Summary
- Ronald D. Moore spearheaded a sleeker Romulan costume design with narrower shoulder pads in DS9, because he "hated" the quilted TNG uniforms.
- DS9 radically improved diplomatic relations between the Federation and the Romulan Star Empire, something which Star Trek: Nemesis built upon.
- Changing Romulan-Federation relations took a hit with Abrams' Star Trek movie, undoing DS9's progress.
DS9's USS Defiant with a cloaking device so they could covertly acquire intel on the Dominion. Subsequent season 3 episodes revealed just what the Romulans intended to do with that information.
In Star Trek: Deep Space Nine season 3, episode 17, "Visionary", Chief O'Brien (Colm Meaney) unearthed a Romulan plot to destroy Deep Space Nine and the wormhole to prevent a Dominion incursion. Weeks later, "Improbable Cause" and "The Die is Cast", revealed that the Cardassian's Obsidian Order and the Romulan Tal Shiar formed an alliance to destroy the Dominion. Starting life as a standalone episode about Garak (Andrew J. Robinson), "Improbable Cause" was expanded into an epic two-parter that changed the course of not just DS9's Dominion War arc, but the presentation of the Romulans in Star Trek.
Every Star Trek Character Killed By Ron Moore
Ronald D. Moore sent many big-name Star Trek characters to their final frontier during his time on The Next Generation and Deep Space Nine...
Ronald D. Moore Insisted On A Big Romulan Change In Star Trek: DS9
No more Romulan shoulder pads.
When "Improbable Cause" was expanded into a two-parter, Ronald D. Moore wrote the conclusion, Star Trek: Deep Space Nine season 3, episode 21, "The Die is Cast". However, Moore's biggest change to the Romulans didn't come from anything he wrote in the script. ing the episode in the Star Trek: Deep Space Nine Companion, Moore discussed how he saw an opportunity to change something he'd hated about the Romulans from as far back as Star Trek: The Next Generation season 1:
"I hated, underline hated, the Romulan costumes. Big shoulder pads, the quilting, I just loathed it. I begged, insisted, screamed, pleaded."
The quilted Romulan costumes had previously been designed by William Theiss, who established the look of the Romulans in Star Trek: The Next Generation. Theiss' successor, Robert Blackman, deigned not to redesign them to save himself extra work. For Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, Blackman fulfilled Ronald D. Moore's request, and set about deg a "sleeker" and "more menacing" costume for Lovok (Leland Orser) and his fellow operatives. Using the same material, Blackman dyed it darker, and substantially reduced the width of the shoulder pads, creating a new look Romulan costume for future Star Trek appearances.
Star Trek: DS9 Changed The Romulans For The Better - Until Abrams Ruined It
Robert Blackman's sleeker Romulan costumes, and their subsequent variations, continued to appear right up until Star Trek: Nemesis. So too did the idea that, finally, the Romulan Star Empire and the Federation were closer than ever to becoming allies. One of the few interesting things about Nemesis is the parallel between Lieutenant Commander Worf (Michael Dorn) setting aside his anti-Romulan prejudice and Captain James T. Kirk (William Shatner) doing the same with his own feelings toward the Klingons in Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country. At the end of Nemesis, it appeared that the Federation and the Romulans would continue working together.
The Star Trek: Deep Space Nine episode "Inter Arma Enim Silent Leges" revealed that Section 31 were involved in manipulating Romulan politics to aid future relations with the Federation when the Dominion War ended.
Unfortunately, J.J. Abrams' 2009 Star Trek movie threw a spanner in the works with the devastating Romulan supernova, and embittered miner Nero (Eric Bana). Nero's hatred of Ambassador Spock (Leonard Nimoy) and the Federation for not doing enough to help, defined the plot of Star Trek: Picard season 1, which introduced evil Romulan siblings and the villainous Commodore Oh (Tamlyn Tomita). It was a disappointingly regressive step that threw away a lot of the positive changes that Star Trek: Deep Space Nine had brought about during the Dominion War.
Star Trek: Deep Space Nine
- Release Date
- 1993 - 1999-00-00
- Network
- CBS
- Showrunner
- Michael Piller, Ira Steven Behr
WHERE TO WATCH
- Writers
- Rick Berman, Michael Piller
- Franchise(s)
- Star Trek
- Seasons
- 7
- Streaming Service(s)
- Paramount Plus
- Where To Watch
- Paramount Plus
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