Visionary
- FIRST SHOWN (US)
- 27 February 1995
- ON
- First-run syndication
- STARDATE
- None given
- DIRECTED BY
- Reza Badiyi
- PRODUCTION NO.
- 463
WRITTEN BYTeleplay by John Shirley; story by Ethan H. Calk
After a radiation accident, O'Brien starts slipping five hours into the future, and what he sees there grows more alarming with every jump.
Red alert: the full plot, ending included. Haven't watched yet?REVEAL SYNOPSIS
After exposure to radiation, O'Brien begins slipping five hours into the future. Soon he witnesses a brawl in Quark's and then his own death, and each warning lets the crew change events. With a Romulan delegation and a group of Klingons both on the station, Odo uncovers a Klingon trap and has them arrested. In his next jump, O'Brien sees the station and the wormhole destroyed. The jumps are now killing him, so he deliberately exposes himself to more radiation to make a shorter jump and learn more. Having passed the warning to his future self, the present O'Brien dies of radiation poisoning, and the O'Brien from three hours ahead returns to take his place. Sisko realises that a cloaked Romulan warbird intends to destroy the station and the wormhole to cut off the Dominion. He exposes the hidden ship and expels the Romulan delegation, and O'Brien uses his foreknowledge to tease Quark.
- 01Ronald D. Moore did an uncredited rewrite, adding the idea that the present-day O'Brien dies and is replaced by his future self.
- 02John Shirley's first live-action television script. He had previously written animation and screenplays, including “The Crow”.
- 03Technically, the O'Brien seen for the rest of the series is the one who came from three hours in the future.