3x21 The Die Is Cast (2)

[7.8/10] The strength of “The Die Is Cast” is the same as it was for the first part of this duology -- the relationship between Garak and Odo. On the surface, the two could not be more different. One is a man whose life is devoted to hiding the truth and using it for his own ends. The other is a man whose life is devoted to uncovering the truth and letting it lead him wherever it goes, no matter how bitter. One is a Cardassian. The other is a changeling raised by Bajorans. One is a man of letters, with a knack for rhetorical flourish that serves his furtive ends. The other is direct to the point of curtness, unwilling or unable to gild the lily.

And yet, as this episode draws out, there is much, perhaps the more important things, that they have in common. They are both souls in exile, separated from their people by reasons of both circumstance and choice. They are two people whose professions and demeanor seem to belie personal connections -- the sense that every interaction is part of the job -- but who nonetheless find themselves drawn to protect those that they care about. And each is torn in twain by an ever-present desire to return home, to go back where they were born, despite some justifiable reluctance over what their societies have become, and the bonds they have formed with the denizens of Deep Space Nine, whose values and ideals have seeped into the minds of even these outsiders.

That's a strong foundation to build upon. Unfortunately, “The Die Is Cast” suffers a bit relative to “Improbable Cause” because of a certain “hurry up and wait” mentality. I get it. If you immediately opened up with the Obsidian Order/Tal Shiar alliance attacking the Dominion, it would be hard for anything afterward to matter. But after so many hints and the tantalizing prospect of the first major conflict between the Alpha Quadrant and the Delta Quadrant, much of the back-and-forth among the various groups in the lead-up to the confrontation elicits a response of, “When are they going to get to the fireworks factory?”

That's especially true for the Sisko and company portion of the episode, which comes off fairly superfluous. It’s nice that Benjamin and the Defiant get a Big Damn Heroes moment to rescue Odo and Garak in a tense moment. And I appreciate that it’s not as simple as “take battleship, show up, kick ass,” but that there’s challenges both professional and mechanical that have to be overcome to reach that moment.

But it’s just so rote and unnecessary. How many times have we seen some stuffy admiral tell a captain not to do something bold and daring, only for the captain to do it anyway because darn it, my friend is out there! The senior officers of DS9 risking their lives and careers to save Odo is admirable, but not novel, and the chances for anyone to suffer real repercussions from the choice seem slim to nil. Instead, it’s a narrative headfake, with a story whose beats are overfamiliar and predictable to any longtime Trekkie.

The only truly interesting element of it comes when Lt. Eddington sabotages the Defiant’s cloaking device to follow the admiral’s direct orders that Sisko is flouting. Eddington’s barely a character at this point, but given his introduction as part of Starfleet’s response to the Dominion threat in the season premiere, and where the show takes him in later episodes, it’s a compelling moment for him amid all this tumult, even as the Admiral’s “If you ever pull a stunt like that again, I’ll either court martial you or promote you” speech is nothing but cheese and hackwork.

Maybe it’s worth it for the space battle though. The dueling strategies here liven the proceedings. The Obsidian Order and Tal Shiar make their bones on being one step ahead of the competition. So seeing them baited into a trap by the Founders, who are not only prepared for the attack and able to wipe out this secret fleet with ease, but also able to infiltrate the hidden annals of both societies, is satisfying as a one-up to boost the bad guys. The battle that ensues is full of thrills, especially the Defiant swooping in, dodging enemies, and taking names. While it takes a while for the big dust-up to arrive, once it does, it features a nice blend of dogfighting action and battlefield/espionage cat and mouse games that make it rousing to see the secret police of two worlds receive their unexpected comeuppance.

The golden material, though, comes once again in the interactions between Garak and Odo. Garak has what he’s coveted for so long. He’s back in the fold of the Obsidian Order. He’s back in the good graces of his former mentor. He’ll soon have the power and influence to eliminate enemies like Gul Dukat. He can return to Cardassia, resume his old life, leave his exile behind.

Only he can’t quite leave behind what he’s absorbed in the past several years: a certain decency he’s absorbed from those intellectual sparring sessions with Dr. Bashir and others, and a respect he’s developed for Odo. So when he’s commanded to interrogate the changeling for info that could help in the fight with the Founders, he comes up with excuses, tries to spare him the indignity, until he relents and conducts the torture himself.

And good lord, a gold medal for Renee Auberjonois, who gives a high-volume but raw performance as a version of Odo constrained from reverting to his liquid form, suffering madly for it, but staying steadfast in his refusal to play the Order’s games. Another gold medal for the make-up and costuming team, whose vision of a decaying changeling is haunting, and immediately communicates the dire state the constable is in, and how much strength he must have to resist for even a second under such degradation.

