A look at Garak (DS9)

[lsgreg]

I saw this coming on the calendar, and was curious about how he would approach the character since very little is known about him. He was my favorite character in DS9 and probably in the whole trek universe. I don't think he would have nearly as effective without the acting of Andrew Robinson though. His acting is what made Garak slimy/creepy yet a likable character. I saw in an interview, he was nearly broke when he auditioned for the part of Garak and he was told it was a one off character, but they kept asking him back for another episode. I wish he was in more things that would display his talent. Great retrospective though!

[MadAmosMalone]

I agree, Garak was the best character of the show. I like DS9 now but never watched it when it came out so am not as familiar with it as TOS or TNG. I love it when Trek gives us non-Fed characters because they always have a more interesting perspective. There is a scene with Garak and Quark which, I think, embodies that perspective. They're talking about root beer of all things.

[SlackerinDeNile]

I love it when Trek gives us non-Fed characters because they always have a more interesting perspective. There is a scene with Garak and Quark which, I think, embodies that perspective. They're talking about root beer of all things.

That seems to be the most remembered scene of the show judging by how many times I've seen it referenced in the Trek community.
It's a nice scene but I don't think it's one of the DS9's best as I feel it's a little too vague and the 'sweetness' metaphor only works in context of the Federation because all the other interstellar powers in the Trek galaxy are made out to be dark and overbearing like the Klingons and the Cardassians or just plain exploitative like the Ferengi.

[CareerKnight]

That seems to be the most remembered scene of the show judging by how many times I've seen it referenced in the Trek community. It's a nice scene but I don't think it's one of the DS9's best as I feel it's a little too vague and the 'sweetness' metaphor only works in context of the Federation because all the other interstellar powers in the Trek galaxy are made out to be dark and overbearing like the Klingons and the Cardassians or just plain exploitative like the Ferengi.

Its a great line and since its only directed at the Federation and not the alpha quadrant in general that's fine. If its not DS9's most memorable quote its definitely in the top 5. The fact that it was added to fill time and then almost cut for time is amusing.

[Threerandomwords]

I just wanted to comment on the great timing of the look at Garak video. I can think of no better time to examine someone who lies most all the time than April 1st. I also really like that Chuck posts videos on April 1st without the need to make it an April fools joke.

[Eric]

The thing I think I like best about his character was he was given time to show his different aspects. I don't think over the course of the show he changed all that much, I think we were just given more time to examine him. He could have been such a flat character but he turned out to be one of the more interesting ones. I wonder if what happened between him and Odo during the interrogation might not have actually reflected back on one of the stories he had told the doctor. One of the many reasons for is exile that he gave Bashi was releasing some young prisoners in the last days of the occupation. He's capable of doing anything for his people, as long as there's a point. Of course, it was probably just another lie.

[FakeGeekGirl]

That seems to be the most remembered scene of the show judging by how many times I've seen it referenced in the Trek community.
It's a nice scene but I don't think it's one of the DS9's best as I feel it's a little too vague and the 'sweetness' metaphor only works in context of the Federation because all the other interstellar powers in the Trek galaxy are made out to be dark and overbearing like the Klingons and the Cardassians or just plain exploitative like the Ferengi.

I think it works because its in reference to the Federation, probably specifically to humans. People always wonder what humanity's "hat" is from the alien perspective in the Trek universe - what's the human stereotype all the other species know us by? I'd put money down they think of us as the Pollyannas of the galaxy. On TNG there was all that peace and love and our idea of cutting loose is a brass band and some nice wine (if even that and not synthehol) stuff, and even on DS9, we had the relentlessly optimistic and idealistic Bashir, and even though Sisko was a more serious and rougher edged character, he still was ultimately very optimistic and idealistic. The Federation citizens, most of which we saw were humans, always seemed incredibly innocent, compared to other species, sex obsession and Prime Directive justified genocide notwithstanding. We see Weyoun, of all people, tease Jake for his naivete at one point.

Throw Federation citizens clear across the galaxy, or even to another galaxy in that terrible episode of TNG with the traveler? Set a course for home, Mr. Helmsman, maybe we'll luck out and find a wormhole along the way. A race of scary ass rhino people just showed up and declared an entire quadrant "theirs?" Don't respect that, don't prepare for war, don't dig in for a cold war, don't plan a hostile response like the Romulans and Cardassians immediately do, no no ... go look for their mysterious never seen leaders to open peace talks with them. The Dominion takes over Betazed? One of the novels revealed they got rid of them by basically annoying them off the planet by filling their heads with a bunch of telepathic white noise - the Betazoids managed to maintain their pacifism yet resist one of the most terrifying military powers in the galaxy. [insert Lwaxana Troi joke here] Have a chance to destroy your mortal enemies the Borg once and for all? Hand wring about destroying one sentient being to do so. Finally, inevitably, get dragged into a war with the Dominion, and then you can't get to the wormhole in time for the mines to come down? Ah screw it, let's go into the wormhole and maybe we can stop a whole ten of the thousands of oncoming ships before being annhilated. Even Sloan admits he wishes he could have been like Julian as he dies - even the worst Federation citizens have a respect for ideals and hope.

The Federation is the most relentlessly optimistic (maybe even naive) force in the galaxy, even on the darker and supposedly cynical DS9.

That's why the rootbeer analogy works. Also why the Borg analogy Eddington throws in Sisko's face works, if you take a less generous reading. "Oh look at these optimistic humans. Aren't they adorable?" But we grow on other species like a fungus. Our optimism is infectious.

We are the Federation. Your cultural and technological distinctiveness will be added to our own (with your consent of course). You will be assimilated (if you accept us, which you will eventually). Resistance is futile. Join us for a welcome reception, with punch and cookies!

[ChiggyvonRichthofen]

The root beer scene is clever, but it also shows a level of self-awareness about the problems with the utopian Federation and the way it's portrayed in the TNG era. To me, that's the real reason why the scene is so often quoted. Some fans got sick of the "Gene's vision" stuff and what seemed to be arrogant posing typified by early TNG. This scene is emblematic of the way DS9 approached the issue- they acknowledged the issues with the Federation's portrayal in-universe and made it a characteristic to be explored in more complex ways (including by adding shades of gray, like section 31), but they still retained the optimistic ideal at heart.

As to Garak, he's just a fantastic character. Better in some episodes than others, but always welcome. A character like his is easy to mess up too- it had to be tempting at times to want to explain too much or turn him into a blander, stalwart companion to the good guys. They did lay the character bare at times (with his love for Cardassia at the end of the show, for example), but they never went too far.

Finally, A Stitch in Time is my favorite Trek book. It has information I maybe wouldn't have wanted to see in the show, but Andrew Robinson lays things out in a way that really make sense for the character.

[professor_iago]

It's a good video, putting the events of "In the Pale Moonlight" into perspective. Garak does look like the kind of person who had to say to himself, "I can live with it." The only criticism I have is that, since the finale has yet to be reviewed, there is no comment on how the Dominion War has taken a toll on both Garak and Cardassia.

[The Romulan Republic]

Garak had possibly my favourite line in all of Trek, but its not the above-discussed root beer conversation or anything from the oft-praised "In the Pale Moonlight". I might be misremembering, but I think its from that episode where Kira gets abducted and tricked into thinking she's actually a Cardassian, and goes "Treason, like beauty, is in the eye of the beholder."

Edit: This sentiment also plays into the scene Chuck discussed in the video, where Garak is (again) entirely prepared to shoot a Cardassian officer in order to save a Bajoran ally (Kira).