Star Trek: Deep Space Nine 2.12

The Alternate

Doctor Mora, who has a history with Odo, visits Deep Space Nine. Mora is amazed at the progress that Odo has made, the way he handles himself but he isn't there for a social call. He has found something in the Gamma Quadrant that resembles Odo's genetic structure that he wants to investigate further.

Doctor Mora, Odo, Dax, and one of Mora's associates go to the Gamma Quadrant to a planet where they find something alive that seems to be metamorphic, like Odo. They bring it back to the Alpha Quadrant, to the space station. They proceed to examine it. During the night it escapes from the lab in which it was kept. Chief O'Brien tracks it through the ducts and finds what looks like the remnants of the life form but it is no longer alive.

They continue to search for any other signs of the life form they brought back with them from the Gamma Quadrant. Something attacks Doctor Bashir in sick bay. He didn't get a good look at it before it escaped through a ventilation duct.

Doctor Mora talks to Odo about returning to his lab on Bajor. Odo has no interest in doing that but Odo has a melt down while they are talking about it. He disappears from sight. Doctor Mora suspects that it was Odo who attacked Doctor Bashir. Sisko sets a trap. Odo slithers right into it. Doctor Mora is the bait.

Odo returned to his senses. Doctor Mora explains that Odo's condition was caused by his exposure to gas that injured the others on the away mission but that they previously thought did not have an effect on Odo. Doctor Mora says goodbye to Odo and returns to his lab on Bajor.

Thoughts

It may not be apparent from my summary but the emotional center of this episode is Odo's relationship with Doctor Mora, who seems to still see Odo as a child. It takes the whole episode for him to overcome this perception of Odo. If found it a bit galling every time that Mora commented on how impressed he was by Odo. I was very happy to see in the end that he learned to stop seeing Odo as he was once was.

On the whole I think that this was a decent episode but there were parts of it that felt rushed and a bit messy to me. I definitely wouldn't put it in the category of must watch episodes but it didn't make me roll my eyes too much.

Notes

James Sloyan placed the part of Doctor Mora. This is the first of two episodes of this show in which he appeared. He also played the part of Doctor Mora in his second appearance. He appeared in two episodes of TNG, playing different characters. The first of those episodes was 3.09 The Defector. He was also in one episode of Voyager. He appeared in episodes of Wonder Woman, Buck Rogers in the 25th Century, and one episode of Moonlighting (1.04 The Next Murder You Hear).

This episode was directed by David Carson. This is the fourth of four episodes of this show that he directed. The first of the four episodes he directed was 1.01 Emissary. He also directed four episodes of The Next Generation, including 3.15 Yesterday's Enterprise, and the movie Star Trek: Generation (1994).