Improb. Cause/Die is Cast Vs. In Purg. Shadow/By Inferno's Light

[tomalak301]

In a thread in the Misc forum, the question was asked do you remember when you joined the Trekbbs. Well, I've been doing some reminicing and one of the big things I remember when I joined this board was 2003, when the DS9 DVDs were released. For anyone who came afterwards, let's just say it was an awesome time to be a DS9 fan, and in my opinion, this forum's highest point for the years I've been here. Not to say what came after was bad, but it was that year where it was like everyone here was watching DS9 as if it was a brand new trek series and the commadre (SP?) was off the charts.

Anyway, one of the things I remember the most about that year (And again, I really was watching DS9 for the first time all the way through) was when I got to the midpoint of Season 5, and In Purgatory's Shadow/By Inferno's Light. I remember after Purgatory's shadow just sitting there as the credits rolled almost jaw on the floor with the number of twists and revelations that came out of it in a span of like 10-15 minutes. Then right at the start of By Inferno's Light, it was like the entire Star Trek universe was turned inside out with the revelation that Cardassia joined the Dominion and we see characters (especially Worf and Garak) pretty much grow and evolve so quickly.

In story arc storytelling, these are the episodes I live for, where we get so much set up and then have an episode or two that keeps hitting you over the head again and again with awesomeness and revelations that make sense to the overall story that you would call them "Game Changers" and these two episodes did just that. Heck, it was these two episodes that convinced me that while I love TNG for nostalgic reasons, DS9 was the best written, and produced Star Trek in the franchise.

So that brings me to my question for you all and the subject of this thread. We had an awesome two parter in Season 3, and then in Season 5 we had the follow up and both two parters were outright game changers to the series. While my goal was to gush and talk about In Purgatory's Shadow and By Inferno's Light since it's really been awhile, I ask, which two parter did you like better and why.

 

[Art Vandelay]

Both two-part episodes are absolutely fantastic. The third-season story is immaculate, and therefore I prefer it. With the fifth-season sequel, I had some minor quibbles:

• Garak plays slightly better off Odo than off Worf.
• Changed premise: Aren't Klingons supposed to kill themselves instead of being captives? Martok's explanation was lame.
• Lazy writing: "How do our heroes escape?" - "Let's leave the runabout in orbit of the detention center." - "Why would the Dominion leave the ship there?" - "For Chrissakes, it's late, I want to go home, let's just finish this script."
• Fake Bashir doesn't really do much, they stop him about 30 seconds after realizing what he is. This could have been much more dramatic.

 

[tomalak301]

Regarding the Klingon thing, I think there are exceptions, such as the Klingons in Birthright who pretty much integrated with their Romulan captors. Ok, not the best example, but I'm not sure how much credence I can put into the ever changing Klingon culture and "supposed" to kill oneself.

Also with Bashir, we've already seen him overdo it in The Passenger and while Siddig improved since, I thought his facial expressions and stuff like that provided all the drama that was needed. Also, when the runabout was about to explode his look actually did remind me of Vantika from that episode, so maybe it was for the best we didn't get that much.

 

[toughlittleship]

I like "In Purgatory's Shadow" and "By Inferno's Light" just slightly better, although I think they would have worked better if they were a feature length episode like "The Way of the Warrior".

I think what happened in "The Passenger" was that the producers didn't like Siddig's first performance and then he had to re-record it in post-production, which is why it sounds so weird.

 

[tomalak301]

I like "In Purgatory's Shadow" and "By Inferno's Light" just slightly better, although I think they would have worked better if they were a feature length episode like "The Way of the Warrior".

I think what happened in "The Passenger" was that the producers didn't like Siddig's first performance and then he had to re-record it in post-production, which is why it sounds so weird.

I think you're right in regards to making it a feature length, but I wonder if that would have lost some of the impact the first episode was intended. I mean we got a lot and having that week in between might have helped sink all that stuff in, especially the Bashir a changling thing.

As for the Passenger, I only brought it up because mainly facial expressions were very similar from that episode and the end of BIL. That lead me to believe that Siddig at the time doesn't do villain very well, even though I found him good in the shady role on 24.

 

[ClayHefner]

• Changed premise: Aren't Klingons supposed to kill themselves instead of being captives? Martok's explanation was lame.

How was that lame? The idea that all Klingons kill themselves happily when captured is lame.
I guess you see it more as an excuse for the writers to have Martok alive in there. For me it was more about how those guys from a decadent culture, who we know are less than honorable sometimes, must have developed little loopholes.