always hire stage actors for star trek.

Garak was easily one of the best things about DS9

And this, my friends, is what results when stage actors, fully invested in the characters they portray, are allowed to go all out. Easily the most well-acted scene filmed in any iteration of Star Trek. Bravo to both. Master class in acting, you are dismissed!

Good trek isn’t carried by action. It’s carried by good stories, dialogue, and amazing actors.

“All it cost was one Romulan senator, one criminal, and the self respect of a starfleet officer” is the hardest line dropped in all of Star trek

Andrew Robinson may be the most perfect casting in ds9. His portrayal of Garak is captivating. He even gets his lizard-like hiss perfect.

It’s amazing when you realize most of the guest stars worked for union scale. A few thousand dollars for the week and maybe a few thousand per year now in residual checks if they were in enough episodes - but none got rich off the series. Convention appearances pay more.

It's absolutely a testament to how good the writing of this series was that scenes like this are the ones people always come back to. No battles, no shoot outs, no exciting starship explosions, just two people talking with the weight of their words and the implications of their actions bringing all the excitement and drama to the scene.

Customer comes in in the middle of Sisko and Garak arguing about having murdered the Romulan senator

I'm absolutely convinced that Garek manipulated this entire episode. He NEVER called in any favors and none of his contacts were killed. He NEVER sold the biomemetic gel and instead used it to create the bomb on Vreenak's shuttle. He was probably already planning something like this which is how he knew about Vreenak's diplomatic mission in the first place.

Garak singlehandedly saved the Alpha Quadrant by doing what he did

Everybody has a plan until they get punched in the face.

"And all it cost was the life of one Romulan senator, one criminal, and the self respect of one Starfleet officer. I don't know about you, but I call that a bargain."

“You killed him!”

Two little touches that I always loved about this episode:

"That's why you came to me, isn't it captain? Because you knew I could do those things that you weren't capable of doing.." That right there is why Garak was the single most dangerous person on the entire station.

As Garak explains the reasoning behind his plan, you can't help but admire the elegance of it, how artistically he set all the pieces in motion, how masterfully he manipulated everyone. In a twisted way it's almost beautiful.

"Picard never hit me."

Avery Brook’s reaction in the first scene is a thirty second master class in acting. The initial relief and even hint of happiness quickly shifts into realization and rage, all in the blink of an eye. Truly an incredible actor.

I just love how Sisko punches hin out and then immediately yells "GET UP!" Dude was pissed, lol.