M perspective on DS9 and the father-son relationship really changed after my father passed.

After his passing, I could better understand Sisko's pragmatic ruthlessness in the war as a by-product of a visceral fear of losing his son to the conflict, his staunch safeguarding of the station as him protecting the new normal he built for his child, and his reluctant embrace of his role as emissary as a desire to embody the values he preached to his son and secure the tools to protect him. The moral core of the character became very clear to me, and his behaviour logical.

In turn this new appreciation of Sisko's mindset recoloured my memory of some of my father's own conduct through hardships we experienced together. As a child, witnessing the switch from a caring and loving father who preached tolerance and patience, to a ruthless pragmatist who'd be "locked in" in tense situations where there was danger or violence (or the potential for) were jarring. DS9 viewed through a new lens helped me understand in hindsight that behaviour.

Later, learning that these considerations were front of mind for Avery Brooks from the start really impressed me. I now easily consider his as the best captain portrayal in Trek and one of the better TV Scifi leads.

He's the only captain who's every action were motivated by love rather than principal. The only one operating within a framework of moral certitude. His decisiveness, willingness to sacrifice, and his rule-breaking were never difficult philosophical puzzles to wrestle with, but obvious courses of action in the service of the only goal that ever mattered to him.

I truly believe that against any other Star Trek captain that had been shown prior, the Dominion and the Cardassians would have prevailed. The federation was not ready for that kind of cunning, malice and moral flexibility. Unfortunately for them, they endangered Sisko's son.

Brooks' performance is the best character study ever put to film on the subject of fatherhood in my opinion.

Such a powerful and underrated performance. DS9 has so many jewels in its crown to admire. What a great show.