[DS9] Lynch's Spoiler Review: "Improbable Cause"
Timothy W. Lynch
spoilers for DS9's "Improbable Cause" -- and improbable though this
may sound, you could endanger your healthy by doing so. Please
exercise caution.
In brief: Yes. Like that. More, please.
======
Brief summary: Garak's shop is destroyed by an explosion,
prompting Odo to begin an investigation which leads to more and
more startling revelations.
======
*Now* I'm almost prepared to forgive DS9 for "Life Support". Not
that this show is in any way connected to that travesty, mind you, but
I'm much more convinced that the episode in question was the low
point of a fluke than a sign of a long-term trend. "Improbable Cause"
was far and away the best thing DS9 has done this season, and quite
possibly the best "galactic intrigue" show in Trek history. Virtually
nothing was out of place, from the largest plot point to the slightest
detail.
One of the fascinating things about "Improbable Cause" was that it's
very nearly as shifty as Garak himself. Although you'd think a
Garak-centered 2-part story would enlighten us quite a bit about our
"simple tailor" friend, what we've seen so far has told us nothing we
didn't already know, or at least suspect. We already "knew" he was a
former Obsidian Order member, and that he was once close to
Enabran Tain, and that Tain felt betrayed by Garak in some way.
None of that is new -- all we got here was confirmation. But, despite
that, I didn't feel the slightest bit cheated by "Improbable Cause". On
the contrary -- at the moment, my appetite is quite solidly whetted for
more.
"Improbable Cause" was probably the most densely plotted episode to
remain coherent that Trek has seen in a long time. (Some shows, like
"Redemption II" in TNG, had an awful lot of stuff happening -- but it
felt thrown together. This didn't.) Ideas and elements were drawn
together from a wide variety of shows throughout DS9's history,
from the obvious ("The Search" and "The Wire"), to the not so
obvious ("Visionary", showing the Romulans' worry about the
Dominion; "Defiant", noting the fleet buildup the Order had been
making; and even "Necessary Evil", in referring back to Odo's
performing the "Cardassian neck trick"). More importantly, however,
these elements were brought together in ways that made *sense*; so
much sense, in fact, that you wonder why you didn't see it coming
yourself. The Obsidian Order, after all, has been compared to the Tal
Shiar, its Romulan counterpart, before -- so it's not surprising to
envision an alliance between them if the Romulans become desperate
enough.
As well as making excellent use of the past, however, the episode also
suggests a great deal in the series' near future, and it's there that I
confess to some slight worries. Trek has certainly presented buildups
to Major Events [tm] in the past before, the Klingon civil war being an
example that comes readily to mind. Most of the time, though, what
has happened has been either something quick, dirty, and over in a
show, or a sudden backing away from the brink for not particularly
satisfying reasons. "Improbable Cause" is among the best buildups to
an event I think I've ever seen on Trek -- and it's making me hope for
a conclusion that will be equally strong. I strongly hope not to be led
astray on this.
At any rate, back to the show itself, and to Garak in particular.
Although Garak has been used for some not particularly well-done
purposes ("Profit and Loss" comes to mind as a depressing example,
though there are others), both the character and Andrew Robinson's
performance usually manages to brighten up even episodes that are
otherwise weak (such as "Distant Voices" just two weeks ago). Here,
though, we had Garak and Robinson at their absolute top form. Here,
we don't get Garak sitting on the sidelines and lobbing bon mots onto
unsuspecting passers-by; he can't simply be an enigmatic figure
helping Bashir for unknown purposes (as he was in "Cardassians").
Here, the situation is directly revolving around *him*, no matter how
he struggles to avoid it (or pretends to, at any rate), and he can't quite
get away with lying all the time.
This isn't to say he doesn't try, though. :-) In fact, two of the best
scenes of the show revolve around Garak and honesty. The first is
Bashir's recounting of "the boy who cried wolf", which while good in
and of itself becomes a terrific scene when Garak provides an alternate
interpretation to the story -- "that you should never tell the same lie
twice". The second scene is stronger still; it's the moment when Odo
finally has enough of Garak's dissembling and cuts to the chase --
"You blew up your own shop, Garak!" Once again, I'd
underestimated Garak -- although he obviously knew more than he
was telling, I hadn't given a moment's thought to the possibility that
he himself set those events into motion (particularly since he seemed
so unwilling to cooperate). I'm not sure I agree with Odo that the
look on Garak's face is surprise; rather, it seems to me that it's a look
of a trapped person, who finally realizes he has to answer with the
truth. Regardless of what the look is, however, the scene is stunning.
