Welcome back to Character Insight! This week, we honor actor Aron Eisenberg, who passed away this week, with a Best Of segment for his most notable TV character, Nog from Deep Space 9.
The character of Nog appears in over 40 episodes of the show and he arguably has one of the best character arc stories of Star Trek. A large credit of that goes to the superb acting of Eisenberg, who elevated some of the scenes he was in and the other actors around him.
Nog starts as a child character and a local foil to Jake Sisko, Commander Sisko's son who was recently moved to the space station. In one of their first pranks and escapades together in the episode A Man Alone, they release some bolites on a dining couple to cause them to turn blue, green, and yellow for a short time.
QUOTE (from A Man Alone, S1):
Jake and Nog's friendship grows and Nog learns many valuable things from Jake and also from Keiko O'Brien, who sets up a school on the station. Nog proves his resourcefulness on many occasions, including in helping Jake escape from the Jem'Hadar while on a camping trip that turns into the first conflict with The Dominion. That incident led Nog to desire to be the first Ferengi to serve in Starfleet. He must convince Sisko as a command officer to endorse his application to the Academy, leading to this memorable scene in Heart of Stone where he convinces Sisko of his motives.
QUOTE (from Heart of Stone. S3):
Nog has a fast rise through the Academy, earning the rank of ensign after just two years as a cadet thanks to his help during the beginning of the Dominion War. While there are many memorable missions from the Dominion War days, his accidental encounter with the USS Valiant, which was being run by the Red Squad cadets from the Academy, is perhaps his best character piece as an officer. He initially joins the Red Squad crew and follows orders blindly despite his friend Jake's objections, but he discovers his mistake before it's too late and escapes the exploding Valiant in an escape pod with Jake.
QUOTE (from Valiant, S6):
We also see Nog deal with and overcome PTSD in another great episode It's Only A Paper Moon following losing his leg in later Dominion battles, and he ends up on the Defiant crew with the other DS9 officers to help end the war at the end of the series. His arc completes with him being promoted to lieutenant junior grade by Sisko, a far cry from the mischievous child character Nog was in season 1.
Nog was played by Aron Eisenberg, who sadly passed away this week at the age of 50. Despite struggling with health problems since birth and going through multiple kidney transplants in his lifetime, Eisenberg was one of the most fan-friendly and engaging actors you could meet at various conventions and events. He only acted for about 10 years, but he had moved on to other passions including a photography business and parenthood in recent years. The Trek world is truly richer thanks to Eisenberg's contributions to it, and we will greatly miss him in this community.
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