Is kanar meant to be thick or watery? We've seen both consistencies of liquid called kanar in the last few episodes.
Garak might be my favorite Star Trek character of all time. Of all the primary and secondary characters throughout the franchise, he's the most layered, most nuanced among them.
The look we get in this episode at how Garak thinks is invaluable. Even when Andrew J. Robinson is perhaps overacting his character's ailment, it takes nothing away from how utterly engrossing it is to watch Garak spin his webs upon webs of misdirection.
Equally important, Bashir demonstrates the strength of his own character. He's still arrogant and smug—Garak is completely justified in throwing those terms at him by way of outburst in the throes of his endorphin withdrawal—but through it all he's a steadfast physician who can't sit by while someone suffers, Cardassian or no.
If I were to give this episode only one piece of constructive feedback, it's that it should have been a two-part story. Something about telling this whole ten-day saga in forty minutes feels rushed. Julian hardly gets any time to accept one tale before Garak tells him a second, somewhat contradictory one—and then a third.
The Never-Ending Sacrifice is a real Star Trek novel, as well as the fictional title that Bashir and Garak speak about early in this episode. Having read Una McCormack's book (it does justice to the title), I only wish there was a real-world Meditations on a Crimson Shadow for me to read. Frankly, I feel that there isn't enough focus on the Cardassians among all the collected Star Trek universe material.
Garak - perhaps the most intriguing character in all of Star Trek - gets a whole episode dedicated to his story for the first time. Andrew Robinson is absolute gold in the role and completely makes it his own, but this is also a great showcase for Dr. Bashir. We can see first hand how much he has changed from the early season 1 character he was, and yet he's still true to that initial set up. He's still got the arrogant and brash streaks, but he's far more mature.
As enjoyable as this episode is, it almost feels like it tries to do a bit too much. With Garak's overlapping lies and stories being delivered in a rush and then an abrupt slow down as Bashir attempts to help him, the pacing of this is very elastic. I also find that I don't enjoy the character of Enabran Tain at all - I don't know whether this is due to the writing, the actor or just the whole concept of him, but something about him makes my brain want to switch off.
I really like the little things that crop up in this episode, like the fact that Julian admits he knows that Chief O'Brien doesn't like him, that Sisko is being treated for a sore throat due to yelling at admirals, the discussions on Cardassian literature, or that Odo enters some very ethically wrong areas by monitoring all of Quark's communications. All this put together leaves an episode that throws a lot at you and it hinges on some excellent performances. And at the end, we feel like we still barely have learned a thing.
Garek is a wonderfully complex and layered character. A fantastic episode.
Garak was great in Profit and Loss. At this point he's already one of the best support characters in Star Trek. Thus he deserved this solo. Well, it's not really a solo. Bashir is another major character in this episode. But to be honest: I don't care very much about Bashir. He's a dull guy. At least for the time being. Garak again gains stature. He may not be a decent man, he may be a drug addict, he may not be liked by Bajorans, (he may be gay), but somehow I really care for him. Like Bashir, I believe that they must help him to become better. And somehow I believe that he will repay his debt.
I'm not sure how much I like the obvious parallels to drug abuse and the effects of withdrawel. It could easily be mistaken as a preachy lesson on drugs. It's certainly interesting what Garak tells us during the process. It ends with some of the greatest quotes ever:
Bashir: "Of all the stories you told me, which ones were true and which ones weren't?"
Garak: "My dear Doctor, they're all true."
Bashir: "Even the lies?"
Garak: "Especially the lies."
It's also a very simple episode. No fancy props or stage design needed. Only it takes is Garak. His star would even shine brighter if this episode didn't follow right after a "Dukat episode" who also exhibits this trademark Cardassian ambiguity.
Man, this shit is gay...
Review by Andrew BloomVIP 9BlockedParentSpoilers2022-03-04T22:40:22Z
[8.8/10] Elim Garak may be a war criminal. He may be a good soldier punished for not being cruel enough. He may be a regretful backstabber who was ready to betray his best friend if only his pal hadn't gotten there first. He may be all of these things at once or none of them. To paraphrase none other than the Joker, if Garak’s going to have a past, it may as well be multiple choice.
But the one thing he is beyond certainly is miserable. His fantastical, conflicting tales of unctuous espionage for the Obsidian Order are undeniably compelling, but hard to relate to. His sad stories of misery turning to addiction turning to deadly illness are, unfortunately, grimly relevant for too many families.
