black men cry, grapple with the historical importance of their existence, and remain beautifully, dynamically human is something no other science-fiction series on television has done with such panache." In 2018, the website had rated "The Visitor" the second-best episode of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine. "The Visitor" was nominated for a Hugo Award for Best Dramatic Presentation in 1996, although Babylon 5s "The Coming of Shadows" won; reviewer Keith DeCandido wrote that he was present at the Hugo Awards in Los Angeles at the time and noted that the clip they showed for the episode cut off before the emotional scene between Captain Sisko and his son – while he liked Babylon 5s "The Coming of Shadows", he felt that this episode was "seriously robbed". It was ranked as the tenth best Star Trek episode for TV Guides celebration of the franchise's 30th anniversary. It has consistently ranked in polls as one of the most popular episodes of the entire series. About.com's Nigel Mitchell ranks it at third place (between "In the Pale Moonlight" and "Duet"). Den of Geek's Gem Wheeler considered the episode the best of the series and thought that if one was only going to watch one episode of Deep Space Nine, then this episode should be it, writing, "quite simply, one of the finest hours of Star Trek ever made." In a poll conducted on the official Star Trek website to determine the best episode of Deep Space Nine, "Trials and Tribble-ations" won, leaving the staff to ponder why "remarkable episodes as "The Visitor," "What You Leave Behind," "Duet" and "Far Beyond the Stars"" didn't receive the necessary votes to challenge the winner in earlier rounds. "The Visitor" has been rated as one of the best Star Trek episodes in the franchise: IGN ranked it the 15th best episode of all Star Trek series; Radio Times ranked it the 7th best episode of Star Trek for those unfamiliar with the franchise; CBR ranked it the sixth best time-travel episode of all of Star Trek; and a binge-watching guide for Star Trek: Deep Space Nine by Wired recommended not skipping this "essential" episode. SyFy said "The Visitor" was "one of most powerful" episodes of the Star Trek franchise, praising it for perfect acting and powerful script. UK science fiction magazine and website SciFiNow ranked this one of the top ten episodes of Star Trek: Deep Space