Make Mine Maquis

I have mixed feelings about "The Maquis", the two part Deep Space Nine episode from 1994. I like the concept of the Maquis, a rebellious group introduced in these episodes that go on to be a major factor not only on Deep Space Nine but also on the other two Star Trek shows airing in the '90s, The Next Generation and Voyager. I suppose Star Trek in the '90s, as a shared universe franchise, is the clearest forerunner of the MCU. The Maquis, named after resistance groups in World War II France and Civil War Spain, are formed in the Star Trek universe by colonists whose territory is ceded by the Federation to the Cardassians in a peace treaty.

The plot of the two part episode is itself kind of weak. We meet a best friend of Sisko's whom we've never seen before and never see again, there obviously to set up a personal conflict between the Starfleet officer and one of the Maquis. There's an uneasy friendship formed between Sisko and Gul Dukat, a Cardassian and the former commander of the space station that would be renamed Deep Space Nine. It feels a lot lest nuanced than it did when I watched it as a kid.

Then there's a subplot between Quark and a Vulcan member of the Maquis who goes to him in order to procure weapons. The two are arrested and they have this dialogue in jail:

I really like the idea of Quark's ruthless capitalism being a driving factor of a logical argument for peace. It's nice when a cultural aspect leads to motivations that you wouldn't expect but nonetheless make sense. It's too bad about the Vulcan. First, you might think, "Wow, he surpassed a Vulcan at logic," but when you consider the simplicity of the argument, the strange thing is that it never occurred to the Vulcan before. It's hard for Star Trek writers to really differentiate Vulcan characters. How different is this lady really from Saavik in Star Trek II and III? She's just a little dumber? In order for Quark to clear the bar, it has to be set pretty low.

I don't see how the Maquis would settle for anything less than reintegration into the Federation. What other goal could they have, unless it's to get the Cardassians to promise not to be tyrants, at least to the former Federation colonies? The problem has obvious parallels to a lot of real world conflicts and it's useful for thinking about hypotheticals, the story being distant enough from real world factions to divest it of bias.

Deep Space Nine is available on Netflix.