Defiant (episode)

From Memory Alpha, the free Star Trek reference.

This article is about the DS9 episode. For the ship see USS Defiant. For the mirror universe ship, see Defiant (mirror)

"Defiant"
DS9, Episode 3x09 Production number: 40513-455 First aired: 21 November 1994
←	54th of 173 produced in DS9	→
←	54th of 173 released in DS9	→
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←	339th of 726 released in all	→
Written By Ronald D. Moore Directed By Cliff Bole
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When Commander William T. Riker from the Enterprise arrives on Deep Space 9, he takes a liking to Kira, who gives him a tour of the Defiant. But Riker is revealed to be not who he claims to be when he attacks Kira and steals the ship.

Contents 1 Summary 1.1 Teaser 1.2 Act One 1.3 Act Two 1.4 Act Three 1.5 Act Four 1.6 Act Five 2 Memorable Quotes 3 Background Information 3.1 Video and DVD releases 4 Links and References 4.1 Guest Stars 4.2 Special Guest Star 4.3 Co-Star 4.4 Uncredited Co-Stars 4.5 References 4.6 External links

[edit] Summary

[edit] Teaser

Major Kira Nerys is having a bad day, swamped with the little details of running a station. It gets worse as Odo fills her in on the latest security problems with Quark and the Tholian Ambassador. She snaps at Doctor Bashir when he starts complaining to her about Campor III. Realizing that she is stressed from overwork he orders her to take time off. Bashir takes Kira to Quark's and tells her to enjoy herself. She is not alone for long as Commander Riker asks to join her.

[edit] Act One

Riker tells Commander Sisko that he is on vacation and wanted to visit the station again before continuing on to Risa. Down in Ops, Lieutenant Dax notices that Kira is preoccupied by a certain Commander, though she doesn't want to admit it. When Riker comes out, Dax makes a reference to their last meeting in Quark's which he does not remember until she reminds him.

Riker hangs around the Promenade waiting for Kira to get off duty so he can arrange to "accidentally" run into her. Hesitant at first, she offers him a tour of the station and then at his suggestion, she agrees to show him the USS Defiant. Kira enters an access code to enter the Defiant.

They find Chief Miles O'Brien working on the bridge and Riker is not happy to see him, implying that they have had some falling out. O'Brien is stunned by Riker's cold demeanor. He has no idea what he has done to offend his former first officer but excuses himself rather than intrude on the two of them. Kira, too, is surprised but does not press when Riker says he does not want to talk about it.

She shows him the modifications they have made to the ship's systems. Riker asks to access them at the tactical station and, obligingly, Kira uses her authorization code to release the bridge lockout. This is what Riker wanted and he then stuns Kira with a phaser. While she is unconscious, he arranges for Tamal and Kalita to beam aboard.

A red alert sounds in Ops as the computer shows a warp core breach on the Defiant. Riker contacts them, saying there was an accident and Kira was injured. If they release the docking clamps and he will take the Defiant away from the station. Sisko agrees and will beam them out when they are clear. O'Brien arrives, responding to the red alert. When Sisko orders him to beam Riker and Kira out, O'Brien cannot because the Defiant's shields are up. Before any of them can react, the Defiant goes to warp.

On the Defiant, Riker has Kalita set a course for the Badlands. He removes his false beard; he is Lieutenant Thomas Riker.

[edit] Act Two

Gul Dukat is summoned to a briefing where Odo explains how a transporter accident created a duplicate of Riker. He finds it amusing until they tell him that Thomas Riker is with the Maquis. Dukat is furious that such a dangerous weapon may now be used to attack Cardassia. Sisko proposes a joint search mission of the Demilitarized Zone, but Dukat says Central Command use this as an excuse to eradicated the Maquis instead. Starfleet will send a fleet to protect the colonies. War seems inevitable. Sisko agrees to go with Dukat to Cardassia Prime and help them find the Defiant, and if necessary, destroy it.

Riker apologizes to Kira for the deception but he will not be deterred. The Defiant meets with other Maquis ships. They transfer over a crew and then they all head for the Cardassian border.

