The Maquis, Part I

This episode sets up the double-header nicely with an interesting story and great character moments.

Themes of about terrorism/freedom fighting are introduced with the Marquis story arc and this episode sets it up well by involving strong characters on all sides of the conflict.

Gul Dukat has plenty of screen time and Marc Alaimo is great value as always. Some of best exchanges are between he and Avery Brooks, who takes centre stage as Sisko put in a difficult position.

Quark gets dragged into an important aspect of the plot and his scenes with the Vulcan character Sakonna are pretty good to watch.

The weakest link is Bernie Casey as he does not really convince in the part written for this particular character, but that being said it's not a bad performance by any means, just a bit flat compared to others on screen. His character does a good job of adding complexity to the situation faced by Sisko.

Am I biased because this ties so neatly into Voyager? MAYBE.

After an extended drought of mid-tier and occasionally outright bad episodes, we finally get into the meat of the political unrest that has barely been mentioned for half a season.

The story is paced brilliantly, and all the players move into place to knit a really intriguing situation that I'm genuinely excited to see the characters deal with. It's a proper Sisko episode as well, with room for Avery to stretch his legs.

His interplay with Gul Dukat is fantastic, and I need to make particular mention to the subtle and brilliant exchange when Sisko enters his quarters to find Dukat instead of Jake. Really deep-level stuff, and so far removed from the completely one-note stuff we've had a lot of in recent episodes. They're not quite playing Gul Dukat as sympathetic, but there's... something there. Some sort of honour or at least respect.

Quark is great fun here, too, with his woo'ing of the Vulcan gun runner. In anyone else's hands it'd be annoying, but Armin is a pro.

We also get a fantastic battle between Kira and Sisko where she sets up her allegiance with the colonists. Both sell the absolute crap out of their convictions and it's a full meal of a scene.

Bernie Casey is a little heavy handed and I saw his obvious heel turn from a mile away, and the scenes with him and Sisko are occasionally a bit wooden compared to everything else. I don't totally buy their connected backstory, no matter how many times they say "remember New Berlin" and look wistfully off into the corner of the room.

Also slightly disappointing that the only space battle of the episode is portrayed by blinking icons on a screen, but the gravity of that scene saves the lack of budget.

Really enjoyable episode. Excited for what it's setting up.

A Cardassian transport with 75 aboard is destroyed by people from the Federation. The cease fire that has largely benefited the bad guys is under the control of Sisko and Starfleet. But someone has taken matters into their own hands and set the table for a war. If you have that mindset, you will embrace these guys. The ending to this sets up some very dicey stuff, leaving Sisko to confront his duty.

The episode isn't so bad. Just not memorable. Deep Space Nine didn't nail this. Had they nailed it, it would be unwatchable. You would throw up every time you see the Cardassian Gul. --- Here is why. --- The Maquis, an underground organisation, are trying to prevent the Federation from making the biggest mistakes of their lives. Entering business as normal with the Cardassians - Star Trek's nazis. From here on it gets so ugly. Maquis hearts can foresee the future. DS9 would have had to use the religious theme to depict this. Visions of Cardassian genocide. Crucially, the Federation wouldn't foresee that. From the Federation's point of view, a bunch of terrorists suddenly blow themselves up. That's all they would see. From the Maquis' point of view, their cover is blown. They can't just watch any longer. They made huge efforts, in privacy, to prevent that Federation-Cardassia Alliance. Out of nowhere, their hearts suddenly start to hate all Federation. In terms that a TV show can illustrate, the visions suddenly change from bearable into unwatchable nightmares. Meaning for the Maquis, their past efforts turn out meaningless. It's over. Blow yourself up. --- Search "Trek Greenspace" on Google Play Books and join my Star Trek Fan Project!

Everything up until this point was introducing the characters and setting. This episode begins the the exceptional writing that hooked me into this show until it's last episode.