In the Hands of the Prophets
- FIRST SHOWN (US)
- 21 June 1993
- ON
- First-run syndication
- STARDATE
- None given
- DIRECTED BY
- David Livingston
- PRODUCTION NO.
- 420
WRITTEN BYWritten by Robert Hewitt Wolfe
When Keiko O'Brien teaches that the wormhole aliens can be studied by science, a conservative Bajoran spiritual leader brands her a heretic, and the station's school becomes the front line of a religious struggle.
Red alert: the full plot, ending included. Haven't watched yet?REVEAL SYNOPSIS
Keiko O'Brien's lessons describe the wormhole aliens in scientific terms, which offends Vedek Winn, an ambitious and orthodox Bajoran religious figure who visits the station. When Keiko refuses to teach that the aliens are the Prophets, Winn stirs up opposition and Bajoran parents withdraw their children. Sisko looks for allies, but Kira backs her faith and the moderate Vedek Bareil will not take a public stand. Meanwhile O'Brien investigates the death of a Starfleet ensign and finds that runabout security has been tampered with. Soon afterwards the empty schoolroom is destroyed by a bomb. When Bareil comes to the station to calm tensions, O'Brien and Dax uncover a hidden program that would disable the forcefields around him. Sisko tackles the Bajoran engineer Neela as she raises her phaser at Bareil. Neela insists she acted alone, but Sisko and Kira suspect Winn engineered everything for her own political gain.
- 01Louise Fletcher, an Oscar winner as Nurse Ratched in “One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest”, makes her debut as Winn. She did not audition for the part.
- 02Bareil's sanctuary was filmed at Fern Dell in Griffith Park, Los Angeles, a location also used in The Next Generation pilot “Encounter at Farpoint”.
- 03The school explosion was filmed full scale on set, supervised by physical effects man Gary Monak, which surprised a cast used to optical effects.