front of the camera. The result is a starship or station that looks as though it’s actually burning.
DS9′ s denouement features the Fire Caves of Bajor prominently, because the popular tourist destination is the legendary habitat of the pah-wraiths, direct adversaries to the Bajoran Prophets living in the wormhole.
Terry Farrell’s gleeful admission of being “pyros” comes with tongue planted firmly in cheek, but Farrell isn’t exactly wrong, either. Star Trek: Deep Space Nine often calls for pyrotechnic effects of various sizes, creating different levels of urgency in different situations. Throughout DS9, fires range from ceremonial torches at the Bajoran temple to explosions in Ops and only increase from there, with damage to the USS Defiant and disasters on war-torn planets. From Major Kira torching Mullibok’s home early in DS9 season 1, to the fierce battles of the Dominion War, fire ups the ante on Star Trek: Deep Space Nine.
