A Small Tribute to Trek's Aron Eisenberg

[Nog and Jake, deciding they will be friends despite their differences]

I was 14 when Deep Space Nine started. I'd been watching Trek for years by this point, and while some people absolutely did not like DS9, I loved it from moment one. It wasn't just that they let Sisko be a real human with real emotions, it was these two.

Jake and Nog were around my age, and they were kids. Sometimes too "grown up" for their age, sometimes too childish and angry. Always relatable. Nog was a surprise, however.

From his first appearance as the accomplice of a thief in the first episode of DS9, to the episode where Jake Sisko teaches him to read, to the episode where he returns as a wounded veteran during the Dominion, Nog quickly sealed himself as one of my favorite characters.

All of the characters on DS9 are wonderful, complex, and different than the usual lineup of characters you'll find on another Trek show of that era.

But Nog stood out. 

[Not always happy-go-lucky]

  He started as an angry teenager. He was embarrassed that he couldn't read. He didn't like humans. He wasn't particularly friendly to anyone. Eventually, he became friends with the station commander's son, and learned from him how to read. [episode: The Nagus]

Jake and Nog were as close as friends could be. While Jake was a good influence on him (and surprisingly, Nog was not a bad influence on him, despite Sisko's early concerns) Nog did not become a paragon of good behaviour overnight.

By his third year hanging around Jake, Nog decided he wanted to make something of himself. He knew that like his father (and unlike his uncle, Quark) he didn't have the ability for business, and he didn't want to end up like his father, beholden to someone else for survival.

He proved every concern about him wrong: He worked hard and efficiently, and unlike many Ferengi, did not steal when left unsupervised. In fact, he worked so efficiently that he found things during an inventory that the human crew had not found.

Eventually, that meant Sisko approved his application (and plea) to get into Starfleet Academy, as the first Ferengi. His father approved, his uncle did not. Nog joined, passed, and proved to be an exemplary officer.

 [Cadet Nog]

 

Wounded in one of the battles against the Dominion, Nog lost a leg, and some of himself in the process. In a short series of stories, he struggles with that loss, with depression, and fear. His friends help him the best they can, and he perserveres.

All of this was made possible by the incredible acting skills of Aron Eisenberg, who pulled you in immediately and kept you around, making you love this angry little alien from moment one, and continue to all the way to the last episode he shows up in.

[Almost always smiling]

  Unfortunately, Eisenberg passed away Sept 21, shortly after being admitted to the hospital in critical condition. He'd struggled with kidney issues his whole life as he'd been born with just one.

He was always a pleasant person, and I was looking forward, especially after watching What We Left Behind, to maybe meeting him at a convention some year.

Trek gave his characters one of the best character arcs, and Aron gave him life. 

 

[Nog struggles with injury and PTSD, episode: It's Only A Paper Moon]

I didn't really know him, but I feel like I'll miss him anyway. I wish that maybe things could have turned out differently but sometimes life takes a different turn. Hopefully he's enjoying his time in the Divine Treasury. Rest in peace, Aron.

 [The Divine Treasury. RIP]