This is a fascinating episode. One of the aspects to this storyline that I appreciated was that there was no Starfleet moral superiority presented in this particular situation. Starfleet was sitting on the sidelines waiting for the Romulans and Cardassians to do the dirty work.
There is no point in going through the episode on a scene by scene basis ----- you know it's great. It's got intrigue, suspense, humor, drama, mystery, action. I will instead discuss a few of the moments that stood out for me.
The Michael Eddington character is further established in this episode and we discovery that he is a 'stafleet officer' through and through. He follows order .... ... like a good officer should do.
The scenes between Odo and Garak are fantastic to watch. Odo is presenting himself as the conscious of Garak and poking holes in the grim resolve of Garak to get the information at any costs. There is a subtlety in the performances --- I noticed a look of trepidation in Odo before one of the commercial breaks. If I was Odo I would consider breaking the immobilization device and then knocking out Garak --- but that's just me and my fear of being tortured talking.
Odo's big secret turns out to not have any strategic value but instead reflects a perceived personal weakness of Odo ---- He wants to return to the great link and misses it and his family.
The climax of this being a set up perpetrated by the Founders to destroy the ruthless spec op sector of the alpha quadrant was a brilliant idea on the founders part. This two part episode was primarily a character study on the personal strengths of Garak and Odo but it is the climax that establishes the founders as being just as cunning and effective in matters of intelligence.
There is no point in going through the episode on a scene by scene basis ----- you know it's great. It's got intrigue, suspense, humor, drama, mystery, action. I will instead discuss a few of the moments that stood out for me.
The Michael Eddington character is further established in this episode and we discovery that he is a 'stafleet officer' through and through. He follows order .... ... like a good officer should do.
The scenes between Odo and Garak are fantastic to watch. Odo is presenting himself as the conscious of Garak and poking holes in the grim resolve of Garak to get the information at any costs. There is a subtlety in the performances --- I noticed a look of trepidation in Odo before one of the commercial breaks. If I was Odo I would consider breaking the immobilization device and then knocking out Garak --- but that's just me and my fear of being tortured talking.
Odo's big secret turns out to not have any strategic value but instead reflects a perceived personal weakness of Odo ---- He wants to return to the great link and misses it and his family.
The climax of this being a set up perpetrated by the Founders to destroy the ruthless spec op sector of the alpha quadrant was a brilliant idea on the founders part. This two part episode was primarily a character study on the personal strengths of Garak and Odo but it is the climax that establishes the founders as being just as cunning and effective in matters of intelligence.