Your favorite black humor on DS9?
- Thread starter Ragitsu
- Start date
Hmmm... that would be... YES?
Another one I like. (From The Search)
Bashir "Well, I guess this means the end of our Starfleet careers."
Garak "Oh, I wouldn't worry about that, Doctor."
Dax "That's easy for you to say."
Garak "Oh, you misunderstand me, Lieutenant. All I meant was it's a little foolish to worry about your careers at a time like this, when there's a good chance we're all about to be killed."
Bashir "Well, I guess this means the end of our Starfleet careers."
Garak "Oh, I wouldn't worry about that, Doctor."
Dax "That's easy for you to say."
Garak "Oh, you misunderstand me, Lieutenant. All I meant was it's a little foolish to worry about your careers at a time like this, when there's a good chance we're all about to be killed."
How so? Killing someone in self-defense (Entek was pulling a phaser likely to shoot Garak and the others in the back) isn't psychopathic at all. It's basic self-preservation. Saying "I wish I didn't have to kill him." in another form is reasonable. Being able to get over it in 1/10 of a second? That's his training. Garak is a known murderer and assassin isn't he?
The odd thing in that scene is Kira and Odo being shocked, considering how many Cardassians she killed herself and how much of a brutal occupation he witnessed first hand.
Assuming he was sincere, naturally; there is a chance Garak was speaking with tongue firmly-in-cheek.
Saying "a pity, I rather liked him", on the other hand...
Not saying Garak is a full blown psycho, just that he has tendencies that way.
Sociopathic, perhaps? Either way, that kind of behavior - without a skilled writer and/or well-composed score "behind the scenes" - is a bit odd, to say the least. One point in Garak's favor is that he was in the company of others; he wasn't cracking wise solely to himself.
I could see someone doing that and making that comment to themself with no one around without it seeming crazy or a nutjob. Can easily be their way of taking a moment to honor the person they just vaporized. Given the situation, I think it's perfectly normal to do a quick acknowledgement of the person and move on to finish the job you were there to do.
I think all Cardassians have those tendencies. Dukat is essentially Space Hitler/Stalin, while nearly all the rest of them rape, mass murder, and plunder to their hearts' content, yet somehow they're written with a sympathetic tone over and over. They work shady deals in dark caves to maintain secrecy of their newly altered identities and torture confessions out of innocent people as SOP. So Garak is absolutely not a 1% psychopathic outlier of his culture or species. Garak is one of the better ones frankly. He learned change by living peacefully in a more "normal" by our standards culture. Damar doesn't get it until it's his family that was rounded up and killed like he'd done (or at least was a participant) to so many others. He gets a true understanding of guilt and compassion for all of 5 seconds then he's dead 15 minutes later.
EVEK: On the contrary, he confessed quite early in the interrogation procedure, far sooner than we expected. I believe he truly felt remorse.
HUDSON: We want to talk to him ourselves.
EVEK: Bring him in.
(A body is carried in on a stretcher)
EVEK: Unfortunately, he committed suicide in his cell.
A cold "oh btw, that guy is dead." is normal for Cardassians, and they usually see no value in non-Cardassian life as more than a means to an end. Same as their deaths.
DS9, through some excellent writing and acting, portrayed Cardassians as not wholly irredeemable when they really should be. TNG has "well, he must not be evil since he's willing to have a beer with O'Brien" or some random more govt official type Cardassian stops the black ops torture of Picard but really only when it was untenable to continue. DS9 explores intense anxiety stemming from childhood abuse. Garak is a walking bag of mostly trauma and conditioning. All Cardies probably are.
As for dark humor:
GARAK: I only wish I were still a member of the Obsidian Order. This would make a wonderful interrogation chamber. Tight quarters, no air, bad lighting, random electric shocks. It's perfect.
TAIN: I always did have a soft spot for you, Garak. Another of my flaws.
GARAK: Enabran!
(Odo knocks Garak out)
TAIN: These Founders, Elim. They're very good. Next time [we attempt genocide] we should be more careful.
Tain is already looking forward to his next mass murder while telling his son he should have killed him as a child... after his assassin failed to kill his son as an adult. Garak may have been raised by a psychopath, but I don't think he's written as one himself.
I don't think Garak is either a psychopath or a sociopath. I expect any tendencies in that direction aren't inherent, but necessary coping mechanisms/life skills as an intelligence operative in a fascist regime. Garak isn't a very good person, in a moral sense, but bad people aren't by definition sociopaths or pyschopaths.
More to the point, he is definitely hilarious. "Cadet, there might be hope for you yet!"
More to the point, he is definitely hilarious. "Cadet, there might be hope for you yet!"
