DS9 S02E20 & S02E21

In this installment:
(viewed Tuesday & Wednesday, August 5-6)

Star Trek:  Deep Space Nine, S02E20 & S02E21 - "The Maquis" (Part 1 & Part 2)

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"The Maquis" (Part 1 & Part 2)

• The ill-fated Cardsassian freighter Bok'Nor is one of many redresses (this one sand-colored) of the versatile Merchantman studio model originally designed for Star Trek III:  The Search For Spock.
  
  
  
  The Merchantman (courtesy of Ex Astris Scientia)
  
  
  
  Left: Bok'Nor; Right: Merchantman
• "It's not his fault Gallamites have transparent skulls."
• Cmdr. Hudson is still wearing the "Type B"-style Starfleet uniform common to late seasons of TNG.
• Human or Bajoran colonists who fight the Cardassians as members of the Maquis isn't particularly surprising.  But Sakonna, the Vulcan member of the Maquis featured in this episode, is a bit surprising given the Vulcan tendency toward non-violence.
• Quark offers Sakonna a glass of Vulcan port, which is interesting given that Vulcans are supposedly unable to experience the intoxicating effects of alcohol.
• "Where are we going?"
  
  "The Volan Colonies."
  
  "The Demilitarized Zone?"
  
  "Not so demilitarized, I'm afraid."
• "Of all the human beings I have met, you strike me as the most joyless and the least vulnerable."
• "Now do you see, Commander--that without any help from either one of us--they've managed to start their own little war out here?"
• There's just some great Sisko-Dukat dialog in this episode.  Two of my favorite Trek characters bandying words and chewing scenery.  This two-party is one of my favorites of DS9's first two seasons for a reason :)
• Quark also serves Sakonna "jumbo Romulan mollusks", despite the fact that Vulcans are also traditionally vegetarian.
• 214th Rule of Acquisition:  "Never begin a business negotiation on an empty stomach."
• Hey, it's our old pal Gul Evek!
• "The Federation does not conduct secret wars!"
  
  Shh...nobody tell Section 31.
• I consider the fact that there is no photographic documentation of Sisko wearing lederhosen at New Berlin's Mazurka Festival one of the greatest crimes in the history of Star Trek.
• Gul Dukat has seven (!) kids.
• "I can tell you one thing:  The Cardassians are the enemy, not your own colonists. And if you can't understand that, then the Federation is even more naive than I already think it is."
• Kidnapping Gul Dukat?  Okay, that's pretty bold.
• "Give me the right to set a curfew!  Let me conduct more searches of arriving passengers!  Give me fifty more deputies!"
  
  "And the station will be just like it was during the Occupation."
  
  "Say what you like, it was safer then."
  
  "...unless you happened to be a Bajoran."
• "Commander, we've just received a general subspace transmission from somewhere in the Demilitarized Zone.  A group there is taking credit for the kidnapping of Dukat.  They're calling themselves...the Maquis."
  
  
  
  
  Although I've already viewed the TNG episode featuring the Maquis ("Preemptive Strike"), this DS9 episode actually aired a few weeks before that one.  This is our first look at the group.
• Hudson's a traitor!  I totally never saw that coming, what with all of his aggressive sympathizing with the militant Federation colonists and all.
• When Admiral Nechayev and Legate Parn are both already waiting for you?  Yeah, that's not good.
• Speaking of which, Parn is played by John Shuck.  Mr. Shuck played a variety of roles on various Trek films and series, but his most notable role was as the Klingon ambassador to the Federation in ST4 and ST6.
  
  
  
  John Shuck as the Klingon Ambassador (left) and Legate Parn (right)
• "Establish a dialog with the Maquis.  They're still Federation citizens.  I'm sure they'll listen to reason."
  
  Admiral Nechayev, the undisputed champion of Not Getting It.
• "Do you know what the trouble is?  The trouble is Earth.  On Earth, there is no poverty, no crime, no war.  You look out the window of Starfleet Headquarters, and you see paradise.  Well, it's easy to be a saint in paradise.  But the Maquis do not live in paradise.  Out there, in the Demilitarized Zone, all of the problems haven't been solved yet.  Out there, there are no saints.  Just people--angry, scared, determined people who are going to do whatever it takes to survive, whether it meets with Federation approval or not."
• "And one more thing...how long do I keep him here?"
  
  (Odo gestures to Quark in a holding cell.)
  
  "Forever."
  
  (Sisko drops mic, walks away.)
• Hahahaha!  And the Central Command is gonna frame Gul Dukat.  Perfect!  The good news for them is that he totally doesn't hold a grudge, and he's not about to be in a serious position of power in a couple of seasons ;)
• Mind-melding with a trained, disciplined Cardassian military veteran and accused war criminal?  Yeah, but that's really easy and not at all horrifying.
• Gul Dukat describes the Cardassian system of "justice", in which the verdict is always known before the trial and is always "guilty".
• "Very simple, very effective."
  
  "And needlessly bloody."
  
  "Sounds like a Cardassian plan to me."
• The 3rd Rule of Acquisition:  "Never spend more for an acquisition than you have to."
• Quark's out-logicking Sakonna is pretty amusing :)
• "They have weapons, you have weapons, everyone has weapons!"
• As of this episode, Deep Space 9's compliment of runabouts is as follows:
  
• USS Rio Grande (NCC-72452)
• USS Orinoco (NCC-72905)
• USS Mekong (NCC-72617)
  

At least two of them have mounted, are are capable of having mounted, "rollbar"-style weapons pods (presumably containing micro-torpedo launchers).
• The Maquis are again making use of the small Federation attack fighter, sometimes called (in non-canon sources) the "Peregrine" type.
  
  
  
  (image courtesy of Ex Astris Scientia)
• "I thought you were strong, Commander.  But you're not.  You're a fool.  A sentimental fool."
  
  "I said I would stop the Maquis, and I have.  But I will not kill a good man for defending his home."
  
  "You disappoint me."
  
  "Don't expect me to lose any sleep over it."