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In Purgatory's Shadow
By Inferno's Light

A decent couple of reviews, although I'm slightly surprised that Chuck didn't explore Bashir's Changeling replacement in greater detail, for example to try and established exactly when he was replaced, or to figure out when it was decided that he had been replaced.

Since Bashir's replacement seemed meant to drive people's imaginations on all the where/when/how, answering it would have damaged that. Also, I enjoyed the reviews much as I did AR558 and Pale Moon such as I intend to watch them again.

An excellent pair of reviews, there. And a great analysis of Dukat, there.

Can't help but wonder. Bashier's Changling had been in place for a while, AT LEAST several weeks as Bashier himself had mentioned. I wonder how the Changling learned enough medicine to pass himself off as one of the most brilliant doctors in SF?

You'd think if Dr. Bashier started acting like Dr. Zoidburg (in the actual practice of medicine), somebody would have noticed.

The issue in trek is that most medical systems is that the computers can run themselves. All you have to do is run the little machine over the body and the computer does the rest.

Short of a major plague breaking out on Bajor, there isn't really anything that an impostor couldn't just fake through.

Or an injury requiring a specific tool to be applied in a specific way.

But thats on top of the fact that a changeling has no humonied body, thus no frame of reference, thus would make impersonating a doctor ten times as hard.

That depends really on the Changeling's experience. The Dominion rules hundreds of systems with as many races under them. Should the Founder in use be one who has a fancy in the medical field then its not hard to believe he studied up prior. He's a sleeper, they don't just plant them on a whim. There can be years, decades even of planning involved in some. Sleepers are chosen by their understanding of the area in which they are to infiltrate.

We've also seen that normally fatal wounds can be healed by someone with basic first-aid training if they have even minor training in the tools in use by SF.

Yeah, Deep's got a good point, there. methinks the Founders made sure the changeling would have a good grounding in medicine so the plant works.

I do wished that they though this through a tad more to lead up to that Bashier is really a changeling. Maybe not an obvious clue but something.

A good sleeper leaves no clue. They mold into the area of their operation as though they've always been there.

That is true. But the two part episode made it practically obvious that once the real Bashier was found, the fake one started to act abit more 'evil'.

Come to think about it, it would have been neat if the episodes were played on who the real Bashier really was.

Sort of like the Kirk/Changling thing of ST:VI ? But longer?

Yeah much longer though. Maybe make a unofficial three parter to find out who the real Bashier is and then interogate the changeling.