The Begotten

DVD, DS9 S5 (The Begotten)

I feel sorry for Shakaar. Maybe it was Kira's fault, but whenever she had a Bajoran boyfriend he ended up gutted, his personality torn out, not the man he was before he met Kira. Okay, it was only Bareil (who ended up as a robot vegetable and then died), and Shakaar, but there are parallels in how both were treated. I think the writers' reasoning for getting rid of Bareil was because they didn't want a force for good in the ruling areas of Bajor (the Vedek Assembly and the Chamber of Ministers) as it would make things too smooth (this was before the Dominion had blossomed into quadrant-dominating war mode). But the same season they knocked off Vedek Bareil they brought in a new potential positive influence to counter Kai Winn: Shakaar. He'd been heard of before, since he was the leader of Kira's resistance cell in the days of the Occupation of Bajor, and he came across as a strong, powerful leader with great presence, gravelly-voiced farmer that he was. When they brought him back in Season 4 ('Crossfire'), he had become a much different person, adjusting to the discomfort of smart clothes, formal duties and the adoration of the people - he'd become First Minister. The differences in that story weren't as evident because it was all about Odo and his perspective of being shut out of Kira and Shakaar's private lives, while simultaneously having to be part of it so he could protect the man. This time Shakaar's back, but he's a shadow of the man he was.

It's not that Duncan Regehr forgot how to play the character, at least, I don't think that's it. It's more the way he was written as a comic foil, or a double-act with Chief O'Brien of all people! He isn't shown the same respect as a person as he had before, his arrival not trumpeted or shown to be prepared for, and he only seems to get about one guard who stays surreptitiously out of the way most of the time, all diminishing his veneer of importance. I think the character fell by the wayside (in terms of actual appearances - he was often being mentioned by Kira), because of the way Bajor's portrayal had changed. No longer was it always about political upheaval and disagreements, and things seemed to have settled down. Even Kai Winn had come to realise Sisko was the Emissary this season, so what did they need with an adversary to her in the government? So Shakaar had become a sort of lame duck, a figurehead, not important except to Kira, and even then she was finding more in common with Odo at this time. It's not that I don't enjoy all the scolding of a leader of his planet by the nurse, and it's all supposed to be a bit funny, him being apologetic for being late, then getting in a bit of jealous rivalry between him and O'Brien (perhaps going back to O'Brien's embarrassing episode earlier in the season with Kira, or maybe just the fact that she'd become part of his family during the pregnancy). But it didn't do to bring Shakaar down so much and that's probably a big reason why this was his last visit to the series.

Another character who made his last visit was another one that made a huge impact in his first. Fortunately, James Sloyan came back just as cantankerously joyous as in his previous appearance, way back in Season 2's 'The Alternate.' I always liked Shakaar, he was a really good guy, but I loved Dr. Mora Pol for his attitude, for the way he made Odo feel like a child, and in the way he could get reactions out of Odo that we'd never normally see. It's very sad that this marked Sloyan's last role, not just as Mora, but in general on Trek, since he was one of the best guest stars they ever had, right up there with Jeffrey Combs and Tony Todd (among others that immediately spring to mind), for actors I would have loved to see as main cast members in a Trek series, they were that good. Mora's passionate interest in Odo and science make him a fascinating person to listen to, and Sloyan's inimitably rasping, enunciated voice is as powerful as ever, just as it was when he portrayed Neelix' nightmare, another scientist, Mabor Jetrel, or the Romulan defector in 'TNG.' I wish he'd been on 'Enterprise,' but by then they'd largely dropped standards of familiar Trek guest stars.

The fascination lies in many facets of the interactions between him and Odo, but at its most basic level we're learning about the Changeling's past and childhood. It's a good development that Mora, being an acknowledged authority on Changeling physiology, would have been signed him up by Starfleet to help them against the threat. Convenient that he happened to be back on Bajor from Earth, visiting his parents (how old must they be!?), so he could assist Odo, but this is the first we've heard of him being away from Bajor, and it certainly makes sense as a reason for not showing him on the station since Season 2. One of my regrets for the series is that they didn't bring him back more, especially after this story ends with an understanding between Odo and his surrogate Father, Odo having gone through the same experiences so they have something in common. Before, it had all been about Odo's feelings and how he was 'mistreated,' but here we get a more balanced view showing how Odo needed to be poked and prodded, slapped down in order to learn the skills necessary to grow. This is an issue nowadays, and even Mora's biblical quotation of 'spare the rod, spoil the child,' is something that society could learn from today.

