Star Trek: Defiant

Episode: "Defiant"

Series: Star Trek: Deep Space Nine

Season 3, Episode 9

Original Air Date: November 21, 1994

via Memory Alpha

Will Riker comes to visit the station!  Or does he?  When the handsome man asks Major Kira for a tour of the Defiant, he attacks and kidnaps her, then steals the ship.  It's not Will at all.  It's Tom Riker.  Will's transporter-generated clone is with the Maquis now.  Neither the Federation nor the Cardassians are the least bit pleased that the terrorists now hold such a powerful weapon.

While the Tom Riker story is a good one, for me, the real fun of the episode is the ensuing chess match that plays out between Commander Sisko and Gul Dukat as they work together to rein in the Defiant.  Though truly, it's a four-player game involving Sisko, Dukat, Tom and the Obsidian Order, represented in the Cardassian War Room by Korinas (Tricia O'Neil).  Sisko's role is based on Henry Fonda's character in the 1964 movie Fail Safe.  Unfortunately, Star Trek has never brought Tom back again, despite promises to the contrary by Kira.

For the record, their kiss at the end is completely gratuitous.

Acting Notes

via Scandal Wiki

Shannon Cochran plays Kalita, one of Tom's Maquis collaborators.  "Defiant" is her second of four Trek appearances, her second and last as Kalita.  She was born in Savannah, Georgia, August 7, 1958.  Beyond Star Trek, she has made guest appearances on NYPD Blue, Full House and The Office among others.  Films include The Babe, The Ring and Star Trek: Nemesis.

During filming of "Defiant," Cochran met her future husband, Michael Canavan.  Canavan played Tamal, Kalita's Maquis shipmate.  The couple were married in 2003.