Cal calls the treaty "just a piece of paper" near the beginning of this episode, but how long has it been since treaties were actually written on paper at this point? Decades? Centuries?
I never noticed before that there's an alcove in the wall near Odo's security office that contains one of those neon-colored bubbling water tanks that you could drop coins into at some businesses for a chance to win a prize if you managed to catch the coin on one of the platforms inside the tank. Seemed like they were everywhere in the late '90s and (20)'00s.
Cal ultimately dragged this one down too. It managed to squeak by with a 7, rounded up from 6.5, on the strength of Dukat's character (again) and the overall political intrigue.
The Maquis are the antithesis of Dukat, as villains go. They're all about as one-dimensional as you can get, and it's very disappointing considering how big a role the Maquis play in the show's big-picture plot for a while. They're like The Circle, but worse. We the viewers could at least empathize with The Circle, even though they committed acts of terrorism. Their viewpoint made sense from where Bajor stood in the post-Cardassian age, even if they were unreasonable about how they acted on it. The Maquis viewpoint makes sense too, to a point—but given the chance to attempt negotiating peace without having to fight for it, they would rather fight anyway. It's a sad thing indeed for Quark to be more rational about the situation than those who actually have a stake (but that was also a great Quark scene that we would have otherwise missed out on).
This is a great example of just how complex things have become on this show. We have characters from all sides attempting to further their own goals or just stop disaster from happening, and they all overlap in beautiful ways. It also helps that both Avery Brooks and Marc Alaimo are on fire here, and both are given meaty scenes which they deliver wonderfully. A particular delight is Gul Dukat mocking the amateur methods of his captors.
Quark also gets to show some intelligent insight, something that we don't often expect from him but he tends to be able to do from time to time. He also once again gets away scot-free from his crimes with no repercussions. We get some great insight into the backstabbing nature of the Cardassian Central Command, who leave Dukat to rot with a friendly smile on their face.
It's slightly less than the promise of the first part for me, though. Cal Hudson is, again, quite a terrible character and there's no trace of friendship or camaraderie between him and Sisko. He acts like a brat, as do most of the Maquis, and the episode gives us little reason to really sympathise with their cause. As their plot lines continue through the shows, it difficult to see them as anything other than terrorists with a racist grudge and that could have been different had these episodes allowed us to understand what they're going through.
Strong finale of this back to back episode. It was suspenseful. It was exciting. Stakes were high. Dukat, Sisko and Kira are great. Boy, Sisko can talk! And boy, Dukat is intimidating like nobody else! It's Kira's vs Sisko's vs Dukat's approach to problem solving. Although Sisko is not entirely following the standard Star Fleet procedures, which makes him a great leader, his approach represents a stark contrast to how Kira or Dukat would handle the issue. All methods might be effective but only Sisko is right. That's the simple message of this episode. And that's the beauty of it. Btw: even Quarks B-plot, that I questioned for being necessary in the first place, suddenly serves a purpose and is quite entertaining in this second part. As I said before, the Maquis are great for being a rebellious faction disturbing Starfleet's superficial harmony and for being another chess piece in DS9's story arch, but the individual rebels are not really intriguing. Yes, I understand their reasons and I totally sympathize with their cause. And yes, there's Ben's old friend. I get this. This increases Ben's dilemma. But I think they - on an individual level - are all quite lackluster. I don't really like these individuals. They are not friendly. They are not brilliant. They are not shown protecting their homes or their famillies...
The episode is clearly hold back by budget issues though. Most scenes take place at DS9 and many crucial events were only discussed but never shown. Other scenes are shot in one of those infamous Star Trek caves. Plus, they need ships that are up to the task. These shuttle type runabouts in a battle look silly.
PS: Dukat briefly talks about the Cardassian justice system. Watch 2x25 Tribunal if you're interested in this.
Review by Andrew BloomVIP 9BlockedParentSpoilers2022-03-02T04:34:07Z
[7.6/10] There may be no better summation of Deep Space Nine’s ethos than SIsko’s “Saints in Paradise” speech. It is a quiet (or maybe not so quiet) rebuke to Gene Roddenberry’s vision for the future, dramatized from 1966 until that point. The idea is a simple one -- those vaunted ideals work in a society that is post-scarcity, post-war, and post-want -- but run aground on cold reality when applied to the rough-and-tumble lives of people far away from such luxuries who still suffer and fight.
It’s one of the sharpest deconstructions Star Trek would ever receive, and it’s coming from inside the house. The fact that Ira Steven Behr, who would go on to become the guiding creative voice behind Deep Space Nine, wrote the teleplay for the “The Maquis pt. 2” is no coincidence. This is a watershed duology for the series and one that would point the way forward to the complex issues the show would examine in its ensuing five seasons.
It’s also compelling in the unique structure and posture of its story. The episode is devoted to juxtaposing Commander Sisko and Gul Dukat, even as they’re ostensibly working together. Both are trying to thwart the efforts of their countrymen in the Demilitarized Zone, even if it means undermining their own side. And both are working at least somewhat clandestinely from their superiors, with Dukat going around a Cardassian Central Command that left him for dead and Sisko not telling Admiral Nechayev the whole story about the Maquis.