[edit] Act Three

Arriving on Cardassia Prime, Dukat will conduct the search from the Cardassian War Room. Sisko reveals that the Defiant is equipped with a Romulan cloaking device, but the Dominion found that an antiproton beam can detect the cloak. While this is news to Dukat, Korinas, a feared Obsidian Order operative, already knew.

Kira tries to escape her confinement while the Defiant attacks Outpost 61 under the command of Gul Toran of the Sixth Order in the Almatha sector.

Dukat orders the fleet to give chase as the Defiant flees back to the Demilitarized Zone, but Sisko realizes that the warp signature is wrong, it is a decoy. Dukat recalls Toran's ships but it is too late. The real Defiant uncloaks and destroys Outpost 47, before cloaking again, its heading takes them into the heart of the Cardassian Union. Korinas leaves with a parting shot at Dukat.

Riker sets a course for Omekla III and its shipyards, but Kira has sabotaged the cloak.

[edit] Act Four

Tamal treats Kira's injuries. Riker takes her to the bridge where they can keep an eye on her. While they repair the damage she caused, they hide in a nearby nebula.

Sisko plots strategy but Dukat is distracted. This is his son's 11th birthday and he wanted his father to take him to an amusement center at Lakarian City. Instead his son will remember this day with hatred.

Kira sees that their target is the Omekla III shipyards. Riker tells her that they had been getting reports that there were Cardassian hardliners wanting to scrap the peace treaty. They were secretly building up an invasion fleet in the Orias system. Kira tries to reach him, he is still more Starfleet officer than resistance fighter.

Korinas reports that the Defiant has destroyed the Omekla shipyards, a weapons depot in the Dameron system and a communications relay on the Rokat colony. Sisko believes that these are not random attacks but are designed to relocate the fleet while they react and continue to search. Tactical displays now show the Orias system undefended. Dukat is about to have Gul Ranor send a ship when Korinas threatens him if he does. The system is under the Obsidian Order's protection and they will defend it.

[edit] Act Five

Dukat has checked up and no one has been able to get any answers from the Obsidian Order regarding the Orias system, not even the Detapa Council. The Kraxon has found a neutrino leak. The Defiant under cloak makes a run for the Orias System but they can track them. Dukat orders all ships to pursue but they cannot catch it.

Suddenly three Keldon-class ships appear out of Orias. Korinas seems to be unconcerned that this violates the prohibition of the Obsidian Order to possess any military equipment.

Meanwhile, Thomas Riker refuses to back down now, even though, it is starting to look hopeless. Kira guesses that this is less about the Maquis cause than it is about distinguishing himself from the original Riker.

Sisko makes a deal with Dukat: if he will let them surrender and turned over the ship and crew to the Federation, Sisko will turn over the Defiant's sensor logs which by now contain full scans on the Orias System and whatever the Obsidian Order has been hiding. Dukat agrees only if they keep Riker to punish him for the attacks. Sisko reluctantly agrees provided that Dukat arranges for the Cardassian Ministry of Justice take the death penalty off the table.

The Defiant engages the Obsidian ships. They disable one but three more come to join them. They are out-numbered. Riker is about to continue any way when Sisko and Dukat contact him with their deal. He will be sentenced for life to Lazon II labor camp. Kira pleads for him to think of his crew. Riker agrees and is told he must surrender to Gul Ranor on the Kraxon who will protect them from the Obsidian ships. It is a tense moment but the Obsidian ships retreat.

True to his word, Riker transmits the sensor logs to the Kraxon and then beams over. Kira promises him that his crew will get a fair trial and they will come for him one day.

[edit] Memorable Quotes

"Looks like you've got your evening all planned out. I hope you left room for... the unexpected."

- Thomas Riker

"No, you're trying to be a hero... and terrorists don't get to be heroes."

- Kira

"Be a Starfleet officer one last time and think of your crew."

