Star Trek: Deep Space Nine — 2x22 — The Wire

Aired 1994-05-08

SpaceOpera.com rating:8

Average reader rating:7.97

Synopsis

Bashir fights to save his Cardassian friend Garak, who is slowly being killed by a brain implant to which he is addicted.

Filler rating: not filler

Despite the implication that everything Garak said was a lie, many parts of it were true as later episodes will confirm. This episode also marks the first appearance of Enabran Tain, who will be a significant character in the series later.

Remarkable scenes

Garak and Bashir discussing "The Never Ending Sacrifice", a supposed classic Cardassian novel.
Bashir regarding Jadzia's plant: "In my expert medical opinion, I'd say it's sick."
Bashir: "I'm a doctor, not a botanist!" Count 9 for "I'm a doctor, not a (blah)" style lines, which McCoy was famous for.
Garak's seizure.
Odo: "I routinely monitor all of Quark's subspace communications." Bashir: "Is that legal?" Odo: "It's in the best interest of station security."
Odo regarding the Obsidian Order: "It is said that Cardassian citizens cannot sit down to a meal without each dish being dually noted and recorded by the Order."
Garak telling inflamed stories of his past.
Bashir's meeting with Enabran Tain.
Tain regarding Garak: "That man has a rare gift for obfuscation."
Garak foreshadowing a Cardassian Klingon war.
Bashir: "Out 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."
Morn appearances; 1. I've read that Morn appears in this episode somewhere around Quark's, but I've not been able to see him.

Review

Finally, a Garak's past episode! Up to this point, we know literally nothing about his past other than that he was most certainly exiled from Cardassia. At the end of this episode, all we know for certain is that his first name is Elim and that he has some connection to the head of the Obsidian Order, Enabran Tain because we don't know which of his stories are lies and which are the truth (if any). This episode features one of the best acting performances of Andrew Robinson's entire career. A splendid showing.

4 reader comments

I gave it a 4. There is just not much here. Garak is a fascinating character, but most of the airtime here is spent on scenes with him physically suffering and acting out of character. There are better "Garak's past" episodes than this.
by Orion Pimpdaddy | 10/21/2006 at 3:00 am

This is a very enjoyable episode, and a good introduction to Garak's past (although what we actually learn is up for questions at this point).
For the record, the Morn appearance is immediately after the scene with Bashir and Jadzia when they are discussing her plant. Immediately before the scene where Quark meets with Garak. I enjoy how Morn is looking sad after he realizes Quark's is closed.
by Mr. Lincoln | 11/29/2007 at 7:45 am

I liked this episode a lot. I'm coming to really like Garak's character.
I think the episode title may be a reference to Larry Niven's "Ringworld" series, wherein the main character, Louis Wu, is an ex-"wirehead," i.e. he used to have some kind of "wire" implanted in his brain that directly stimulated his endorphin receptors. Just a thought.
by DJB | 04/06/2009 at 5:36 am

This is a very difficult one to judge. I think Robinsons performance is fairly good but not all that others have made of it. The performance however does not necessarily make the episode and in this case it does not quite do it.
There just isn't any payoff here. It just sets up Garak for more stories… and that's great! It just makes this episode fall into the 'above average' bracket.
I'd give it a 6 or 7 but at least it's good enough to keep up this late-season surge of good episodes.
by Bernard | 05/06/2011 at 8:40 pm