My old story idea re the Defiant crew

[Arpy]

— Disclaimer for any writers visiting the forum: story idea ahead —

I wonder if when they first introduced the Defiant they might have done so a different way. The ship could have been assigned to the station with its own Federation “loyalist” crew. Kind of like how they introduced Eddington as the Starfleet narc in their ranks.

Without breaking the guest-star budget bank, maybe they could have accomplished this with say two to four recurring cast members that represented the Defiant crew.

They could assign Sisko say an Andorian tactical/first officer, Vulcan chief engineer/ops, and Tellarite pilot. Making the crew founding members would reinforce a core-worlds/frontier dichotomy.

Whenever necessary, Jadzia could join Sisko onboard as his science officer and confidant vs the loyalists.

What did you think of the Defiant’s intro? It seemed a little strange to me that Sisko just so happened to work on it in his previous assignment. That was convenient. And little was made of who came with it.

 

[Bry_Sinclair]

Sisko, Dax, Bashir and O'Brien were already Federation loyalists. Never saw Eddington as a narc, but rather someone who had a different MO to the rest of the crew, a more professional edge that liked doing things a certain way and adhering to the rule book (until his change of heart), he also didn't have the luxury of working with the crew for three years and gone through all they had done, so he was always going to be an outsider.

Given the writers couldn't think up enough material for T'Rul to keep her around (someone whose very nature and presence should bring with it a wealth of conflict with the other characters), then having three additional Starfleeters wouldn't really bring much story fodder with them.

 

[Arpy]

It’s not that I think they weren’t loyal but the writers were constantly looking for drama/conflict, and here’s some. Eddington sabotaged the Defiant when Sisko took it into the Gamma Quadrant against the admiral’s wishes to get intel about the Jem Hadar invasion. Kinda narc-y.

Also, Sisko told the Bajorans not to join the Federation after he had a vision they weren’t ready. Maybe other Starfleeters would be more dubious of his visions and his torpedoing of the conference. It doesn’t have to be mutiny-level to be interesting.

 

[Bry_Sinclair]

Eddington received a direct order from an Admiral and given his personality type he complied with it, his duty was very much to Starfleet as opposed to a single commander. Sisko clearly wasn't happy with it, but he understood who Eddington was and didn't reprimand him for it.

 

[amp]

— Disclaimer for any writers visiting the forum: story idea ahead —

I wonder if when they first introduced the Defiant they might have done so a different way. The ship could have been assigned to the station with its own Federation “loyalist” crew. Kind of like how they introduced Eddington as the Starfleet narc in their ranks.

Without breaking the guest-star budget bank, maybe they could have accomplished this with say two to four recurring cast members that represented the Defiant crew.

They could assign Sisko say an Andorian tactical/first officer, Vulcan chief engineer/ops, and Tellarite pilot. Making the crew founding members would reinforce a core-worlds/frontier dichotomy.

Whenever necessary, Jadzia could join Sisko onboard as his science officer and confidant vs the loyalists.

What did you think of the Defiant’s intro? It seemed a little strange to me that Sisko just so happened to work on it in his previous assignment. That was convenient. And little was made of who came with it.

If only Sisko and Jadzia ever came on board then what would the remaining main cast members do? There are quite a few episodes like "Starship Down", "Children of Time", or "Trials and Tribulations" with the whole cast aboard ship. Either those episodes would need a b-story set back on DS9 or a good part of the cast would be idle for a week (and would still have to be paid their salaries).

 

[Arpy]

If only Sisko and Jadzia ever came on board then what would the remaining main cast members do? There are quite a few episodes like "Starship Down", "Children of Time", or "Trials and Tribulations" with the whole cast aboard ship. Either those episodes would need a b-story set back on DS9 or a good part of the cast would be idle for a week (and would still have to be paid their salaries).

Much in the same way that recurring characters like Garak, Nog, and Weyoon could carry an episode well enough without half the regulars appearing that weak, presumably these characters could also in their own way.

A cunning Andorian tactical/first officer might be interesting -- especially if you don't know how far to trust him or he you. A cooly logical Vulcan chief-engineer might seem aloof and not give you what you want in the moment but might come up with innovative ways at giving you what you need. A cocky hot-shot Tellarite pilot might be fun -- who knows what his backstory might hide...what Orion babes he's known from previous assignments. I dunno, just some off the top of my head ideas.

