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TREKCORE >
DS9
> EPISODES >
IMPROBABLE CAUSE > Behind the Scenes
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Robert Lederman and David R. Long's original idea
for this episode revolved around the punishment exacted upon Garak
by the Obsidian Order for his killing of Entek in the episode
"Second Skin". Garak realizes that someone is planning on
assassinating him, so he blows up his own shop to ensure Odo gets
involved. Although the producers loved the idea of Garak blowing up
his own shop, they dropped the link to "Second Skin" and instead
decided to connect the episode to another previous episode, this
time "Defiant". Specifically, they chose to reveal exactly what the
Obsidian Order was up to in the Orias system. (Star Trek: Deep Space
Nine Companion) |
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The episode was originally a stand-alone episode,
but the writers realized that the story's original ending was too
weak, and decided to expand the plot to accommodate a second part.
Initially, in Act 4 of the single episode script, Garak tells Bashir
that if anything should happen to him, there is an isolinear rod
behind a wall in his quarters which the doctor should give to Sisko.
Then, at the end of the episode, with Garak and Odo trapped on the
warbird, Garak tells Tain that if he doesn't let them go, the
information on the rod will be revealed to Starfleet. As such, Tain
releases them and the audience never find out what is on the rod.
The writers hated this ending, as they felt it undermined an
otherwise superb episode, but they were unable to come up with
anything more satisfactory. As Ronald D. Moore points out,
"Everything we tried was just a writer's device or a cliché or a
convenience or a cheat." That was until Michael Piller, in his last
decision as executive producer, suggested they turn the show into a
two-parter. This necessitated a quick rewrite of the end of the
episode so as to lead into part II. (Star Trek: Deep Space Nine
Companion) |
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The second part of this two-parter, "The Die is
Cast", was not the next episode to be shot. Because it was never
intended to be a two-parter, pre-production on "Through the Looking
Glass" was already well underway when "The Die is Cast" was
green-lit. As such, the episodes were shot out of sequence and the
airdates of this episode and "Through the Looking Glass" were
flipped. (Star Trek: Deep Space Nine Companion) |
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This episode marks the appearance of a new style of
Tal Shiar uniform. This redesign was Ronald D. Moore's idea. After
he watched the episode "Visionary", he came to feel that the old
style Romulan uniforms were unacceptable and he had Robert Blackman
give the design an overhaul; "I hated, underline hated, the Romulan
costumes. Big shoulder pads, the quilting, I just loathed it. I
begged, insisted, screamed, pleaded." (Star Trek: Deep Space Nine
Companion) |
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Ron Moore commented "I like
the episode. It was probably one of my favorites, the other being
"The House of Quark"". (Captains' Logs Supplemental - The
Unauthorized Guide to the New Trek Voyages p 95) |
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