Inconsistently written and acted.
Pike was my favorite. For sentimal reasons. (He reminded me of Jesus. 
)
That’s a trivia test, btw. I already know Aes knows it!
“That’s why you came to see me–isn’t it, Captain? Because you knew I could do those things you weren’t capable of doing. Well, it worked! And you’ll get what you want - a war between the Romulans and the Dominion. And if your conscience is bothering you, you should soothe it with the knowledge that you may have just saved the entire Alpha Quadrant, and all it cost was the life of one Romulan senator, one criminal, and the self-respect of one Starfleet officer. I don’t know about you, but I’d call that a bargain.”
Garak
"At 0800 hours station time, the Romulan Empire formally declared war against the Dominion. They’ve already struck 15 bases along the Cardassian border. So, this is a huge victory for the good guys! This may even be the turning point of the entire war. There is even a ‘welcome to the fight’ party tonight in the wardroom.
So, I lied, I cheated, I bribed men to cover the crimes of other men. I am an accessory to murder. But the most damning thing of all, I think I can live with it, and if I had to do it all over again, I would. Garak was right about one thing, a guilty conscience is a small price to pay for the safety of the Alpha Quadrant. So I will learn to live with it. Because I can live with it. I can live with it."
"Computer.
Delete the entire log entry."
Yeah, I wonder what the series would’ve been like if Jeff Hunter had remained on board as Captain Pike. Good obscure reference, by the way…I like it.
[spoiler]“Hello all, this evening I will be playing the role of Jesus, which was portrayed by Jeffery Hunter in “The King of Kings”, you may also remember Jeffery as the man who was replaced by William Shatner on Star Trek, so apparently Mr. Hunter was good enough to die for our signs, but not quite up to the task of seducing green women.”
-Stewie[/spoiler]
I loved that episode. Hell, aside from a few blips, DS9 was the best damn Star Trek series ever, even if it got no respect from Berman and Braga.
But In the Pale Moonlight is the best representation I’ve seen of a man who yearns to confess, but has no one to confess to, and so doesn’t make peace with his actions, but accepts them because he has no other choice.
Garak rules.
Pale Moonlight is one of the best Trek episodes.
From TOS A Private Little War is another example of this. The writing isn’t as intense but when Kirk realizes that he must arm the villagers of a planet because the Klingons have armed the city folk, well, that was not the choice Kirk wanted to make but he knew he had to do it.
You’d think Kirk and Co. would’ve learned from Vietnam, but NOOOOOOO!
Star Trek, more than any other series I’m aware of (there’s yer ymmv disclaimer!) tended to reflect political and social issues of the time it was originally aired. Just look at the ENT AIDS ep.