Also, much as they could include Garak, Odo, or Quark on the Defiant when needed, they could do the same with any of the regular cast. Plus, you could have Sisko, Jadzia, and Bashir on any mission, and Kira could be worked in as a Bajoran observer as well.

EDIT: oh, and one of them might be a spy, so we get a Starfleet Intelligence who-dun-it at the same time. Maybe the unknown figure is a faceless foil for Garak. Maybe operating on a whole ‘nother level given that they’re actually active plants with the full support of SI unlike Garak who’s on his own at this point.

We could explore the heritages of each of the characters too. What the heck is Andorian culture like at this point? Which of the four sexes is he/she? Will the Vulcan engineer’s mother come to visit and be Captain Sisko’s Lwaxana Troi? (Joking, joking, put down the phaser!)

And I don’t mean to paint the Tellarite as a stereotype, but I did like the visual of an “ugly” Tellarite with sexy Orion or Boslic or Rissian or what have you babes. “Vive la différence.”

 

[somebuddyX]

I never thought much about Sisko and Defiant's prior connection until I saw the video about Ben Sisko's Mutha-Fucking Pimp Hand. After that I think it makes perfect sense that this ship was designed and championed by Sisko.

To view this content we will need your consent to set third party cookies.
For more detailed information, see our cookies page.

Accept third party cookies

Here in Australia we got DS9 episodes a million years after the US so I knew the whole third season before it had even aired. I knew they were introducing a new ship and I figured it was going to be some big new ship, maybe some successor to the Galaxy-class. When the Defiant debuted in The Search I hated it it's design and size...but only up until the point it used those gattling gun phasers and ripped apart the Jem Hadar ships and then I was onboard. But I've always loved that idea of the Defiant being this big ship that acts more as a support to the station than being under the command of the station, if that makes any sense. I think the Malinche might have been a cool way to use that idea and I always liked seeing Eric Pierpoint turn up in things.
Thing is, I think that year both B5 and DS9 were introducing spaceships for their series and neither one introduced new crew members for the ships. I think it was just a given that the main cast would go take over on their ships when they needed to go somewhere. Even on BSG when they put a bunch of people on Demetrius for a few episodes it was made up of main and secondary people we'd already met.

 

[Jayson1]

I liked how they introduced it and it makes sense to me from a character perspective that a ship being built to fight the Borg would have someone who had a personal connection to the Borg in how they killed his wife. I think you got a good story idea in this guy who is put in charge of creating a fleet of ships that can fight the Borg being someone who is also out for revenge even though his refined Starfleet ethics will never allow himself to admit it, maybe even to himself. The pain of his wife which was still their when he came to DS9 would even be more raw than what we saw in the pilot.


Jason

 

[Anthony Williams]

I am a big fan of the Defiant the whole concept is so cool

 

[Tim Thomason]

Perhaps the Defiant could've been an independent support ship with its own support crew, at least a bridge staff, who would live on the station but be assigned on the Defiant full-time. You could have a Captain (maybe even a full 4-pipper who outranked Sisko) who could butt heads with Sisko and only allow him as an observer on missions. He'd probably die early on and Sisko would take over on a temporary basis. But Sisko shouldn't be CO of the Defiant and CO of Deep Space 9. Choose one or the other.

Maybe later on down the line, they could introduce Commander Worf as the new Captain of the Defiant who works in lock-step with Sisko in the ongoing conflict with the Dominion (and his XO, Jadzia, would be promoted when Worf went to go hang out with Klilngons).

 

[kkt]

It makes sense that Starfleet would have smaller ships, as well as the big ships with 200/400/1000 crew. Especially for fighting, you want a ship that's just big enough for the weapons and crew. Small and maneuverable. Definitely not the hundreds of scientists and phaser fodder you get a ship on a multiyear exploring mission.

Yes, on a real ship they'd probably give the Defiant her own crew, and most of the time they'd operate the ship on their own. I'm thinking it would be a lieutenant commander's post, since the crew was only about 20. Sisko wouldn't come along just to make sure they did their job. But it's understandable that Star Trek wouldn't want to distract the audience with several more characters, much less hire more actors.

