‘CAPTIVE PURSUIT’ (DS9)
Please feel free to comment on my review.
This is regarded as one of the best Season 1 episodes of ‘DS9’. I concur! I certainly enjoyed this episode when I saw it for the first time! It’s a great tale for O’Brien and also introduces a new alien called Tosk.
In the episode, an alien ship arrives from the Gamma Quadrant as it exits the Bajoran wormhole in space. With the ship severely damaged, the alien pilot on board is persuaded to dock at DS9 for repairs.
The alien pilot is Scott MacDonald as Tosk. He looks reptilian in appearance. In my mind, he looks like an iguana. I commend the make-up team led by Michael Westmore for doing a very impressive design.
Chief O’Brien meets Tosk on board his ship when he comes to repair it. I like how they first meet. Tosk responds by saying “I am Tosk” when a question gets put to him about who he is and where he’s from.
I like him saying “I am Tosk” as if it explains everything. He’s not a menace to anyone and he comes across as friendly, polite and naïve. O’Brien grows to like Tosk and becomes friends with him during the episode.
But Tosk seems to be afraid of something. Whilst being the first official alien life-form to come from the Gamma Quadrant to visit DS9, O’Brien suspects that Tosk is running away from something terrible.
Tosk doesn’t reveal much about who he is to O’Brien and why he’s in such a hurry to get away because…you know…he keeps saying “I am Tosk”. It was very interesting how Tosk refused to say anything about who he is.
Very soon, even after O’Brien finishes repairing his ship, Tosk is caught attempting to steal weapons from a weapons locker. Odo catches Tosk out and has him put in a holding cell for attempted burglary.
Even in his holding cell, Tosk won’t reveal who he is to Sisko, O’Brien and Odo. Tosk demands to be let out and tries to break away out of his locked cell, consistently saying “I am Tosk” to justify himself.
Before long, Tosk’s identity gets revealed as another ship exits the Bajoran wormhole from the Gamma Quadrant. This ship contains uniformed aliens similar to Tosk who beam inside D9S via the promenade.
A phaser battle ensues on the promenade between the DS9 crew and the uniformed aliens who fight their way into Odo’s brig. Gerrit Graham as the Hunter finds Tosk held there and is very disappointed.
It’s revealed that Tosk is part of a hunt. Tosk like is a sentinel fox breed for hunting by his reptilian/alien-like kind. Sisko is naturally displeased once he hears what this is about from the Hunter.
Sisko discusses the issue with the Hunter in his office. The Hunter demands for Tosk to be released so he can be returned alive to their home planet, where he can be humiliated by being put on display to everyone.
Refusing first, Sisko agrees to give Tosk back to his kind once the Hunter agrees to place the wormhole out of bounds for any future hunts. Sisko can’t interfere with their customs due to the Prime Directive.
O’Brien tries to persuade Tosk to ‘request asylum’ so that he can have protection from the Federation. But Tosk refuses to ask for it. He’s proud to be considered a prey for the hunt and to ‘die with honour’.
It’s interesting how O’Brien resolves things in the episode. After talking to Quark in his bar, which he grudgingly didn’t want to do at first since he was in a foul mood, O’Brien decides to change the rules.
As Tosk is about to escorted away by the Hunter, with a collar around his neck, O’Brien enters Odo’s security office and lies to him to release Tosk into his care. Odo of course becomes outraged about this.
But the distraction works as O’Brien escorts the Hunter and Tosk to an airlock. The Hunter get knocked out by a rigged airlock on overload when it scanned him for weapons. At that, O’Brien and Tosk escape.
The hunt is on again as the alien hunters pursue Tosk. Thankfully, O’Brien gets Tosk to his spaceship in order to escape from DS9. O’Brien and Tosk say farewell by stating “Die with honour” to each other.
The episode ends with Sisko angrily reprimanding O’Brien for his actions to help Tosk escape. O’Brien is surprised though that he wasn’t apprehended immediately by Odo. This Sisko deliberately allowed.
‘Captive Pursuit’ is claimed to be Colm Meany’s favourite episode from ‘DS9’s first season and it’s easy to see why. It’s a great tale for O’Brien and it features a superb alien in make-up design with Tosk here.
‘Captive Pursuit’ (DS9) rating – 10/10
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