Like so many Star Trek leaders before them, both Sisko and Dukat shed their orders, or find creative interpretations of them, to do what they think is right. Dukat is genuinely surprised to learn that the Cadassians are funneling weapons into the disputed zone, particularly when leadership is ready to pin the hostile act on him and let him go down for it. Likewise, Sisko isn’t willing to give up his dear friend, Commander Hudson, to Starfleet Command, but he won’t let Hudson lead the Maquis on an ambush of a civilian target that could spark a war.
The tension of both men being caught between their governments and their people is fantastic. The unique scenario not only prompts the erstwhile foes to work together, but leads to strange situations like Dukat helping to uncover a Cardassian gun-smuggling ring and Sisko turning his phasers on Federation citizens (or former citizens) in order to save a Cardassian. All of these situations force both men to confront how far their principles will let them go, regardless of edicts from above and their connections to the men and women on the ground.
What’s particularly fascinating is the way their tactics differ. Dukat is brutal but effective. He proposes that our heroes kill the crew of the Xepolite ship carrying contraband weapons and tow the hull back to DS9 rather than try to reason with them. When Sisko’s diplomacy doesn’t work with the freighter captain, Dukat’s forceful style and outright threats do, eliciting a sly smile from Benjamin and even the subtle appreciation of a combative Kira. This is part of Dukat’s coming out party, and his reactions to Sisko as a counterpart, worthy adversary, and contrasting thinker all stand out here.
Hell, he even seems to question his own kidnappers, arguing that they lack the conviction to do the dirty work the Cardassians are willing to do in the name of their goals and ideals. He’s a compelling figure because his points are as alluring as they are dangerous. It’s always easier to blast or threaten your way out of a problem. Federation ideals like a respect for life and a commitment to diplomacy over violence can get in the way of the direct approach. The fact that they’re difficult doesn’t make them wrong. Doing the right thing can often be more challenging. But it does make Dukat’s bloody, gordian knot approach tempting even to someone like Kira who reviles the man and everything he stands for.
Therein lies another theme introduced here, which would characterize DS9 throughout its run -- a willingness to entertain the perspectives of those outside the Federation. As middling as the material between Quark and Sakonna the Vulcan in the first part was, their scene here nearly steals the show. There’s something so wrong, and yet compelling about Quark describing the effort to achieve peace in the same terms as negotiating for a 1982 Buick LeSabre. You’d never imagine a Vulcan being persuaded by venal Ferengi philosophy, but his argument about “buying peace” at a bargain price is unexpectedly persuasive, for Sakonna and the audience.
The merit of the show is its willingness to take those alternate perspectives seriously as alternatives to the Federation worldview, even if we’re not meant to buy them one-hundred percent. From Dukat’s harsh methods to Quark’s financial take on peace to Odo’s vision for stricter security, to the Maquis themselves, this duology countenances dissenting views to Federation principles more than any show before or since.
The only thing here that doesn’t really work is the material between Sisko and his friend, Hudson. The idea isn’t a bad one. Sisko having to choose between his duties and his friend -- especially when he thinks his friend might be right in substance, if not in his methods -- makes for a worthwhile dilemma. The problem is that Sisko and Hudson’s friendship doesn’t really feel lived in. The two actors don’t mesh especially well and can’t communicate the longstanding shorthand necessary to sell that someone we just met is as close and personal a friend to Benjamin.
Despite that, there’s strong moments, like Benjamin bringing the Starfleet uniform back to his friend. We know how much that uniform means to Sisko, given his commitment to wearing it in the quasi-amish community in “Paradise”. So the symbolism has extra resonance when he returns it to Hudson and rather than donning it again, the man destroys it.
The episode suffers, though, when “The Maquis” turns into a dogfight between Sisko and Hudson where Benjamin is unwilling to pull the trigger. The bones of the climax work. Sisko will do anything to stop his friend and avert war, but won’t use lethal force, much to Dukat’s disappointment. In practice, though, it’s a dull bit of action that never carries as much tension as it needs to.
What elevates it, though, is the way Sisko forebears, halting Dukat from killing Hudson or otherwise taking more forceful action, but wonders in the aftermath if he made the right choice. War is averted, but Hudson was right about Cardassian weapons smuggling. He’s right to question whether he’s simply delayed the inevitable, or denied his fellow Federation citizens the ability to fight for a just cause.
That’s the rub of “The Maquis”, and of this era of the series. The choices on the veritable frontier aren’t as clear as when you’re aboard Starfleet’s flagship. The Federation’s optimism can stay steadfast with leaders like Sisko at the helm, but how well they’ll flourish in a world of Cardassians and Bajorans and Ferengi who don’t share the same perspective is a much more variable question. And what’s more sobering is that even Benjamin’s compatriots, his closest friends, might think those ideals have grown outdated, or irrelevant to the harsh truths of life on the margins. They may not be saints, but when their choices are more complicated, the intersection of morality and mortality murkier, it’s not clear that they’re sinners either.