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Ira Steven Behr says this show originated insofar as the writers "felt we needed a light show, because we were coming up on "Past Tense, Part I"." He describes the finished episode as "dangerously wacky," and says, "In some ways, it works very nicely. And in some ways...you know." |
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The plot of this episode bears a striking resemblance to Shakespeare's play A Midsummer Night's Dream. Indeed, the writing and production staff all watched the 1935 film version of the play starring James Cagney as Bottom, Mickey Rooney as Puck and Olivia de Havilland as Hermia during the early development stages of writing the teleplay. |
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Frequent references are made to previous DS9 episodes, including Lwaxana Troi mentioning her carrying Odo's liquid state in her dress in "The Forsaken", Keiko O'Brien leaving on a botany expedition in "The House of Quark" and Odo's discovery of his people in "The Search, Part II". |
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The Bajoran Gratitude Festival symbol seen on a banner and small pennants on the Promenade bears a striking resemblance to the logos of Tantalus V and Elba II, minus the dove. |
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The attraction that Kira and Bashir displayed in this episode was even more evident off-set: Nana Visitor and Alexander Siddig, the actors who play Kira and Bashir, had a son and were married while DS9 was still in production. Kira's pregnancy in Seasons Four and Five was written into the show as a result. |
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Director Avery Brooks has a somewhat unusual evaluation of this episode; "I guess it was over the top. But what is over the top, after all? If you're having a pint of Guinness and you see the foam pouring over the top, you think, 'That's great!' But in a television episode, there's this concern about action being too large. It all comes down to rhythm, and whether a scene has it or not." |
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This is one of director of photography Jonathan West's favorite episodes due to the fact that director Avery Brooks allowed West to try some new cinematography techniques: there was more light on the set than usual, color was emphasized much more so than in a standard show, all the characters were bathed in a subtle pink light to enhance the mood, balloon foil was used in the background of many shots to get random sparkles, and purple (a color forbidden from the Star Trek color palette due to its association with "old science fiction artificiality") was allowed to be used. |
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Costume designer Robert Blackman and composer Dennis McCarthy also love this episode because of the freedom they got to experiment and try things which they would never have been allowed to try normally. According to Blackman, "It was a nice opportunity we hardly ever get. Everybody gets nice dress-up stuff." Similarly, McCarthy enthuses, "It gave me the chance to compose a little bit of humorous music. On Star Trek shows, we're normally leery of doing comic music." |
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This is Armin Shimerman's least favorite episode of all DS9 episodes. Shimerman, who teaches Shakespeare, has said of the show "I thought it was embarrassing". Alexander Siddig was also unimpressed with the episode, saying it is "memorable for not quite pulling off what it attempted to do". |
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This episode is important in the development of the O'Brien-Bashir friendship. The writers originally wrote Keiko out of the show so they could develop this friendship, and at the conclusion of this episode, as Keiko leaves the station, Bashir throws O'Brien a racket, symbolically "replacing" O'Brien's wife. Indeed, the notion of "competition" between Keiko and Bashir for O'Brien would become a comic thread upon Keiko's return in the fourth season. |
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The "genuine latinum-plated renewal scroll inscription pens" which Quark tries to sell in this episode are each "engravened with a lovely portrait of the station by Ermat Zimm". Ermat Zimm is an in-joke reference to DS9 production designer Herman Zimmerman. |
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It is revealed in this episode that despite the animosity between them, Kai Winn appointed Vedek Bareil to a senior advisory position after her election. This information would return three episodes later, in "Life Support". |
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Molly O'Brien's stuffed animal "Piggy" appears to be a stuffed targ. |