 

[Jayson1]

I think maybe one thing you could do though is make sure to use the same extra's. Maybe a few aliens like say a Defiant version of Morn to show some crew continuity. Chances are any speaking parts though you will want for your regulars since anytime the Defiant is used it usually means bringing a good chunk of the cast along.

Jason

 

[kkt]

I think maybe one thing you could do though is make sure to use the same extra's. Maybe a few aliens like say a Defiant version of Morn to show some crew continuity. Chances are any speaking parts though you will want for your regulars since anytime the Defiant is used it usually means bringing a good chunk of the cast along.

That might work, any of the cast used in heavy makeup aboard DS9 could be switched to humanoid and most of the audience would every realize it. I wonder what the Screen Actors Guild says about that.

 

[Arpy]

This is why I kept it at three Defiant crew. You could even stick the Vulcan in engineering after his intro and see him even less than the others. And the two recurring on the bridge you’d only see on the Defiant, not ops, so they’d really be around a handful of episodes a season.

And there’s some interesting juicy stuff to mine with them too. Different levels of antagonism between station and ship crews. Some jealousy from the Bajorans seeing the easy rapport core-worlders have with fellow Federation members, maybe on levels they have yet to reach. Maybe some discord between the Vulcan engineer and O’Brien. Maybe the Tellarite’s a regular at Quark’s and there’s drama with the dabo girls. There’s both war and spy and drama and comedy stories to be had with them.

 

[Jayson1]

Another thing you could do is have standing Defiant crew to wear the old TNG uniforms were as DS9 have the ones we saw on the show. They kind of did this for awhile on the show. For example when Sisko went back to earth when the Changlings blew up a meeting on earth he put on the old TNG uniform. Also you would see them other times like the crew of the Galaxy Class in "The Jem Haddar" or the Doctor Lense who graduated ahead of Bashir at Starfleet Medical. Granted by the time they switched to the "First Contact" uniforms it seems like just about all Starfleet personal wore the same uniform again except Voyager crew for some reason.


Jason

 

[Orphalesion]

Another thing you could do is have standing Defiant crew to wear the old TNG uniforms were as DS9 have the ones we saw on the show. They kind of did this for awhile on the show. For example when Sisko went back to earth when the Changlings blew up a meeting on earth he put on the old TNG uniform. Also you would see them other times like the crew of the Galaxy Class in "The Jem Haddar" or the Doctor Lense who graduated ahead of Bashir at Starfleet Medical. Granted by the time they switched to the "First Contact" uniforms it seems like just about all Starfleet personal wore the same uniform again except Voyager crew for some reason.


Jason

Ds9 tried to establish that there were different uniforms for personnel on space stations (the DS9 uniforms) and personnel on space ships (the TNG uniforms)
But then Voyager threw that idea out of the window by having their crew wear the DS9 uniforms despite being on a ship.

 

[kkt]

I really liked the way TOS uniforms had different badges for every ship or base. It made it easy for the audience to see who was who, and would contribute to unity for the people working together.

 

[STEPhon IT]

It’s not that I think they weren’t loyal but the writers were constantly looking for drama/conflict, and here’s some. Eddington sabotaged the Defiant when Sisko took it into the Gamma Quadrant against the admiral’s wishes to get intel about the Jem Hadar invasion. Kinda narc-y.

Also, Sisko told the Bajorans not to join the Federation after he had a vision they weren’t ready. Maybe other Starfleeters would be more dubious of his visions and his torpedoing of the conference. It doesn’t have to be mutiny-level to be interesting.

Eddington started off in the beginning as an officer who could not be trusted and I found it odd he was the leader of the Maquis; he was such a boring, 1 dimensional character which I thought Sisko would've saw this fraud coming. As for a Defiant crew, I always had a huge problem with the entire senior staff joyriding aboard the ship while the station was manned by ???? It is bad writing and not thinking about what could happen if at least half of the senior staff was not present on the station. Inviting new and fresh upstarts could've shown growth to the series; seeing new character mingle with some of senior staff and making some ground to their own personal culture and cementing DS9 as a series where the aliens, new and fresh aliens are coming to them. Plus, if an actor didn't want to return, one of the new developed character could simply step in and the old character's place if he or she would leave DS9. A missed opportunity but how creating new character for the Defiant.