Quodo in Every Episode discussion: "In Purgatory's Shadow"

[chacusha]

This week we're discussing... episode 5x14 "In Purgatory's Shadow"!

Episode synopsis: This is actually the first episode in a two-parter -- after receiving a coded message indicating Enabran Tain is still alive, Garak and Worf go to the Gamma Quadrant to investigate and end up imprisoned in Dominion Internment Camp 371. It is revealed to Garak (and the viewers) for the first time that Dr. Bashir has been replaced by a Changeling. In the camp, Garak and Bashir witness Tain's last moments, while on DS9, the Changeling Bashir sabotages Starfleet's attempt to seal the wormhole in advance of a full-scale Dominion invasion of the Alpha Quadrant...

What The Boys are up to in this episode: A scene with Odo opens the episode, where Kira is helping him set up his quarters following his restoration as a Changeling and Kira tries to encourage an awkward Odo to be open to romantic relationships, whether he's a Changeling or a solid. Later, Quark has a brief scene where he breaks up a fight between Dukat and Garak in his bar. Odo also appears again briefly in a wardroom strategy meeting to discuss how to respond to an imminent Dominion invasion.

One screencap from this episode:


Transcript: http://chakoteya.net/DS9/512.htm

Quodo fics tagged with this episode: None (https://archiveofourown.org/works?work_search%5Bsort_column%5D=revised_at&work_search%5Bother_tag_names%5D=Episode%3A+s05e14+In+Purgatory%27s+Shadow&work_search%5Bexcluded_tag_names%5D=&work_search%5Bcrossover%5D=&work_search%5Bcomplete%5D=&work_search%5Bwords_from%5D=&work_search%5Bwords_to%5D=&work_search%5Bdate_from%5D=&work_search%5Bdate_to%5D=&work_search%5Bquery%5D=&work_search%5Blanguage_id%5D=&commit=Sort+and+Filter&tag_id=Star+Trek%3A+Deep+Space+Nine)

Tell us:
- What did you think about this episode?
- Have you written a fic set during/after this episode?
- Do you know of any other fics set in or that build off this episode that weren't linked above?
- What do you see as the Quodo potential for this episode?

Anonymous comments are on, so feel free to chime in even if you don't have a Dreamwidth account! If you prefer, we are also available on Discord:
https://discord.gg/VaCnMYvKu6 (18+ proship Quodo Discord - there is a dedicated channel for this event)
https://discord.gg/Htz4crCdCt (general Quodo Discord)

Comments

[chacusha]

Random thoughts:

- A big Garak and Garashir episode, obviously.

- Watching these episodes out of order, I was kind of blindsided by having the opening of this episode featuring Odo readjusting to being a Changeling again. I was like, "Oh, I guess we're in the part of the show after Odo becomes a Changeling and after Kira has Kirayoshi?? I don't remember this? What is the context for this scene again??" I was a bit disoriented.

- Hm... so I think the thing that kind of bothers me about the Garak/Ziyal plotline is that it doesn't ever seem to serve any clear purpose. Like, other than give Garak and Dukat yet another reason to be at each other's throats, but it's not like the characters really need that. I think Ziyal's relationship with Kira is much more interesting and does a lot more for her, Kira's, and Dukat's characters and the tense relationship between them, but I don't really get what Ziyal's crush on/bonding with Garak is supposed to do for their characters. Other than to maybe No Homo Garak and Bashir (while also giving Bashir an opportunity to be jealous and giving Garak an opportunity to politely try to tell Ziyal multiple times she's barking up the wrong tree, so... 🤷). I don't know if they were planning to do something else with it and changed their mind or what, but it always feels half-baked and weird.

- Rare Worf and Garak conversation?

- Kira: "The last time I checked, he's the only other Cardassian living on the station." Dukat: "The man is a heartless, cold-blooded killer." Kira: "Like I said, he's a Cardassian." -- LMAO. This episode has quite a lot of weirdly funny scenes in it.

- Garak: "Sentiment is the greatest weakness of all." Bashir: "If that's true, it's a lesson I'd rather not learn." Their relationship goes so hard.

- This is such a big Garak + Tain episode. I just love how there's so much implication/dissembling/ambiguity in their dialogue and no clear admission or resolution in their relationship. It's just kind of perfect.


Quodo potential:

- I feel like you could probably write a Quodo version of the opening scene between Odo and Kira, where Quark and Odo get to talk about how Odo feels about being a Changeling again?

- Quark: "Then you'll excuse me while I call security? I'm sure Odo will get a big thrill out of having you locked up in one of his holding cells." -- Kind of interesting, Quark talking about calling for Odo here. Like a lot of Quark/Odo's scenes in the show, it kind of shows how much they rely on each other and also how well they know each other and can predict how the other will react.