The Deep Space Nine Season 1 finale “In the Hands of the Prophets” inadvertently made Star Trek history by breaking with The Next Generation tradition of season-ending cliffhangers. This helped the spinoff establish its own identity, but an early idea for this episode would have ruined the finale by tying it directly to the adventures of the Enterprise-D. That’s because the DS9 producers toyed with the idea of making this finale a TNG crossover in which Picard, Sisko, and their two crews would have to fight off a Cardassian invasion.
Deep Space Nine Finale Nearly Became TNG Crossover
On paper, this would have given the first Deep Space Nine finale a connection to “Emissary,” the premiere episode that featured a memorable cameo from Captain Picard. However, Rick Berman decided to kill this crossover plan, prompting then-showrunner Michael Piller to come up with a different approach. “In the Hands of the Prophets” shares the religious themes of “Emissary,” but by ditching the plans for an ambitious TNG crossover, controversial producer Berman may have accidentally saved this spinoff show in its earliest days by forcing DS9 to stand on its own merits.
To understand why the original plans for this Deep Space Nine finale would have been disastrous, you need to take a closer look at the rest of Season 1. While there are some great episodes in there (“Duet” was an early showcase of the show’s potential), too much of early DS9 relied on cameos from TNG characters. In addition to Picard making a cameo in “Emissary” and the constant presence of Miles and Keiko O’Brien, the first season saw the return of the TNG characters Lursa, B’Etor, Q, Vash, and Lwaxana Troi.
Other TNG characters would pop up later in this spinoff, most prominent among them Worf and his fellow Klingon, Gowron. While these characters made for great additions to Deep Space Nine, they also illustrate why that first finale being a TNG crossover would have been disastrous. Such an episode would have ensured that DS9 would always be in the shadow of TNG, and producers would have been obligated to bring even more familiar characters and plot points in to goose up the ratings.
Now, hardcore TNG fans may not have minded such a Deep Space Nine finale, especially if it ensured more appearances by Captain Picard and other familiar characters. But the blunt truth is that DS9’s originality is its greatest strength, and to this day, it remains the best Star Trek show because it’s like nothing else in the franchise. And if its first finale took all of our attention from characters like Sisko so that Picard and crew could have gotten even more attention, then DS9 would have withered on the vine as a failed spinoff that could never make it on its own.
Star Trek: The Next Generation and Deep Space Nine are both great shows, but they are completely different in tone, characterization, storytelling, and so much more. By ensuring that “In the Hands of the Prophets” didn’t become a TNG crossover, Rick Berman gave this spinoff a chance to develop its own style and voice. Soon enough, the entire world knew what Sisko was trying to tell us back when he punched Q…he’s not Picard, and both he and his show would be doing something completely different from anything we had seen before.
