DS9: “In Purgatory’s Shadow” and “By Inferno’s Light”

Date: August 1, 2020

Season 5, Episodes 14 and 15

Musical Accompaniment: Vivaldi, pretentious is as pretentious does.

Interstellar News: I have felt exhausted all day, but I did manage to watch four Trek episodes. Since this is a two part set, I’ll only focus on these tonight.

Favorite Quote from “In Purgatory’s Shadow”:

Sisko: Remember, this is a reconnaissance mission. You are to avoid Dominion ships at all cost. I want you back in one piece.

Worf: What about Garak?

Sisko: I want him back too. I don’t suppose I have to tell you to keep a close eye on him.

Worf: At the first sign of betrayal, I will kill him. But I promise to return the body intact.

Sisko: I assume that’s a joke.

Worf: We’ll see.

Doesn’t Sisko know? Worf doesn’t joke…

So what had happened in “In Purgatory’s Shadow” was…: Odo and Kira are putting his room back together now that he can shapeshift when they receive a coded message from the GQ. Garak decodes it and it’s from Tain saying he’s alive so Garak and Worf go to investigate, but not before Dukat arrives and makes a scene because of Garak and Ziyal’s friendship. Garak plays to Worf’s sense of honor and they take a detour through the nebula where they encounter an army of Jem’Hadar warships and are taken captive. At Internment Camp 371 they meet an assortment of Romulans, Cardassians, Breen, and the real General Martok… who has been there for two years. They also see that Tain is alive and, surprise, is Garak’s father… oh and Bashir has been there for a month, double surprise!

Back on the station Ziyal refuses to go to Cardassia, much to the chagrin of Dukat who was clearly not prepared for having a teenage daughter. Kira comes back from the GQ with a report: The Dominion is coming! Sisko plans to seal the wormhole which would cut the Dominion off from invading but also strand everyone in the GQ. He is confident the prophets will find a way to communicate with Bajor, but “Bashir” sabotages them and the fleet comes through.

“Have a glorious death. Or don’t. It’s up to you.”: So when everyone is in the Jem’Hadar prison for some reason it reminded me of Goodfellas and I felt like the older men were going to start making hasperat or something. As soon as Garak returned to tell Bashir and Ziyal that the code was “just a planetary survey”, I knew he was lying but I also thought Bashir handled it strangely and he had been acting a little weird for the past episode or two… and now I know why. I love that Dax “borrowed” Worf’s operas to encourage him to come home and they are just too adorable, even when they have disagreements. Dukat does act like a father whose daughter is dating someone old enough to be her father, but I think he snipes at Kira in a way to justify his actions of the next episode. I also love that Kira is clearly more interested in her coffee and padd than she is in anything Dukat has to say and she firmly tells him again, for the 1,364th time that she only cares about Ziyal and not what he thinks about her.

Finding out Enabran Tain was really Garek’s biological father, though not finding out why Garak was exiled just yet, and seeing the Bashir on DS9 is actually a shapeshifter were the two big moments for me. This makes Garak’s exile that much more heartbreaking and still shrouded in mystery, just like most of Garak’s past as well as his intentions. Is Ziyal just a reminder of home, is it another chance to get back at Dukat, is he playing some long con? So many questions and maybe, just maybe, I’ll get some answers. The Dominion finally making a big move is another interesting bit because this has been building for several seasons, they’re always light years ahead of anyone in the AQ. This first part was fantastic and it made me want to plow through to the next episode.

Favorite Quotes from “By Inferno’s Light”:

Garak: I only wish I were still a member of the Obsidian Order. This would make a wonderful interrogation chamber. Tight quarters, no air, bad lighting, random electric shocks. It’s perfect.

Bashir: Sounds like you’re enjoying yourself.

Garak: If you’d like, I’d happily trade places with you.

Garak rambling to himself.

Today is a Good Day to Die: “There is no greater enemy than one’s own fears.” “It takes a brave man to face them.”

Gowron: Think of it. Five years ago no one had ever heard of Bajor or Deep Space Nine, and now all our hopes rest here. Where the tides of fortune take us, no man can know.

Sisko: They’re tricky, those tides.

Gowron forgetting that DS9 was originally named Terok Nor, but still

So what had happened in “By Inferno’s Light” was…: Everyone has come to DS9 in order face the Dominion: Starfleet, the Klingons (Gowron reinstates the Khitomer Accords), and even the Romulans (who just show up). Dukat, of course, breaks off to join the Dominion as he wants Cardassia to regain all it has lost and he’s a rat bastard. “Bashir” suggests blood screenings while Ziyal begins to be disillusioned by her father. Dukat reaches out to Sisko and suggests the Federation join the Dominion, otherwise they’re coming to reclaim DS9 (formerly known as Terok Nor). “Bashir” messes with a replicator and commandeers the Yukon to fly straight into the sun in order to cause a supernova and devastate the system. Their senors read ships all around but no one can see anything when they realize “Bashir” is a changeling and it was a plot all along to distract them… but they are not distracted and instead destroy the Yukon and the changeling.

At the internment camp all of the Cardassian prisoners are let go, except for Garak. Worf is made to join the Jem’Hadar fight club and wins seven matches, each time coming back to Bashir badly bruised but impressing the hell out of Martok. Garak is trying to rewire the Dominion system so he can connect with the runabout and beam them out, but he’s claustrophobic and is having difficulty. Worf’s final battle with the head Jem’Hadar, Ikat’ika, sees Worf almost defeated but he refuses to yeild and impresses the hell out of Ikat’ika. Just as Deyos, the Vorta, orders Ikat’ika and Worf to be shot, Garak comes through and they escape. Everyone arrives back at DS9 where Gowron and Sisko want Martok to stay as the Klingon liaison and all is well, for now.

“I think you can’t judge people by what they think or say, only by what they do.”: Dukat has gone full villain and I can’t say I’m surprised. All he has ever wanted is whatever is best for Cardassia and everyone else can be damned. I am interested to see what happens with one power in the AQ in bed with the Dominion. The fake invasion is absolutely a thing the Dominion would do, but it was still surprising as hell until you see “Bashir” in the runabout by himself and you realize he’s up to something. Everyone has been so worried about an invasion and they tried to get ready, which they couldn’t in a very familiar way to how they were ill-prepared for the Borg invasion, so the Federation is going to seal the wormhole, but the Dominion makes that impossible so now they have to fight. The Klingons want to fight and hell the Romulans show up uninvited and unannounced because they all realize no matter their internal AQ problems, they are all no match for the Dominion.

It’s the same way in prison as everyone is all lumped together and you have a Cardassian working with a Romulan, a Terran, a Klingon, and even someone from Breen. They realize they all have to work together in order to escape but come on, how is there no surveillance IN THE ROOM WHERE THE PRISONERS ARE?!?! The Dominion is always light years ahead of the Federation and yet our assortment of heroes are able to squeeze into a wall, patch a few wires together, beam themselves to the runabout, and just waltz out of Dominion territory unmolested? Worf is the true hero, though, as he won’t yield for anyone because he knows in his heart of hearts (how many do Klingons have?) that his honor will never be satisfied if he does so. Even with the small blemish in belief regarding the escape, I was wholly satisfied with this two part episode and there are 9 bulbs of garlic for this batch of two.

TA Out!