“FOR THE CAUSE”
Boy meets girl. Boy likes girl. Girl likes boy. Girl starts working with terrorist organisation. Boy puts girl’s ass in jail.
“For the Cause” is an episode I actually like more in retrospect, and that’s knowing the shocking twists. It’s a solid hour of drama and the emotional core of the episode, Kasidy’s betrayal of Sisko, packs a fair emotional punch. This is so much more powerful than Trek’s usual vapid “romance of the week” slogs, partly because this relationship has been building for the best part of a year and, perhaps most importantly, Avery Brooks and Penny Johnson have such a wonderful, natural chemistry that I have to say the Sisko/Kasidy relationships is one of my favourite in all of Trek. By this point, Ben, Kasidy and Jake really do feel like a family, which makes the events of this episode all the more painful.
Avery Brooks is superb throughout and he carries the episode beautifully with a powerful, understated, pained performance. It’s impossible not to feel for Ben as his officers investigate Kasidy’s suspected Maquis ties. The scene in the cargo bay when Ben suggests Kasidy ditches her mission and head off to Risa with him is particularly affecting; with both Brooks and Johnson beautifully conveying the nuance and subtext of the conversation. Her decision to turn him down and continue with her mission is nothing less than a punch in the gut, for Sisko and the viewer. Unfortunately, we never really learn much about
why Kasidy is aiding the Maquis and willing to jeopardise her relationship and career to do so. It’s suggested that it’s simply humanitarian aid she’s assisting with, so it could be motivated by conscience rather than any deep political leanings. I don’t suppose it matters that much, and an extended debate on the subject wouldn’t necessarily have added much to the episode. Sometimes less is more. The final scene in the cargo hold is a real killer and, unlike most of Trek “star-crossed lover” stories, the emotion is truly earned. (Disappointingly, this storyline doesn’t get any satisfactory follow-up when Kasidy next appears. It gets brushed aside far too quickly, although I am glad that it isn’t the end for their relationship)
Of course, it would be bad enough if it was just one betrayal Sisko had to deal with, but the other twist is that the whole operation has been orchestrated by one Michael Eddington (who basically used Kasidy as a decoy and left her to get caught, the rotter). I don’t know whether it was deliberate part of Kenneth Marshall’s somewhat shifty performance, but I got a bad vibe about Eddington from the very moment he was introduced and the more he appeared on the series, the more that intensified—even though his previous few appearances he’d very much been “one of the team”. Apparently, a great many viewers had him pegged as a Changeling infiltrator, and the writers decided to throw a curve ball and reveal him as a Maquis agent.
We don’t know how long he’s been a Maquis, but he has some, um...
strong opinions on the matter. Eddington’s venomous rant at Sisko at the end of the episode is eye-opening to say the least. I don’t think we’ve ever heard such a damning indictment of the Federation, although I found Eddington such an obnoxious, sanctimonious jerk that I couldn’t take much he had to say seriously (“you’re like the Borg...no, wait, you’re worse than the Borg” sounded like a 24th century equivalent of “you’re worse than Hitler” and far too childish to take seriously). In a sense, Eddington has some things in common with Dukat. I feel his real reasons for siding with the Maquis are narcissistic—to make him feel like a dashing hero, something Sisko will pick up on in his next encounter with the wayward security officer. Sisko’s blistering comeback is even better and delivered with utter badass conviction by Brooks. Beware Eddington, you in danger.
I guess my disdain for Eddington and inability to find much sympathy for him underscores how I feel about the Maquis in general—they come across as petulant, short-sighted and childish. Life is far from ideal, but there’s always a bigger picture and the moment life got tough these guys almost immediately ditched their ideals and values to become nefarious thieves, criminals and killers. Yeah, Cardassians are the assholes of the universe, but no one was forcing them to stay on worlds in a galaxy that, in Star Trek lore, is abundant with inhabitable worlds. But, I digress.
I almost forgot the Garak and Ziyal sub-plot. It’s not much to write home about; serviceable and reasonably engaging, although I didn’t appreciate the attempt to set up a potential relationship between the two. Firstly, even though they’ve recast Ziyal to look a little older, she’s still basically a child and Garak a middle-aged man (and, frankly, a man who I still think only has eyes for Julian Bashir!). Although, to be fair, it is Ziyal who seems to be making the advances, and it will cause some nice fireworks down the road. I did enjoy the scene in Garak’s shop, with he, Quark and Kira back in badass mode. That’s almost worth the price of admission alone. I have to ask though, who goes into a sauna fully clothed—or clothed at all?
Anyway, this is an excellent episode: a taut, beautifully written and acted drama that kept me hooked from beginning to end. It also forms the first part of a superb Sisko vs Eddington trilogy that would continue with the fifth season’s “For the Uniform” and “Blaze of Glory”.
Rating: 9