Both sides of nurturing are shown, and together they produce the best results in this case. Just talking to the baby Changeling didn't force it to become more than it was and find its potential, but it made an attachment to Odo because of that, and once Mora's more scientific, less naturalistic methods come into play it gives them better progress. The scene where they have a heated argument over the best way to motivate the goo baby, ended so perfectly with Sisko appearing at just the wrong moment to witness their outbursts and give them the motivation to work together or Starfleet would take over the project! So begins a wonderful collaboration of kindness and discipline that melds together to get results quicker than expected and brings Odo out of his shell, opening his eyes to see what Mora saw in him.

We understand how dear Odo's people are to him when even a hint of having the chance to speak with one and teach it what he knows makes Odo almost oblivious to all else, whether it be Quark contracting him to payment, or Bashir informing him of Kira going into labour, his two closest friends become like shadows in the light of such a discovery. The one hundred infants sent out to explore for The Founders and one day return, bringing the knowledge of the galaxy with them, was always a poetic and wonderful legend, introduced when Odo first meets his people at the beginning of Season 3 ('The Search'), but rarely touched upon. Apart from one other, later in the series, I believe this was the only infant Changeling we ever saw or heard of, but that's not surprising as it would take decades and decades, perhaps centuries for them to have travelled into the Alpha Quadrant - the only reason Odo ended up here was thanks to the Wormhole. Most likely many of them died from falling into stars or impacting other spatial bodies, or being found and killed by other species. The odds were against them surviving, which is why Odo is so special as the first to return home, a fact in the Alpha Quadrant's favour in the eyes of the Founders, you'd think!

Even though he's been judged, sentenced and ostracised by his people you can still sense the strong and natural attachment he has for his own kind. Whereas the Jem'Hadar child in 'The Abandoned' was an opportunity for him to undo some of the wrongs of his people by trying to train the boy in a moral way, this encounter with a child version of himself seems to be more about personal connection with one of his own. I don't think he would have even considered trying to work to improve his people's ways at this stage of the series. But the truly wonderful thing is that the baby Changeling leaves a parting gift, mysteriously absorbing itself into Odo and miraculously restoring his former shapeshifting nature, allowing him to soar like a Tarkalean Hawk looking for Tarkalean Tea - how many times have we seen Odo launch into flight, or even talk about it? And here we see him fly to the Promenade's upper level, with even the detail of his uniform being discarded like a butterfly's cocoon, expressing new life, because of course, once he became a solid he had to wear real, itchy material, and as a shapeshifter his clothing was part of him. There could have been a suspicion that the whole thing was a setup by the Founders, but it didn't turn out that way and the music heralds the tone of the episode, not even getting sinister when Quark's walking alone through his bar and hears a noise!

Looking back on the arc of Odo's time as a solid I find myself wondering if the writers could have accomplished more from it. Usually they were so good at squeezing out every nutritious drop from their characters, but it felt like there was less introspection or consequences with this strand than usual. Take the other arc, Kira's surrogacy for the O'Briens, as example: both story lines started within the last two episodes of Season 4, and both are fulfilled (beautifully), in this one, but Kira's experience culminated in a story where her 'disability' of having a pregnancy and needing to be mindful of the little life form (lifeforms… you tiny little lifeforms… where are you…) inside her, forcing her to struggle in a time of hardship when her friends and colleagues are being killed off until she can no longer hold back from hunting down the culprit. It could be said that 'The Ascent' was the closest equivalent for Odo, but that was more of a convenience for the story that he couldn't fly to the mountain and save them easily. I would say that I think Odo learned a lot from his experiences as a solid - to be a thing is to know a thing, as the Female Changeling once told him, and in this case it was true.

