“I remember limping home. You held my hand.” – Garak

After a long, slow, almost inexorable buildup, “In Purgatory’s Shadow” ends with one most memorable and thrilling cliff hangers in the entire Trek franchise. And when you factor in the avalanche of character revelations and plot twists, it’s little wonder why this episode is so highly praised among Deep Space Nine fans. But it’s not perfection. The pacing is suspect and considering the sheer volume of twists there’s some diminishing returns at stake. Still, this is one of those transformative episodes after which nothing will be the same again. And for that alone, it is exceptional.

Events begin to unfold with a transmission from the Gamma Quadrant — a Cardassian code. Garak quickly deciphers the code and realizes it’s from Enabran Tain, his mentor. After being foiled from commandeering a ship by Dr. Bashir, Garak is paired with Worf and the two head out through the wormhole to look for Tain and any other potential survivors from previous conflicts involving the Dominion and the peoples of the Alpha Quadrant.

While they continue on their journey, it’s business as usual back at the station. Gul Dukat, who had arrived in time to see his daughter give Garak a tender good-bye, is infuriated by his daughter’s actions. He takes out his frustrations on Kira, nearly threatening her in the process. The problem, though, is that it’s just a trifle bit too melodramatic to be taken entirely seriously.

The overlying problem with these events is that they, simply, take too much time. Character moments are the strength of the series, and I’ve no real objection to giving them some time on screen, but with so little happening around these moments, they seem aimless and pointless (even when they aren’t either pointless or aimless). This is further reinforced once the episode finally gets into the real heart of its story.

After Worf and Garak stumble into a Jem’Hadar invasion fleet (and manage to send a garbled warning back to DS9), they are taken to a prison camp. As DS9 prepares for imminent invasion, Garak and Worf go on what can only be called the “Big Twist Tour” through the prison. First, they are introduced to the real General Martok. Next, Garak is reunited with Enabran Tain, who is on his deathbed. And then there’s the episode’s real shocker:

Doctor Bashir.

With Bashir having apprehended Garak at the beginning of the episode, and being revealed inside the prison, the implication is clear: Bashir on DS9 has been replaced by a changeling and his true self is being held captive. It’s one of those truly indelible moments for a series — a huge twist and revelation — which resonates long after the episode. But the decision is a bit suspect. Much like the reveal of Sela in TNG’s “Redemption,” this is a twist that is thoroughly compelling initially … then somewhat perplexing on closer evaluation.

Considering that Bashir is wearing an older-style uniform, and claims to have been in the prison for over a month, the Bashir we’ve been watching for the last several episodes has not, in fact, been the real Bashir — he’s been a changeling. That means the changeling conducted surgery in “Rapture,” delivered a baby in “The Begotten,” and performed countless other duties. Are changelings omniscient? Do they somehow “download” *every* thought and piece of knowledge from their target duplicates? The thing is, Bashir acted completely normal in the preceding episodes, but in *this one* he acts a bit dodgy, as if to give weight to the fact that he’s not quite normal.

Well, which is it? Without any explicit preparatory work done in previous episodes, the whole thing smacks of “lets make the biggest twist possible” without giving thought to the repercussions. There’s a distinct danger in going such a route and, hopefully, this is an exception, not a harbinger of a new storytelling crutch for the series.

Of course, the revelations do not stop there. In a particularly poignant scene between Garak and Enabran Tain, Garak gets his dying mentor to admit something very special — that Enabran Tain is, in fact, Garak’s father. Of all the revelations in the episode, this is the one that fits best and is the most compelling, interesting and profound. It makes Garak a much, much more sympathetic character. His incessant lying is, in fact, something that has been with him since childhood. And the reveal adds yet another layer of complexity to his character.

Of course, Garak resolves to escape. And as he, Worf, Bashir, and Martok begin their plans, the Jem’Hadar fleet finally makes it through the wormhole and is on the verge of attack. The “final measure” Sisko had ordered — to collapse the wormhole — fails, due to sabotage (Dr. Bashir, we presume?).

… To be continued …

Overall, “In Purgatory’s Shadow” is an indelible episode. But it suffers from a buildup that lasts too long and a final act that is too densely packed with questionable and potentially superfluous revelations. They are shocking, and they make for good entertainment, but time will tell if they were revelations simply for the sake of revelations.

Filed under: Deep Space Nine