Not unlike Deep Space Nine itself when it first aired, Julian Bashir was an unusual addition to the franchise. Somewhat of an oddity in the pantheon of Star Trek doctors, he was young, inexperienced, and fresh out of Starfleet Medical, but already possessed of enough brash self-assuredness not to have chosen from amongst any of the litany of "cushy" jobs available to him after graduation. Instead, he had decided to grace the frontier, i.
e. the Station, with his healing presence, because that's where 'heroes were made'. Even his best friend "hated" him when they first met.
If, as O'Brien also noted in the pair's memorable merry exchange in Explorers , Julian was not "an in-between kind of guy," then everyone grew to love him — and some maybe "a bit more" than others — as time went on, a testament to the writers and producers who were determined not to squander the immense talents, and all-round likeability, of actor Alexander Siddig. Bashir was always already a gifted doctor, too. He proved that on countless occasions, not the least of which was on the battlefields of two wars — Klingon and Dominion.
It was the worst of times; it was the best of times. Even the OG spoiler of a genetic secret couldn't hamper the admiration of his friends and colleagues, and nor could Luther Sloan crash the party for long. Then, there were those stuff-of-legend lunches with the (former) spy.
.. tailor.
.. tinker.
.. let's just settle on Garak.
Here, my dear doctor, the lies really are just an.