He learned what it was to be hungry or tired, to enjoy the pleasures of a body as well as its pitfalls, but it rarely made a huge impact to the story, unlike Data or the EMH learning similar human traits. Which is why it could be seen as a little too soon to return him to his origins, although, as I say, he's become a slightly different person because of it. He still prefers solitariness, and his disposition, as discussed between him and Mora, hasn't vastly improved, but he can be more empathetic to the trials of the humanoid life, and maybe let go a little more. Even so, it's a poignant ending as he and Kira find common ground in both losing a child. The difference is Kira lost one bringing it out of herself into new life, and Odo lost it inside himself, dying. Both have felt the deep loss of a child that wasn't theirs and both have the opportunity to be rewarded by it: Odo already, with the gift of his abilities returned, and Kira with a closeness to the O'Brien family that didn't exist before, so she can still see the baby and watch it grow up.

Keiko's another character that we don't see enough of, and it's hard to comprehend that she'd only come back for two more episodes in the entire run! I would have liked a return to the O'Brien family life so prevalent in the first couple of seasons, but the realities of filming with babies and infants made it a less likely proposition, especially as Rosalind Chao was committed to another TV series at the time. There's very little wrong with Season 5, and I can hardly say this was a mistake, but it would have been superb to get the family feeling back. Not to say there wasn't that feeling anyway. It was back in 'Nor The Battle To The Strong' that Odo expressed doubts at the joys of parenthood, and Sisko responded that he didn't know what he was missing. At least now he does know.

Among the larger developments that came out in the episode, there are some smaller details worth remembering. For instance, it was fun to hear that Worf has started up his exercise classes again that he used to teach on the Enterprise. His only scene was also amusing, the way he looks down at his own drink in slight suspicion that it could be a Changeling. Actually that's quite a chilling thought: if the Founders can be anything and squeeze into any gap or crevice imagine the nightmarish possibilities of the damage they could do inside you! Such horrors would be beyond Trek's family purview, but I wouldn't be surprised if one day, should Trek survive and bring back a shapeshifting race that such a terrible tactic would be likely. Odo really shouldn't have put the little blob in a glass with a handle, as anyone could have come along and drunk it! Another point to question is the Yridian trader who sold the Changeling to Quark - I didn't catch if they mentioned where he found it, but it's reasonable to assume it was in the Gamma Quadrant, and if trade ships are going there at the moment then it shows how the Dominion have lulled our side into a false sense of security. The quiet before the storm later in the season.

If the Yridian had known what he had I'm not sure he would have been so quick to get rid of it, so perhaps it was just Quark that realised it was one of Odo's kind. Or it could have been an act of kindness to Odo after he'd been through so much that Quark paid whatever price was asked then took it straight to the Constable. It's surprising that Quark's not been shown to be neck-deep in illegal transactions and plots while Odo was a solid, but I suppose they went away somewhat from his tricks in this half of the series. But he's shown to be even less well informed about station business than usual when he doesn't know how Odo's been doing with the Changeling. Maybe Quark thought it wasn't profitable information, or maybe he really was neck-deep in scams and didn't have time for seemingly innocuous science experiments, but now that Odo's back to full strength he'll be kicking himself. At the same time, he's fond of Odo, and probably feels gratified that he was the one responsible for being the catalyst that restored Odo's powers.

A TV episode about a man in a rubber mask talking to a blob of jelly could have been a disastrous, laughable, ridiculous and easily mocked indictment against science fiction, an argument for why it doesn't work. Instead, with deep themes of childhood and parenthood, the loss of a child, the understanding achieved in later life, this is one of the best episodes of the series. It's mainly thanks to Rene Auberjonois who makes us believe in this blob of goo so much that it affects the viewer and creates an unmissable story, even more interesting for its place in the wider context of the series and what this means for the denizens of Deep Space Nine. Many of the details about Odo's childhood went on to become a part of the Terok Nor book series, one of the better Trek novel ideas to be released. For highs and lows it doesn't get much better than this episode.

*****