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| Chief O'Brien and Tosk enjoying common ground: engineering problems |
The Gamma Quadrant comes alive for the first time in the episode Captive Pursuit. An unassuming ship came out of the wormhole, damaged; carrying a nervous looking passenger. He is a Tosk, a species bread to be the most formidable prey in an interstellar fox hunt.
Before you know it, the visitor that intended to just pass through becomes a friend. Is Tosk a pitiful creature needing Starfleet help? Or should the Federation pity themselves for having holosuites? Let me explain.
Miss Sarda and contractual sexual obligations
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| Did Sisko just hear a labor complaint with sexual overtones? |
Sarda knows her limitations. She agreed to be a dabo girl, wear the costumes and be very friendly to the customers, but her body is off limits.
Commander Sisko listened as she tells him of surprising contractual provisions that say sexual favors to – I assume only – Quark was obligatory. It was, as the cliché goes, in the fine (Ferengi) print.
Sarda’s plight is the same as any woman in the entertainment field, hospitality, or even just those who were sexy clothes. How a female dresses and acts shouldn’t mean they are the sexual toys of anyone.
Ferengi contracts made this scene sci-fi, but, in real life, bosses have needed no contracts to commit sexual abuse. To be honest, I'm not sure if that's what the scene meant. Technically what services Miss Sarda had to do was never explicitly said. Every time Sisko was about to mention the heart of complaint he was always interrupted, never finishing the sentence.
Editorial decisions were perhaps implemented just to maintain a child friendly atmosphere in the episode. It begs the question, why write the scene if you aren’t allowed to talk about sexual exploitation in depth?
This is my second round watching Deep Space Nine and also I've read the episode script for guidance, but I would never have given this scene as second look without the Me Too movement. When I saw it for the first time I dismissed this scene as easy as Major Kira did with Quark’s probing hand.
There’s no crime, it’s nothing, Kira caught it, Quark won’t insist, not a problem. With first contact and prime directive issues the episode had Miss Sarda was easily forgotten. But if there were contractual provisions then it is a systemic issue, or at least the topic needed more airtime.
So I’m curious, do any of the writers know anyone? It’s a worthy topic but if you can’t go into detail why try, unless it’s an issue close to someone’s heart.
First Contact without the Bigwigs
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| With only tricorder open and not a phaser, Chief O'Brien is wary of the invisible owner |
There’s a time and place for big first contact or diplomatic episodes and scenes, in full dress uniform, with interplanetary peace or trade hanging in the balance. Not today.
Chief Miles O’Brien goes solo in today's first contact. Tosk had been unresponsive to Commander Sisko’s offer of help until O’Brien elicited a favorable response. The Commander thought he’d hit two birds with one stone. O’Brien did have to check the damaged ship and effect repairs; all the while he could just start a conversation with Tosk having already broken the ice.
I loved it. Tosk and O'Brien were so relatable it can be done with any first encounter between strangers. Now despite the common man appeal, the Chief looked like he was winging it; his approach to Tosk is also what diplomats would have done. First thing right was O'Brien let his guard down.
I am not a diplomat but I have seen enough stories about them. Letting one’s guard down is good because if there’s anything true of stories with diplomats and ambassadors, first contact or a high level peace summit: talking is good. Shoot first and ask questions later would make today’s episode a war story.
O’Brien could have considered Tosk’s invisible powers a threat. He could have called security to equal things up or at least secure the Station. An invisible guest could be a saboteur; instead O’Brien chose correctly that Tosk valued his ship.
O'Brien did acknowledge the ships invisible owner where ever in it Tosk may be, aloud with a friendly reassuring message. He went straight to the business of fixing the visiting ship, opening a compartment with his back turned.
The Chief continued talking aloud, expressing his thought processes as he tries to make heads or tails of an alien technology. He was assuring the invisible visitor of what he was doing and also inviting Tosk to talk because he needed help with the repairs.
Luckily the visitor responded honorably to an alien with his back turned; Tosk sees O’Brien as not a threat. He understood that the Chief was spitballing, loudly, about how to repair his ship, which is something Tosk was already mentally maybe desperately doing. So he reappears and chips in.
I believe in diplomatic circles this would be the established common ground, which the Chief and Tosk used to bond for the entire episode. They connected over engineering problems.
It is also worth noting that even when inconsistencies began popping up Chief O’Brien did not confront the visitor, following the rule of improv which is to always agree. Because of that Tosk kept talking, and talking is good.
Do You Pity Tosk or Admire Tosk
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| I live the greatest adventure one could ever desire, said Tosk with immense pride. |
The part worth remembering here is Tosk with head held high saying in his proudest voice:
I have no use for fantasy adventure. I live the greatest adventure one could ever desire.
Tosk is the fox in a hunt. He lives in a solitary life unable to just sit down and smell the roses as they say.
If you are to take anything from the episode it is that Tosk enjoyed Chief O’Brien’s company, perhaps the first he’s every had hence his loyalty. His oath of silence compounds his loneliness. The two bonded but there’s always that wall of secrecy.
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| The hunting party has arrived |
When Tosk looks around DS9 there’s a sense that he’s always on high alert but there’s also a sense of amazement especially with the enormous ‘downtime’. His look was as if to say what an interesting people the Federation are, or pitiful who knows, we never got the time.
Compared to what we know of foxes in hunts and seeing how Tosk enjoyed his stay on Deep Space Nine, reinforces the belief in the superior human morality. Give him asylum! Save him from his pitiful life!
It is not a good prime directive episode if the rule wasn’t followed begrudgingly, and Commander Sisko has no other legal recourse.
But Tosk is far from pitiful. He is bread for a purpose he believes in and he states it with pride: what else can you want in a life? I consider it a stroke of genius that Tosk declared pride in himself when Quark offered holosuite programs. Tosk needed no diversion, as they say, he loved his job.
How many in life wander around looking for purpose? How many just bury themselves in diversions like TV and movies, or planning the next great vacation – like a holosuite program?
Maybe a person like Tosk doesn’t have it so bad. He’s got it figured out.
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