 |
Robert Hewitt Wolfe's original idea for this episode revolved around O'Brien discovering that he was a deep-cover Cardassian operative who had replaced the 'real' O'Brien twenty years previously and had had O'Brien's real memories implanted into his own mind. This would have meant that the O'Brien we first met in "Encounter at Farpoint" was actually a Cardassian spy. Wolfe ran into trouble with this idea when he had to try to explain how a Cardassian and a human woman (Keiko) could have a fully human child (Molly). At this point, Wolfe modified the idea so that it revolved around Kira instead of O'Brien.
|
|
|
|
|
Wolfe says he was influenced in writing this episode by the work of Phillip K. Dick, especially Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? (the book upon which Blade Runner was based) and "We Can Remember It For You Wholesale" (the short story upon which Total Recall was based). |
| |
|
|
Nana Visitor, who suffers from claustrophobia, greatly disliked wearing the extensive Cardassian makeup for this episode, which required her to arrive for makeup at 1:30 AM each morning. After a particularly long, 20-hour day of shooting, she simply told the director Les Landau that she had to get out of the makeup and pick up the remaining shots the next day because she was feeling claustrophobic. Landau wanted to continue shooting a while longer. Visitor then began physically removing the claustrophobia-inducing makeup on the set. |
| |
|
|
|
Writer Robert Hewitt Wolfe wanted Dr. Bashir to tell Kira at the end of the episode that he could not confirm whether she was a Cardassian replacement or the authentic Bajoran Kira in order to leave Kira permanently unsure of her original identity. He felt this would emphasize that our identity is based on our experiences and who we have been, regardless of one's actual origins; "She has been Kira Nerys. She may be the real Kira Nerys, she may be a replacement, but she's Kira Nerys now, and it doesn't really matter. Your identity is who you are, it doesn't matter how you get there, it doesn't matter whether it's true or a lie, if you've lived it long enough, it's true." However, this idea was dropped from the final version of the story. |
|
|
|
|
|
After the second season episode "Profit and Loss", this is the second episode to mention the Cardassian Dissident Movement. |
|
|
|
|
|
This is the first episode of the series to have music composed by David Bell. |
|
|
|
|
|
In the first sequence where the Cardassians contact Sisko while he is using the holofilter, the only shot of the Kobheerian disguise is stock footage of the original Captain from "Duet", with Avery Brooks lip syncing the first sentence. The original actor in the makeup was not credited in this episode. |
| |
|
|
During production of this episode, the writers considered making Entek a recurring character. However, they decided to have Garak kill him instead, as this would once again emphasize to the audience that Garak is more than capable of taking a life (we had already seen him shoot Gul Toran in "Profit and Loss"). Coupled with this is Tekeny Ghemor's warning to Kira at the end of the episode never to trust Garak. The murder of Entek and Ghemor's warning were designed by the writers as ways to keep the viewers on their toes as regards the enigmatic tailor. |
| |
|
|
Ghemor appears again in the fifth season episode "Ties of Blood and Water". |
| |
|
|
Robert Hewitt Wolfe is extremely proud of this episode, especially the thematic continuity; "Without sounding pretentious, the theme of the entire episode could be 'You can't judge a book by its cover.' Everyone is wearing a 'second skin.' So Kira is both who she is and she's Iliana Ghemor. Legate Ghemor is both a very staunch supporter of the Cardassian government and an opponent of the Cardassian government. The USS Defiant appears to be a Kobheerian freighter, but it's really a warship. Garak looks like a tailor, but he's really a spy. Sisko looks like a Kobheerian captain and Odo looks like a bag. [There are] many levels of deception throughout the show." |
| |
|
|
Colm Meaney (Miles O'Brien) and Cirroc Lofton (Jake Sisko) do not appear in this episode. |
| |
|
|
Cindy Katz (Yteppa) also appears as Kejal in Voyager's "Flesh and Blood". |
| |
|
|
Christopher Carroll (Gul Benil) also appears as Captain Alben in Voyager's "Favorite Son". |
| |
|
|
Lawrence Pressman (Ghemor) also appears as Admiral Krajensky in "The Adversary". |
