"The Maquis" Parts I & II
This is the first time I'm reviewing two episodes at the same time. While the Circle Trilogy felt like three distinct parts with their own developments and setups, "The Maquis" felt like one big story that just happened to be split in half. This could've easily been a two-hour episode like "Emissary" or "The Way of the Warrior".
The Setup: I might as well begin
before the beginning. There's a Demilitarized Zone encompassing both sides of the Federation/Cardassian border, and the colonists on the worlds inside the DMZ have decided to stay where they are, following Dorvan V's lead. I looked up the airdates. "Journey's End" premiered on 3/28/94. "The Maquis, Part I" premiered 4/25/94. If we treat the airdates like time passed during the shows, then every world in question followed Dorvan V's lead and everything turned to shit in under a month.
No wonder Cal Hudson thinks his presence in the Demilitarized Zone is a joke. There's no way he can see that situation as sustainable. So, it makes sense to me why he'd hate his job and why he'd want to take matters into his own hands and reveal by the end of Part I that he's joined the Maquis.
For years, I thought the Maquis just formed during "The Maquis" and
Voyager retconned them into being around longer than originally established. But when the Maquis take credit for the kidnapping of Dukat, there's nothing to establish they've just formed. I think they've been underground for a while. At least a little while. So, after re-watching "The Maquis", I no longer believe there was any retcon on VOY's part.
Speaking of Voyager: They definitely plant the seeds here and in "Journey's End". In "Journey's End", they have the Native Americans and communicating with spirits, foreshadowing Chakotay's character. In "The Maquis, Part I", it's mentioned that a few ships have been lost in the Bad Lands over the past year or two. And the Maquis themselves are introduced here so we're already familiar with them by the time
Voyager starts.
DS9's Philosophy: The most ironic thing is that even though the Maquis were created for VOY, it's "The Maquis" where DS9 finally definitively finishes establishing its own voice and has its own outlook distinct from TOS and TNG. TOS believes, as Kirk says, "We weren't meant for Paradise." TNG believes, as Picard says, "We've outgrown our infancy." DS9 believes, as Sisko says, "It's easy to be a saint in Paradise." Right there, DS9 now completely has its own take and presents a third point of view.
I think once Sisko said those words, "It's easy to be a saint in Paradise" and followed with, "But the Maquis do not live in Paradise", I think it planted an idea in the DS9's writers' heads. I think they started to wonder and wanted to look it if the Federation itself, including Earth, was even truly Paradise. Which takes us back to TOS: "We weren't meant for Paradise." Star Trek would never be the same again. For the rest of the franchise, we've seen -- and will probably continue to see -- a constant tug-of-war between just how utopian the Federation actually is. There have been hints before "The Maquis" in DS9 as well as post-Roddenberry TNG, but now that Sisko has spoken those words, they can't be unspoken.
Those are all the things I wanted to say upfront. The rest of the elements in these episodes, I'll look at one-by-one...
Sisko's Bind: He feels sympathy for the Cardassians, otherwise he wouldn't have made his speech to Kira, preaching to the choir about the conditions the Maquis live in and how they'll do what they need to do whether the Federation approves or not. Yet, he must also keep the peace.
Sisko and Hudson: In Part I, the do a very good job of establishing Sisko's friendship and history with Hudson, going as far back as at least the Academy, and all the good times they had with Curzon Dax. Hudson can't believe how much Jake has grown up. These people know each other, they're friends with each other. They don't want to be on opposite sides of each other. Sisko doesn't tell Admiral Nacheyev about Hudson's defection to the Maquis. He gives Hudson every opportunity but, in the end, Hudson is a man of his convictions. He's a Maquis and he's going to defend his new home.
It's because of Sisko's friendship with Hudson that I feel a more investment in the Sisko/Hudson conflict than I did the Picard/Maxwell conflict during "The Wounded" (TNG). Also, the peace between the Federation and Cardassians didn't look as fragile in "The Wounded" as it looks in "The Maquis", where the Maquis are one big, giant crack.
