Subj: Answers Date: 98-02-05 18:29:49 EST From: RonDMoore

<<We've followed our Starfleet characters during this war, but I'm curious as to the thoughts of the average Federation civilian about this whole conflict. Is there a "home front"? How are average citizens pitching in? Or do they see the war as something far-removed from their daily lives because it's "over there"?>>

Those are good questions and we've talked about exploring some of this ground next year.

<< any chance that DS9 will ever get its own monologue at the beginning of the show like TNG or TOS?>>

This was something I wish they'd established in the pilot episode. I don't think we'll introduce one at this point.

<<Answering one of numerous questions concerning Dukat, you said ‘I don't think we can keep playing the game of "is he a good guy or isn't he?" like we did before’. You mean, it was ever a question? Like, sorta, ‘Is a major participant of invasion and brutal occupation - who, BTW, never showed any sign of considering it wrong (at least on screen - a *good guy?*>>

All I meant is that we've shown different sides of Dukat over the years and that you get the feeling from the cumulative episodes (see, I do watch the show) is that he might evolve into one of the good guys given the right circumstances. And there's a strong temptation to do just that -- to turn him into a likable rogue who helps out our characters and redeems himself in the eyes of the audience. That's the traditional TV approach -- any bad guy on screen long enough will become a good guy if you start showing "humanizing" aspects of his character. *However*... doing that in this case would be to deny the backstory and the character that we've established. He oversaw a brutal and murderous occupation. He sold his people to the Dominion. He waged a war of conquest against the Federation. He was willing to kill his own daughter if she went against him. He's a bad guy. A fascinating bad guy, but a bad guy.

I'm not a fan of the school of thought which turned Darth Vader into Uncle Fester and then let him join Yoda and Obi-Wan in the celestial blue screen just because he tossed the Emperor down an airshaft. Vader killed, oh... say... a few BILLION people in "Star Wars" alone, and then you tell the audience that he's really just a good guy at heart? Uh-huh. Dukat is Dukat. He may help us on occasion, he may save a puppy from being hit by a truck, he may even make us laugh and feel good about him in an unguarded moment, but those things only round out his character, they do not *salvage* him as a character.

<<I took the Paramount tour on January 27th. As we passed a prop constuction area I noticed some very large, green (alien looking) rocks being made. Do you have any idea if these might be for a future DS9 episode? Also, do you know the episode being filmed on this date?>>

Green rocks? Sounds like us. We began shooting "In the Pale Moonlight" on January 27.

<<Just watched the episode where Odo betrays the Resistance, and Rom is thrown in the Brig. While enjoying this experience, I noticed that the entrance to the "RESTRICTED AREA" that Rom was entering was marked, "A51." Just wondered if this was a reference to that famous "Area" in Nevada, and if it is, do you know who put in that little touch?>>

I assume this gag was thrown in by our ever-devious art department.

<<I have read that the working title for "2001: A Space Odyssey" was "Journey Beyond the Stars". Connection or coincidence with "Far Beyond the Stars"?>>

Coincidence.

<<Hi ron, how come we dont see the Holoscreen from "For the uniform" and "Dr. Bashir I presume" used anymore?>>

We haven't had a viewscreen-type scene that would be more effective if we used the holo-communicator recently, and that's the criteria for using the device in the show.

<<Would you ever consider a flashback episode or scene in which Dukat's worst actions during the Bajoran occupation are dramatized?>>

We've talked about doing these kinds of scenes and we might still do them at some point.

[MORE ANSWERS COMING GUYS! - Steve Krutzler]