It’s January 1999, and Ronald D. Moore – writer/producer on Star Trek: Deep Space 9 – is chatting on AOL, answering fan questions about the show.
One particular question catches my eye. You don’t need to know the actual storyline, or have watched any of the episodes – that isn’t the important bit here.
Ron, I read on the boards that there was a scene in “To the Death” in which Weyoun somehow slipped Odo some virus that eventually resulted in his having to return to the Link in “Broken Link.” I read that this ended up on the cutting room floor. Is this true or just a wild rumor?
It’s just a rumor.
Now, one delightful thing about DS9 is that – unlike most TV shows – every single script is available for us to read. Not a boring transcript. The actual script, as used in production, including cut material, and the scene descriptions. Which means we can check and see if Moore is correct in this instance.
So, in the script for “To The Death”, we can read the following1:
Weyoun looks at Odo for a beat, then gives him a good-natured clap on the shoulder. (In case anyone’s interested, when he touches Odo, Weyoun is purposely infecting Odo with the disease that almost kills him in “BROKEN LINK.”)
WEYOUN: Then it’s over. After all, you’re a Founder. I live to serve you.
And with that, Weyoun steps back into his quarters.
True, this scene didn’t end up on the “cutting room floor” – it’s in the episode as broadcast, just without the physical act of Weyoun clapping Odo on the shoulder. But the main thrust of how most people would interpret Moore’s response – that the episode never intended to contain Weyoun infecting Odo – is incorrect.
I very much doubt it was a deliberate lie. There’s certainly no obvious reason to try and hide anything. Moore almost certainly just forgot. That’s what happens when making TV shows; you can’t remember everything, there’s far too much important stuff jostling for position in your head. It’s completely understandable.
Still, the moral is clear. Don’t trust people’s recollections. Always trust the paperwork.
* * *
It’s 2020, and I have decided to trace every single piece of music used in The Young Ones, for some godforsaken reason. But not to worry. I have some production paperwork to help me out, which should list every track cleared for use in the show.
So let’s take a look at part of the sheet for the episode “Summer Holiday”:
Ah, “Tension Background”. Wonder what that was used for? Let’s take a listen, I’m sure all will become obvious.
Oh. That literally doesn’t appear anywhere in the episode at all. Brilliant.
To cut a long, tedious story short: the paperwork is wrong. Not entirely wrong; a track from the Conroy library album Drama – Tension is actually used in the episode. But the cut used is Track 3, “Chase Sequence”, not Track 15, “Tension Background”.
And that piece of detective work means that we can enjoy the full version of the music used when Neil goes all Incredible Hulk:
So, the moral is clear. Never trust the paperwork.
* * *
Have I mentioned that I hate doing research?
Reformatted here for readability. ↩
