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Episode Behind the Scenes

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TREKCORE > DS9 > EPISODES > IMPROBABLE CAUSE > Behind the Scenes
 
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)
   
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)
   
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)
   
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)
   
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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