He was definitely one of the actors that made Deep Space Nine's world so compelling, despite not being one of the main cast. All the more true since he had to add depth to a race, the Ferengi, who before the series were totally one-note.
The recently released DS9 documentary, What We Left Behind (which is great) has some interesting bits with Aron, notably on the reactions to the episode (It's Only a Paper Moon) where Nog had to deal with the psychological impact of being wounded in combat. He was wounded in a previous episode, so the follow up was very un-Star Trek in that it didn't portray everything as being perfect right after. Apparently it hit home for a lot of veterans. He did a great job in the role.
The neatest thing about "It's only a paper moon" was that it had almost none of the main DS9 characters in it. It was a Nog and Vic story, both only recurring characters.
It's Only A Paper Moon is one of my favorite episodes of DS9. I hadn't heard of What We Left Behind, and am looking forward to watching it.
The interplay between Nog and Vic makes Paper Moon compelling.
Both Nog and Vic gain life within the holosuite. Vic's existence was normally was suspended when the crew finished hanging out with him. Despite all his wisdom, he is only skin deep. With Nog running the holosuite constantly, Vic experiences more of human life [0].
Meanwhile Nog stays in the holosuite because "If I stay here, at least I know what the future is going to be like." As Nog gains more confidence he starts treating the holoprogram as his reality, and he seeks to improve it with more risky ventures like opening another casino, etc. He stops knowing exactly what will happen in the holosuite.
Vic becomes real, while Nog invests reality into fantasty. Eventually Vic sacrifices his enhanced reality to return Nog to a normal life, where there is real risk but also real rewards.
[0]
Since you've been here, I've slept in a bed every night, gone to work every day, had time to read the paper, play cards with the boys - I've had a life. And I have to tell you, it's a precious thing. I had no idea how much it means to just... live. And now I'm gonna return the favor, and give you your life back.
I really miss the optimism of Star Trek. His character, Nog, almost lived in miniature the point of the whole story. That technology does have the ability to reinforce people’s better angels. Stark contrast with scifi of today being largely dystopian. Blows my mind that Aron was 50. I’ll always remember the optimistic young man in the series. Sounds like he was a genuinely good person.
Nog’s character is one of the more notable ones because the Ferengi are often used as a form of comic relief in the series.
His development from an obnoxious teenager rebelling against his culture and befriending Jake and later embracing a military career and the family conflict that entailed was interesting but his later development was was most compelling.
His conflict when dealing with the illegal actions of Red Squad, his almost fanatical loyalty to Captain Sisko were all built upon this initial development. Then we get his Catch 22 moment where he embraces his culture and his new life in a wonderful bit of comic relief which leads us to be blindsided by his decent into despair following his injury.
DS9 has some of the best written character arcs of any show in memory. The long list of truly dimensional characters who wrestle with all sorts of things, and the story around their growth or descent is fantastic. Further added to the way that some of the main characters pull their respective peoples onto various sides and even their "nations" seem to breath more than in almost any other series.
While the Ferengi episodes were often semi-comedic, the show also fleshed them out and (dare I say) humanized many of the recurring characters as interesting, sympathetic, and complex -- challenging viewers to think deeper about superficial archetypes.
I agree, if the Ferengui most of the time were semic-comedic, I think that when they were not the starkness of it helped highlight the point and some episode do play on that subtly.
Vedek Winn Adami always drove me coo-coo with her demeaning power-hungry mother superior attitude, always dismissively calling people "child", while lying and manipulating people in her unquenchable quest for power, that led to her ultimate fate.
Then I finally realized why she is such a contemptible character who drove me so totally mad that I wanted to strangle her: she's played by Louise Fletcher, aka Nurse Mildred Ratched in One Flew over the Cuckoo's Nest! But I feel much better now that I have my lobotomy.
I have a thesis that the most compelling thing about the ds9 characters is that they're all struggling with impostor syndrome. The first episode is a microcosm with sisko feeling IS about staying in Starfleet, morphing into IS about being the emissary; kira, Bashir, dax 2, odo, quark, rom, all do too in their own ways. And of course nog's character exemplifies this, over his arc.
Incidentally the foils (Winn and dukat) all exemplify aspects of toxic leadership so well.
Thank you Aron for the many hours of enjoyment that I got out of your character in DS9. Here's to more of those hours! Just started rewatching DS9 for the fourth time.
Aron Eisenberg stands among Jeffrey Combs, Louise Fletcher, and Andrew Robinson by having taken a 'minor' role and imbuing it with richness past what the writers gave. He was an artist who went all-in on his craft and left a lasting legacy. Beyond that, he was always open-hearted while interacting with fandom.
Aron Eisenberg was a treasure. He will be missed. My only regret he didn't get more roles worthy of his talents.
I would have liked to see a spin-off show about Nog's years at Starfleet Academy. There could have been so much comedic and dramatic potential as the first Ferengi in the Academy.
Aron and I had the same birthday so I would wish him happy birthday each year when he announced his birthday on Twitter. He would always reciprocate kindly. :) He mentioned that he had pushed for a continuation of Nog's storyline like my suggestion, but it never got traction..
