On the subject of Spirk and Garashir commonalities, The Wire and Amok Time are equivalent in that they are The Peak Shipping Episode - because they are tonally opposite of the majority of the onscreen dynamic, and that tonal dissonance brings the ship from "those two guys" to "barely even subtext." Spirk is very much a product of its time: a brothers in arms bond that goes deeper than just simple platonic affection. Its subtext is completely accidental; neither actor was intentionally playing a romance. Yet there is something more compelling there than just brothers in arms. There is a sensuality to some of their interactions, but for the most part I read this primal devotion to each other. One half cannot exist without the other. They state this on screen multiple times. And while there is that devotion in Amok Time, it is unabashedly horny in a way that very few other Spirk moments are. They are straight up fight fucking in the sand. People saw it in 1967, people see it today. It is the type of gay sex that isn't actually gay sex but is more homosexual than gay sex because it's not gay sex. It's the complete opposite of their usual dynamic, and yet it brings a primal chemistry to the mix. It exposes that their relationship is not just simple comraderie, there's a sexual undertone there. Garashir, on the other hand, is a far more sensual, even erotic dynamic. It's acted out intentionally on the parts of both actors, especially Andy Robinson's half. Garak literally cruises Julian in the replimat for their very first meeting, and for each one of their lunch dates it always feels a bit subversive (usually because they're debating some hard hitting topics). There's a lot of innuendo going on, visually.
And while there are some erotic moments in The Wire (the cork scene in Quark's anyone?), it is, first and foremost, a story about pure unconditional love. Garak and Bashir might be two utter freaks, but they are devoted to each other in some of the most romantic ways I've ever seen on television. Garak asking for forgiveness and Julian giving it to him freely is a moment of pure, true love. Likewise, Garak submitting to Julian's care and being vulnerable to him, even telling him the truth veiled in lies, is an act of pure, true love. It takes the ship from just two men dancing around each other flirting to genuine romance.























