Garak - Andrew Robinson’s portrayal

Sure were a lot of future heads of state and ambassadors hanging out at DS9 during season 7

 

I like the character as well, and I will seek out the book you mentioned. For some reason, it would be hard for me to believe Garak would be an Ambassador. There's so much more to the character to have such a lame role, when it comes to Garak his role would be something bigger but secretive. Within the spaces while making a difference for Cardassia which I fear would make them more of a danger out on the frontier.

 

how? they suffered quite a culling, didn't they?

 

Cardassia is not dead; there are still Cardassians who are still alive and may have a passion to rebuild their foundation and may take notes from the blunders done and become a new nation of Cardassia. Whether they can be an ally to the UFP is up in the air. I don't believe Garak as a person to be a face for the nation but as an influencer from the shadows or better yet away from the limelight. Making decisions or devising strategies for the inner circle of the political branches while keeping his anonymity.

 

... and it which way would they be a thread for - let's say - the next 200 years?

 

Probably.

 

This is exactly the kind of stuff that the novels in which Garak is featured have addressed.

 

That's correct which you will see when you read the book.

Having Garak as Ambassador would give him the possibility to work in the shadows, both as an influencer and as someone who actually can take action, spy on those who might want to restore the old order and while doing so, have a relative safe base at DS9 among friends and old colleagues.

His performances as Maiden Garak at Quarks could both be realxing for him and another cover to hide his intentions when it comes to politics on bajor. It might also give Quark some ideas about an Earth 20th Century Music Month with some really interesting talents.

Slightly updated!

 

I think Robinsons performance was mostly excellent, of course. The character is intelligent, mysterious, charming and even comedic and the right amount of deadly. I don't care for the last when it reaches comical proportions though. I also have to remember the character came from an oppressive race despite his tragic past. But also its easy to like Garak only because he is used so little while other characters have more hours to grate on you and show their not so... interesting/entertaining sides.

 

What I loved about Garak, like Dukat before he was ruined, was the fact he loved being Cardassian. Never ashamed of it and had pride being one. Before the showrunners lost interest in the Cardassians they were the most layered villain ever created on Star Trek. Kira was so on point about Cardassians... which was why she hated them so much. Honest, cruel, and brutal. The so called lies were subtext to something which would be revealed later in the stories told with them in it. Wild card characters are the best to watch because they're so unpredictable.

 

That's why I find the Cardassians the best villains in Star Trek, much better than the over-rated Borg.

The Borg had their superior thechnology. But they were very one-dimensional. Not to mention that superior villains can turn out to be an one-trick-pony. It always comes to a time in a series when "the good guys" must come up with something which makes them defeat "the bad guys". The more supeior "the bad guys" are, the more powerful the weapon which defeats them must be. And then they are finished as dangerous villains. That was what happened to the Borg. They were on the way down after "Best Of Two Worlds".

The Cardassians on the other hand were no super-beings and they didn't have any super-technology to rely on. They were cunning, devious and therefore dangerous.

What made Cardassians so interesting, both as villains and charatcers overall were that they were so unpredictable. There were times when i actually wondered if Garak would turn out to be a bad guy in the long run. Like when he were about to capture the Cardassian dissidents in "Profit And Loss" but instead killed Toran, the Cardassian who was there to capture the dissidents. Or when he tortured Odo in "The Die Is Cast" and when he went insane in "Empok Nor".

the same but the other way around with Dukat. Sometimes it did seem that he would become some sort of ally to the federation and then he let the mask fall and became the same old hostile Dukat as before. definitely the best single villain in the series, maybe in all Star Trek.

 

exactly

 

I love how he brightens up when Bashir suggests they continue drinking in Garak’s quarters

 

This is a lot like the high school freshman who had to stay in JV Cheer instead of Varsity sent out on Instagram to her closest 200 friends, and whose punishment is now a Supreme Court case...

I'm sure Garak has moments when he feels that way, and he has more cause than most.

 

Once again I'm wondering am I the only one who really doesn't like Garak?
I guess I understand some of the things that can make him likeable but as a whole I don't like him.
Might I go as far as saying I find him annoying?
There is some charm.... but eventually just no.

 

you probably got a good chance for that

 

He is acid wit embodied. Neelix would either hate him or love him. Those two talking about humans with Phlox would be Trek’s “My Dinner with Andre.”