EPISODES 23-21

# 23. HARD TIME

Deep Space Nine, Season 4

Episode Number 91

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Info and General Credits

Directed by  Alexander Singer

Story by  Daniel Keys Moran and Lynn Barker

Teleplay by  Robert Hewitt Wolfe

Aired 1996

Stardate  Unknown

Guest Cast

Keiko Rosalind Chao

Ee'Char Craig Wasson

Rinn Margot Rose

Muniz FJ Rio

Molly O'Brien Hana Hatae

Premise

The Chief is falsely apprehended on a charge of espionage whilst visiting Argratha. As punishment he is forced to endure a simulated 'virtual' jail sentence lasting 20 years, which takes place in only a few hours.

Comments

This was the sternest examination yet for O'Brien in what was an ingenious piece of story writing. In many ways it's surprising he kept it together as much as he did after what he went through. The Argrathi justice system seems tortuous in the extreme, as psychological torment such as this could be as harmful as any form of physical mistreatment. The title is apt, as O'Brien does 20 years of hard time in this virtual nightmare. But the point of long term incarceration is a two way thing: rehabilitation and the protection of society. With the Argrathi system of simply locking someone away for a virtual time period with supplying no means for productivity or therapy it would seem it serves neither criteria 

But this truly was a brilliant character study into the limits of human endurance, and introspection, as we see O'Brien completely break down, degrading from hope, to fear, to violence, and potential suicide. The only flaw being perhaps that the after effects of his twenty year prison sentence don't seem to linger at all after this episode, as he seems to return to normal rather quickly.

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# 22. DEFIANT

Deep Space Nine, Season 3

Episode Number 55

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Info and General Credits

Directed by  Cliff Bole

Written by  Ronald D Moore

Aired 1995

Stardate  48467.3

Guest Cast

Tom Riker Jonathan Frakes

Gul Dukat Marc Alaimo

Korinas Tricia O'Neil

Kalita Shannon Cochran

Cardassian Robert Kerbeck

Tamal Michael Canavan

Premise

After getting involved with the Maquis Tom Riker uses the guise of his doppelgänger, Will, to hijack the Defiant and go on a mission of destruction against the Cardassians.

Comments

For the record, this is the second time that the Cardassians have had to deal with a renegade Federation starship causing all kind of havoc and destruction in their territory. Be it seasoned Starfleet captains with a grudge, or Maquis terrorists looking to kick some, it makes no difference to the Cardassians, so they must be pretty ticked off by now.

We all know that Will Riker's duplicate ended up having a very different last few years after being marooned on Nervala. And this ordeal for Tom obviously resulted in him moulding a very different personality and psychology, as after a short while back from his exile he abandons Starfleet and joins the Marquis. It seems plausible enough one would suppose, and Maquis sympathy had duly been forthcoming from a variety of unlikely sources. So here we see Tom embarking on an audacious plan to commandeer the Defiant and go on the rampage through Cardassian territory. He doesn't actually end up doing a whole lot of damage, but does expose the early build up of an illegal Obsidian Order fleet in the Orias system, information that Central Command was very grateful to receive - a bargain that ultimately spared Tom the obligatory death sentence. But the journey we take with Tom is certainly a compelling one. The interplay between him and Kira is tense and engaging, making you think that there is certainly some sort of history between her and Will Riker - something possibly connected to the Enterprise's visit to DS9 in TNG's 'Birthright'. But only the writer, Ronald Moore, will know exactly why Tom snapped at poor O'Brien. What he has against him I cannot guess. I can only think it had something to do with him being a former transporter chief.

Tricia O'Neil (The Obsidian Order official, Korinas) previously played Captain Garrett of the Enterprise-C in 'Yesterday's Enterprise'.

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# 21. MESSAGE IN A BOTTLE

Voyager, Season 4

Episode Number 81

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Info and General Credits

Directed by  Nancy Malone

Teleplay  Lisa Klink

Story by  Rick Williams

Aired 1997

Stardate  Unknown

Guest Cast

EMH-2 Andy Dick

Rekar Judson Scott

Nevala Valerie Wildman

Alpha-Hirogen Tiny Ron

Premise

In an attempt to forge contact with the Federation, Captain Janeway sends the Doctor's holo-matrix through a series of commandeered alien relay stations to a Starfleet vessel that's been detected on the fringes of the Alpha Quadrant....

Comments

This is a great, entertaining episode all round - in a season that has turned out to be a big improvement over past installments, thanks in part to the masterstroke of introducing Seven of Nine, and the character's perfect casting in the excellent Jeri Ryan. In 'Message in a Bottle' we see Voyager's first successful contact with home via the detection of a Starfleet vessel on the edge of Federation space in the Alpha Quadrant. It took the sabotage of some Hirogen relay stations, and the transportation of The Doctor tens of thousands of light years to do it, but at last they now know Voyager is safe and heading for home. Anyway, once the good Doctor reaches this Starfleet vessel, (the advanced prototype USS Prometheus), he discovers, horror of horrors, it has been overrun by Romulans, intent on taking the ship for themselves. In concert with the Prometheus' EMH they thwart the Romulan intruders, and, helped by a small band of Federation vessels, win an unlikely battle.

This was simply great fun, and in my opinion the best Voyager episode so far, even though I believe they have not quite hit the heights set out by its Trek predecessors, but I believe this to be its finest effort. And it needed the story to be set in the Alpha Quadrant to do it (is there a message here?). We also get to see Starfleet taking out a Romulan Warbird for the first time ever on screen. But one really has to question the effectiveness of Starfleet security to have allowed such a valuable piece of top secret prototype equipment to fall so easily into enemy hands....

I've analysed some of the closing footage of this episode in great scrutiny in order to identify the ships in that small Federation rescue fleet. And one of those Defiant Class ships definitely has USS DEF... written on the hull, it can just be made out for a single frame. I suppose they couldn't find the time to change the hull markings on their Defiant CGI model. In all likelihood there'd be dozens of Defiant Class ships in service, so it would be remarkable for the actual Defiant we know from DS9 to turn up here)

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