Garak vs. Obrien, who is Bashirs best friend?

[Laughing Dragon]

So, I just read this recent article on "Screenrant" I go for various geeks stuff. They are not always completely accurate but... anyway what is your opinion? I agree that Obrien is his best friend. They were definitely closer on a personal level. While Garak and Bashir were more intellectual equals and communicated with each other well. Garak did not even mind blowing up a planet with Bashir on it for the greater good. O'Brien is who Bashir went to about his secret of being a genetically enhanced human. Not Garak. Though, they did replace Garak with O'Brien I felt, my theory is that of the homosexual undertones who knows how their friendship could have progressed. In the end with what is canon Bashir was more loyal than Garak as Bashir stuck with him threw the withdrawals from his implants. What is your opinion? I would like to add Jadzia as they were occasional confidants. But I don't think she would make it to a poll.

Chief O'Brien Or Garak: Who Is Dr. Bashir’s Real Best Friend In Star Trek: DS9?

Which Bashir bromance was best?

screenrant.com

 

[Fuddles]

It's not even close. O'Brien

 

[Tosk]

Yeah, this is not even a question. Miles is miles ahead of of Elim, even if their names are almost the same, only reversed.

P.S. Screenrant can eat dicks. Not because of the article, just in general.

 

[USS Firefly]

Easy, O'Brien

 

[Lord Garth]

O'Brien is Bashir's friend. Garak is Bashir's lover (but the show wouldn't dare say it).

 

[somebuddyX]

I think O'Brien is his best friend and Garak is his mentor.

 

[Oddish]

O'brien. I don't even know how to describe Garak's relationship with him... part crush, part student, part friend, part useful tool.

 

[Lynx]

O'Brien is Bashir's friend. Garak is Bashir's lover (but the show wouldn't dare say it).

O'brien. I don't even know how to describe Garak's relationship with him... part crush, part student, part friend, part useful tool.

There is nothing in the series or in the excellent book A Stitch In Time by Andrew J. Robinson (who played Garak in the series) which gives any hint that Garak should be Bashir's lover or have any interest in him.

Garak's love of his life was a Cardassian woman named Palandine. It was his interest in her and events caused by that interest which actually got him exiled to DS9.

Another love interest Garak had was Tora Ziyal who was murdered by Damar when the Cardassians abandoned the station during the Dominion War. A pity, she and Garak would have been a nice couple.

As for Bashir, his best friend was O'Brien.

But I think that Garak regarded Bashir as his best friend.

 

[Tosk]

Another love interest Garak had was Tora Ziyal who was murdered by Damar when the Cardassians abandoned the station during the Dominion War. A pity, she and Garak would have been a nice couple.

Personally, I don't see it. I think Garak cared for her greatly, but I'm not so sure he ever felt a romantic love the way she did.

 

[Laughing Dragon]

There is nothing in the series or in the excellent book A Stitch In Time by Andrew J. Robinson (who played garak in the series) which gives any hint that Garak should be Bashir's lover or have any interest in him.

Garak's love of his life was a Cardassian woman named Palandine. It was his interest in her and events caused by that interest which actually got him exiled to DS9.

Another love interest Garak had was Tora Ziyal who was murdered by Damar when the Cardassians abandoned the station during the Dominion War. A pity, she and Garak would have been a nice couple.

As for Bashir, his best friend was O'Brien.

But I think that Garak regarded Bashir as his best friend.

Actually, Robinson has gone on record as saying he played it that way at least in the beginning. Supposedly they dropped that not because he was straight but because it would be too chancy. Even if that were not true, he could just be bi. And he turned Ziyal's way because he knew that Bashir was not into him like that. You cannot tell me that Garak's first scene ever with Bashir is not blatant attraction. In the book there was a part where Garak was very angry that Bashir seemed to be spending less time with him or ignoring him. Just because he had a first love does not mean he could not develop an attraction later. He could be bi. Andrew basically said he was fluid sexually so that's close enough.

Here is proof: Link with quotes.

