The Alternate

DVD, DS9 S2 (The Alternate)

For the intensely private Odo, to become the opposite of his reserved, disciplined nature, while also revealing something from his subconcious was a very embarrassing event, and the horror of the episode is not so much in other people's reactions to his Jekyll and Hyde persona, but his own realisation of the fact. Like 'The Passenger' it's a good twist to have the 'villain' one of the good guys, and even more so for it to be the lawman in charge of the investigation (it was successfully repeated in a late 'Voyager' episode with Tuvok).

We get a pleasingly varied story, with all the main characters contributing. There's a jaunt into the Gamma Quadrant (though with no mention of the Dominion), and an exciting planetary sequence. The perils of the crispness of DVD are that we see sometimes too well, as evidenced in the painted backdrop, which, while lavish, is more noticeably artificial, whereas watching on video didn't give that impression. Presumably Blu-Ray makes details like this even more obvious, a sad side-effect of improving technology!

The creepy creature, and the efforts to work out what's happening are good, but the crux of the story is in Odo's buried resentment over the way he was treated as an experiment. It's fascinating to see how he is drawn to Dr. Mora, the man who worked on him, and in a way, brought him up, while he also harbours great distaste for him. Mora comes across as well-meaning, and proud of Odo, as a son. But he doesn't realise the shapeshifter has grown up, and there's real regret and sadness that he never returned to the scientist. The ending is touching, as Mora requests to be a small part of Odo's life from now on, and they really should have followed up on that in a regular way. I believe we occasionally hear of him, but it takes a long time before he returns, yet here he seems to be set up as a potential recurring character.

Something else that is suggested and not followed through with, thankfully, is Sisko's Father. He mentions how he became so weak, and though he doesn't say he died, it seems to be hinted at, yet we later find Joseph is running a restaurant! Then again, he was always shown to be ill so perhaps Sisko was referring to a time when he first became ill. The Infirmary seems to have grown bigger as we see a sickbay-like area with several biobeds like all the other incarnations of Trek, although generally we only see a single bed in a smaller area. Maybe this was an extension that was later made into storage or something? The science lab is again used, as it has been several times this season. It's rare to see it, even though it featured in the pilot, probably because it's supposed to be Dax' domain, yet she's generally at her console in Ops, so it became less necessary to use it.

As always, James Sloyan brings a character so strongly to life. It's great to see that they stuck to continuity with Mora's hair in the same style as Odo's since it had previously been mentioned that he modelled his appearance on the scientist that studied him. They didn't need to mention it, simply included it as a visual reference for those that care! I must recommend the Terok Nor series of books, which goes into the details of some of the events mentioned here, filling in many things we don't know while creating a good story set over the course of the Cardassian Occupation. While the books aren't considered part of official continuity, to which I hold, there will probably never be a definitive answer to questions about the early lives of these characters, so they are a good interpretation of the possibility of what may have happened.

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