DS9: Cardassians

         Garak is one of my favorite character in all of DS9, and that is really saying something since several of my all time Trek characters are from the same show. I guess the best way to describe his character is an evil spy with a heart of gold. I really appreciate how DS9 makes the occupation of Bajor into a complicated situation with mistakes and backstabbing on both sides. Sure, the Cardassians are largely the villains, but like all political situations things are never that simple. 
         This episode opens with Garak and Bashir enjoying a meal together when a Bajoran man and a teenage Cardassian boy come into the replimat. Garak walks over to greet the boy and is bitten hard on the hand for his trouble. After treating the injury Bashir heads to ops to tell everybody else but they are interrupted by Gul Dukat calling having somehow already heard about the incident. It seems Dukat is suddenly interested in the situation of Cardassian orphans left behind on Bajor. Sisko next meets with the boys adopted father who is at first concerned the boy will be arrested, but finally agrees to let him stay with the O'Briens while the situation is resolved. Bashir talks to some witnesses to the attack one of whom claims to have heard that the boy was abused on Bajor for being a Cardassian, but he denies it.
         Garak has figured out something else is going on and gets Bashir to borrow a runabout so they can go to Bajor and look into the adoption. At the same time Dukat calls to say the boys biological father, a leader of the civilian government, is on his way to DS9. On Bajor Garak is able to download all the adoption records but they can find no record of the boy despite all the other files being intact. At the O'Briens Miles is having a hard time adjusting to a Cardassian boy since he fought Cardassians and doesn't have a high opinion of them. The boys father arrives and we learn he has an even worse opinion of Cardassians than Miles. He calls his father a butcher before storming off.
         Both the biological and adopted fathers agree to let Sisko mediate a hearing to decide what will happen to the boy. Gul Dukat arrives unexpectedly to observe the hearing. Meanwhile Bashir and Garak have figured out that instead of looking for the file they need to find the person who wrote the file. After some digging they locate the former head of adoption where the boy stayed and she tells them he was brought in by a Cardassian soldier from Terok Nor, the station now known as DS9 which Dukat commanded at the time. They come into the hearing and confront Dukat about this and he storms off. After much deliberation Sisko agrees the boy should go back with his biological father, although it won't be easy for either of them.

         Review: An interesting episode about politics and family that sets up a lot of the conflict later in the series. Dukat and Garak continue to shine and Bashir is finally the upbeat and non-super creepy character I remember from the later episodes which is clearly great.

6 out of 10