Finally got around to watching the What We Left Behind documentary. I have mixed feelings about it. On one hand, I LOVED the writer's room. That whole "this is how Season 8, starting today would be" feature, running throughout the doc, was brilliant. Really intrigued by where it would go from there. I don't remember how much folks talked about that here, so I'll stay vague, but I guess since this is the DS9 writing team (for the most part), that's probably as close to canon as we'll get. A shame we won't get to see it...but at least, if you take it as canon, we have an answer as to Sisko.
I also really loved the segments with all the actors, and then the parts that talked about Avery Brooks' intensity, particularly in the episode that took place in the 50s when they were all writers. I enjoy and appreciate Avery really taking responsibility for setting a tone for African-Americans, and how important it was to him to portray "what should be." And the fact that Cirroc Lofton and Avery Brooks still maintain a father-son like relationship today was heartwarming.
On the other hand, some of the social agenda pushing from Ira Behr was overwhelming. Ira is Ira, and we know Trek tackles issues. But I felt the heavy emphasis he put on some issues in the documentary really took away from celebrating the show. Celebrate DS9. Don't use it (the doc) as a platform to continue pushing stuff down peoples' throats. I felt a couple of the deleted scenes should have been added and the social issue scene (in the cutting room) and some of the conversation could have been relegated to deleted scenes. I'm not passing judgement on the issues. Just think that a doc on DS9 would have been better if things like the writer's room were expanded, and the social stuff left on the back burner.
I also thought the opening and closing "songs" were unnecessary and corny.
Overall, I give the documentary a "B." It wasn't great, it wasn't bad, it was decent.
It was hard watching Aron Eisenberg. You could tell how much he loved the show. How much they all did. But particularly Aron. May he rest in peace. And hey, according to the writers, Nog is captain of the Defiant. Can't think of a better way to celebrate his character, and Aron's life.
On to the extended book universe (post last episode of DS9) for me. Reading The Never Ending Sacrifice first though -- a novel that tells the story of what happened to Rugal, the Cardassian boy who was living on Bajor, who Sisko sent back with his Cardassian father to Cardassia. GREAT read so far.