Deep Space Nine - In the Pale Moonlight

Plot: As casualties mount, Sisko decides to turn the Romulans against the Dominion. He and Garak hatch a daring plan to convince the Romulans that the Dominion will attack them.

Oh no, another overrated DS9 episode. The one is rated the Best Episode ever, with a 9.5 IMDB rating. And well, it’s a good, above-average episode. Has some good writing and acting. But why the wild praise? It has the following problems:

• The episode tells rather than shows  Literally, 8 minutes consists of Sisko speaking directly to the camera telling us (1) what he feels and (2) giving us exposition. Surprisingly, Brooks does a good job with soliloquies – but it’s still just one guy sitting in a chair and talking.
• The plot is bare bones. It’s a “bottle episode”, and almost all dialogue is shared between Sisko and Garak. Basically, we follow Sisko and Garak forging an electronic document by cutting deals with various criminals and Quark. We then meet Romulan Ambassador who discovers the fakery. Garak then pins the death of the Romulan Ambassador on the Cardassians, resulting in a Romulans Declaration of War. Mission accomplished. That’s pretty much it. The whole thing pretty much moves from A to B, without much tension or drama.
• The reasons for Sisko’s Guilty Conscience are NOT persuasive. One critic called it a “scary, gripping and chilling tale” because Sisko had to lie, steal, cheat, and kill to get the Romulans in the war. But we’ve already seen Sisko kill any number of people in the war, and he’s used chemical weapons to wreck a Marquis planet – just to get Eddington. And he didn’t feel any regret over that. And since the Romulans SHOULD be the Federation allies for their own good, it’s hard to see where all guilt and self-disgust is coming from. 
• And here's another reason why this is all so silly: If the Federation "CIA" had forged the electronic document and done everything Sisko did (as opposed to Garak) would anyone be upset? Of course not.  That's what spies do. So, the only important questionable action was the murder of the Ambassador.  And Sikso didn't do that.
• The episode stacks the deck. We’re supposed to applaud Sisko tearing himself apart over his actions, but agree it was necessary.  But the episode shrinks from truly confronting the audience about the hard choices being made. First, it shows us the Federation deaths. so we sympathize with Sisko that the Dominon must be stopped.  Then, Garek's murder of the Forger and the Ambassador is made more acceptable by making both unlikable. One is a violent boozer, the other snippy and cold. Sisko’s guilt and tough moral choice would've been more impactful if we'd liked the Forger and the Ambassador . Instead, you’re not sad when the two are dead. And you're more accepting of Garak killing them for the "greater good". 

Summary: This is a well executed, tightly written episode. Garak, the Forger, and the Romulan Ambassador are well-acted and the highlight of the episode. I also liked Sisko browbeating Bashir into giving him an illegal substance. People seem to very excited about “our hero” behaving in an unethical manner, but I don’t see the genius in that. I can’t rate the episode any higher. Rating ***