Showrunner Mike McMahan discusses “Garashir” becoming canon after the couple’s delightfully unexpected appearance onStar Trek: Lower Decks. Chief Medical Officer Bashir and Cardassian Garak struck up an unlikely friendship while stationed together onStar Trek: Deep Space Nine’s titular space station. Fans shipping Bashir and Garak became a thing over the course of the series, but the pair never became romantically attached inStar Trekcanon, until their recent animated appearance onLower Decksseason 5.
Hologram Bashir and Garak are now officially Garashir in canon thanks toLower Decks' “Fissure Quest” episode, but it was always that way in the mind of showrunner McMahan, as he discussed during a recent interview where he addressed making fan fiction come to life, if only briefly (viaCollider):
“Well, what’s so funny to me is I’ve always felt like Garashir was kind of canon. I didn’t do the heavy lifting on that, you know? To me, the surprise was getting to do it in a way that made sense with when the show takes place, and I really don’t like to mess with what Ira [Steven Behr, DS9 showrunner] did, you know what I mean? I’m very, very careful about what I do with other people’s characters. I think for me, getting to do a multiversal story really helped be able to tell the story without having to add any asterisks to it.”
McMahan then discussed turning medical officer Bashir into a hologram, in homage toStar Trek: Voyager’s holographic doctor:
“I love the Doctor from Voyager, so making Bashir a hologram was a treat for me. And then saying, ‘Yeah, Garak is one step away from being a surgeon, then a tailor.’ It kind of involves sewing stuff, you know what I mean? Getting to have that added texture to it more than what anybody had ever seen in anything else that had been talked about with those characters, and then on top of that, getting them to have been in… It’s not a new relationship for them, you’re coming into a relationship where they have a pattern. I wanted fans who love that dynamic to feel like they were getting a feeling of, ‘We’re coming in in the middle of it, and they’re happy, and this is fun.'”
What This Means For Bashir And Garak
Lower Decks Respected The Past While Updating Canon
Lower Decks’ “Fissure Quest” made amusing use of the multiverse concept by giving new animated life to several characters fromStar Treklore. Multiple versions ofVoyager’s Harry Kim appeared, as did single variants ofEnterprise’s T’Pol,DS9’s Curzon Dax andStar Trek: First Contact’s Lily Sloane. The show gave all of the above some amusing business, but the highlight was the realization of countless shipping fantasies as Garak and hologram Bashir were revealed to be married.
The idea ofGarak and Bashirbeing a couple was spawned from the characters’ many interactions, often over lunch, onDS9. In McMahan’s mind, fans already did the “heavy lifting” on bringing the two characters together, and te multiverse opened up by “Fissure Quest” was just the perfect opportunity to realize the longed-for coupling in canon without altering the characters as originally conceived onDS9. McMahan indeed was sensitive to “messing with” what the characters originally were underDS9showrunner Ira Stephen Behr, a sign of his respect for otherStar Trekcreatives, and forTreklore overall.
Our Take On “Garashir” Becoming Canon
Lower Decks Makes Homage Fun
Lower Decks’ Garashir reveal was, first and foremost, a fun nod toDS9fans. It was also further evidence of the refreshing new life Lower Deckshas brought to theStar Trekuniverse, through the use of animation and humor. New-eraStar Trekis always nodding to the past, but sometimes overdoes the blatant nostalgia, while often losing the real spirit ofTrekin the process.
Tipping a cap to the past is always best done in small doses, with a sense of respect rather than reverence, and that is howStar Trek: Lower Decksgoes about paying homage to the universe and its deep lore. The imagination and sense of fun behind the animated Paramount+ series helps it toy around withTreklore but not insult it.
Star Trek Lower Decks
Cast
The animated comedy series Star Trek: Lower Decks follows the support crew on one of Starfleet’s least significant ships, the U.S.S. Cerritos, in 2380. Ensigns Mariner (Tawny Newsome), Boimler (Jack Quaid), Rutherford (Eugene Cordero), and Tendi (Noël Wells) have to keep up with their duties and their social lives often. At the same time, the ship is being rocked by a multitude of sci-fi anomalies.
