5x15 By Inferno's Light (2)

[7.7/10] “By Inferno’s Light” is an excellent exercise in escalation. The setups are simple. Sisko and company are dealing with a probably Dominion invasion on Deep Space NIne. Bashir, Worf, Garak, and the real General Martok are striving to break out of a Dominion internment camp. Savvy fans can probably guess that the Federation won’t be destroyed by the Jem’Hadar, and that our heroes will make it out of captivity. So how do you keep things interesting and exciting?

By upping the ante at every turn. In the Alpha Quadrant stand-off, things just keep getting more intense. First, the Cardassians reveal an alliance with the Dominion. Then, the Federation renews its alliance with the Klingons to match. Then, the Romulans show up, not to cause trouble, but to help defend the Alpha Quadrant. Then, just when the stand-off is at its hottest, the truth about Dr. Bashir’s doppelganger is made plain. And then, if that all weren’t enough on its own, there’s a supernova bomb that, if properly deployed, would wipe out the Federation alliance in one fell swoop.

The politics of ambition and necessity that motivate that, and the steady heightening of the risks and the stakes, keep you on the edge of your seats even for what feels like a forgone conclusion.

The diplomatic and military alliances prove some of the most interesting material. The biggest puzzle right now is why the Dominion would bother allying with the Cardassians. One of the most chilling moments in the show came in last year’s finale, when the female Changeling told Garak that they were all already dead. What would shift the Founders’ perspective, to where they’d partner with the Cardassians rather them simply wipe them out for their attempted genocide, isn’t necessarily clear from circumstances, but there’s plenty of time for Deep Space Nine to account for the shift.

What is clear is why Gul Dukat would sell out the Alpha Quadrant -- his quest for power. DS9 has spent much of the past couple seasons humanizing Dukat, showing us that he has relatable interests and soft spots and, as he tells Sisko here, sees himself as the hero in his own story. So it has an impact to see him ally with an existential threat simply to return himself to power, and attempt to restore the pre-DS9 status quo with the Klingons, the Maquis, the station, and Bajor in deadly terms. (I’m reminded of Lisa Simpson’s recrimination to Mr. Burns: “You’re still evil, and when you’re trying to be good, you’re even more evil!”) This is as substantial a heel turn and a betrayal as you’re likely to find in Star Trek, one that reaffirms Dukat as a self-interested, mercenary bastard, despite his velvet tongue and pretensions toward high-minded civility.

There’s also power in the form of the unlikely Federation alliance. Nothing sells the threat to the Alpha Quadrant better than the fact that it’s the Klingons and the Romulans, the original recurring foes of the Federation from The Original Series, who are aligning themselves with Starfleet to defend their right to be free from Dominion domination. I’m reminded of the “stately quadrille” in eighteenth century Europe, where practicality and necessity made for interesting bedfellows.

The same is true at the Jem’Hadar internment camp, where a human, a Cardassian, two Klingons, a Romulan, and a Breen end up working together to escape their captivity. The unlikely allies brought together by necessity will be a familiar motif going forward for Deep Space Nine, and it’s nice to see it in miniature here.

As with the story on the station, there’s plenty in the way of escalation. Garak is dealing with claustrophobia while jury-rigging the available components to beam them out. Worf is growing more and more injured in brutal sparring sessions meant to test the Jem’Hadar. The guards get wise to the prisoners’ scheme, forcing our heroes to resort to stalling bluffs and daring fisticuffs when the plan starts to go awry. There too, the show knows how to ratchet up the tension until you anticipate and fear the big pop.

But as if often the case, it’s the character moments that stand out as much as the explosive plot. Seeing Worf stand his ground in fights with the Jem’Hadar makes for a triumphant moment for him. It earns mutual respect between him and Martok, spurring a connection that will be important when Martok becomes the Klingon liaison to DS9. But more than that, his determination and conviction earns him the respect of the Jem’Hadar first, who disobeys his Vorta and yields to Worf in recognition of only being able to defeat the Klingon in body, not in spirit. It’s a hell of an affirmation for Worf, and another sign of tensions between the Jem’Hadar and the Vorta.

Likewise, Garak’s own determination was a prime theme in the last episode, and it’s given new dimension here. It’s rare to see Garak as a man with weaknesses. So having him struggle with his own claustrophobia, talking to himself, having panic attacks whilst trapped in the walls to complete his necessary deed, gives him a notable psychological obstacle to overcome. The way he braves his own psyche, putting himself through hell (no pun intended) to engineer their exit just in the nick of time, gives it a personal meaning beyond the heart-pumping but Star Trek standard life-or-death stakes.

Of course, it all comes to a head. Just when the confrontation with the guards at the camp threatens to turn deadly, and Worf’s poised to be blasted to smithereens by their captors, the transportation to the runabout successfully rescues them. (Though they seem surprisingly blase about getting out of there before the Jem’Hadar can recapture them.) Just when it seems like Bashir’s double is going to blow up the Bajoran sun and the allied fleet with it, Kira and Dax make a daring intra-solar system warp jump and stop him at the last minute. With so much build, “By Inferno’s Light” delivers on the climax where everything froths to a boil, even if our heroes end up safe and sound as expected.

And yet, this duology is, in many ways, an announcement of the new normal. A conflict with the Dominion is closer than ever, with their shock troops reaching a foothold in the Alpha Quadrant. The balance of power near the wormhole has changed, with an again more militaristic Cardassia, headed by Dukat himself, aiming to eliminate all those in its way. And Sisko is now a wartime chief, partnering with his motley crew that represents a cross section of the Alpha Quadrant (and even a slice of the Gamma Quadrant) to reinforce the first line of defense against this advancing enemy.

“By Inferno’s Light” is an episode about escalation, ticking things up and up and up until you can barely wait to see it all crescendo in thrilling terms. But in some ways, the build is just beginning.