Quark and Sakonna: Way back in "Journey to Babel" (TOS), Spock said that for a logical reason, a Vulcan can kill. Alluding to the possibility of Vulcan criminals. Taking it a step further: Vulcans willing to go against what the Federation approves. Enter Sakonna. She shows a different side to the Vulcans than we've seen before. I also think there was some foreshadowing here. By establishing there are Vulcans in the Maquis, it sets up Tuvok being able to infiltrate them in "Caretaker" (VOY) without any suspicion.
Sakonna needs to procure weapons and finds it logical to turn to Quark in order make connections with weapons dealers. It was a stroke of genius to have a Vulcan woman because Quark wouldn't have tried to use his charms if it were a Vulcan man. You'd think Sakonna and Quark wouldn't be able to get along at all, but they manage to have a successful business relationship, showing how people so completely different can put aside their differences. Too bad it's not for something above board. Sakonna even appreciates the Rules of Acquisition.
When Sakonna and the other Maquis she's working with are caught, Quark tries to explain the logic of wanting peace over war. It's pretty amazing, but Quark's logical manages to convince Sakonna to give Sisko the information he needs to stop the Maquis from going to full war against the Cardassians, beyond just the DMZ.
Runabouts vs. Maquis Ships: I think the DS9 writers took battle on a small scale as far as it can possibly go. The Runabouts can handle Maquis ships but if they were ever going to fight anything more serious than that, there'd be problems. So, in a way, I think this episode lays the groundwork for setting up why DS9 will need the Defiant later on.
Some great model work, by the way, with the Runabouts juxtaposed against the Maquis ships.
Gul Dukat: We get to see a lot more of Dukat in these episodes than we ever did before. We see Dukat working with Sisko, working with the DS9 crew, cooperating with them, and helping them. Even though Kira's not fooled for a second, I think this is the beginning of crew and the audience thinking, "Maybe Dukat isn't so bad." When Dukat is kidnapped by the Maquis, Kira says they shouldn't rescue him. Sisko says that since Central Command wants Dukat dead, that's reason enough for why they should want him alive. Huge mistake, Sisko. In a few years, you'll wish you hadn't saved him...
I do like that they're showing what's going on with Dukat's life and this is the first time they're showing that he and other Cardassians aren't on the same page. And that, in fact, Central Command considers him damaged goods. That has to upset Dukat greatly, and he's probably already trying to figure out how to get back on top even here.
The Maquis themselves: They do a good job of establishing that even though the Maquis are a new adversary, they're small scale, they have noble intentions, and they're still Federation citizens at heart, even though they're breaking off from the Federation to fight their own war. The Maquis aren't like the Circle. The Maquis still want to be better than the Cardassians and don't want to resort to their tactics.
A few other details:
- I love that Nacheyev is in this episode. Up until now, she's only been in TNG. To have her here makes the Star Trek Universe seem so much larger. It's not just "here's one show and here's another", they exist in their own living, breathing fictional universe with supporting characters who can go back-and-forth between series. The last two seasons of TNG and the first two seasons of DS9 are the only point where this can happen easily, so I'm appreciating it while I can.
- At one point, there's a wide shot of the Maquis with three people. Hudson, a Native American man, and a Klingon woman. I've already mentioned the Native Americans foreshadowing Chakotay, but the Klingon woman foreshadows B'Elanna Torres. So, symbolically, it's like Hudson is standing side-by-side with Chakotay and Torres.
- When Dukat talks about the Cardassian justice system and how the verdict is always determined before the trial, that's setting up "Tribunal" right there.
There's more I can go into, and I will, but this is already getting a little long, not to mention it's getting a little late, so I'll cap it off here
for now. But not without giving a rating first.
I give both parts a 10.
I'll add more thoughts about these episodes tomorrow. To be honest, I'm nowhere close to finished. But I'm so glad I at least got everything above out of the way first. My mind was bursting with all kinds of stuff while watching "The Maquis". Very well done.
