Star Trek - Deep Space Nine, Episode 42: The Wire [VHS] Review
Garak and Bashir have been having lunch once a week for over a year, and yet the doctor really knows nothing about the Cardassian. Garak's life is an intricate puzzle of lies within lies. And then something happens, and Dr. Bashir slowly discovers what seems to be a truth of sorts about the mysterious tailor. The titular wire is a mind-control device buried deep within the Cardassian Garak's brain. It was planted there years ago by the Obsidian Order and designed to protect him and shield him with heightened endorphins if he was ever captured and tortured. The trouble is that Garak was not captured but exiled, and his very existence is torture. He spends his life on a station that is too cold and too light; and he is surrounded by people who hate him. So one day he activated the device to dull the pain.
"The Wire" solidified the Bashir/Garak cult in DS9 fandom and it garnered critical and internal praise. This episode, along with "Duet," is one of the best explorations of the aftermath of the Cardassian occupation and features the first appearance of the mysterious Obsidian Order. And there's the whole Odo-spying-on-Quark thing going on. Paul Dooley fairly oozes evil banality as Enabran Tain, and Siddig El Fadil is smugly hoity-toity as Bashir. The incredible Andrew Robinson manages to convey Garak's painful endorphin withdrawal through heavy Cardassian make-up. "The Wire" is, in a word, great. --Kayla Rigney
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