Recently we Star Trek fans got some bad news, namely the death of Aron Eisenberg.
Aron was only 50, and had dealt with health problems related to his kidneys for his entire
life.
He was best known to us for playing Nog on Star Trek: Deep Space Nine.
Since the show ended in 1999, Aron had been a frequent presence at conventions, hosted
and guested on podcasts, and participated memorably in the DS9 documentary, What We
Left Behind, where he opened up about what the series and the character he played meant
to him.
And the thing is, that character meant a lot to many of us, too.
So, in memory of Aron, I thought it would be a good idea to take a few minutes to remember
Why Nog Is Actually Pretty Awesome
We meet Nog in the very first episode of Deep Space Nine, “Emissary.”
He’s the nephew of Quark.
His father, Rom, is Quark’s meek, bumbling brother.
Nog is crucial to what turns out to be one of the most important scenes of that first
episode.
He’s caught attempting to steal something on the Promenade, and that’s when we meet
Odo, the station’s shapeshifting chief of security.
This scene also introduces Quark, who appears to ask that Nog be released into his custody
so that they and the rest of the Ferengi can leave the station.
Sisko’s like, “Naaaah, I think I’ll let Odo arrest him.”
And Odo’s like, “Want me to torture him?
I can torture him, find out what he knows.”
And Sisko’s like, “Wow, you are severe in the early episodes, aren’t you?
No, man, just put him in a cell.
With oxygen.
And a non-electrified floor.”
Later on, Sisko and Odo meet with Quark, who is like, “Seriously, we’re leaving, let
my nephew go.
Who knows when I’ll find someone else to do so much unpaid labor?”
And Sisko says, “I’ll drop the charges and let Nog go if you agree to stay on the
station and keep your bar open, to encourage the other business owners on the promenada
to stick around, too, ‘cause Starfleet just took over the station and if everyone leaves
right away that’s gonna look real bad on my performance review, it could be years before
I’m promoted to Captain.”
And Quark agrees, and they release Nog.
For the rest of Deep Space Nine’s first season and into the second, Nog’s appearances
center on his friendship with Commander Sisko’s son, Jake.
Initially, Nog plays the role of the bad influence.
Commander Sisko doesn’t approve of Jake’s friendship with Nog, the two of them are always
getting into trouble, Odo’s constantly chasing them away from their favorite spot on the
second level of the Promenade, where they like to sit and watch the babes.
At this point in the series, Nog was a solid recurring supporting character.
He was mostly a foil for Jake and occasionally Commander Sisko, but he got to develop a bit
on his own, as well.
We saw indications that he was capable of growing beyond the gross misogyny that is
typical of Ferengi men, for example, which was nice.
He was a strong member of DS9’s large and growing ensemble.
He had relationships with other important characters on the show, he was funny and interesting,
thanks to Eisenberg’s comedy chops and impressive ability to simultaneously project duplicity
and vulnerability.
But in the show’s third season, Nog’s character arc started to bend in a new and
unexpected direction.
The B-plot of season three’s episode “Heart of Stone” features Nog announcing his intention
to attend Starfleet Academy and trying to convince Commander Sisko to sponsor his application
The A-plot is about Kira getting trapped in a cave and Odo finally spilling his guts about
his feelings for her, except it turns out that Kira is really – nng, no, I won’t
spoil it just in case you haven’t seen that episode.
But why haven’t you seen that episode?
It’s a really good episode!
Anyway, Sisko is suspicious of Nog’s wish to join Starfleet.
He doesn’t get it.
Why would a Ferengi want to work for the Federation?
They don’t get paid – they don’t even have money!
Except when they do!
He snatches hold of Nog and goes full – nah, not full, maybe three-quarters – he snatches
hold of Nog and goes three-quarters Avery Brooks on him and is like “Tell me the truth!”
And then Sisko and Nog have this wonderful scene where Nog breaks down and confesses
that he wants to join Starfleet so he doesn’t end up like his father.
See, it turns out Rom isn’t the hapless doofus he appears to be.
I mean, mostly he is, but he has a gift for mechanics.
Nog even says Rom could have been the chief engineer of a starship, only he never got
the opportunity.
Those skills aren’t valued in Ferengi society, so Rom went to work for Quark at the bar and
has spent most of his life half-heartedly chasing profit because that’s what’s expected
of a good Ferengi.
And Sisko is moved by Nog’s confession.
His attitude toward Ferengi hasn’t been super positive up to this point – Quark
even calls him out on it at the end of season two.
But now, through Nog, Sisko sees that Ferengi aren’t all the same.
There’s a cultural mold that Ferengi are socially pressured to fit into, but Nog and
Rom can’t be the only ones who long to break free of that mold and do their own thing.
It opens Sisko’s eyes.
So this one scene, which again is part of its episode’s subplot, alters the trajectories
of two characters – Nog and Rom – forces our lead character, Sisko, to reexamine a
prejudice he holds, and adds some much needed nuance to Ferengi as a species.
