I just rewatched Sisko's hunt of his former officer in this 5th season outing and here's my thoughts.
-As we know the Maquis were on their way out as an adversary on the show at this point, which is just as well. They were an interesting complication in the second season, but by this time, the much bigger and badder Dominion was well established, which makes going after small potatoes like the Maquis a bit underwhelming.
-Nevertheless this episode works because Avery Brooks sells the simmering anger Sisko feels throughout the episode at being duped and betrayed by Eddington. Sisko's anger, which occasionally boils over, is something we don't really see in any of the other captains. It's hard to imagine, Picard going to such lengths to go after Ro Laren, for example. (It's interesting, however, that Sisko never seemed to have the same kind of anger or sense of betrayal towards Kasidy or Cal Hudson).
-Speaking of captains, I always liked when the show would introduce a different captain, showing how different they often were. My understanding is that Captain Sanders of the Malinche was supposed to turn up again down the road (and probably end up getting killed in the war) but they never got around to it. In retrospect, that's a real pity. Not only would showing crews from other ships on a regular basis have help to remind us that it's not just the Defiant crew fighting, but having the audience get to know a couple of characters over the season and then killing them off would've better emphasized the reality that war has casualties. (One wonders how different "The Siege of AR-558" might have been, for example, if the folks who died in that episode had been familiar, rather than one-shot characters).
-There's a really nice shot of the Defiant docked at DS9 after being sabotaged by Eddington. I don't think they ever used it again, which is too bad. At least by this point, we were coming to an end of the era of using the stock footage of the station not having any ships (including the Defiant) docked there, which, in retrospect, kind of contradicted the idea of how busy the station supposedly was.
-One part of the episode I found a little awkward was when the Defiant is chasing two Maquis ships and blasts one of them to pieces. If those ships are the same size as Chakotay's ship (since the smaller Maquis ship model was later redressed as bigger one, it's sometimes hard to figure out the scale), then Sisko just killed a few dozen Maquis. It's hard to believe Eddington would be in the mood for some smug banter after witnessing the death of that many comrades in arms.
-Considering the events of "First Contact" occurred right around this time, the Defiant had a pretty rough month. (Of course O'Brien would always have her back in working order by the next episode).
-It's interesting that they never came up with a reason why Eddington joined the Maquis in the first place. Did he lose someone he cared about to the Cardassians or have friends among the colonists? And for that matter, when did he turn? Was he always a Maquis before he was even assigned to DS9 or not until after? Would he have had any involvement in, say, Thomas Riker stealing the Defiant? I don't know if Kenneth Marshall does conventions, but if anyone sees him there, it might be interesting to ask if he came up with any back story on this.
-Apparently the holo-projector was conceived for this episode, because skyping with Eddington over a viewscreen diminished the drama, but the producers and/or writers decided they didn't like it and only used it in one episode after this. I don't know if I agree. It might've been an interesting (and logical) development after years of viewscrens (especially since we basically have that now). Might've been nice to see projections of Martok or Ross on the bridge during the various battles to come. (Of course it would've been rather awkward trying to justify giving that technology to Voyager as well).
-This is one thing that puzzled me even when I first watch this as a no-quite-fifteen year old, some seventeen years ago, but if Starfleet knows where these "Maquis colonies" are, why is no one going there and arresting them???
Anyway, those are my thoughts. What are yours?
-As we know the Maquis were on their way out as an adversary on the show at this point, which is just as well. They were an interesting complication in the second season, but by this time, the much bigger and badder Dominion was well established, which makes going after small potatoes like the Maquis a bit underwhelming.
-Nevertheless this episode works because Avery Brooks sells the simmering anger Sisko feels throughout the episode at being duped and betrayed by Eddington. Sisko's anger, which occasionally boils over, is something we don't really see in any of the other captains. It's hard to imagine, Picard going to such lengths to go after Ro Laren, for example. (It's interesting, however, that Sisko never seemed to have the same kind of anger or sense of betrayal towards Kasidy or Cal Hudson).
-Speaking of captains, I always liked when the show would introduce a different captain, showing how different they often were. My understanding is that Captain Sanders of the Malinche was supposed to turn up again down the road (and probably end up getting killed in the war) but they never got around to it. In retrospect, that's a real pity. Not only would showing crews from other ships on a regular basis have help to remind us that it's not just the Defiant crew fighting, but having the audience get to know a couple of characters over the season and then killing them off would've better emphasized the reality that war has casualties. (One wonders how different "The Siege of AR-558" might have been, for example, if the folks who died in that episode had been familiar, rather than one-shot characters).
-There's a really nice shot of the Defiant docked at DS9 after being sabotaged by Eddington. I don't think they ever used it again, which is too bad. At least by this point, we were coming to an end of the era of using the stock footage of the station not having any ships (including the Defiant) docked there, which, in retrospect, kind of contradicted the idea of how busy the station supposedly was.
-One part of the episode I found a little awkward was when the Defiant is chasing two Maquis ships and blasts one of them to pieces. If those ships are the same size as Chakotay's ship (since the smaller Maquis ship model was later redressed as bigger one, it's sometimes hard to figure out the scale), then Sisko just killed a few dozen Maquis. It's hard to believe Eddington would be in the mood for some smug banter after witnessing the death of that many comrades in arms.
-Considering the events of "First Contact" occurred right around this time, the Defiant had a pretty rough month. (Of course O'Brien would always have her back in working order by the next episode).
-It's interesting that they never came up with a reason why Eddington joined the Maquis in the first place. Did he lose someone he cared about to the Cardassians or have friends among the colonists? And for that matter, when did he turn? Was he always a Maquis before he was even assigned to DS9 or not until after? Would he have had any involvement in, say, Thomas Riker stealing the Defiant? I don't know if Kenneth Marshall does conventions, but if anyone sees him there, it might be interesting to ask if he came up with any back story on this.
-Apparently the holo-projector was conceived for this episode, because skyping with Eddington over a viewscreen diminished the drama, but the producers and/or writers decided they didn't like it and only used it in one episode after this. I don't know if I agree. It might've been an interesting (and logical) development after years of viewscrens (especially since we basically have that now). Might've been nice to see projections of Martok or Ross on the bridge during the various battles to come. (Of course it would've been rather awkward trying to justify giving that technology to Voyager as well).
-This is one thing that puzzled me even when I first watch this as a no-quite-fifteen year old, some seventeen years ago, but if Starfleet knows where these "Maquis colonies" are, why is no one going there and arresting them???
Anyway, those are my thoughts. What are yours?