DS9 is my favorite Star Trek because of the diverse cast of characters like Nog and the focus of the characters' stories in the larger story arcs.
Fans have been screaming for decades for a Starfleet Academy show. I think it could really breathe new life into the franchise and bring new blood in who could potentially carry parts of the franchise for a long time.
Instead we get a highly produced but virtually incomprehensible new series.
Aron was quite active on Twitter. I never realized he was born with one kidney and had two transplants.
I believe he was working on a film that hasn't been completed yet. And he and Cirroc Lofton (DS9 "Jake Sisko") had a podcast The 7th Rule (as in Ferengi rules of acquisition).
I had the feeling when watching DS9 that the role of Nog became greater and more complex than originally planned because of the high caliber of Eisenberg's acting. I don't have evidence to support this, but perhaps someone here knows more. Regardless, I thought his was among the best acting in the show.
I can't remember if Nog was addressed directly, but in the recent DS9 documentary Ronald D. Moore (one of the show's writers who later went on the make the re-imagined Battlestar Galactica) commented that there were several minor characters that the writers really liked and, therefore, kept thinking of new stories for them. That actors like Eisenberg portrayed the characters and imbued their roles, especially at first, with such personality definitely resulted in the writers bringing them back and giving them interesting arcs.
The most blatant example of this was Jeffery Combs and his portrayal of Weyoun, a character who died at the end of the episode where he was introduced. They then invented the backstory of his race being all clones just so they could bring him back.
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Quite the character arc he had.
The recently released DS9 documentary, What We Left Behind (which is great) has some interesting bits with Aron, notably on the reactions to the episode (It's Only a Paper Moon) where Nog had to deal with the psychological impact of being wounded in combat. He was wounded in a previous episode, so the follow up was very un-Star Trek in that it didn't portray everything as being perfect right after. Apparently it hit home for a lot of veterans. He did a great job in the role.
R.I.P.
The interplay between Nog and Vic makes Paper Moon compelling. Both Nog and Vic gain life within the holosuite. Vic's existence was normally was suspended when the crew finished hanging out with him. Despite all his wisdom, he is only skin deep. With Nog running the holosuite constantly, Vic experiences more of human life [0].
Meanwhile Nog stays in the holosuite because "If I stay here, at least I know what the future is going to be like." As Nog gains more confidence he starts treating the holoprogram as his reality, and he seeks to improve it with more risky ventures like opening another casino, etc. He stops knowing exactly what will happen in the holosuite.
Vic becomes real, while Nog invests reality into fantasty. Eventually Vic sacrifices his enhanced reality to return Nog to a normal life, where there is real risk but also real rewards.
[0] Since you've been here, I've slept in a bed every night, gone to work every day, had time to read the paper, play cards with the boys - I've had a life. And I have to tell you, it's a precious thing. I had no idea how much it means to just... live. And now I'm gonna return the favor, and give you your life back.
Yep, I’m tearing up!
Nog’s character is one of the more notable ones because the Ferengi are often used as a form of comic relief in the series.
His development from an obnoxious teenager rebelling against his culture and befriending Jake and later embracing a military career and the family conflict that entailed was interesting but his later development was was most compelling.
His conflict when dealing with the illegal actions of Red Squad, his almost fanatical loyalty to Captain Sisko were all built upon this initial development. Then we get his Catch 22 moment where he embraces his culture and his new life in a wonderful bit of comic relief which leads us to be blindsided by his decent into despair following his injury.
One of the best character arcs in Trek.
While the Ferengi episodes were often semi-comedic, the show also fleshed them out and (dare I say) humanized many of the recurring characters as interesting, sympathetic, and complex -- challenging viewers to think deeper about superficial archetypes.
Then I finally realized why she is such a contemptible character who drove me so totally mad that I wanted to strangle her: she's played by Louise Fletcher, aka Nurse Mildred Ratched in One Flew over the Cuckoo's Nest! But I feel much better now that I have my lobotomy.
https://memory-alpha.fandom.com/wiki/Winn_Adami
https://memory-alpha.fandom.com/wiki/Louise_Fletcher
Incidentally the foils (Winn and dukat) all exemplify aspects of toxic leadership so well.
Aron Eisenberg was a treasure. He will be missed. My only regret he didn't get more roles worthy of his talents.
Aron and I had the same birthday so I would wish him happy birthday each year when he announced his birthday on Twitter. He would always reciprocate kindly. :) He mentioned that he had pushed for a continuation of Nog's storyline like my suggestion, but it never got traction..
DS9 is my favorite Star Trek because of the diverse cast of characters like Nog and the focus of the characters' stories in the larger story arcs.
Instead we get a highly produced but virtually incomprehensible new series.
I believe he was working on a film that hasn't been completed yet. And he and Cirroc Lofton (DS9 "Jake Sisko") had a podcast The 7th Rule (as in Ferengi rules of acquisition).
The most blatant example of this was Jeffery Combs and his portrayal of Weyoun, a character who died at the end of the episode where he was introduced. They then invented the backstory of his race being all clones just so they could bring him back.
I mentioned to my wife, wondered if Rahm and Quark would show up for the funeral in costume. She said it sounded insane, but I liked the idea.