There are very few scenes that aren't, however, and it's a credit both
to the writers (Robert Lederman & David R. Long for the story, Rene
Echevarria for the script) and to director Avery Brooks that everything
is paced so beautifully. The scene where Odo meets his Cardassian
source is among the more uniquely directed pieces of work I've seen
in Trek work; while the eyes-only shots of the informant didn't
always seem to mesh with what he was saying, the impact was really
in no way lessened. (In fact, at times it almost seemed to add to the
unreality of the situation.) Many scenes are just as well presented,
however, from the slow spiraling away from Garak during Sisko's
conference with his staff to the fact that the final act consisted of only
*one scene*, that being a full seven minutes long. That's almost
verging on the theatrical rather than television -- but given the talent
present in that scene, being more theatre-oriented than television-
oriented is hardly a problem.
I could go on about "Improbable Cause" for a lot longer than this, but
I'm not sure there's much need to. Suffice it to say that the show
really had no wrong notes, and a hell of a lot of right ones -- it's kept
me the most riveted of any Trek episode I can remember this year. If
the conclusion is equally strong, it may well turn out to be the
strongest 2-parter in Trek history.
So, let's move to a number of short takes:
-- The opening scene, discussing Shakespeare's "Julius Caesar", was,
I suspect, an example of putting literary references to good use.
Although the scene itself was fine even in a vacuum, I'm willing to bet
that Caesar/Brutus will see some parallels next week. (The question is
who gets to be Caesar and who gets to be Brutus -- or whether, as a
colleague of mine suggested, *both* Tain and Garak play Brutus.
Brr.)
-- It's extremely difficult for me to justify my statements above about
two scenes being "two of the strongest of the show", because quite
frankly, I think *all* of them were strong. (Okay, maybe the one
discussion with the Tal Shiar operative was a little weak, but only a
little.)
-- It seems entirely possible to me that, if they so desired, the DS9
staff might be taking the opportunity next week to wipe out two of the
show's albatrosses from the start of the season. The Founders have
already been mentioned as an obvious target, and may well get
destroyed; but this could end up removing the Defiant from the picture
as well. I, for one, would shed no tears were this to be true, as I
think both steps were mistakes.
-- Odo's meeting with his source raises a *LOT* of questions. Who
is this source? How long have they known each other? How did the
source become indebted to Odo initially? Just how highly placed is
he? I want to see more of this source -- soon.
-- The dialogue was more barbed here than usual, which is entirely
fitting given the circumstances. Nevertheless, lines like "Are you
trying to say that I have no sense of honor?" "Well, that remains to be
seen." definitely made me sit up and take notice. (It doesn't look quite
so good in writing as it sounds on screen, though, so don't take my
word for it.)
-- It's interesting to see Rene Echevarria's name turn up here, as he
also wrote one of TNG's more gripping "intrigue" shows, namely
"The Mind's Eye". Just a thought.
That should pretty much cover it. It's been three days since I saw
"Improbable Cause", and I'm *still* excited about it -- here's hoping I
get just as excited next week.
So, to wrap up:
Writing: Phenomenal. Elements from everywhere woven into a
plausible, seamless whole, and suggesting a lot of future
paths.
Directing: Brooks has definitely improved -- this was riveting.
Acting: No complaints whatsoever, and praise for pretty much
everyone.
OVERALL: An extremely enthusiastic 10. Onwards!
NEXT WEEK:
As the title says (and as Caesar says), "the die is cast."
Tim Lynch (Harvard-Westlake School, Science Dept.)
tly...@alumni.caltech.edu
"Always burn your bridges behind you; you never know who might be
trying to follow."
-- Enabran Tain
--
Copyright 1995, Timothy W. Lynch. All rights reserved, but feel free to ask...
This article is explicitly prohibited from being used in any off-net
compilation without due attribution and *express written consent of the
author*. Walnut Creek and other CD-ROM distributors, take note.
Richard H.S. Kim
Timothy W. Lynch <tly...@alumni.caltech.edu> wrote:
>WARNING: If you continue along this course, you will encounter
>spoilers for DS9's "Improbable Cause" -- and improbable though this
>may sound, you could endanger your healthy by doing so. Please
>exercise caution.
