DS9: The Maquis, Part I

         Two part episodes are always hard to make work, but historically (and by this I mean in TNG) the first half of the episode was the better half. In this case I hope that part two is more interesting that the first half. A lot happens in this first half, but it doesn't really come together in the way that you want even in the first half of a two parter. This isn't to say that it is a terrible episode or anything, having it resolve by revealing that Sisko's Federation colleague is behind the Maquis was pretty dramatic, but I don't really feel like the Quark romancing a Vulcan part or the Cardassians kidnapping the guilty bomber parts paid off at all. Maybe it will be better in Part II, but I kinda feel especially the Vulcan bit will be left hanging.
         The episode opens with Cardassians preparing to leave the station. After they close the door on their side of the airlock we see a Federation engineer put something into an access panel on their ship. As they pull away from the station their ship explodes. After some investigating they find a trace of an element unknown to the Cardassians left in the residue from the explosion, in fact it is only used by the Federation. Starfleet sends Calvin Hudson, the officer in charge of the demilitarized zone with the Cardassians to investigate with Sisko. The two are old friends so Sisko is pretty happy about it. Gul Dukat creepily shows up unannounced in Sisko's quarters that night and the two of them set out in a runabout to see something he needs to show Sisko. They find two Cardassian craft attacking a Federation ship with another civilian Federation ship shows up and uses its photon torpedoes and phasers to destroy the Cardassians before flying away.
         Back on the station Quark is approached by a Vulcan he has the hots for who wants to do business. He talks her into dinner in his quarters but it turns out she is only interested in buying weapons. We also see the Vulcan giving the saboteur from the opening new quarters but when he arrives he gets a hypo to the neck and collapses. Sisko and Dukat continue their journey and head to Cal Hudsons office. He is fighting with another gul who produces the dead body of the saboteur and says he confessed before committing suicide which outrages the colonists. Dukat returns to DS9 and despite a personal Starfleet security detachment he is kidnapped by Maquis. Sisko is preparing to investigate when the Maquis announce their presence. Sisko, Kira and Bashir follow the Maquis ship with Dukat into the badlands and find the planet it headed to. They beam down but are captured by Maquis fighters, lead by none other than Cal Hudson.

         Review: Other than some parts not seeming to pay off this actually worked better once I thought it through for the write up. Also fun since I don't remember how this crisis gets resolved, something to look forward to tomorrow!

6 out of 10