User Reviews

The obvious choices of Kafka and Orwell are certainly there, but I would suggest Darkness at Noon by Arthur Koestler as another influence,

The Cardassian trial is a show trial. Guilt or innocence have nothing to do with the verdict. The verdict is all, in the sense that it confirms the States control over what is right and what is wrong. The State gives comfort and it gives stability. The fact is that most people want a quiet life. They want to put bread on the table and they want to go to bed knowing that they will wake up to the same thing over and over again. Why do people vote or accept a voice with comforting platitudes? Because the alternative is believing in your own voice and being disappointed by it. Stalin knew that. Every tin-pot after him knows that, even the ones leading some countries today know that. Arthur Koestler understood that.

I give eight stars for Colm Meany and for Rosalind Chao (who really should have been given much more in the series). The story could have been a little less pat at the end and therefore I took away a star , but meh what can you do in 45 minutes!

Things don't go well for Chief O'Brien and his wife Keiko when they set of on holiday; their shuttle is intercepted by the Cardassians and the chief finds himself arrested on unspecified charges and taken to Cardassia. Once there he learns that he is to be tried however he still hasn't been told what he is being accused of and has already been found guilty and sentenced to death. Back on DS9 his friends are working to prove his innocence and Odo is dispatched to Cardassia to help with his legal representation.

This was a decent episode although it was a shame we were shown the true culprit in the opening scenes which meant we knew the chief was innocent rather than just believing he must be. Fritz Weaver added some fun to the proceedings as O'Brien's defence lawyer who has never won a case and believes this is a good thing.

I like it when star trek chooses to dip a toe into the political or the moral but at times the writing can be a sledgehammer to the face rather then an elegant organic experience.

DS9 has done a terrific job of writing the Cardassians as being duplicitious and honor bound to protect and sacrifice for the 'state'. We get that sentimentality here in this episode but the design of the courtroom scene feels more like a Saturday morning cartoon plot element then a glimpse into the Cardassian hive mind state culture.

I suppose it can be a challenge of designing a scene too dark or too comical. For me it just doesn't land well ---- Perhaps it is the comic relief of Miles lawyer that disrupts my ability to invest myself in this trial?

I did enjoy the scenes of Odo fighting for his DS9 friends. In season 1 I bet Odo would have still fought for Miles freedom but it would have been for the pursuit of Justice whereas I feel this is about friendship and loyalty. I also enjoyed the visualization of Cardassia with gigantic screens of propaganda.

The Cardassian system of "Justice" was brought up a few episodes back, and it could've been interesting to see it fleshed out here. Instead we get a kangaroo court that resembles nothing like the Cardassians we've come to know and deeply mistrust.

Cardassians are clever as hell, devious, sly and extremely detailed in every undertaking. This supposed Cardassian court is an exercise in silliness. From the drawling judge, whamming her ball-gavel down so dramatically each time, to the so-called defense attorney doing some really bad stage-acting, to the "outraged" "witnesses" they bring forth to discuss O'Brien's alleged crimes.

We know the Cardassian court is a joke, in that there is no real trial. The verdict is always guilty and known from the get-go. But it's not supposed to be a ha-ha that's funny kind of joke. Cardassians would run their courts in the most serious, "We are the judge, jury and executioner" kind of way. And always making certain the viewer knows Cardassians are the real victims.

That didn't happen here. We get rammed over the head with scene after scene of nothingness, with tidbits in between of what the DS9 crew are doing back home to try and prove O'Brien's innocence.

Incidentally, why the hell are all Miles' supposed friends so quick to think him guilty?! Yes, he is known to deeply dislike and distrust Cardassians. Most of them feel the same way. And they all also know that Miles is an honest, hard-working and forthright guy they can trust. It just seems so out of character for all of them to automatically suspect him.

So anyway, finally the crew figures everything out, unbeknownst to us tho, because it happens off-screen. Then we have Sisko and the real guilty party transporting into the "courtroom" in the nick of time to save O'Brien.

But instead of having it played out before us, we get to listen to Sisko explain everything that they could've just acted out for us, and made the episode much more interesting.

As it turns out, the bad guy who framed O'Brien was really a Cardassian who, during the war, had been surgically altered to look like a friend and Rutledge crew member who served with O'Brien years ago. He's been spying on the Federation for eight long years. And when he ran into Miles as the O'Brien's were leaving for vacation, and spoke with him, he recorded his voice, remixed it and used it to frame him for the whole weapons theft, etc.

And that's how Miles ended up arrested, convicted and nearly executed by the Cardassian Empire. Because they wanted to embarrass the Federation over the situation with the Maquis.

So when Sisko transports in, the Judge sees her Cardassian spy, and realizes Sisko's got the goods to totally out the Cardassians and their wicked scheme. She has no choice but to release O'Brien, after he's "convicted" of course.

Then they all pile into the runabout and it's smiles and kisses all around as they head to drop Miles and Keiko off for their originally planned vacation.

Wait...say wut? Hold up a minute.

The Cardassian Empire detained and killed a Federation citizen, then sent a surgically altered Cardassian back to pose as this guy, spying on the Federation for eight long years, then has him frame another Federation citizen, very nearly getting him executed, and the Federation's whole reaction is to take the guy back to Cardassia and turn him back over to his people, and fly off into the sunset?

I realize they need to use the guy to get O'Brien out of his personal pickle, but...that's it? Then it's all smiles and laughter? We don't hear anything about how the Federation will be meeting with the Cardassians to discuss the situation, sanctioning them, spanking them...something?

It's just so unbelievably...unbelievable.

The acting was completely fine and the technicalities of filming and producing equally so. However the writing was lacking. A citizen from a powerful side is abducted and put on trial, ready to be executed. You would expect major diplomatic activity. There is a mention of the Enterprise and another ship once, but they end up in a plot hole.

The trial itself is only interesting because of the fight between Odo and the Cardassian lawyer. However, Odo, even though is struggling to be able to say anything in the strict courtroom, does not stick to his point of fighting the evidence. Also, this is not how showtrials are done.

In the meantime, the actual issue with Boon is resolved in a last 2 minutes conversation. It is implied Sisko has been granted access in some way to bring Boon in the courtroom, even though up till that point about nothing has been allowed that is out of order. Again, why don't we see the diplomacy behind the scenes? That could've been great with the sly Cardassians.