Subject: Answers
Date: Tue, Apr 14, 1998 14:20 EDT
From: RonDMoore
Message-id: <1998041418205901.OAA10926@ladder01.news.aol.com>
<<how can a section 31 exist for so long without anybody ever hearing about
it; isn't there an internet in the future?>>
Who told you about Section 31?
There is no Section 31.
What's your name, anyway?
<<I apologize if this question has been asked already, but why did the
timeline have to be stretched to the breaking point for Wrongs Darker? I
felt that the issue of the comfort women had the potential to be a powerful
story, but couldn't it have been told in a more believable way with either
Tora Naprem and Dukat, or since Kira Nerys' moral dilemma was central to
this story, with Kira Meru and another Cardassian? It seemed a bit forced
and "soap-operaish" to have it be Dukat AND Meru.>>
"Wrongs Darker..." began life as a story about something completely
different. It was pitched as a tale about a group of Bajoran children in the
Occupation being sent into the future as a way of rescuing them from a
brutal, Mengele-esque Cardassian doctor. "Ghosts" of the children start
appearing on the Promenade in DS9's present, Kira figures out the time
travel angle, and then goes back in time herself to help the escape of the
Bajoran children into the present. (Don't ask how -- trust me, it was long
and complicated).
As that story began to evolve, it turned darker and darker with every
passing moment. Kira started working in the lab of "Mengele" as her cover
while the Cardassian hero of the story desperately works to finish his time
portal. Eventually, the story of Kira having to work in this chamber of
horrors got so grim and so depressing that we decided to punt. The episode
was becoming an exercise in character (and audience) torture, and we needed
to go in another direction. Dukat had always been in the story, albeit in
the background. When we began re-evaluating the episode, we naturally
gravitated toward making it more of a Kira/Dukat show. The notion of using
Kira's mother was born at this stage of the game. We researched the
timeline very carefully and found nothing that would contradict having Meru
and Dukat on Terok Nor at the same time. The idea of Meru working as a
"comfort woman" was something that came up late in the process.
So, in answer to your question, we never started out to tell a "comfort
women" story and then bent the timeline to that end. "Wrongs..." developed
from something else entirely, as do many episodes.
<<Any plans to have Kai Opaka on the show soon?>>
Not at the moment.
<<As a sort of nice way to bring closure to relationships, do you imagine
that you will bring Lwaxana (and her baby) back to the station? To your
knowledge, did Lwaxana and Odo ever get divorced?>>
I believe they did get divorced, and I'm not sure if we'll see Lwaxana
again.
<<IN "Far Beyond the Stars", Martok said that "I like those Cardassians.
Especially their neck ridges". Or something like that :-). Wasn't Andy
supposed to be in this episode? Was the role of the artist supposed to be
written for Andy in the first place? Its kind of odd..... I felt that
Martok should have said something like... "I like these KLINGONS....
especially their
neck ridges".>>
The role was originally written for Odo, with Martok as the editor. We
switched them as the editor grew to be a larger and more important player in
the drama. The reference to Cardassians rather than Klingons was a
deliberate choice that said in a subtle way that these people were not
literal inspirations for the characters that Benny was creating.
