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Garak in HD. 
Writing S8. 
Jem’HeDamar. 
Rene laughs.
We’ve finished DS9. But before we say our final goodbyes we thought we’d watch “What We Left Behind”. It is a Star Trek: Deep Space 9 documentary directed by Ira Behr. Behr, the show-runner of DS9, wanted to give the cast and crew a final send-off. He did so by creating a loving documentary about the legacy and cultural importance of DS9.
The spine of the documentary is the writers room breaking a hypothetical eighth-season episode. Behr recruited Hans Beimler, Rene Echevarria, Ron Moore and Robert Hewitt Wolfe to create a situation that would have our main characters brought back together almost 20 years after the series ended. These segments inter-cut the rest of the documentary and are bolstered by brand new storyboard images to help visualize the story.
Around this, the documentary is structured to touch on a multitude of aspects related to the series. The cast and crew are interviewed about their memories. Letters from disgruntled fans are read on camera. Fans and critics explain why they hold DS9 so close to their hearts and why the series was different from the rest of the Star Trek franchise.
The documentary is mostly a puff-piece. Hard hitting questions are mostly ignored, but the film does touch on the Terry Farrell exit and the difficulties that Avery Brooks had in getting the haircut he wanted. But in the end, “What We Left Behind” serves as an effective coda to the series and lets fans get a gentle overview of the series and how its legacy will be remembered.
In this podcast, Wes and Clay discuss Ira Steven Behr’s final word on Deep Space 9. They discuss the things that they found most surprising and debate how the actors line up with their onscreen characters. Lastly, they give their final thoughts about leaving DS9 behind and how they view the legacy of the series.