The Missing Star Trek: Deep Space Nine Episode and the Paramount+ Controversy
The strange disappearance of a classic episode of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine foreshadowed Star Trek: Prodigy's Paramount+ controversy. The cancelation of Star Trek: Prodigy earlier in 2023 was a surprise for fans, who swiftly mobilized a campaign to save the show. The campaign was successful, and the brothers Hageman and the Prodigy team were able to secure a new streaming home for season 1, and the upcoming season 2. Now that Prodigy is settled into its new home on Netflix, viewers are again able to stream the animated Star Trek series after its shock removal from Paramount+.
The Controversy Surrounding Star Trek: Prodigy
The cancelation of Star Trek: Prodigy and its removal from Paramount+ made a mockery of the streamer's boast of being home to every episode of every Trek show. However, this wasn't the first or last time that Star Trek went missing from the streaming service. Most recently, it was discovered that only Chris Pine's Star Trek movies remain on Paramount+, with the other films in the franchise streaming on HBO Max. The regular disappearance of Star Trek titles is hugely frustrating for fans who signed up to Paramount+, and the mishandling of the archive began with one of the undisputed masterpieces of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine season 1.
Nana Visitor as Kira and Harris Yullin as Marritza walk side by side in Star Trek: Deep Space Nine season 1, episode 19,
A Missing DS9 Episode Foreshadowed Star Trek: Prodigy's Paramount+ Controversy 'Duet' is one of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine's best episodes, and the undisputed high point of its uneven first season. Centering on Major Kira Nerys (Nana Visitor) and her investigation of a suspected Cardassian war criminal, it firmly established DS9's darker tone and fascination with the gray areas of morality. So, it was hugely disappointing when one of Major Kira's best DS9 episodes wasn't available to stream on Paramount+ after the studio brought all of Star Trek's streaming rights back in-house. When Paramount was asked about this on Twitter, they responded by saying that 'Duet' was being withheld due to an issue with streaming rights.
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This response only served to make the omission of 'Duet' more confusing, as fans struggled to understand how one episode of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine had completely different rights to the remaining 172. DS9 producer Ira Steven Behr also became involved in the controversy, tweeting that '[writer] Peter Allen Fields would not approve. He would not be surprised. But he would not approve.' A day later, Paramount+ assured fans that the issue had been resolved and that 'Duet' was available to stream on the service. The brief controversy can now be seen as a portent for Star Trek's precarious future on the streaming service.
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The Incomplete Star Trek Collection on Paramount+
Despite the complete Star Trek: Deep Space Nine now being available to stream on Paramount+, the streamer's Trek collection is still incomplete. Star Trek: Prodigy is now streaming on Netflix, while 10 out of the 13 Star Trek movies have a new home on Max. The promise to make Paramount+ the home of Star Trek barely lasted a year between restoring 'Duet' and the service canceling Star Trek: Prodigy season 2 and removing all traces of the show.
Not long after Star Trek: Prodigy was removed, Star Trek: Enterprise season 4 briefly disappeared from Paramount+ in July 2023. While it was swiftly restored, Enterprise's brief disappearance further proved that a Paramount+ subscription wasn't enough to guarantee access to everything Star Trek offers. The brief absence of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine's 'Duet' and the cancelation of Prodigy prove that digital streaming can be a poor substitute for the reliability of physical media.
The Future of Star Trek on Streaming Services
All episodes of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine are available to stream on Paramount+. For now. Star Trek: Prodigy season 1 is streaming now on Netflix.