Those are the twin levers on either side of “The Wire”. On the one hand are the famously close-to-the-vest Cardassian spinning histories, real or imagined, about the shape of his mysterious past. On the other is a raw depiction of withdrawal and the frayed, angry nerves that lurk beneath the surface.
And in the middle of it all is Dr. Julian Bashir, who is there to see his friend through it. Dr. Bashir’s relationships with other players on DS9 saved the character after his rocky start in season 1. Something about his combative-yet-cuddly friendship with Chief O’Brien, and his naive but deepening concordance with plain simple Garak brings out the best in the good doctor. That’s as true in “The Wire” as it’s ever been.
Because Julian looks after Garak and weathers quite the storm to do so. Garak does everything he can to repel his erstwhile friendly acquaintance so he can die in relative peace. He insults him. He tries to scare him off with recollected atrocities. At one point he outright attacks Julian. It’s anything he can do to convince Dr. Bashir that he doesn’t really know Garak, and so should give up on him.
It is Andrew Robinson’s finest hour in Deep Space Nine. The ever-polished operator lets the mask slip just enough as his physical pain punctures his ability to keep up the smiling facade. His story of how miserable it is to be kept from his homeland, to have fallen so far from grace, to have to live every day on a station built for those unlike him, is heart-rending. And my god, Robinson is downright volcanic amid the worst of Garak’s withdrawal from his narcotic, spitting venom at anyone and everything in earshot, especially himself.
It is one of the all-time great performances in Star Trek, something high volume and anything but underplayed, yet which manages to never fall short of seeming utterly raw and real. Here is a high water mark of vulnerability and virtuosity, for both performer and character, in a franchise that isn’t short on big, compelling performances.
Garak’s self-loathing and lashing out is sadly familiar to those who’ve been a party to addiction and withdrawal among those close to them. This is Star Trek, so Garak’s drug of choice is delivered directly into his brain via a device meant to aid him in the event of torture due to his role as a spy. Beneath the fantastical, though, is something all too real about someone finding the challenges of everyday life too difficult, turning to a chemical solution, and spewing hate against the whole world in the midst of their recovery. There is truth in this art and, not for nothing, it blows all the anti-drug episodes of The Next Generation out of the water.
What’s important though, is that Dr. Bashir stays and treats Garak through it all. He tries to help when Garak is doing everything in his power to give him the brush off. He even defends Garak from Odo, who’s apparently followed up on his speech from “The Maquis” by going full blown Patriot Act. Dr. Bashir shows such devotion, such a commitment to helping Garak, despite everything the ailing Cardassian (nigh-literally) throws at him to give him every reason not to.
Maybe it’s merely because of professionalism. Maybe it’s because of the hippocratic oath. But I’d like to think it’s that despite Garak’s protestations that Bashir doesn’t really know him and wouldn’t like him if he did, Julian is his friend. “The Wire” is a baptism by fire, but it cements that friendship, elevates it above periodic lunches and mercenary interest into something firmer and deeper.
It might make Garak’s time aboard Deep Space Nine, away from his people, that much less miserable, to have a true friend and not just a partner of convenience. It’s stunning to learn how much the seemingly jovial man loathes himself and what he’s been reduced to. We don’t know exactly how much is true of what he says, but in his withdrawal-fueled fury, he seems genuine in his lamentations of what he lost and how much he regrets. These are layers to Garak we’ve never seen before, complexities to his morality and the man behind the mask that make an already standout recurring character that much more vivid.
But we have reason to believe there’s some truth in what he says. He may very well have been the favorite son of a prominent spook who even the Guls feared. He could have killed innocent people, spared more because his body ached for warmth and a good meal, been ready to self-immolate over a near-betrayal of a childhood friend thwarted only by that pal getting there first. Garak’s backstory, who he truly is, remains elusive and slippery, but there’s more to grab a hold of than there ever has been before, and the look we get is fascinating.
Now we, and Dr. Bashir, know his full name. Plain, simple Garak is now “Elim Garak,” taking the first name of the friend whom he supposedly tried to throw to the wolves. It’s a sign of closeness between Julian and Elim, a level of intimacy that cuts through the distance they’d kept until now. Whatever the truth is, Garak seeks his friend’s forgiveness, wanting absolution from someone before he dies. The doctor grants him that, while staving off that mortal consequence.
And in the end, the mask comes back on, but they are closer, more accommodating, more than mere associates who sporadically meet for lunch. A human and a Cardassian have become friends, bridging the gap of hatred and mistrust between their peoples, by coming to know at least a little bit more of who both of them really are.