2.12 — “The Alternate”
Plot: Dr. Mora Pol, the Bajoran scientist who discovered Odo and taught him to mimic humanoid lifeforms, turns up by surprise on DS9 to tell Odo he has discovered a biological trace of another shapeshifter in the Gamma Quadrant.
Thoughts: In a space station, everyone can hear you scream, but at least there are a lot of convenient air ducts to escape into.
I had fun watching this. The director is David Carson, who directed three of my favorite TNG episodes, “The Enemy,” “Yesterday’s Enterprise,” and “The Next Phase.” The producers thought well enough of him to bring him in to direct DS9’s series premiere “The Emissary,” and the upcoming Star Trek: Generations, which marked his last involvement with the franchise (since it is coming up soon, I sincerely hope that Generations isn’t as bad as I remember). Carson’s record isn’t perfect; he also directed “Redemption, Part II” and DS9’s worst episode so far, 1.10 “Move Along Home,” but I guess there are limits to what you can do with a bad script. I bet the tentacle that grabs Bashir’s neck from behind is a David Carson touch.
Space horror of this type is not something I remember Trek doing before. I like it. It’s got a The Thing or Alien vibe. It totally had me looking at the characters and thinking, “What if it turned into Dax?”
I also like the complicated relationship between Odo and his “father,” who can’t quite see him as being good enough. The script is smart enough to let both Odo and Mora be right about some things, although Odo is more right more of the time. In the end, Mora is still family, however imperfect, which Odo needs. You can’t pick your family.
3.5 of 5 hospital gowns.
Leave a Reply