It’s too much even for Garak, who practically pleads with Odo to give him something, even a lie, that will allow him to end this. Instead, Odo offers a truth, a sad, bitter truth. Even as he’s turned his back on the Founders, he wants to go home. He knows what they are. He knows the harm they’re prepared to cause for those he cares about. But he cannot deny the pull of home, to be known, to no longer be an outsider, than Garak can. The revelation is jaw-dropping not for its strategic importance, but because of how personal and vulnerable a confession it is from Odo. And for now, it’s enough.

Therein lies the beginning of a bond. When the shit hits the fan and Garak realizes they’re doomed, he goes to rescue Odo from his activity and escape in the runabout together. It’s a small act, but also the culmination of Garak’s acts in this episode, wherever however much he may desire to return to his former stature in Cardassia, he’s unwilling to do it at Odo’s expense. The ties are too great, the values he’s internalized too irresistible, for him to do anything else.
And when Odo finds out how the Dominion was prepared for the attack, he makes a similar choice. It turns out the Romulan commander in charge of the operation was a changeling plant, one who offers Odo another chance to return to his birthplace and join the Great Link. Despite his confession to Garak, Odo demurs. It’s unspoken, but he’s formed bonds too, received those same values that make it impossible to leave those friends behind in a time of need. No matter how much he might yearn for that return, the price is too high.

His last choice is to save Garak rather than let him perish in an attempt to prevent Enabran Tain from going down with the ship. Despite how they’ve diverged, Garak still feels a connection, a personal debt to the mentor who disowned him. Tain would choose death over any life short of his former glory. Despite Garak’s complaints to Julian about the indignities of his meager existence as a simple tailor, Garak has more to live for. Odo sees that he doesn’t lose that opportunity in the direct, knock-out way he knows how, and earns a thanks from Garak for saving him.

These are not two people you would expect to save one another’s lives. They are on opposing sides of crime and punishment, justice and truth. Their personalities could hardly be more different. But by god, they understand one another in a way few can. These outsiders, doomed to be kept away from what they want, compelled by the “insidious” compassion of their friends and acquaintances on the station, know what it is to want something in the pit of your soul that you deny yourself for reasons that are right, but difficult.

No wonder they choose to continue that bond once the dust has cleared. Compassion begets compassion. Connection begets compassion. Garak may lose his mentor. Odo may lose another opportunity to rejoin the Founders. But what they have, in their budding friendship and in the community that has changed them, is worth all the more.

This is an episode made up on some extremely powerful moments, yet somehow when it's all put together I just don't find myself all that enticed and I'm hard pressed to say exactly why.

The Odo/Garak stuff is still the bulk of the story, continuing on from the previous episode. Here they are much more at odds with each other and while they were never particularly friendly towards each other, this really shows that what they go through here puts a strain on whatever relationship they did have. This is supposed to be Garak back in his element, but all we see is a man who wishes he were anywhere else rather than having to torture Odo.

And the torture scene is pretty heavy stuff, at least in the terms of this franchise. Excellent make-up on Odo makes him look like he's drying up and flaking into pieces which is quite a horrifying effect. Still, the impact on character is the real punch to the gut here as Garak begs him to just make up something so that he can end the interrogation, and we get Odo's admission that he just wants to be with his own people.

I can't think of another franchise that would have two characters bonding over one torturing the other, as the episode ends with a wonderful scene that seems to solidify a friendship between the two of them. It's also shot beautifully with Odo's reflection being revealed in the dirty mirror - in fact, the entire episode is full of quite fantastic cinematography including dutch angles and extreme close ups.

This also gives us DS9's first real major space battle, and it's pretty impressive. The Defiant finally gets to show its teeth as it mows its way through Jem'Hadar ships. It feels like we've been waiting a long time to see that.

And yet, I don't find myself being able to love the episode. Perhaps its because the Romulan/Cardassian stuff is so laboured, or maybe it's because I realised that this is the episode which really made me dismiss Enabran Tain as a watchable character. The guy is so driven by his ego and acts so magnanimously, but when it all falls apart at the end he's revealed to be a gibbering wreck. It could have been a great role but Paul Dooley just doesn't cut it for me because it feels cartoonish.

Maybe it's because this episode has MAJOR events for the Trek universe happening - both the Obsidian Order and Tal Shiar are wiped out, and the Dominion show their truly aggressive side - and yet, it doesn't really register as a massive thing.

All that, and the rest of the DS9 crew barely get a look in. Sisko defies orders and (of course) gets away with no repercussions. Dax gets to show of her piloting skills, O'Brien gets to fix things and Eddington reappears for the first time since his initial appearance and pretty much reveals himself to be a dick. I did quite enjoy Bashir trying to substitute O'Brien as a replacement for a lunch partner, and the whole thing failing.