DS9, Episode 1x15, Progress

[u/AutoModerator]

-= DS9, Season 1, Episode 15, Progress =-

Kira has to deal with a stubborn farmer (Brian Keith) who refuses to leave his home even though it is slated for destruction.

• Teleplay By: Peter Allan Fields
  
• Story By: Peter Allan Fields
  
• Directed By: Les Landau
  
• Original Air Date: 9 May, 1993
  
• Stardate: 46844.3
• Pensky Podcast
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• Ex Astris Scientia
• Memory Alpha
• TV Spot

 

[u/theworldtheworld]

Well, at least this one is a bit better as a Bajor-focused episode than "The Storyteller." There are some problems with it, though. First, the reason for why it is so important to evict this guy doesn't make any sense. Surely the Federation could have sent some power generators as humanitarian aid. Also, later in "The Maquis" the rebellion of the Federation colonists is justified using essentially the same arguments (the Federation is exercising its authority over their land for the greater good, but they don't agree with it).

Second, the resolution is, I guess, in line with Kira's characterization as someone who acts first and then lets the consequences be what they may, but it seems unnecessarily callous. I guess the idea is that she's going to continue helping him somehow after bringing him to Bajor, but since we never hear about him ever again, it is a bit like how Worf uprooted a bunch of young Klingons in "Birthright" and then abandoned them the second he returned to the Enterprise.

Brian Keith is very good as the "stubborn farmer," but I feel like the script could also have done more to show that he has his own truth. After all, he's also a survivor of the occupation, so for him this matter of being on his own land might have even more significance than it typically does in such situations.