Deep Space Nine Reviewed! (by a pedant) S2E25: TRIBUNAL

...And Justice For All.

Space Dog prints now available here:
Character art by @anebulouspurpose on instagram.

[Unlimited_Lives]

Today's Thought Experiment: We're going to assume that everything went well for Kovat and he got to retire just like he wanted. What's he up to these days?

[Rorikon]

Has Gul Evek being a crossover character been mentioned? In the space of a year or so he was in TNG twice, DS9 thrice, and finally was in the Voyager pilot commanding the ship Chakotay and his crew were fleeing from at the very the start.

It's interesting how much setup the Maquis in Voyager got from the other two series only for them to almost never use it on the actual show that's supposedly starring them.

[ptonpc]

"This is the longest trial in Cardassian history!" along with "Congratulations counsellor, you won a case"

[kyuven]

I do love how eventually, a lot of this sneaky adherence to "order" is going to end up biting the Cardassians in the ass when someone with an even bigger Order-boner than them comes along.
Also in hindsight, the fact that Odo, a changeling, defeated the Cardassian justice system could be seen as subtle foreshadowing.

[mjbull]

Such a prisoner exchange is completely unbelievable and would never happen in the real world.


WNBA player imprisoned in Ruusia on minor drug possession charges exchanged for arms dealer known as "The Merchant of Death".

Dammit.

[AvatarRiku]

Maritza wanted a trial because Cardigan trials start with a guilty verdict. His trial would have made Cardigan Prime admit their wrongdoing.

[pleappleappleap]

A federation starship has the ability to broadcast the truth to every single console on Cardassia Prime.

[archonix]

4:55 The boxes are filled with galvanised square steel and self-sealing stem bolts borrowed from his aunt.

[crystalheart]

I enjoyed Fritz Weaver as the lawyer for Miles and how upset he was at the end when he won his case!

[pastramiandrye]

'A true victory is to make your enemy see they were wrong to oppose you in the first place. To force them to acknowledge your greatness.'

I feel like there's a parallel here with Star Fleet - at least in terms of narrative. Star Trek generally takes the position that the main characters are part of a force for good. If they alter or significantly affect an alien culture, it's usually treated as the right thing to do. This is because the narrative ensures that unless it's intended for the audience to not be on their side - an action taken on screen by a core cast member is likely to have a justification because that's what the writers have written.

Gul Dukat's little quote and your own thoughts this episode made me realize that the Cardassian Union basically takes that narrative justification and attempts to apply it as a practical assumption - not by making sure their actions are justified but by rewriting or ignoring any facts that might contradict them. The same assumptions and trust the audience makes about star fleet because it's a tv show applied to a 'real' organization resulting in a fascist police state

[ThatSockmonkey]

Yay, Space Dog and Computer is my favourite show!

[danielphelps]

The way you describe Kovat and the Justice system he serves is intriguing. I think you’re spot on with him being kind and grandfatherly, and the system working for a “greater good.”

It all reminds me of a quote admittedly from another media source. Though it feels accurate here. “There is a fine line between mercy and cruelty.”

[dm]

3:10 you mentioned murdered civilians and i believe you're refering to the colonoies that have formed the Marquis . - i do think its worth repeating that those colonists where warned about the dangers and offered relocation by the federation. With regards to O'Brien, this is a direct violation of the federation's or Bajor's borders (its unclear which in the episode) including the illegal abduction of a starfleet crewman - whilst not as morally objectionable as what the Cardagins are doing in the DMZ, this is a direct challenge to the federations authority (either directly or on behalf of Bajor) and not responding is not really an option if you wish your borders to be accepted in yhe future.

[Ceece]

Basically the Japan court system: 99.999% conviction rate. If you go to trial in Japan, you will be convicted. The Prosecutors are apprentices to the judges and, if the it goes to trial, the assumption is you must be guilty of something. It is just a matter of finding out what you are guilty of.

[mjbull]

Kovat's speech about having someone to punish for a crime being an uplifting experience for society reminds me so much of certain elements in our own society being frustrated with rights of the accused like innocent until proven guilty, the burden of proof being on the accuser, knowing what the charges are against you, being able to confront your accuser have a distressing tendency to lead to "not guilty" verdicts in sexual assault cases. The recent regulatory guidance to Title IX in the USA returning University procedures in adjudicating sexual assault accusations to where they were before 2016, which look remarkably like the Cardassian "justice" system.

[TheoAndHisPedals]

I will love you forever if you do enterprise after DS-9

[reaverofjillsandwiches]

THANK YOU!! I'v ehad the same feelings about Starfleet's lack of response to this situation. And there's little mention of everything he went through. Maybe I'm just a petty bastard but I'd be hiring Garrek to exact some revenge on the ones responsible. But that wouldn't paint our heroes in a good light either. Still something would have been nice and the ending is too abrupt. There's no time to deal with the effects of what happened and as I mentioned before it's barely mentioned again.

[ad]

it really annoys me that they don't just treat this like a hostage situation instead of trying to actually respect Cardassian law.

[shadowinthevoid]

To be fair, I would watch an episode just of O'Brian going on holiday and having a nice time.

[crabman]

Damn. If I would've remembered this episode, I would've paid to name Miles' old acquaintance Tom Setlik (like Tom Selleck)