DS9 Flashback: The Die Is Cast

To repair an unsatisfying ending before the filming of the episode "Improbable Cause", the writers of Deep Space Nine decided to make the story a two-parter. Now, they had only a few days to craft the second half. But they rose to the challenge with "The Die Is Cast."

A fleet of Tal Shiar and Obsidian Order ships is headed for the Founders' homeworld, looking to bombard it from orbit and wipe out the Dominion leadership in one swift strike. Captive aboard the lead ship, Odo is tortured by Garak (under coercion by Enabran Tain), as the station crew mounts an unauthorized rescue with the Defiant.

The dramatic spine of this episode comes from really exploring the relationship between Odo and Garak. On the surface, you wouldn't imagine much common ground there, but the writers hit on a truly meaningful secret for Odo to be keeping. As Ronald Moore, who wrote the script, put it: "even though he's discovered that his people are, in a metaphorical sense, Nazis, he really wants to be with them." Odo has never had a place he truly belongs, and he's in a constant emotional struggle to overlook everything wrong here to find that place with his people.

Odo acknowledges how powerful the appeal of going home can be, forgiving Garak for his actions in this episode that came from a similar motivation. Show runner Ira Steven Behr (who, starting with this episode, took over Michael Piller's executive producer role) felt it was important to remind the audience that Garak might sometimes have good things in the past, but he is not a good guy, deep down. "Could you torture someone, if you had to? Garak can do it."

That torture scene is the best of the episode. Actors Rene Auberjonois and Andrew Robinson deliver two amazing performances: Odo's bluster quickly unraveling in panic, Garak's pleading that Odo say something, even a lie, just to end it all. The teams behind the makeup, costuming, and visual effects all work together to create a truly horrific look for the desiccated Odo. The camera positioning is perfect too, with moments like Odo straining right at the lens to try to change shape, and a tight closeup on the two -- nose to nose -- at the most painful moment for both.

The ship battle at the end of the episode, however, is a close second in terms of quality -- and the most sophisticated space action yet seen on the show. Amazingly, these battle scenes were achieved without the extensive use of CG that would characterize later seasons of the show. This was 20 days of motion control filming (reportedly, the most ever for a one-hour television show), with 4 days alone dedicated to the shot of the Defiant destroying a Jem'Hadar ship and sailing through the debris. To fill out the fleet, the background ships are actually backlit transparencies instead of full models -- with the constantly moving camera and lower-resolution video format of the time hiding the cheat. The end result is kinetic, exciting, and a huge step up from what the series managed before this.

This episode also shows off the benefits of having recurring, secondary characters on the show. Ordinarily, it can be hard to generate as much interest in an episode that focuses too much on guest stars to the exclusion of main characters. But Deep Space Nine has now had enough repeat appearances by secondary characters that they're no longer your average guest stars. Garak really takes center stage here, and the main characters mostly sit this one out. Outside of Odo, the most significant scene for any main character is when Bashir tries and fails to have a Garak-style lunch of intellectual conversation with O'Brien.

Nevertheless, the episode is filled with compelling character moments. Enabran Tain's arc is that of a controlling sociopath brought low. He's taunting, baiting, and manipulating Garak throughout the episode -- and his sanity seems to crack wide open when he comes up against an opponent more calculating than he. Eddington (making only his second appearance since his introduction in the season premiere) is revealed to be a man of divided loyalty who betrays Sisko once and promises never to do it again -- very meaningful track laid for future episodes.

Plus, of course, there are many more great moments for Garak throughout the episode. His vendetta with Dukat is mentioned, and his keen survival sense is as sharp as ever -- he flees the bridge almost immediately when he realizes the Founders' ambush. Knowing that knowledge is power, he keeps secret Odo's confession about his people (though we see, when Odo again refuses to return to them, that Garak understands how much this must hurt). There's also his wonderful, fatalist acceptance in the end that he is, in fact, a very good tailor.

Other observations:

• I'm not sure the Romulan and Cardassian ships really need to decloak to use the wormhole, but it does make for a great teaser at the start of the episode to see all their ships fly by the station.

• The Romulan Colonel Lovok, played by great "working actor" Leland Orser, is a neat character to observe on a re-watch, knowing the twist that he's actually a changeling infiltrator. His reaction to learning of Tain's experimental anti-shifting technology is especially good. Also great is his questioning Garak about why he's protecting Odo -- the first time through, you wonder if he might betray Garak to Tain; once you know he's a Founder, you realize he's actually curious why a "solid" would show any allegiance to Odo.

• With the elimination of the Tal Shiar and the Obsidian Order, the Lovok changeling brags that only the Klingons and Federation pose any remaining danger to the Dominion. The writers admitted that "I doubt either of them will be a threat for much longer" was just an idle threat here -- but the line quickly became inspiration for the season 4 premiere.

• The destruction of the Romulan/Cardassian fleet is compared to the Borg battle at Wolf 359. That Sisko agrees with this characterization means a lot, given his personal connection.

• The final shot is compellingly staged: a long, single take of Garak in the ruins of his shop, wiping grime off a mirror to reveal Odo's distant shadow.

• I mentioned earlier that Ronald Moore wrote this script. One can see in it a lot of the DNA that would make up the revival of Battlestar Galactica he would create years later: schemes and plots, questions of morality, main characters pitted against each other.

Turning this story into a two-part episode was absolutely the right call; this conclusion was even better than the setup. I give "The Die Is Cast" an A-.