For The Cause (Star Trek: Deep Space Nine) - Production

Production

Writer Mark Gehred-O'Connell was inspired by the Oklahoma City bombing to write this episode. Specifically, he recalled how in the days following the bombing, suspicion fell upon people of Middle Eastern descent as the culprits, when in fact, the true culprit was Timothy McVeigh, a white American. Gehred-O'Connell decided to write a story in which Deep Space Nine was the target of a terrorist attack, after which suspicion fell upon the least likely person, Kasidy Yates, as the prime suspect. As the story evolved, the attack upon the station was dispensed with, and the trust between Kasidy and Sisko became the thematic focus of the episode. The episode's story would be followed up later in a sequel episode, "For the Uniform".

After being played by Cyia Batten in "Indiscretion" and "Return to Grace", Ziyal is played in this episode by Tracy Middendorf. This is Middendorf's only appearance in the role, as Melanie Smith later acquires the role permanently in "In Purgatory's Shadow", playing her until the character's final appearance in "Sacrifice of Angels". Batten would go on to appear as Irina in "Drive", a 2000 episode of Star Trek: Voyager, and as Navaar in "Bound", a 2005 episode of Star Trek: Enterprise.

The set of the Xhosa bridge was created from pieces previously used as the interior of the Saratoga, on which Sisko had served as First Officer, as seen in the pilot episode, "Emissary".

The mention of Tholian punctuality by Kasidy in the second scene of Act 2 was writer Ron Moore's tribute to the original series episode, "The Tholian Web", in which those aliens first appeared. The reference by Jake Sisko in Act 3 to the 1961 Yankees and the 1978 Red Sox was a tribute by producer Ira Steven Behr to his two favorite baseball teams.