Just a Small Part, but Sisko Should Have Been in Caretaker

[doubleohfive]

Flame? I like that idea. Tuvok could have tipped off Starfleet intelligence, leading Sisko chase Chakotay's ship to the border of the bad lands. Sisko could have been the one to brief Janeway. I hated Caretaker and I like Sisko, so that works for me.

In most respects, I think Caretaker was just fine as a pilot episode , and the cameo from Quark was enough to lend the interseries continuity the producers figured we were all clamoring for.

Looking back now, I kind of like the situation you are presenting, and from a television producer's point of view, here's how I would have done it:

Start "Caretaker" with Sisko and maybe two other actors from DS9 and begin as if its a DS9 episode. Have Tuvok signaling them to trace Chakotay's ship, only to lose them. BAM! Next scene is Janeway arriving on DS9 being briefed by Sisko about everything he'd learned to that point. From here we'd basically segue in to the introduction of each of Voyager's crew. You could even have Sisko and Janeway chatting idly about her decision to bring along Tom Paris - a known criminal and her rebuffing his concerns... and then go from there.