Star Trek: DS9: Why Garak isn’t so ambiguous to new fans

Andrew Robinson played Cardassian Elim Garak for seven seasons on Star Trek: Deep Space Nine

Was he a spy? Was he an assassin? Could he be trusted? These were all questions fans wondered when watching Star Trek: Deep Space Nine’s Elim Garak. Though the Cardassian was a tailor on the station, he was also a former member of the Obsidian Order. In fact, he was the son of the head of the Order. Fans questioned where Garak’s loyalties were, and rightfully so as Garak made some questionable decisions during his time on DS9.

He was a product of the writers and spoke the words they gave him in the script, even though he admits to ad-libbing when the emotions got the best of him. Still, he wanted to know more about the character so he used a diary that he wrote in Garak’s voice to build the Cardassian’s world and completely flesh out his biography.

In an interview with Trekmovie, Andrew Robinson says he fell in love with Garak and so did the writers, and he doesn’t feel like the writers missed out on any opportunities to tell his story. But he also fell in love with the idea of creating Garak’s world, where he’d come from, and the Cardassian world as well.

"It was a tool for actors to do a biography. You know where your character came from what his education was and know what happened to him, so that you have that as a subtext."

While fans were wondering what was going on behind the smile on Garak’s face, Robinson already knew because he had the character’s backstory. He knew all along what type of man Garak was and why he did the things he did. He shaped that character more than the writers with his attention to even the most minute details.

Though Robinson never shared his diary with the writers of the series, he did share it with the world when he published A Stitch in Time, written as a series of letters to Dr. Julian Bashir. Over twenty years has passed since the publication of that book and the ending of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, but new fans are finding the series on streaming channels. New fans are asking the same questions we did about Garak when we originally watched the series back in the early nineties. The only difference is they get the benefit of the book and the knowledge we never had. They get to know the man behind the Cardassian.

But, looking back, would we have wanted that knowledge up front? I don’t think I would have. I liked the mystery surrounding Garak and always wondering if he was going to slide a knife into the back of a member of the DS9 crew. He was both friend and foe, and I’m glad I had the opportunity to watch while Garak was still being created.