Complicated matters strongly developed

Rhonda’s Take on Episode 5:  “Cardassians”

We open on Bashir and Garak bumping into each other in the Replimat, but it is clear this isn’t only the second time (the first on screen being in Season 1, Episode 2, “Past Prologue”). They know each other’s drink orders and they pleasantly banter over whether “plain, simple Garak” is any of those. We’re already intrigued, but then a Cardassian boy enters in the company of a Bajoran man. Garak watches with interest and the boy returns his gaze with trepidation and what seems to be a hint of recognition. Bashir asks the question we are thinking, Does Garak know the boy? He does not, but they are only two Cardassians among a sea of other species so it is only natural that they connect. Being our gregarious Garak, he promptly greets them and praises the “handsome young man” by placing a hand on his shoulder. The handsome young man rewards the compliment by biting him!

Cue opening credits because we’ve been suckered to keep watching!

There is so much to love about this episode, but the highlights are the growing relationship between Bashir and Garak, the growing respect Bashir receives from Sisko, and an appearance by Gul Dukat that is not incidental, but fully developed.

Bashir and Garak: Pupil and Mentor?

I’ve already mentioned the delicious opening scene, but the two will spend most of this episode together so we will see their growing relationship. It is clear that the two have been meeting and that Bashir is learning to see behind the surface of matters through Garak’s nudges. Let’s be clear Garak only nudges, he never overtly directs Bashir. Toward the end of the episode, Garak will tell Bashir (and us) the one truth he lives by: “I never tell the truth because I don’t believe there is one.”

We know their relationship has advanced, because Bashir barely skips a beat when Garak shows up at the foot of his bed in the middle of the night.

In this episode, we get to see Garak’s absolute glee as Bashir pieces together the mystery of how the Cardassian boy became a named orphan abandoned on Bajor and how Gul Dukat has manipulated all of these events. When Bashir gets his Poirot-moment walking everyone through the connection of events, Garak beams like a proud father.

It wasn’t an easy path to get Bashir to see the intrigue occurring before him, and I’m thankful for that. It allowed us to learn more about the Cardassians as Garak points Bashir to  the insights:

• The Cardassians are known for their attention to detail. They would not have left the orphans behind inadvertently.
• Additionally, they would not miss recording Rugal’s adoption so the missing record has clearly been deleted on purpose.
• Gul Dukat was in charge of the evacuation of Cardassians from Bajor. He ordered the orphans left behind, but is now claiming to be fighting for their return. He would only do this if it suited his personal advancement.
• Garak shows a glimmer of his true Cardassian nature when he berates Bashir for sympathizing with the orphans. Bashir (and we) are bereft by the young girl’s plea to Garak that he might be there to take them home. But, Garak heartlessly says that “children with no parents have no status” in his society so what would they be rescuing these children to?

In interviews, Andrew Robinson, who plays Garak, has said that Garak teaches Bashir the world of political machinations while Bashir teaches Garak a humanitarian point of view. While recognizing Bashir’s compassion toward the orphans is recognizing a human trait, Garak is not yet ready to change his Cardassian view.

Bashir and Sisko

In “Past Prologue,” when Bashir announced to Ops that Garak was trying to pry information out of him, his fellow officers dismissed him. This time, Sisko listens. In fact, he takes a bit of perverse pleasure in watching Bashir question Dukat as he breaks down Dukat’s argument and shoots holes in the logic of him blaming the civilian leadership for the order when we know Cardassia is led by its military. After the first interruption, Sisko tells Bashir it was the highlight of his day, but warns him not to do it again. Later, even though he sarcastically asks Bashir if one runabout will be enough, he grants the runabout without condition because the only way to find out what Garak knows is to follow the mission to its conclusion and he understands that Bashir is the conduit Garak will use. When he cedes the floor to Bashir during the custody hearing, Sisko seems more amused, even proud, rather than bemused or angered by it. 

Gul Dukat

Can we all agree that Marc Alaimo is amazing? He crafts Gul Dukat as the villain we love to hate and that we secretly love!

Within moments of Commander Sisko learning of Garak being bit, Gul Dukat is already calling to express concern that “the sole Cardassian” on the station has been attacked. He launches into a diatribe about how he knew the dangers of leaving Cardassian orphans to be raised by Bajorans who would raise them to hate themselves and their people. He says that this incident should help support his efforts to force Cardassia to repatriate the orphans.

He plays his appearance at the hearing for Rugal’s custody as concern for the boy and the precedence this case might provide. When Bashir confronts his choices regarding Rugal and all Cardassian war orphans, pointing out that the woman who delivered Rugal to the orphanage was attached to Terok Nor, where Dukat was leader, Dukat doesn’t flinch or show any signs of recognition that might acknowledge his guilt. He calmly stands, glances about the room, and prepares to leave, but his stare down of Garak is subliminal. The whole series of events shows just how calculating Gul Dukat is and how willing he is to play the long game.

The Federation is DSS

When Zolan tells Bashir that Rugal was being insulted daily and beaten for being Cardassian, Bashir and Sisko swoop in like the Department of Social Services, to remove the child from the home. While we (and Sisko) sense there is more to this accusation, we know that they bear the responsibility of removing Rugal to a safe foster home until the matter can be investigated. In the end, Sisko must decide in favor of Kotran Pa’Dar over Rugal’s Bajoran father because Pa’Dar was tricked into abandoning his son. Luckily, Dukat’s underhanded involvement being uncovered by Bashir means that he will not be able to use Rugal to disgrace Pa’Dar (bonus points that Pa’Dar was willing to take Rugal even if this wasn’t the case). 

It is an unfair outcome, but one hopes that Rugal will be able to reconcile his Bajoran family and upbringing with his biological Cardassian one. We worry that his argument to Pa’Dar that “they killed your son for your crimes” will prevent him from ever bonding with his father. He felt loved by his adoptive parents on Bajor. Now, he surely feels unmoored. Yet, he feels like our Federation beacon of hope. Pa’Dar won me over when he arrived with a box of family photos to share with Rugal and he continued to keep my empathy when he did not demand that Rugal love him, but treated him with a softness and recognized that their relationship will take time. He also endears himself when he agrees to Sisko being the arbiter because he too is a father.

We don’t get to see Rugal’s reaction beyond reluctantly joining Pa’Dar, who is carrying that box of photos, to depart the station, but we hope he will heal. 

Bonus Content: O’Brien is racist!

I really hate to type that sentence, but we see a nasty side to O’Brien in this episode. He’s made it no secret that he saw the atrocities committed by Cardassians during the war and that he believes the entire race to be violent butchers. Still, it is surprising that he cannot give the young Cardassian, Rugal, who has been raised by Bajorans and who currently wears a Bajoran earring, the benefit of the doubt. He is appalled that Keiko allowed Rugal to play with their daughter. In this instance, when Keiko puts Miles in his place, I didn’t find her attitude objectionable, but voicing my own thoughts. Despite their moment of connection when both push away the Cardassian dish Keiko chose to replicate, he barely hides his disdain for Cardassians, even when counselling the boy about the choice he faces. However, O’Brien redeems himself by the end as he offers Rugal his home anytime he would like to visit. 

[I’ll forgive him his insult about Garak, “He always cuts the pants too long,” because it is a moment of levity and more about Garak as a tailor than a Cardassian.]