‘FOR THE UNIFORM’ (DS9)
Please feel free to comment on my review.
This ‘DS9’ episode features the return of Kenneth Marshall as Michael Eddington, who previously betrayed Sisko and the DS9 crew to join the Maquis in ‘For the Cause’. I wish this episode was great.
Don’t get me wrong, the performances of the cast are great, especially Avery Brooks’ Sisko and Kenneth Marshall’s Eddington. But I don’t feel the story was action-packed enough as it should be. 😦
In the episode, Sisko is obsessed with capturing the traitor Eddington as he and the DS9 crew pursue him in the Defiant. But in their pursuit, the Defiant experiences a massive computer failure. Oh dear!
This was caused by Eddington who planted a virus into the Defiant during his time as a former Starfleet Security Chief. Sisko becomes angry and humiliated as the Defiant faces the long trip home.
After being towed to DS9 by the starship Malinche, O’Brien begins the massive job of repairing the ship. Adding insult to injury, Sisko has been relieved of the assignment to apprehend Eddington.
It’s now given to Eric Pierpoint as Captain Sanders of the Malinche. The reason why Sisko has been relieved is because Starfleet has lost faith in his ability to apprehend Eddington since turning traitor.
I like that scene where Sisko vents his fury over being relieved of the assignment on a punching bag in the holosuite with Jadiza holding it for him. He’s also still angry about Eddington betraying him. 😐
Incidentally, there’s a new holo-communicator introduced aboard the Defiant. Sisko talks to people from another ship on the Defiant’s bridge via hologram instead talking to them on the viewscreen. 😐
I don’t know if this will catch on in future ‘DS9’ episodes. Anyway, Sisko learns that Eddington is attacking Cardassian colonies with a weapon that renders its planets uninhabitable to Cardassians. 😮
The Malinche starship is too far away to intercept and Sisko sees this as his chance to get at Eddington again. However, the Defiant is not fully repaired yet as he and his crew go out into space.
I like how the Defiant takes it steadily when venturing out into space. I also like how Aron Eisenberg as Nog becomes useful in relaying orders from the bridge to engineering, regardless of hectic things.
The Defiant soon encounters Eddington again and Eddington taunts Sisko by sending him a copy of the novel called ‘Les Misérables’. He compares Sisko to the obsessive policeman named Javert here.
It’s gradually revealed that Eddington believes himself to be Valjean, the hero of the story, whilst believing Sisko is Javert, the villain. As long as Sisko doesn’t sing badly like Russell Crowe, that’s fine. 😀
Realising that Sisko and the DS9 crew were baited to false coordinates, they soon set off to find Eddington’s real location. This is before a distress call is received from the Malinche and the captain.
Apparently the Malinche were ambused by Maquis forces that disabled the ship. Sisko attempts to stop Eddington’s next planet target but is too late once the weapon is released into the atmosphere.
Eddington also cripples a transport vessel containing evacuating Cardassian civilians. Chasing after Eddington’s fleeing ship, Sisko is soon forced to break off pursuit in order to rescue the Cardassians.
Gradually, when stumped on how to get Eddington, Sisko comes to realise how he must play the villain in this ‘Les Misérables’ situation. He has to do something pretty villainous like poison a planet.
This Sisko does he prepares to poison the atmosphere of a Maquis colony. He has his sinister plan revealed to all. Eddington considers it a bluff, but Sisko orders the deadly torpedoes to be launched.
It causes the Maquis to scramble and evacuate. Eddington is shocked by this. Sisko says he’s prepared to eliminate every Maquis colony in the Demilitarised Zone unless Eddington surrenders. 😐
Realising that Sisko is serious, Eddington makes the ‘heroic’ gesture of offering himself in exchange. Eddington gets arrested and Sisko’s vendetta is finally over. Is the last we’ll see of Eddington though?
‘For the Uniform’ is a decent enough ‘DS9’ episode to watch. I wouldn’t say it was great and it did need more action-packed drama put into it. But I enjoyed how Sisko outwitted Eddington in the end.
‘For the Uniform’ (DS9) rating – 6/10
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