>
>In brief: Yes. Like that. More, please.
>
>======
>"Improbable Cause" was probably the most densely plotted episode to
>remain coherent that Trek has seen in a long time. (Some shows, like
>"Redemption II" in TNG, had an awful lot of stuff happening -- but it
>felt thrown together. This didn't.) Ideas and elements were drawn
All of this confirms my suspicions. For a long time, I've felt that shows
like DS9 which have a stationary setting needed a strong plot to carry it.
Without that, it stagnates badly. Babylon 5 got it right by having strong
plots and detailed arcs.
Unlike Voyager and TNG, which can just warp to the action, DS9 has to create
the action. This allows the characters to act and react to what's happening
out there. Having a solid, definitive plot line makes this a lot smoother.
Without it, the characters seem to "flop" around, almost like they don't belong
there.
>Tim Lynch (Harvard-Westlake School, Science Dept.)
>tly...@alumni.caltech.edu
-Rich K.
Mathew Englander
>spoilers for DS9's "Improbable Cause" -- and improbable though this
>may sound, you could endanger your healthy by doing so. Please
>exercise caution.
>-- Odo's meeting with his source raises a *LOT* of questions. Who
>is this source? How long have they known each other? How did the
>source become indebted to Odo initially? Just how highly placed is
>he? I want to see more of this source -- soon.
...
>-- It's interesting to see Rene Echevarria's name turn up here, as he
>also wrote one of TNG's more gripping "intrigue" shows, namely
>"The Mind's Eye". Just a thought.
Let's not forget that "The Mind's Eye" also had a scene with a character
staying in the shadows. I think that here, too, the character will be
someone familiar to us. Gul Dukat's a possibility, but as I recall
Odo didn't have enough respect for him to use as a "Deep Throat" source
like that. I bet it will turn out to be the Cardassian from "Lower
Decks".
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Mathew Englander mat...@unixg.ubc.ca
_____________________________________________________________________________
Faruq abd ul-Rafi
>WARNING: If you continue along this course, you will encounter
>spoilers for DS9's "Improbable Cause" -- and improbable though this
>may sound, you could endanger your healthy by doing so. Please
>exercise caution.
>One of the fascinating things about "Improbable Cause" was that it's
>very nearly as shifty as Garak himself.... We already "knew" he was a
>former Obsidian Order member, and that he was once close to
>Enabran Tain, and that Tain felt betrayed by Garak in some way....
This episode got me thinking about the structure of Cardassian names.
Throughout their conversation, Enabran Tain called Garak "Elim" and
Garak responded with "Tain." Since we were told in "The Wire" that
"Elim" is Garak's personal name, I assume that "Tain" is a personal
name as well. If that is so, then Cardassian names seem to be
similar to Bajoran names, with a family/clan(?) name followed by
a personal name. So Garak's full name would be Garak Elim, but most
characters we've seen on DS9 call him Garak just like all but the most
intimately related characters refer to Kira Nyres (sp?) as Kira.
This leads me to a further bit of speculation on Cardassian social structure.
We've seen a large number of characters called "Gul" whoever. Up to now,
I've always assumed that "Gul" is a designation of rank, and I've seen
posts in this newsgroup that claim that a gul is equivalent to a Federation
captain. But I've also noticed that the overwhelming majority of
Cardassian military seen in TNG/DS9/VOY have been designated "Gul" and
it seems highly improbable to have a military populated almost exclusively
of captains.
But maybe "Gul" is not a rank at all. Maybe "Gul" is a name. Perhaps
Cardassia has a warrior caste, (almost?) all of whom have the family/clan/
caste name "Gul" together with a personal name (similar to the way the name
"Singh" is used among males of the Sikh religion?). That would account
for the fact that every time a Cardassian officer addresses Picard simply as
"Captain" or Sisko as "Commander" the response from Picard or Sisko is
never simply "Gul" but the officer's personal name (or full name). Of
course it would not account for Sisko's calling Garak Elim by the name
"Garak" but Gul Dukat by the name "Dukat." But if the Guls make up a special
cast there might be a slightly different convention for addressing them.
Maybe there are so many people with the name "Gul" that the general
convention for addressing them is to use the personal name, something one
would ordinarily do with Cardassians only if one were on a first-name basis,
the way Elim and Tain are.
