Star Trek Deep Space Nine Feature Length Episodes: Ranked

This story was set up in The Next Generation with Journey's End and Preemptive Strike, and would lay the foundations for Star Trek Voyager. The Maquis, a group of freedom fighters or terrorists, destroy a Cardassian freighter than they believe to be carrying weapons into the demilitarized zone. In turn, the Cardassians kidnap and execute one of the men responsible. There is a real danger of escalation and it is down to Sisko and his old friend Cal Hudson to try and put a stop to the fighting.

The episode shines a light on the smaller areas of the Federation that get forgotten about by the bureaucrats when plans are being drawn up. The recent peace treaty between the Federation and the Cardassian Union handed several human colonies over to the Cardassians. These colonists have refused to leave and have faced violence from the Cardassians.

Starfleet, represented by Admiral Nechayev, do not seem to understand the scope of the colonists' problems and order Sisko to sort it out. Ira Stephen Behr wished to explore the darker side of the future and this is one of the first examples. 'It's easy to be a saint in paradise', Sisko says to Kira. They highlight that when everything is fine, it's easy to be content. But when things are stripped away, the lines get a little murkier.

This would be an idea revisited in many episodes of Deep Space Nine. The story is also notable for introducing a greater depth to Gul Dukat, who seems, at this point, to want peace as much as Sisko. That...may change.