History YMMV / StarTrekDeepSpaceNineS06E19InThePaleMoonlight

* FamilyUnfriendlyAesop: Remember the famous PatrickStewartSpeech from [[Recap/StarTrekTheNextGenerationS5E19TheFirstDuty “The First Duty”]]? About how a Starfleet Officer’s first duty is to the truth, whether scientific truth or factual truth? This episode just took a position that truth must be placed secondary to security, if the situation got desperate enough.
* HarsherInHindsight: After watching this episode, think back to this bit of dialogue from "For The Cause", then imagine what Sisko might be feeling if he ever thinks back to it:
--> '''Cassidy:''' You... are evil.\\
'''Sisko:''' I am a Starfleet officer, the paragon of virtue.\\
'''Cassidy:''' You're more like a ''parody'' of virtue.

** It doesn't help that it was quite literally the previous episode that had Sisko disdaining the use of all of the methods he makes use of in this episode, making it look less like he was gradually worn down by casualty reports between the two episodes and more like he was just a hypocrite.

* EnsembleDarkhorse: Such is this episode's fame that Vreenak is one of the more popular one-shot characters on the show.

* HarsherInHindsight: After watching this episode, think back to this bit of dialogue from "For The Cause":
--> '''Cassidy:''' You...are evil.\\

** Now imagine what Sisko must be feeling if he ever thinks back to this moment.

* MemeticMutation: [[http://knowyourmeme.com/memes/its-a-fake Images of Senator Vreenak's gloriously hammy "It's a faaaaake!"]] are often posted on online fora as a response to suspected hoaxes.

** If Garak was playing Sisko from the beginning, then is it possible that ''he'' was the one who required the bio-mimentic gel? It's not inconcievable he could have already had a Data-Rod in his possession, plus Bashir mentions that the gel can be used to create organic explosives, and the bomb Garak used to kill Vreenak obviously had to come from ''somewhere''.
* BrokenBase: This is either one of the best entries in the franchise, or exhibit 1 on why this series isn't really Star Trek.

** Did Garak ever seriously try to pull off Sisko's original plan (getting all his contacts killed in the process), or did he just lie about[[note]]either not contacting anyone, or they simply couldn't find evidence[[/note]] it to force Sisko into his own? Especially since later in the episode he advises Sisko that the best way to convince an honorable man like Vreenak of a lie is to tell them good men died to get the info...

* CrowningMomentOfAwesome: The final scene reveals that this whole episode was Garak's. Looks like Garak finally got Sisko back for the [[Recap/StarTrekDeepSpaceNineS03E05SecondSkin extortion.]]
** You could also argue it being one for Sisko. Pushed to his limits and forced to confront his morality head on while giving the federation one more chance.

** Did Garak ever seriously try to pull off Sisko's original plan (getting all his contacts killed in the process), or did he just lie about it to force Sisko into his own? Especially since later in the episode he advises Sisko that the best way to convince an honorable man like Vreenak of a lie is to tell them good men died to get the info...

* MemeticMutation: [[http://knowyourmeme.com/memes/its-a-fake Images of Senator Vreenak's gloriously hammy "It's a faaaaake!"]] are often posted on online fora as a response to suspected hoaxes.

* MemeticMutation: [[http://knowyourmeme.com/memes/its-a-fake Images of Senator Vreenak's gloriously hammy "It's a fake!"]] are often posted on online fora as a response to suspected hoaxes.

* BrokenAesop: Remember the famous PatrickStewartSpeech from [[Recap/StarTrekTheNextGenerationS5E19TheFirstDuty “The First Duty”]]? About how a Starfleet Officer’s first duty is to the truth, whether scientific truth or factual truth? This episode just took a position that truth must be placed secondary to security, if the situation got desperate enough.

* BrokenBase / LoveItOrHateIt: This is either one of the best entries in the franchise, or exhibit 1 on why this series isn't really Star Trek.

* BrokenAesop: Remember the famous PatrickStewartSpeech from [[Recap/StarTrekTheNextGenerationS05E19TheFirstDuty The First Duty]]? About how a Starfleet Officer’s first duty is to the truth, whether scientific truth or factual truth? This episode just took a position that truth must be placed secondary to security, if the situation got desperate enough.

* BrokenBase/LoveItOrHateIt: This is either one of the best entries in the franchise, or exhibit 1 on why this series isn't really Star Trek.

** If Garak was playing Sisko from the beginning, then is it possible that ''he'' the one who required the bio-mimentic gel? It's not inconcievable he could have already had a Data-Rod in his possession, plus Bashir mentions that the gel can be used to create organic explosives, and the bomb Garak used to kill Vreenak obviously had to come from ''somewhere''.

** Was ''Garak'' the one who required the bio-mimentic gel? It's not inconcievable he could have had already had a Data-Rod in his possession, but Bashir mentions that the substance can be used to create organic explosives, and the bomb Garak used to kill Vreenak obviously had to come from ''somewhere''.

* AlternativeCharacterInterpretation: Did Sisko delete the log because he really can't live with it and doesn't want any reminders... or is he living with it, and in a pragmatic epiphany realizes that the log could be incriminating and deletes it, just like how Garak "deleted" Tolar?

* MagnificentBastard: Garak's finest moment of magnificent bastardry.