I can’t believe thatStar Trek: Deep Space Ninebroke the same television rule twice—and actually pulled it off.Star Trekshowshave their own specific set of rules that stories generally follow, whether that’s how the transporters and warp drive work, or Gene Roddenberry’s mandate about no interpersonal conflict inStar Trek: The Next Generation. But as television shows,Star Trekis beholden to some important TV rules, like the five-act structure.One particularly important TV rule is maintaining the existence of the fourth wall: that sacred, invisible barrier between the story on-screen and the viewer.
From the start,Star Trek: Deep Space Ninewas an iconoclastic show in theStar Trekfranchise because it broke important conventions ofStar Trekstorytelling, like being set on a space station instead of a starship, and taking religion seriously. As the show went on,Deep Space Ninecontinued to breakStar Trekrulesby telling darker, serialized stories withtonsofinterpersonal conflict on DS9. Most of the typical TV rules remained in place, however, untilDS9season 4, which was the first time I saw aStar Trekcharacter look directly into the camera.
Star Trek Breaks The Fourth Wall Twice In Deep Space Nine
DS9 Characters Address The Camera Directly In Two Episodes
Star Trek: Deep Space Ninebroke the fourth wall twice throughout its seven-year run, breaking a television rule that otherStar Trekshows followed pretty strictly. The first timeDeep Space Ninebreaks the fourth wall is in season 4, episode 18, “Rules of Engagement”, directed by LeVar Burton. During Lt. Commander Worf (Michael Dorn)’s hearing, Klingon lawyer Ch’Pok (Ron Canada) questionsDS9’s crew.Each testimony begins with the character looking directly into the camerato bear witness to Worf’s character, as the scene fades to the moment they’re actually describing.
Denise Crosby got away with an unscripted fourth-wall break inStar Trek: The Next Generationseason 1, episode 22, “Symbiosis”, when Crosby waved goodbye to the camera as Lt. Tasha Yar.
The next fourth wall break is inStar Trek: Deep Space Nineseason 6, episode 19, “In the Pale Moonlight”. This iconic episode begins, ends, and often cuts toCaptain Benjamin Sisko (Avery Brooks) directly addressing the camera to record a personal log. “In the Pale Moonlight” takes place mostly in flashback scenes, as Sisko conspires with Garak (Andrew Robinson) to bring the Romulans into the Dominion War. The story is a masterclass in storytelling on its own, but the break with standard format helps make “In the Pale Moonlight” one ofStar Trek: Deep Space Nine’s best episodes.
Why DS9’s Fourth Wall Breaks Work So Well
Deep Space Nine’s Fourth Wall Breaks Are Tools, Not Jokes
Star Trek: Deep Space Nine’s fourth wall breaks work so well because they’re used as tools to support the stories that are being told. WhenStar Trek: Deep Space Ninecharacterslook into the camera to address the audience, the audience they’re addressing isn’t actuallyus, the real viewers. Instead,Star Trek: Deep Space Nineframes the viewers as someone in the room with the characters. In “Rules of Engagement”, we’re a stand-in for Ch’Pok, witnessing characters' testimonies. During “In the Pale Moonlight”, we’re the station’s computer itself, recording the log that Sisko drafts before deleting it.
Modern television shows treat the fourth wall as a much more malleable rule than it was whenStar Trek: Deep Space Nineaired in the 1990s. Mockumentary comedies likeThe Officehave characters looking into the camera with knowing glances, andDoctor Whorecently shattered its own fourth wall in the 15th season episode “Lux”. We’re used to television shows breaking the fourth wall so they can spill over into reality, or have characters acknowledge that they know what the audience knows,She-Hulk-style. Butthat’s not how the fourth wall breaks inDS9.
Star Trek: Lower Decksleaned on the fourth wall so hard it almost cracked, with in-universe references to specific episode titles and characters using real-world acronyms like “TOS” (but it stands for “Those Old Scientists”)—but the wall never actually broke.
Instead of using fourth wall breaks to let us know that the show is aware of its own viewers,Star Trek: Deep Space Ninebreaks the fourth wall to invite the viewers into the show. The fourth-wall breaks in “Rules of Engagement” make the testimonies more interesting, because we’re drawn into the action. In “In the Pale Moonlight”, we alone are privy to thedarkest secret of Captain Sisko’s Starfleet career.Star Trek: Deep Space Ninebreaks the fourth wall to draw us into the action and make us care—and that, I can believe in. Twice.
