“The Wire” is a strongly executed character drama that has many opportunities to overplay its hand, but, thankfully, does not. A lot of what happens in the episode is procedural, however, the story is one of redemption – or, at least, the quest for redemption. From that perspective, the revelations of Garak’s past are tantalizing and evocative. More importantly, his emotional outbursts, while out of character, demonstrate the complexity of his personality. In the end, it’s Bashir’s tenacious loyalty and work ethic which prevail … though, as we shall see, truth does not.

The episode begins with a wonderfully scripted scene between Garak and Bashir, as they discuss a Cardassian classic novel, titled The Never Ending Sacrifice, that Bashir has just finished, and not entirely liked. The discussion, which is lighthearted and good-natured, also manages to touch on some points of disagreement between the two men – namely the “naïve” views of the Federation, and the Spartan outlook of the Cardassians. But the good humor ends abruptly when Garak is afflicted with a sharp pain to his temple. He’s adamant about not letting Bashir take him to the infirmary but, before long, that’s precisely where he ends up. The episode then becomes about Bashir investigating the cause of Garak’s ailment … and then desperately searching for a cure.

As it turns out, Garak’s been has a kind of wire implanted into it that releases quantities of endorphins should anyone ever try to torture him. It was a safeguard from the time when he was a member of the Obsidian Order, Cardassia’s secret police, meant to ensure that no information could be extracted under duress. In fact, this revelation about Garak’s past is the one solid bit of backstory we get about him in the episode. From here on out, we hear a number of conflicting stories about how and why he was dismissed from the Order, and exiled from Cardassia.

But it’s these stories, unveiled through a number of increasingly dramatic and powerful scenes, which not only continue to cloud Garak’s past, but also reveal the lengths to which Bashir will go to keep one of his patients alive. Indeed, Garak’s performance is a true tour de force. There was a danger here of having these “out of character” scenes go too far, or end up poorly. Instead, Garak quite plausibly alternates between coldly relating the order to kill Cardassian and Bajoran civilians, to pleading for forgiveness, to raving about the injustice of saving innocent Bajoran children. Tucked into the stories is a recurring character – that of Elim, whom Garak describes a “more than a brother.” In one of the episode’s best twists, it turns out that Elim is … Garak’s first name.

Curioser and curiouser …

More to the point, these tales reveal just how crippling Garak’s life has been. Not only had he purposely activated his implant to escape his misery, he eventually grew addicted to it, leading to its malfunction (in the episode’s most blatant moment of moralizing – drugs are bad, mmmmmkay?). Clearly Garak is much more than the cheery, breezy exterior he usually exudes. He is the definition of the tortured soul. But why? How? The answers, like any semblance of truth from Garak, are elusive.

“The Wire” is a tightly wound, powerhouse of an episode which pulls viewers in many directions – both emotionally and logically. In the end, it’s a plus that Garak’s past continues to remain nebulous. Some enigmas are better left unsolved. And yet, the exposition of possibilities is, in and of itself, highly revealing for both Bashir and Garak.

Filed under: Deep Space Nine