Star Trek: Deep Space Nine Actor Wanted His Character to Be Openly Gay

Star Trek: Deep Space Nine was thrust back into the spotlight last year with the release of the documentary What We Left Behind: Looking Back at Star Trek: Deep Space Nine. This year, Deep Space Nine is returning to comics for the first time in over a decade. Part of the discussion around the...

comicbook.com

 

[Laughing Dragon]

Personally, I don't see it. I think Garak cared for her greatly, but I'm not so sure he ever felt a romantic love the way she did.

Not really from me either but I can see how people might read it that way.

 

[Bad Thoughts]

An actor did something, hoping it would influence the writers. It didn't happen. After that one episode, the writers made no effort to explore Garak's attraction to anything but women. ISB admits it was a lost opportunity, but there was nothing there.

 

[at Quark's]

I always had the feeling Garak cared for Ziyal and got a bit of an ego boost because of her almost innocent attraction towards him (and more in general, was touched by her innocence), but that he never would have 'abused' that innocence by becoming her older lover.

 

[Oddish]

Garak's thing for Ziyal seems like an effort by the showrunners to make him seem more heterosexual, a counter to Robinson's original "I'm so hot for Bashir" attitude.

 

[at Quark's]

^possibly, but even then, the attraction seems to come more from Ziyal's side than his.

Personally, I couldn't care less as to whether he is hetero/gay/bi. Unless when it would somehow be important to the greater story that is told.

 

[Tomalak]

Garak is obviously intrigued by Ziyal, but I never sensed that her romantic infatuation was returned. For one thing, the age gap was pretty substantial.

After her death, Kira tells him that Ziyal really loved him, and he doesn't reply that he loved her too, he just says he never understood why. Which is a typically Garak answer.

As for the OP, it's obviously O'Brien. Friends are people who can absolutely trust and rely on. That's not Garak, but it definitely is O'Brien.

 

[Tosk]

"My dear, I find your blind adoration both flattering and disturbing [...]"


I think the lop-sided relationship is summed up pretty well in In Purgatory's Shadow:

Ziyal "But if something were to happen to you, I don't know what I'd do."

Garak "Oh, I'm sure you could find someone else to eat your meals with.Not that you'd have to. I fully intend to return."

Ziyal "It's not just the meals."

Garak "Yes, I know. I'm the only other Cardassian on the station."

Ziyal "It's not that either. You know that. It's just that you're intelligent and cultured and kind."

Garak "My dear, you're young, so I realize that you're a poor judge of character."

Ziyal "Why do you always make fun of my feelings for you?"

Garak "Perhaps because I find them a bit misguided."

Ziyal "If that's what you think, why do you spend so much time with me?"

Garak "Because I'm exiled and alone, and a long way from home. And when I'm with you it doesn't feel so bad."


(That's not to say he has no feelings for her. I would never argue that. And I do think he probably cares for her more than he would admit directly to her.)

He seems moderately surprised (and doesn't outright reciprocate) her hug and kiss at the end of By Inferno's Light.

Later, he does "kiss back" slightly when Ziyal initiates it in A Call to Arms. His feelings may be growing, or he simply allows himself to enjoy the moment despite everything else. We'll never know for sure, because it's their last moment together. She's dead the next time he sees her.

 

[Paul Weaver]

Unless when it would somehow be important to the greater story that is told.

It is the greater story

The story of DS9 is about the characters and their connections. Remove Garak’s relationships, with Bashir, Zial, Dukat etc and you diminish the story.

 

[kkt]

There is nothing in the series or in the excellent book A Stitch In Time by Andrew J. Robinson (who played garak in the series) which gives any hint that Garak should be Bashir's lover or have any interest in him.

Garak's love of his life was a Cardassian woman named Palandine. It was his interest in her and events caused by that interest which actually got him exiled to DS9.

Another love interest Garak had was Tora Ziyal who was murdered by Damar when the Cardassians abandoned the station during the Dominion War. A pity, she and Garak would have been a nice couple.

As for Bashir, his best friend was O'Brien.

But I think that Garak regarded Bashir as his best friend.

Garak and Ziyal were only a couple out of necessity as the only Cardassians on the station. After the war, Garak will stay on Cardassia while Ziyal if she lived would still not be welcome there as a half Bajoran.

 

[Richard S. Ta]

Definitely Miles.

Garak is more like that weird person you know, even like, but could never call a friend. He’s just too shifty.

With Miles, you always know exactly where you are.