Memory Alpha:AOL chats/Ronald D. Moore/ron102.txt

Subject: Answers Date: Wed, Apr 15, 1998 20:50 EDT From: RonDMoore Message-id: <1998041600500800.UAA21145@ladder03.news.aol.com>

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Glad to see that "Inquisition" has stirred things up a bit. (Wasn't I taken to task recently for how we're supposedly depicting the Federation as pure and noble, not to be questioned, always on the side of right, and generally painting the UFP as some kind of militaristic puritans without any shades of grey anymore? My, how fast things change...)

The idea that there's a rogue element within the Federation doing dark deeds outside the normal chain of command is certainly a provocative one, I'll grant you, but does it really throw into question "on a fundamental level... the principaled Federation we have known..."? Not yet it doesn't. Everything you know about Section 31 came out in one scene of one episode and out of the mouth of one character. It's a little early to declare the death of the UFP, folks.

Go back and watch the final scene between Bashir and Sloan again. A lot of things are implied, but very little is specified. You can read a great deal between the lines if you wish, but there's not a lot that can be definitively said about Section 31 with any degree of certainty. How much of what Sloane -- a man who's just spent the last hour lying to Bashir and the audience -- said can be taken at face value? When he says that they take care of threats to the Federation "quietly" what does that mean exactly? Murder? Exile? Forced viewings of "Meridian"? We don't know.

All we do know is that Sisko, Bashir, and the rest of our heroes recoiled from the very idea of Section 31. (Last time I checked, they were part of the Federation too.)  So we know that whatever Section 31 represents, it's certainly not condoned and accepted by everyone in the UFP. We know that Sisko isn't willing to look the other way and that he plans to do something about it.

Oh, and we know one other thing -- Trek is still capable of challenging its audience and their expectations after more than three decades of boldly going. And that's good for everyone.

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It's true. It's very cool. Tom Cruise is a very nice, very interesting guy. And I can tell you virtually nothing else about it.

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It's still alive, but has been moved back.

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I take great pleasure in saying that I haven't read the new script and therefore cannot answer any questions about the next film.

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We saw him as the leader at the time of his capture.

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Possibly.

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She's dead, and I'm not sure what we'll learn about her in the future.

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I hope so.

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Another maybe.