Civil Defense-Underated Gem

[Photon]

Love the give and take between Dukat and Garak

Dukat coming on the comm system and talking to the Bajorans, then threatening them-classic stuff

Technobabble kept to a minimum

Good stuff about Jake manning up and Sisko not being over protective.

I had forgotten how good that episode was

 

[Marie1]

Yeah, I liked it too, nice to see Dukat knocked down a few pegs! Also we learn a bit out the history of Garak, the station- ie: lethal forcefields, and Dukat... he can actually do stuff- engineering stuff! And once more- central command doesn't think as highly of him as he thinks they do! Haha!!!

 

[OldManDax]

I just watched this one, too...Some great stuff within the episode, and any good character study of Dukat (pre red-eyes, that is) is almost always priceless. This episode feels a little scattershot, though, not nearly as smooth and seamless as some of the other "lets-give-a-picture-of-how-things-used-to-be-under-the-Cardies" episodes (i'm thinking "Past Prologue", for example).

And, this episode pretty much confirms what I've long felt, even though I'm clearly in the minority here: Andrew Robinson is not NEARLY as good as Marc Alaimo as an actor, and the character of Garak consists, mostly, of a greatly expanded, deeply explored "schtick, i.e. the guy whose full of clever witticisms, whose persona is simultaneously fascinating and repellent to modt of the central characters - a quality that was best used a means to explore those characters - and not quite what he seems on the outside (but of course, obligated to let us know that a hundred times within any given ep. in whichhe appears). Interesting at times, but certainly not something I would want to see on a regular basis.

 

[Nerys Ghemor]

Now, I'm not as enamored with Garak as some people here, but I still think he made an interesting character. (If you'd like to get a better appreciation for Robinson, though...read A Stitch in Time. He actually WROTE that--no ghostwriter. And it's extremely good--don't know why he hasn't made writing his career!)

But almost ANY actor next to Marc Alaimo is going to look weak in comparison. The man is just amazing.

 

[Bad Atom]

Alaimo and Robinson are both terrific actors, and both really went beyond the writing to give their characters depth. This episode is an early example (along with "Cardassians") of what was to come in their individual developments.

As for the rest of the episode, it was a nice shot in the arm of action and tension, and a good showcase for the whole ensemble. Proof that DS9 could do a variety of different episode formats in a static setting.

 

[Johnhead99]

Alaimo and Robinson are both terrific actors, and both really went beyond the writing to give their characters depth. This episode is an early example (along with "Cardassians") of what was to come in their individual developments.

As for the rest of the episode, it was a nice shot in the arm of action and tension, and a good showcase for the whole ensemble. Proof that DS9 could do a variety of different episode formats in a static setting.

I couldnt agree more. I watched the episode today with Dukot and Kira where they go looking for the lost Cardassian vessel and find his daughter. Fine episode.

 

[Kolrad]

I love this episode too-- it was great to get a chance to see it again recently.

One of the things I like about it is how paranoid it shows the Cardassian military culture to be-- their counterinsurgency program just keeps going, with layers upon layers, until that great moment when Dukat smugly tries to beam back to his ship and we see that his own superiors didn't even trust him!

 

[Photon]

I love this episode too-- it was great to get a chance to see it again recently.

One of the things I like about it is how paranoid it shows the Cardassian military culture to be-- their counterinsurgency program just keeps going, with layers upon layers, until that great moment when Dukat smugly tries to beam back to his ship and we see that his own superiors didn't even trust him!

".......and die like a Cardassian"

LMAO

 

[HRHTheKING]

Awesome scene when Dukat tries to leave.

I love the Cardassians.

LOL

 

[Tactical Drone]

One of my favorite episodes of DS9 period. Every time I want to watch DS9, that's the 1st episode I play.

 

[dave_R_treker]

Awesome scene when Dukat tries to leave.

I love the Cardassians.

LOL

One of my favorate scenes.

 

[tomalak301]

There were many episodes in Season 3 that seemed underrated, and this was one of them. Loved the scenes between Dukat and Garak.

 

[superstring01]

The truly great thing is that season three is the beginning of greatness for DS9. Civil Defense being one of the best! As it has been noted, the dialog between Dukat and Garak is fantastic. Hell, anytime Garak is in an episode, it's good. His smooth talking, smarmy, weaselly, duplicitous mouth is moving, you know something juicy is about to happen.

~String

 

[PKTrekGirl]

Oddly, this episode didn't used to be as underrated (at least around here) as it is now. There was a time on TrekBBS when this episode was pretty routinely mentioned in people's top 20 episodes of DS9...but you rarely read about it any more.

Personally, I think it is one of the early seasons gems. It doesn't get any better on DS9 than Garak and Dukat.

 

[Marie1]

There are too many gems in DS9... you'd need a top 100 or something to give the good ones credit...