Deep Space Nine #27 A Stitch In Time

Review/Summary Written by Thomas Sharp

A Stitch In Time was written by actor/director Andrew J. Robinson, the actor who portrayed the Cardassian tailor/exiled spy Elim Garak on Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, from the second episode ‘Past Prologue’ to the series finale ‘What You Leave Behind’. His was one of the most interesting characters, and a shining example of why Deep Space Nine was such wonderful addition to the Star Trek universe; it had the ability to portray recurring characters, and let them grow. Who can be a fan of the show, and not have a place for Garak on their list of favorite characters?

The story is of Garak’s life. It is set at the beginning of his education and adulthood, his years and assignments with the Obsidian Order, and his exile from Cardassia, which led to him still being on Deep Space Nine after the withdrawal from Bajor. It takes the form of a letter to Doctor Julian Bashir, the Chief Medical Officer on Deep Space Nine & Garak’s close friend and lunch companion, and personal log entries that Garak had recorded for himself. The reflections of his past are interspersed with the activities on the station; after Garak planted the bomb on Romulan Senator Vreenak’s shuttle in ‘In the Pale Moonlight’, the events after Jadzia’s death in ‘Tears of the Prophets’, and finally, the rebuilding of his life on what is left of Cardassia after the Dominion tried to wipe them out in ‘What You Leave Behind.’

I strongly recommend this story to anyone who enjoys a well written tale, Star Trek fan or not. It is well written, and in a way surprising that Mister Robinson did not use a ghostwriter. I read somewhere that these stories are ideas he came up with, to help him play Garak, since the character had no real back story, his past always shrouded in mystery.

The prologue has a quote from ‘The Wire’, and it was always one of my favorite lines from Garak:

“Of all the stories you told me, which ones are true and which ones weren’t?”

“My dear Doctor, they’re all true...”

“Even the lies?”

“Especially the lies.”

Deep Space Nine's Episodes Featuring Garak

• 'Past Prologue'
• 'Cardassians'
• 'Profit and Loss'
• 'The Wire'
• 'The Search, Part Two'
• 'Second Skin'
• 'Civil Defense'
• 'Distant Voices'
• 'Improbable Cause' & 'The Die is Cast'
• 'The Way of the Warrior'
• 'Our Man Bashir'
• 'For the Cause'
• 'Body Parts'
• 'Broken Link'
• 'Things Past'
• 'In Purgatory's Shadow' & 'By Inferno's Light'
• 'Empok Nor'
• 'Call to Arms'
• 'A Time to Stand', 'Rocks and Schoals', 'Favor the Bold' & 'Sacrifice of Angels'
• 'In the Pale Moonlight'
• 'Tears of the Prophets'
• 'Afterimage'
• 'Inter Arma Enim Silent Leges'
• 'When It Rains...', 'Tacking Into the Wind', 'Extreme Measures' & 'The Dogs of War'
• 'What You Leave Behind'

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