Chimera

DVD, DS9 S7 (Chimera)

Divided loyalties have often plagued Odo, ever since the discovery of who and what his people are, but over the seasons it often got pushed to the back of our minds, but not, it seems, to the back of Odo's. The reintroduction of the concept of the one hundred little changelings sent out to explore the universe, and the fact Laas is over 200 years old brings Odo back into the light as a mythical creature we haven't learned the depths of. He will outlive all these people, and has abilities he doesn't even understand, but his job and the day to day life of the solids, or monoforms, as Laas coins them, has let him forget, and us along with him, that he isn't one of them, and that his life can be so much more.

It sends a huge signpost to the eventual fate of the character, that his inner desire is still to be with his own kind, and that it is only Kira who has kept him on the station. This realisation is both sad and happy - and I must say the scoring of this episode was especially sensitive and fine - that one day he must surely leave his friends and Kira, to begin a new life, a life more fitting to his needs.

There was one thing I noticed. Since Odo links with Laas, and don't read any further if you don't want a massive plot point ruined - doesn't Odo provide the means to pass on the virus? So doesn't that mean Laas will die in the near future? A sobering thought. It's strange that it's taken the writers so many years to focus on the limits of the changelings - so often we get the political, ideological, cultural information, and it becomes overload when compared with as simple an outsider perspective as Laas brings. Not a founder, but one of Odo's people, and this, aligned with his centuries of simply living as different forms brings us back to the origins and the first revelations of the shapeshifters. It's another example of the series drawing to a natural close, and tying up, or at least bringing back notions that have been forgotten.

Quark is the character that brings the intriguing viewpoint that basically says racism is genetic - we fear what we don't know, or that which is different. It's right the Ferengi should be the one to say something which has truth to it, but is also distasteful as it brings up the idea that everyone has to conform or they will be reviled. But Odo doesn't quite accept it, and neither does Kira, by showing how deep her real love is for him. That she would let him go for his own happiness at the expense of hers. It adds layers to what might have been a simplistic story, and for the first time I totally believed in them as a couple, where before I never felt completely comfortable. The end scene as Odo shows he can, to some extent, live in both worlds is a beautiful conclusion and the episode has treated the issues very well.

I should make special mention of J.G. Hertzler's deceptively quiet performance as Laas. Once or twice a Martok growl escaped, but in 'general' he did a fantastic job of being a different character! It makes Martok being behind Laas' troubles all the more twisted when you realise they are played by the same actor, although Martok doesn't actually appear, unfortunately. Odo returns to the classic Trekkian mould in the episode. An outsider that experiences division of loyalty and questions about his rights goes all the way back to Spock, but could also be seen in Data, Seven of Nine and the EMH. 'Enterprise' never really had a proper character like that and suffered for it. You could also put these characters on a list of everyone's favourites, which is telling. Odo is up there with the best!

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