{"id":5298,"date":"2017-07-10T05:53:41","date_gmt":"2017-07-10T05:53:41","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/225-Tribunal"},"modified":"2017-07-10T05:53:41","modified_gmt":"2017-07-10T05:53:41","slug":"225-tribunal","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/relivethemajesty.com\/index.php\/2017\/07\/10\/225-tribunal\/","title":{"rendered":"2.25 — \u201cTribunal\u201d"},"content":{"rendered":"\n \n

2.25 — \u201cTribunal\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Plot:<\/strong> O\u2019Brien\u2019s family vacation aboard a runabout is interrupted by his interception by Cardassian forces, arrest, and removal to Cardassia Prime. There he is brought up on charges against the state within a twisted justice system embedded in a totalitarian regime, which we see closer than ever before. Can O’Brien find a way to prevail when his guilt is pronounced before the trial begins?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Thoughts:<\/strong> With this efficient little potboiler, DS9 is killing it again, just when you would expect its energy to be flagging at the end of the season. Around this time that TNG was floundering and copping excuses based on the demands of simultaneous development of Generations<\/em> and Voyager<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Perhaps because I\u2019m a lawyer, or because I once suffered through Kafka\u2019s The Trial<\/em> (1925), I love all the details about the Cardassian legal system, social system, and especially the character of O\u2019Brien\u2019s Public Conservator, the venerable Kovat (whose last line, \u201cThey\u2019ll kill me,\u201d is a delight). I hope we revisit Cardassia Prime often.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Deep Space Nine<\/em> is the Trek series with a memory, and in “Tribunal” this extends to the archives of TNG, resurrecting O\u2019Brien\u2019s service on the Rutledge<\/em> and his prejudice against Cardassians. When he speaks against the current treaty because \u201cthe bloody Cardies can\u2019t be trusted,\u201d this doesn\u2019t seem far out of line, given the events of this episode, and the obvious familiarity of the tribunal with the falsity of the evidence against O’Brien, based on the judge’s reaction to the appearance of Sisko with Raymond Boone.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The episode looks great, rolling out new looks for several Cardassian characters. It is the first episode of DS9 to be directed by a cast member–Avery Brooks!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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5 out of 5 coconut gavels.<\/p>\n\n\n

http:\/\/memory-alpha.wikia.com\/wiki\/Tribunal_(episode)<\/a>