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TREKCORE >
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EQUILIBRIUM > Behind the Scenes
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The origins of this episode are to be found in the magic show of Jeff Magnus McBride who portrays Joran Belar. Michael Piller saw McBride's show, loved it, and commissioned Christopher Teague, a mutual friend of his and McBride, to draw up an outline for a story based on McBride's act. McBride's show revolved around a use of masks, and the repeated removal of what is seemingly a single mask only to reveal another underneath (something which happens in the episode itself).
Teague's story originally involved a kind of intergalatic circus coming to Deep Space 9 with a magician who is revealed to be a murderer, but nobody on the writing staff was keen on the idea. René Echevarria then modified it to focus on Odo and a series of disturbing dreams, before Ronald D. Moore suggested switching the emphasis of the plot to Dax, as he felt that masks were a good metaphor for the Trill species in general. |
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This episode features a number of changes to the style of the USS Defiant's bridge, including a new Captain's chair area (no fencing and new consoles), movement of the dedication plaque from the back to beside the starboard door, more consoles in the rear and additional consoles on the walls of the side stations. |
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René Echevarria partly based the penultimate scene, where Dax accepts Joran's memories, on a scene in the Peter Schaffer play Equus. In that play, the word 'abreact' is used as a psychological term to describe the relieving of a trauma, and Echevarria felt that that was exactly what was happening in this scene. |
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Joran would be seen again in the seventh season episode "Field of Fire", although he would be played by Leigh J. McCloskey as Jeff Magnus McBride was unavailable at the time. |
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Colm Meaney (Miles O'Brien) does not appear in this episode. |
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Jay Chattaway composed the music for this episode, which was his favorite installment of the first three seasons of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine. He commented,
"It was the show where it was revealed that one of Dax's former hosts was a composer. The music had to have a thematic quality for her to play it on a keyboard and hum several times. I was also able to develop this theme into the score for her nightmarish flashbacks. The time factor on that was [...] 'Here's the show; we need a keyboard thing, we need it tomorrow!' Under those circumstances, I'll do several versions, though in the case of 'Equilibrium,' they chose my first version. I thought that was an extremely well-written show and a great opportunity to have music as an integral part of the story. It didn't hurt that I personally worked with Terry Farrell, helping her to learn that tune. It took her only three attempts to get it under control. She's very bright. I was really impressed." |
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Nicholas Cascone (Timor) also played the role of Ensign Davies in the TNG second season episode "Pen Pals". |
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