Star Trek: The Next Generation 4.23

The Host

Doctor Beverly Crusher falls in love with Odan, a Trill ambassador who is scheduled to try and mediate a peace between the Alphans and Betans. Odan gets injured while traveling to the site of the negotiations. Beverly and the rest of the bridge crew learn then that Odan is a Trill symbiont and the body he inhabits is a Trill host.

The host body is dying but Odan can survive if he is implanted to another body. One is on its way but it will take a couple days for it to arrive. Odan cannot survive that long without a host body. The peace negotiations cannot be delayed as both sides are gearing up for war. Commander Riker volunteers to become the host for Odan until the replacement arrives.

Odan is transplanted into Riker whose consciousness seems to vanish. Riker is now Odan. Beverly has trouble accepting this. Odan, in Riker's body, wants to pick up where they left off but she has trouble accepting the reality of the situation. Riker's body starts to reject the symbiont which causes it pain.

The negotiations happen as planned although it takes a little time to convince the two parties that they are dealing with the same person that they met earlier. Beverly gets over her qualms over the current state of events just before the new host arrives. Odan, once implanted in the new host body, a woman, comes to see Beverly who has trouble reconciling that this is still the same Odan.

Thoughts

I decided to watch this episode because there is a Trill symbiont character in Deep Space Nine and I have just started to watch DS9. 

I can see how Doctor Crusher might have trouble accepting that Odan was still Odan once it was implanted into Riker's body. William Frakes did a great job playing the part of Odan after the symbiont had been implanted into Riker's body. He really did seem like a different person.

It was a little odd how quickly Riker volunteered to become the host. It felt a little forced. It was also a little odd that no one really put up a fight or recommended someone less key to be the host.

I find the whole concept of the host and symbiont relationship makes me uneasy. It seems like, from what I saw in this episode, that the host's life is basically over once the symbiont is implanted within them. I find that to be deeply disturbing no matter how willingly the host accepts the host. It's like volunteering to be a human sacrifice. Maybe I will learn more about such relationships when I watch more of DS9.

I guess that this is one of those episodes that never gets discussed again, within the show. The fact that Doctor Crusher has to live with the memory of making out with Commander Riker is more than enough. I can only imagine that this episode must have generated plenty of fan fiction.

I can see how some people might think Beverly's reaction to Odan's female body was homophobic but I don't see it that way.

This was an interesting episode. The ending was moving.