“In the Pale Moonlight” is my favorite episode of DS9. Depending on what day you ask, it will often top TOS’ “City on the Edge of Forever” as my all time trek episode period. The two episodes feature the same theme; the main character has to commit an immoral act, sacrificing of themselves, for the greater good. In “City o the Edge of Forever,” Kirk has to allow Edith Keeler’s otherwise preventable death in order to ensure United States entry into World War II. Otherwise, all he knows I the future will be lost. For ’In the Pale Moonlight,” Sisko needs to brig the Romylans into the war with the Dominion or al he holds dear will be destroyed.
Kirk’s immoral act of allowing Keeler to be struck by a hit and run driver leads to World War II and 65 million deaths. Necessary deaths as far as history is concerned, but deaths he is inadvertently responsible for. There is no way to know how may deaths Sisko’s actions will cause, but he, like Kirk, has convinced himself their actions are necessary evils.
The moral conflict of “In the Pale Moonlight” is the most divisive among Trek fans. It features a dark morality not often seen in Trek, but is fairly common to DS9. It is episodes like this that cause fans to either elevate DS9 as the best of Trek as I do or curse it for perverting Gene Roddenberry’s vision of enlightened future mankind having built a utopia without personal conflicts.
I have never bought into Roddenerry’s idealism. Man is too flawed because of his sinful nature. So you know where I am coming from when I praise the episode for portraying Sisko’s shady actions honestly. They are not condoned or condemned directly. Sisko is seen as a man who makes a choice he thinks was necessary and gets caught up in events beyond his control.
The episode begins with Sisko reading posted casualty reports from the frontlines. The war is going badly. There is a palpable sense of dread these people will have ultimately died in vain. When new reports come in that Betazed, deep in the heart of Federation territory, has fallen to the Dominion, Sisko decides bringing the Romulans into the war is the only way the Federation will survive.
The Romulans have been neutral since their failed attack on the Founders’ home world in ’The Die is Cast.” Sisko believes if he can prove the Dominion plans to attack the Romulan Empire, which they most certainly will eventually, he can convince them to join with the Federation and Klingons in battle. Siso goes to Garak, who no loner has tangible proof of the Dominion’s intentions to attack the Romulans, but suggests heand Sisko manufacture proof instead.
Here is where Sisko gets caught up in the storm. As far as he knows, he is just going to have to lie in order to convince the Romulans. But the situation quickly snowballs. He arranges for an expert forger to be released from prison in order to make a fake data rod, then has to cover up a subsequent assault on Quark by the forger through bribery. He also has to acquire a biomedical substance for Garak which cold be used to make biological weapons without knowing what Garak will do with it. Sisko wats to back out at this point, but is too caught up in the plot. He rationalizes sticking with it because of the latest casualty report.
The plan is for Siso ti give the fake data rod to Vrenak, a Romlan senator who is sympathetic to the Dominion. If he can be convinced the Dominion plans to attack, then the Romulans will have no choice but to join the war. However, the data rod does not pass Vrenak’s inspection.
Let us go ahead and get this out of the way:Vrenak’s oer the top response to the forgery is not quite as famous as Adm. Ackbar’s, “It’s a trap!” but it is close.
Afterwards, weget the big reveal. Garak has been playing Sisko all along. He knew the ata rod would not pass inspection, so he planted a bomb on Vrenek’s ship. The data rod would miraculously survive. Any imperfections would be blamed n damage from the explosion. Garak also killed the forger to cover it all up. So with a dead Romulan senator and a data rod showing the plans for an invasion of Romulus, the Romulans are bound to blame the Dominion and declare war.
They do.
Sisko ends the episode with a confession that he is now a liar, cheater, briber, and an accessory to murder, but declares he can live with it because he has probably saved the Alpha Quadrant by his actions.
I think what puts my cynical little heart aflutter is that an alien, whose value system has been soundly trashed by Trek up until this point in comparison to the Federation’s moral superiority, is the catalyst for the Federation’s salvation. The most damning part is Sisko knew that and deliberately lied to himself about what arak would really do in order to accomplish the goal.
We definitely head into uncomfortable territory with “In the Pale Moonlight.” Everyone would like to bean idealist, but will not always let you. Sometimes it comes down to making such nasty choices that go against what we would normally think is right.
To be completely honest, Sisko took it upon himself to initiate an immoral act because he thought the results would be worth it. That is an ends justifies the means argument has to give one pause. I certainly do not advocate that philosophy. But considering the stakes, did Sisko make the right choice, even if it was not the moral one? It is an issue that is left up to the viewer to decide. It isa rare turn in Trek that we are not beat over the head with what trek’s viewpoint considers the only proper course of action.
Rating: ***** (out of 5)
