Star Trek: Deep Space Nine // S05E14: In Purgatory’s Shadow

Star Trek: Deep Space Nine // S0514: In Purgatory’s Shadow

It’s him, isn’t it? That despicable tailor. You don’t want to leave because you’re waiting for him? Garak promised me that he would come back. 

TAIN: You’re not my son.
GARAK: Father. Father, you’re dying. For once in your life, speak the truth.
TAIN: I should have killed your mother before you were born. You have always been a weakness I can’t afford.
GARAK: So you’ve told me, many times. Listen, Enabran. All I ask is that for this moment, let me be your son.

[ID: Six gifs from the show Star Trek: Deep Space Nine. They show Elim Garak and Enabran Tain. In the first, third, fourth, and sixth gif, Tain is shown from the shoulders up and is laying down on a cot. Tain looks very ill as he speaks with Garak. In the second and fifth gif, Garak is shown from the shoulders up next to Tain’s cot. Garak speaks to Tain with a melancholic expression. The dialogue is as follows: Tain: Elim… Remember that day, in the country? You must have been almost five. // Garak: How can I forget it? It was the only day. // Tain: I can still see you on the back of that riding hound. // Tain: You must have fallen off a dozen times… But you never gave up. // Garak: I remember limping home. You held my hand. // Tain: I was very proud of you… that day. End ID.] 

Garak and Julian flirting on main

An interesting thing about this scene is that this is the Bashir Changeling here. He’s acting differently from how Julian would normally behave, but he does so in a way that turns Garak on. I can’t help but wonder if this was how the Changeling wasn’t caught as a fake. He acted in ways that were abnormal for Julian, but exactly what other people wanted to see. It would explain why O’Brien found him easier to get along with. He was acting as a version of Julian that O’Brien would’ve wanted. 

I love this flirting moment, but I thought it was interesting to point out. It’s also kinda sad to think that a flawed person could be easily replaced by a copy who acted like a version of them who lacked those flaws, adapting it to each individual he interacts with. Nobody noticed the Changeling, not because there weren’t clues, but because it showed them what they wanted to see.

          S05E14 ’In Purgatory’s Shadow’