Star Trek: Strange New Worlds Season 4 brought back a forgotten Captain Sisko link in the best way

Star Trek: Strange New Worlds Season 4 has rekindled an unexpected tie to Captain Sisko, and it originates from one of the oddest parts of Star Trek history!

The link isn't Benjamin Sisko himself striding onto the USS Enterprise, or any other familiar Deep Space Nine character suddenly appearing in the 23rd century. Instead, it’s a tribute to Benny Russell, the fictional writer who was the subject of one of Deep Space Nine’s most memorable episodes on identity, racism and imagination.

That link was first seen in Strange New Worlds, via the fantasy world of Elysian, but Season 4 adds yet another strange layer. “Once La’an a Time” returns to that setting and turns Benny Russell into part of an amusing identity mix-up involving Commander Pelia.

The result is easy to miss if someone does not remember the earlier reference. Yet once the connection is understood, Season 4 adds a surprising bit of continuity between two Star Trek shows separated by more than a century in the franchise’s timeline.

More details below.

Star Trek: Strange New Worlds Season 4 brings Benny Russell back through Elysian

The Benny Russell connection comes from Deep Space Nine’s "Far Beyond the Stars," where Captain Benjamin Sisko experiences life as a Black science-fiction writer in 1953 New York.

In that episode, Benny writes for a science-fiction magazine called Incredible Tales. He creates a story about a Black Starfleet captain who commands a space station called Deep Space Nine.

The problem is that Benny's editors don't want to publish his story. They struggle to accept that the person who wrote it is Black, and they reject the idea of having a Black hero at the center of a science-fiction story.

There is another important detail: Avery Brooks, the actor who played Captain Sisko, also played Benny Russell. So Benny isn't simply presented as some unrelated fictional writer.

Strange New Worlds later gave this character an unexpected life beyond Deep Space Nine. Season 1’s "The Elysian Kingdom" revealed that the fantasy story behind the magical world was written by Benny Russell.

That detail quietly connected the two series. A writer who existed within Sisko’s story had now become part of the history behind a children's tale being read and experienced centuries later.

Star Trek: Strange New Worlds Season 4 then returns to Elysian in "Once La’an a Time," making the old reference considerably harder to ignore. In simple words, this also means that Benny's work survived for centuries and is used in the Star Trek timeline.

In Star Trek: Strange New Worlds Season 4, Pelia gets caught up with Queen Neve, a character associated with Elysian. So, she must come up with an idea to save herself, and that's when she tells the queen that she is "Duchess Benny Russell."

The deception helps Pelia avoid being turned into a painting by Queen Neve. She continues playing along by pretending to write the queen’s story and avoiding the bigger problem.

The episode takes the joke even further when Pelia becomes comfortable enough in her new role to enjoy the food prepared by Max, the queen’s chef. Eventually, she chooses to remain in Elysian and leaves with Max.

Star Trek: Strange New Worlds Season 4 keeps Sisko’s link alive

Star Trek: Strange New Worlds Season 4 does not bring Captain Sisko into the story, but it still finds a way to keep his connection around through Benny Russell.

Benny first appeared in Deep Space Nine as the writer at the center of Sisko’s 1953 experience. Years later in Strange New Worlds, his name turned up again when the show revealed that he wrote the story behind the Elysian Kingdom.

The timing makes this connection even more fun. Deep Space Nine starts in 2369, while Strange New Worlds takes place much earlier, so the Enterprise crew has no idea what Sisko’s future will look like.

There is another link in "Trials and Tribble-ations," when Sisko and his crew travel back to the 23rd century. But that happens after the point reached by Strange New Worlds.

For now, Benny is the odd little thread tying the shows together. Star Trek: Strange New Worlds Season 4 makes it even stranger when Pelia pretends to be Benny while she is trapped in Elysian.

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