- Kira

[edit] Background Information

• Sisko's role in this episode is based on the 1964 Sidney Lumet Cold War thriller Fail Safe, where the President, played by Henry Fonda, is forced to help the Russians shoot down an American plane on its way to launch a nuclear strike on Moscow. (Star Trek: Deep Space Nine Companion)
• This episode introduces a fleet of Keldon-class ships secretly constructed by the Obsidian Order in the Orias system. The later third season episode "The Die is Cast" reveals the reason for their construction: they were to be used in a joint operation by the Obsidian Order and the Romulan Tal Shiar to launch an assault on the Founders' homeworld (precipitating the Battle of the Omarion Nebula).
• Thomas Riker calls the Defiant a "tough little ship"; William T. Riker later calls it the same thing in Star Trek: First Contact.
• Shannon Cochran reprises her role as Kalita from TNG: "Preemptive Strike". She would next be seen on Deep Space Nine as Sirella in the sixth season episode "You Are Cordially Invited".
• It is in this episode where it is revealed that the Defiant is only allowed to use the cloaking device in the Gamma Quadrant.
• It is unknown if William T. Riker visited Quark's during the Enterprise's first visit to DS9 in "Emissary", its second visit in "Birthright, Part I" or another time completely, though an off-hand comment by Jadzia places his visit closer to that of "Birthright, Part I" ("I met him a year ago"; discussing Riker with Kira).
• Although this episode was screened three days after the release of Star Trek Generations, the stardates indicate that it takes place shortly before.
• The large Cardassian viewscreen seen many times in this episode is actually a miniature designed by Gary Hutzel and built by Tony Meininger. The shots of Sisko standing in front of the screen were composited shots of the miniature and actor Avery Brooks in front of a bluescreen. (Star Trek: Deep Space Nine Companion)
• This episode builds on the humanization of the character of Gul Dukat which began in "The Maquis, Part II" from the second season and continued in the third season episode "Civil Defense". In "Defiant", we discover that Dukat is saddened about missing his son's birthday, and his interpretation of what that will mean to his son in future years is uncharacteristically honest. This softening of his character would continue up to the fifth season episode "By Inferno's Light".
• Jonathan Frakes always felt that the character of Thomas Riker should have returned to DS9 and that there should have been an episode where Kira fulfilled her promise to rescue him. The producers however, seemed to be uninterested in finishing the story arc, as in the fourth season pitch letter to freelance writers, Tom Riker appeared on the list of subjects that they were not interested in hearing about. (Star Trek: Deep Space Nine Companion)
• Cirroc Lofton (Jake Sisko) does not appear in this episode.

[edit] Video and DVD releases

• UK VHS release (two-episode tapes, CIC Video): Volume 3.5, 10 April 1995.
• As part of the UK VHS collection Star Trek - Crossovers Set: 6 November 1995
• As part of the DS9 Season 3 DVD collection.

[edit] Links and References

[edit] Guest Stars

• Marc Alaimo as Gul Dukat
• Tricia O'Neil as Korinas
• Shannon Cochran as Kalita
• Robert Kerbeck as a Cardassian soldier
• Michael Canavan as Tamal

[edit] Special Guest Star

• Jonathan Frakes as Thomas Riker

[edit] Co-Star

• Majel Barrett as the computer voice

[edit] Uncredited Co-Stars

• Brian Demonbreun as a Starfleet science officer

[edit] References

47; Almatha sector; antiproton beam; Badlands; Byzallian; Byzatium; Campor III; Campor colony; Cardassia Prime; Cardassian Ministry of Justice; Cardassian Union; cloaking device; Crusher, Beverly; dabo; Dameron system; Defiant, USS; Detapa Council; Enterprise-D, USS; Galor-class; Gandhi, USS; jumja stick; Karvino juice; Keldon-class; Kraxon; Lakarian City; latinum; Lazon II; Lorvan cracker; Maquis; Mekor; Nervala IV; Obsidian Order; Omekla III; Orias III; Orias system; Outpost 47; Outpost 61; polaron deflector; Ranor; Riker, Thomas; Risa; Rokat colony; Tamal; Tholian; Toran; warp core breach

• 47 references

[edit] External links

• Defiant (episode) at Memory Beta, the wiki for licensed Star Trek works
• Defiant (Star Trek: Deep Space Nine episode) at Wikipedia

Previous episode: "Meridian"

Star Trek: Deep Space Nine Season 3

Next episode: "Fascination"