In the fourth season of Star Trek, The Next Generation, we were introduced to a new alien race. At the time I didn't think much more of it other than a new alien of the week episode. But the Cardassians went on to play a major role in Star Trek and to myself as a fan.
Gul Macet: The episode "The Wounded" introduced us to a new race of villians, the Cardassians. Gul Macet was invited aboard the Enterprise by Capt. Picard in order to deal with a renegade Starfleet Captain Maxwell of the USS Phoenix. Macet was smooth, respectful and friendly toward Picard but for some reason you just didn't trust him. Even when he strongly reprimanded one of his own Glinns for tampering with the Enterprise's computers all I could think of was that Glinn was only being punished for getting caught! Macet set the tone for all Cardassians that would follow. And if he happens to look a little familiar, that's because he was played by non other than Marc Alaimo!
This quote from the director of "The Wounded", Chip Chambers, sums up the Cardassians nicely: "They're not grunting, they're not giggling, they're not mutes or all-knowing entities. The Cardassians also graduated first in their class and they're able to carry on highly intelligent conversations with Picard. But they're sinister as hell."
Gul Madred: Since their debut in
season four, Cardassians weren't seen again until the sixth
season "Chain of Command Pt.1&2". And what a
Cardassian Gul Madred was! Cold, brutal and a voice like velvet,
and I knew beyond a doubt that I was a Cardassian fan. Madred
used physical and psycological torture on Picard when he was
captured investigating a possible biogenic weapon that turned out
to be nothing more than a cleaver Cardassian trap. The unusual
and tender scene between Gul Madred and his
young daughter, Jil Orra, in front of a brutalized
Picard demonstrated the strong family bonds of Cardassians and
their complete disregard of other sentient races as being
inferior to themselves.
"How many lights do you see." Gul Madred was chillingly portraid by David Warner.
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© 1999 Gul Maket