10 Star Trek: Deep Space Nine Episodes That Were Almost Completely Different

3. The Wire (Season 2 Episode 22)

In a show stuffed to the airlocks with fan favourites, few have such rabid appreciation as the enigmatic Cardassian spy tailor Elim Garak.

Having been exiled from Cardassia ‘due to unpaid taxes’, Garak spent the first two seasons entertaining himself and peaking the interest of Dr Bashir with a litany of half truths and allusions to his past on Cardassia. Garak took a leading role in the season two episode The Wire, when a cranial implant designed to release endorphins and resist torture malfunctions.

It is revealed that he had been using it constantly to escape the misery of his exile, and its malfunction puts him through a harrowing ordeal of near fatal withdrawal. As the drugs wear off, Garak descends into blind rage and panic, babbling contradictory backstories as Bashir attempts to help the man who has gradually become a dear friend.

In the episode’s original form, it was meant to be Major Kira who would take on the central role, having become addicted to battle stimulants during the occupation. However, the writers did not want to anchor themselves to such a character altering concept for later stories, so the role fell to Garak.

This change of course proved to be for the best, as The Wire stands up as one of DS9’s finest episodes, largely thanks to Andrew Robinson’s performance as the previously unflappable and jovial anti-villain. Indeed, had Kira been the one in withdrawal we would have lost one of DS9’s most memorable quotes.

In the episode’s finale, when asked by Bashir which of the stories were true or lies following his ordeal, Garak smiles and responds “My dear doctor, they’re all true, especially the lies”.