The Emissary comes into his own
After viewing an ancient picture of the Bajoran city of B'hala, Sisko retires to the holodeck to try to determine the location of the lost city. At first, he is only marginally successful in his quest...but when an accident occurs with the holodeck controls, suddenly, the Captain becomes capable of "seeing" the city's location. When the city is subsequently uncovered, Sisko's role as Emissary to the Bajoran people is solidified. But will it come at the cost of his standing with Starfleet? And more to the point, will his visions come at the expense of his very life?

I thought this was a fabulous episode with some excellent acting on the part of Avery Brooks. Additionally, this episode provides a real turning point in that it is the episode where the character of Sisko finally comes to full acceptance of his role as Emissary. I give it 4 stars and call it a "must see" for Sisko fans!

Sisko!!!
I would just like to ask what the problem is with this being a "purely Sisko driven story"? I have never heard anybody complain about a purely Picard driven story or a purely Kirk driven story. Just what is that? Is that supposed to be an insult? Certainly, some of Deep Space 9's best work was as an ensemble, but one of the reasons that worked so well was that each character had the opportunity to flesh themselves out as individuals and sure there was probably some inequities in time spent, but there was enough so that you believed each charcter as an individual. And this episode is commendable for DS9 in that it seriously addresses what Sisko feels about being Emissary and finally lets a Star Trek regular transcend beyond the boundaries of the Prime Directive to actually explore the meaning of destiny. An excellent episode.

An important episode for DS9
With this episode Sisko's "faith" in the Prophets is now complete. He has come to trust them completely even with his own life. This is a big step for Sisko, the character, and DS9, the series. The captain has now completely accepted his role as the Emissary and that will affect his actions throughout the remaining run of the show. Also Sisko deals with a personal issue as well that had developed towards the end of the fourth season. A terrific episode overall and it keeps getting better after repeated viewings. The episode is strong on character development which is what DS9 is better at doing than any other Trek series. Sisko, Kira and Jake all get a chance to shine as they deal with the dilemma over what to do with the captain's new "gifts" from the Prophets. Even the anatgonistic Kai Winn gets a little more dimension added to her character as she becomes an unlikely ally to Captain Sisko.

There are four scenes in this episode that really stand out and make the episode worth buying:

1)When Sisko has a conversation with Jake about all the things he can now see after the visions he's been having recently. The look in Avery Brook's eyes make you believe everything Sisko says.

2)When Winn informs Kira about her own experience during the occupation and how she relied on her faith to get her through. Not only did it allow Winn to actually come out on top in a scene with Kira for once, but it added more depth to the character and made her more sympathetic to the audience

3)The discussion in Ops by the senior staf of DS9. As they discuss their concern for Sisko's health they also get into an interesting debate about faith. Only on DS9 could you have faith discussed during a Trek show.

4)The best scene of all. The discussion between Sisko and Kira that takes place in the holosuite. Sisko has just had another vision and is sharing it with Kira. The dialogue of the scene, the unobtrusive but terrific score played during the score, the way Brooks' uses his voice and Nana Visitor's dead-on reaction to his words make the scene very effective. It is one of those scenes that transcends television and takes you from your own living room (or wherever you're watching the show)to the actual setting of the scene itself. Good stuff.

Rapture in time!
Sisko is having strange dreams that lead him to uncover the lost Bajoran city, B'hala, this dreams continue and the Captain is certain that if Bajor joins the Federation then they will be doomed. With Starfleet offering Bajor acceptance into the Federation Sisko must do the exact opposite of what he was sent to Deep Space Nine to do, make sure Bajor DOESN'T join the Federation!

A poor episode that is too slow and purely a Sisko-driven story.