“In Purgatory’s Shadow” and the next episode are an attempt to recapture the feel of “Improbable Cause/The Die is Cast” with mized success. But I think that is only because the bar is set so high. The Federation has decided to seal off the wormhole. Garak, still holding out hope of finding survivors from the failed joint Obsidian Order/Tal Shiar attack on the Founders, heads into the Gamma Quadrant with Worf for one last look. The chemistry between the two is not as good as between Garak and Odo. Garak had a better connection of being exiles from home with Odo than Worf, whose honorable warrior spirit cannot connect with the sneaky, clandestine acts Garak is so found of. If their relationship was not played as comical, it would be insufferable.
The two wind up captured by the Jem Ha’dar ad taken to a secret military base ear the wormhole. There they discover the real Bashir was replaced a month prior by a Changeling and that Martok is still alive. They all know that it is imperative to escape because a military base this close to the wormhole can only mean the Dominion is preparing to invade the Alpha Quadrant.
But that is not the heart of the episode. The real heart is the interaction between parents and children. Garak discovers Tain is still alive, though he is dying. Tain finally admits he is Gara’s father before he makes Garak promise e will escape and avenge his death. Garak agrees. Back on DS9, Dukat is returning to Cardassia and wants Ziyal to return with him. she refuses, because she is waiting for Garak to return. Rntaged she has feelings for his enemy, Dukat disowns her, hinting that she has doomed herself.
We discover what he means when the wormhole opens and a huge fleet of Dominion ships enters the Alpha Quadrant
“In Purgatory’s Shadow” isa decent episode, but I have two nitpicky problems. One, why is Martok not completely dishonored by what happened to him? Supposedly, being taken as a POW is a dishonor that spans two generations in a family, but hewill still be highly honored when he returns to the Empire. Two Bashir is I one of the old style uniforms to emphasize he has been held prisoner awhile, but that also means, according to him, he fell asleep in his uniform. Is that not odd? Stranger still, the Changeling that replaced him performed brain surgery on Sisko and either would not or could not save the baby Changeling. Weird.
Rating: *** (out of 5)