And Deep Space Nine did this kind of thing all the time!
Nog is just one example of it, but he might be the best example.
Those of you who aren’t into DS9, who don’t get why some of us consider it far and away
the best part of the Star Trek franchise, this is it!
This is the reason!
The writers of Deep Space Nine use Nog to demonstrate that people don’t have to be
defined by where they come from; that, given the opportunity – and that part is important
– they can do what they want to do and go as far as their ability and determination
and good fortune can carry them.
During the Dominion War, cadet Nog is promoted to ensign.
In the sixth season episode “Valiant,” he and Jake find themselves aboard a Defiant-class
ship crewed by a squad of elite cadets who took over the ship when the regular officers
were all killed in action.
Initially Nog, who looks up to these cadets, is honored to join the crew.
But eventually he realizes that the other cadets have had their judgment clouded by
mindless devotion to Captain Watters, who is himself just a cadet.
And if there’s any lesson to be taken from this episode, it’s that a cadet should never,
ever be . . . given command of a . . . starship.
Anyway, Nog acts heroically but also learns that duty and obedience have to be balanced
by reason and self-awareness.
Sometimes being a “good officer” is just as bad as being a “good Ferengi.”
It’s worse, really.
Because you could die.
The writers of Deep Space Nine also use Nog to break our hearts.
Nog continues to serve on the front lines of the Dominion War.
During the siege of AR-558, depicted in the season seven episode imaginatively titled
“The Siege of AR-558,” Nog is wounded and winds up losing his leg.
The leg is replaced by a biosynthetic prosthetic, but Nog has trouble adjusting.
To deal with his trauma, or rather to avoid dealing with it, Nog takes up residence in
one of the holosuites, living and working with sentient holographic lounge singer Vic
Fontaine in Vic’s recreation of 1960s Las Vegas.
For the first time, we see Nog acting like a typical Ferengi, helping Vic manage his
finances and making plans to build a new casino.
Nog grows so attached to life with Vic, and so bitter toward the outside world, that he
considers resigning from Starfleet.
But with help from Vic and Ezri Dax, he eventually leaves the holodeck and returns to duty.
He serves through the end of the war and in the series finale is promoted from ensign
to lieutenant junior grade, one of Captain Sisko’s final acts before vanishing to the
Celestial Temple.
We see Nog move from idealism, to the loss of innocence, through post-traumatic stress
brought on by war and injury, to emerge scarred but stronger on the other side.
I’ve said before that Captain Sisko is the most complete character in Star Trek, because
we see him in so many different roles throughout the series: father, son, widower, husband,
commander, friend, outsider, role model, nonbeliever, prophet.
But I think Nog has the most complete and significant arc of any character in the franchise.
All you have to do is contrast his appearance in the first episode of the series with his
appearance in the last episode to see how much he grows over the course of those seven
seasons.
He begins as a junior version of a stereotypical Ferengi, settles in as Jake’s ne’er-do-well
best friend, and ultimately comes to embody all the best qualities of a Star Trek hero.
This is a very common type in Star Trek, the non-human character who represents the best
of humanity, who shows us how we ought to be.
Every Star Trek show has at least one of that character – Classic Trek has Spock, Next
Gen has Data, and also Worf eventually, besides Nog, DS9 has Odo, and also Worf eventually,
Voyager has the Doctor and Seven of Nine (technically human, but Borgified), Enterprise has T’Pol
and Phlox, Discovery has Saru.
But of all those characters, only Nog grows into that role.
He isn’t the officially designated Not-Human-But-Also-Most-Human character when the series begins.
He doesn’t seem destined for anything special, actually.
But because he was part of a series that was made to be surprising and dynamic rather than
a likable but static show, Nog is able to develop, to mature, to acquire complexity
and nuance as he goes along, to change more, and in more compelling ways, than any other
character in Star Trek.
And yeah, the writers deserve a lot of credit for that.
But so does this guy.
Michael Piller, Ira Steven Behr, Ronald D. Moore, and the other writers on DS9 created
Nog, but Aron Eisenberg brought him to life.
Aron created something through his performance that enabled the writers to glimpse the potential
that was there for that character, and gave them the confidence to explore it.
After DS9 ended its run, Aron Eisenberg appeared on Voyager, playing the young Kazon Kar, who
captures Chakotay in the episode “Initiations.”
And he’s good in that.
But he’ll be remembered for Nog.
And that’s as it should be, because Nog is a creation any actor could be proud of.
Over seven years and forty-five episodes – by the way, can you believe that?
Nog only appears in forty-five of DS9’s 173 episodes.
But what an impression he leaves.
In those forty-five episodes, Aron plays Nog with charm, with wit, with pathos, and with
fragile, moving, unmistakable humanity.
He truly is one of the great characters not just of Deep Space Nine, but of Star Trek,
and during the 1990s I daresay he was one of the great characters on all of television.
That’s a hell of a legacy to leave behind.
I only wish he didn’t have to leave us quite so soon.
Rest in peace, Aron.