The original pitch for this episode, by Christian Ford and Roger Soffer, was based on the 1818 Mary Shelley novel Frankenstein, with Bashir in the role of Dr. Victor Frankenstein. The story concerned a Federation ambassador involved in peace negotiations with the Romulans whose shuttle is damaged and who dies in the sickbay on Deep Space 9. However, the treaty negotiations are at a pivotal moment, so Bashir is able to figure out a way to “re-animate” the ambassador’s brain, essentially bringing him back to life. However, over the course of the episode, he begins to go mad, and in the last scene, Bashir is forced to allow him to die once again. The reason this idea was scrapped was because the producers felt that the audience wouldn’t have much empathy with a character who they’d only just been introduced to. According to Ronald D. Moore, “we were trying to make it a Bashir show, but in reality, everything focused on the ambassador, and nobody cared about him.”
Oh SNAP! I didn’t know that but it’s obvious now.