Show: Star Trek; Deep Space Nine
Episode
Particulars: S3EP21, “The Die is Cast”
Standalone
Thoughts: I’ll be honest, I was starting to get a little worried about my
enthusiasm for this show. I was still enjoying myself, but I haven’t been able
to find a lot to say about the past seven episodes. But then this episode came
along, blew all my expectations out of the water, and got me genuinely excited
in a way I haven’t felt since “The Circle”. I kept finding myself grinning
broadly, without fully understanding why. It’s a great feeling, and I hope to
feel it even more in the future.
I think the reason I responded so well to this episode is
because the writing and the acting are superb. Most of the episode consists of
battles of wits between characters; Garak and Tain, Garak and Odo, Tain and Romulan
leader Lovok (Leland Orser), even Sisko and the Federation. The lines
themselves are in character, and even though they’d probably look a little too
flowery on paper, they sound natural and wonderful when coming out of the
characters’ mouths. Andrew Robinson is the clear winner in that department,
obviously, but Auberjonois is no slouch either, and Paul Dooley’s Tain
continues the “jovial dad” tone from “The Wire”, but adds just enough darkness
that you can see why he’s a force to be reckoned with. It’s just amazing all
around.
Furthermore, this episode parallels “Improbable Cause” to
great effect, which must have been intentional but somehow surprises me,
especially now that I know that this episode was created on the fly. Both
episodes open with Bashir discussing theater at lunch, showing the difference between
his friendship with Garak and the one with O’Brien. Both episodes have
mysteries and surprise reveals, sometimes involving the same characters with the
roles reversed. One character even has to make a major choice, much like at the
end of the first part. None of this is really in your face; you just realize it
the more you watch. And that’s why it’s so glorious.
I’m starting to run out of adjectives to describe how
good this episode is, but you get my point. It’s got everything—great acting,
action scenes, fantastic writing, and some slight plot development. Even the cinematography
gets in on it, shooting Garak differently than they normally do to give him a
sense of menace. Memory Alpha says this episode wasn’t even nominated for any
sort of award, which is a crime. If I’d had my way, everybody involved in this
episode would get a medal. I guess gushing about it will have to do.
How it Relates to
the Whole: While my memory isn’t clear enough to say how much of an impact
the events of this episode (especially the climax) will have on later events, I
do remember enough to suspect that it has something to do with one particular
alliance. I also know that things have been set up for later, even if they
weren’t intended at the time (like the return of one character and a throwaway
line that actually does come to pass). Plus, we finally see the reappearance of
Lieutenant Commander Eddington, who was introduced in “The Search” as a
Starfleet Security liaison and then dropped out of the show, although we were
now seeing more Starfleet security than Bajoran security. Hopefully, this means
that the writers know what they’re doing with him, and we’ll see him around a
few more times this season. If not, well, at least it provided something for
the writers to build off of.
Other: *Back
in “Improbable Cause”, we opened the episode with Bashir and Garak discussing Shakespeare’s
Julius Caesar. With my dim memory of
the two-parter, I had a strong suspicion that the writers had chosen that play
on purpose, and that the aspects Garak mentioned would come into play in this
episode. Given the overarching theme of betrayal on display, I’d say I turned
out to be right. While most of it is subtle, Garak does quote the play at one
point, which is a nice callback on the one hand and a little too on-the-nose on
the other. But your mileage may vary on that one.
*Also from “Improbable Cause”, Odo meets with a
mysterious contact on Cardassia to try to figure out what’s going on. The contact
remains in shadow, says he’s changed his face since the last time they met, and
mentions debts and exchanges for favors. It’s a very intriguing scene, but
unfortunately, I don’t believe we ever get any follow-up to it. Too bad; there
was a lot of potential there.
*At one point, Garak and Tain are sharing a drink and
reminiscing over the past. The entire scene is great, but one thing that caught
my eye was that there are two occasions where the two of them sip their drinks
at the exact same time, although Garak tends to drink more. It’s just so
perfectly choreographed and framed that it has to be deliberate, though I have
no idea why they decided to do that. Well, I have a slight suspicion, but that’s
getting ahead of ourselves…
*Back in “Improbable Cause”, Garak accused Odo of ascribing
emotions to people that he (Odo) didn’t feel himself. He then challenges Odo to
name one person he truly cares about. My first thought was that Garak must not
be as observant as he thinks he is, if he didn’t pick up on Odo’s feelings for
Kira, but I decided not to say anything because there was a chance that he did know, but was hiding that knowledge
until the moment was right. Given the position he had Odo in in this episode,
it would have been a prime time to pull it out and use it as a weapon. But
since it never happened, I have to conclude that Garak really hasn’t noticed.
Not that that’s a bad thing, but it might have added just that much more power
to the Garak-Odo confrontation.
*Kira returned to her more militaristic hairstyle this
episode, even though it had remained in the softer style I first noticed in “Life
Support” up till now. Given the actions she and the DS9 crew take, I wonder if
that was on purpose. I’ll find out shortly, I suppose.
Best
Line/Exchange: Garak takes it again, but for slightly different reasons
this time;
(Tain is talking
about eliminating his housekeeper for knowing too much)
Garak: Still,
it would be a shame to have her killed. She’s proven she can be trusted on
numerous occasions, and you’d be hard put to find a better housekeeper.
Tain: Is this a
request I hear?
Garak: Not at
all. Just an observation. (smiles)
Tain: No reason
to pretend, Garak. You’re fond of Mila. You don’t want her hurt, right?
Garak: If
you’re looking for an excuse to spare the life of your own housekeeper, you
don’t need me to provide you with one. You can do it out of the kindness of
your heart.
This is the sort of thing I was talking about when I said
the whole episode consisted of battles of wits. Both Garak and Tain know the
measure of each other, and are letting each other know they know that measure. It’s
brilliantly executed, and since this comes near the start of the episode, a
good glimpse of what’s to come. Ronald D. Moore, I salute you.
After the Fact
Update: According to the DS9
Companion, a throwaway line near the end of the episode wound up leading to
some major plot developments in Season Four, including the arrival of a new
regular character. All the more reason to like this episode.
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