Of course, this is all pure speculation on my part. I doubt that the writers
have really put that much thought into the Cardassian backstory. Still, I
wonder if there are any Trek episodes that would disconfirm my theory.
_____
Faruq abd ul-Rafi (R. A. Nelson)
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Department of Philosophy
E-mail: fa...@uiuc.edu
Dan Hartung
MINOR SPOILERS!
>This episode got me thinking about the structure of Cardassian names.
>Throughout their conversation, Enabran Tain called Garak "Elim" and
>Garak responded with "Tain." Since we were told in "The Wire" that
>"Elim" is Garak's personal name, I assume that "Tain" is a personal
>name as well. If that is so, then Cardassian names seem to be
>similar to Bajoran names, with a family/clan(?) name followed by
>a personal name. So Garak's full name would be Garak Elim, but most
>characters we've seen on DS9 call him Garak just like all but the most
>intimately related characters refer to Kira Nyres (sp?) as Kira.
(Kira Nerys.) This is all reasonable, makes sense to me.
>This leads me to a further bit of speculation on Cardassian social structure.
>We've seen a large number of characters called "Gul" whoever. Up to now,
>I've always assumed that "Gul" is a designation of rank, and I've seen
>posts in this newsgroup that claim that a gul is equivalent to a Federation
>captain. But I've also noticed that the overwhelming majority of
>Cardassian military seen in TNG/DS9/VOY have been designated "Gul" and
>it seems highly improbable to have a military populated almost exclusively
>of captains.
That statement makes sense, too. So far. ;-)
>But maybe "Gul" is not a rank at all.
Even that.
But the rest of it, I can't go along with. Just too left-field.
I suggest that Gul is not a rank-equivalent so much as a term
of respect, something like "Sir", or maybe it just means
"command-level officer". Much like a Judge or Senator has
a title, and is called "The Honorable ..." Many cultures
have differences like this between a title and a form
of address. For some cultures (e.g. Japanese) there are
encyclopedias that could be written about the subject, since
so much emphasis is placed on respect and ritual.
--
* Daniel A. Hartung * dhar...@mcs.com * http://www.mcs.net/~dhartung/ *
Mage: I see a great hand reaching out of the stars. The hand is yours, and
I hear the sounds of billions of people calling your name."
Londo: My followers?
Mage: Your victims.
A reminder that things we start, do not always end with us.
Matthew G. Zinno
Faruq abd ul-Rafi <fa...@uxa.cso.uiuc.edu> wrote:
>This episode got me thinking about the structure of Cardassian names.
>Throughout their conversation, Enabran Tain called Garak "Elim" and
>Garak responded with "Tain." Since we were told in "The Wire" that
>"Elim" is Garak's personal name, I assume that "Tain" is a personal
>name as well. If that is so, then Cardassian names seem to be
Here's my explanation: we know Tain was Garak's superior, and Garak
had a lot of respect for him. Thus he calls him by his family name
(for us, last name). Garak was Tain's protege, or student, so he
calls Garak by his given (first) name, Elim.
An imperfect but readily available analogy is with teachers or
professors: you'll call him "Mr. Johnson," but he will properly call
--
-------------------------------Matt Zinno-------------------------------------
Email: matz...@princeton.edu ||| URL: http://www.princeton.edu/~matzinno/
----------------QL------------TNG----------DS9-----------VOY------------------
Faruq abd ul-Rafi
>
>["Improbable Cause"] got me thinking about the structure of Cardassian
>names. Throughout their conversation, Enabran Tain called Garak "Elim" and
>Garak responded with "Tain." Since we were told in "The Wire" that
>"Elim" is Garak's personal name, I assume that "Tain" is a personal
>name as well. If that is so, then Cardassian names seem to be
>similar to Bajoran names, with a family/clan(?) name followed by
>a personal name. So Garak's full name would be Garak Elim, but most
>characters we've seen on DS9 call him Garak just like all but the most
>intimately related characters refer to Kira Nyres (sp?) as Kira.
Well, "The Die Is Cast" really blew that theory out of the water. Tain
specifically introduced Garak as "Elim Garak." I still wonder, though,
why last week Garak responded with "Tain" when addressed as "Elim" but
this week responded with "Enabran." Oh well.