The Deep Space Nine episode that changed Tony Todd's life

Legendary genre actor Tony Todd died in 2024leaving behind a legacy that includes the horror films Candyman and Final Destination. His deep voice also earned him many villainous roles in geek franchises: zoom in on “The Flash” Season 2 (a dubbed man in a suit a la James Earl Jones, perfect for Darth Vader-inspired speeder), Decepticon Dreadwing in “Transformers: Prime”, Venom in Insomniac's video game “Spider-Man 2” and many others.

Trekkies might also recognize Todd; he had a recurring role on “Star Trek: The Next Generation” and then “Deep Space Nine” as Kurn, the Klingon brother of Worf (Michael Dorn). Kurn last appeared in “DS9” Season 4, “Sons of Mogh,” but Todd appeared in an even better episode earlier this season. That would be Star Trek: Deep Space Nine Season 4 Episode 2, “The Visitor,” written by prolific Trek writer Michael Taylor.

The Visitor is set many decades (or even further) in the future, and Todd plays an elderly Jake Sisko (usually played by Cirroc Lofton as a young man), the son of series protagonist Ben Sisko (Avery Brooks). It is also one of the the best episodes of “Deep Space Nine”.and Todd himself said the episode “changed his life”. 2010 interview with StarTrek.com. “Not only from the convention appearances, but at the time that episode was shot, the internet just exploded, and I remember sitting for hours just basking in the glow of love that was written about that one episode,” Todd recalled.

“The Visitor” runs the typical 40 minutes of a “Deep Space Nine” episode, but spans decades of Jake Sisko's life. As the episode opens, he is visited by a young woman named Melanie (Rachel Robinson). You see, in previous episodes, Jake had decided he wanted to be a writer and even started working on a novel: “Anslem.” It turns out that he finished the book and it was successful, but then he stopped writing. Melanie, an aspiring writer herself, wants to know why. Cue the framing device where Jake explains to her the story of how “(his) father died”.

Back in the year 2373, Ben Sisko seemingly vaporized before his son's eyes during a Defiant crash. Only Sisko Sr. did no to die; he was thrown into another dimension (“underspace”). Occasionally (sometimes years apart) and without warning, Ben returns to Jake for a few moments, only to disappear again. You see, the title “Visitor” is double-edged; Jake has two visitors, both Melanie and his father.

Knowing that his father is still out there makes it possible worse for Jake because he can't go any further. He sacrifices his career, his marriage, and his life to save his father—first literally, then literally. Against Ben's pleas, Jake poisons himself to “break the chord,” sending his father back to when he first disappeared: “For you and the boy that was me,” Jake explains. “He needs you more than you know.”

“The Visitor” truly showcases the magic of long-form television storytelling. It's a strong episode on its own, but it gets an extra kick from us knowing how close Ben and Jake are. Their relationship is an essential part of the two characters in the first three seasons and remains so in the following four. Continuing with “Deep Space Nine” after “The Visitor,” we see for ourselves how Jake's sacrifice to give his father and younger self a “second chance” was worth it.

Todd's performance as the grown-up Jake is, of course, the heart of this episode, and there's a reason why he played it so beautifully, beyond just his talent. In the above interview, Todd explained the episode's themes of loss, grief, and moving on, and he hit a personal spot. When he first received the script for The Visitor, his aunt (the woman who raised him) had recently died at the age of 82. In his own words:

“I just finished Candyman 2 and it devastated me because she was someone I talked to every day. Luckily, she was able to see some of my success. But I was in shock and I couldn't work for four months. They sent me the script for “The Visitor” It wasn't a full offer but they sent it to me to look at and they wanted me to come in and look at them so the role got me up and running out of bed, out of the house and into the production office.”

Todd got the part, and to play Jake's grief over losing his father, he just had to channel his feelings. He described acting in The Visitor as “a kind of homage to an older figure in my life that I loved and cherished.”

If you need a good cry this Father's Day, visit The Visitor.