“The Alternate”: An extended metaphor on parenting

Rhonda’s Take on 2.12 “The Alternate”

We’ve mentioned before that Deep Space Nine is about fathers and sons. Here we get yet another view of parenting as the scientist tasked with raising Odo arrives at the station and Odo is less than pleased to see him.

Any of us who’ve reached adulthood know exactly how Odo feels when Dr. Mora barely greets him and immediately begins critiquing his appearance: “Haven’t quite managed the ears.” Come on, Pops, find out what I’ve achieved before insulting what I haven’t!

The casting of James Sloyan as Dr. Mora is wonderful. He and Odo have similar facial structures that make them seem like father and son. It’s long been a joke that Odo’s hair is the fault of Dr. Mora as he was the first human Odo learned to imitate.

All of Odo’s arguments that Dr. Mora is “Not my Dad!” feel much like an angry teen who is trying to deny a stepparent. In many ways, that is the role Dr. Mora filled and in this episode Odo goes through puberty in dramatic fashion.

After the opening credits, we see a domestic scene between our primary father-son duo as Ben and Jake Sisko argue about why Jake needs to learn Klingon opera not only to pass his test, but to know Klingon opera. It’s a common argument between parent and child and, as should happen, the child loses and is forced to invite his friend over to study, rather than running off to the Promenade for mindless distraction.

However, there are some arguments a child must win in order to break out of parental control and become an individual. Odo left Dr. Mora’s lab before this final argument could occur and so we see it happen in this episode spurred on by some poisonous gas.

Odo gives [a smile] so natural, not the shapeshifter’s incomplete smile of other occasions. … Odo realizes he has a bond with Dr. Mora and that he is the closest thing he has to family.

Roughly this time in the first season (Episode 1.11 “Vortex”), Odo met someone from the Gamma Quadrant who teased him with details about his apparent race: Changelings. We knew then that Odo had a deep desire to connect with others like him. Dr. Mora arrives on the station with another hint at others like Odo on a planet not far from the wormhole and he wants Odo to procure a runabout so that they can investigate it together.

Despite Odo’s misgivings about returning to Dr. Mora on any level, he cannot refuse the request, so he asks Sisko for the runabout. Sisko, understanding the need of his security chief, immediately acquiesces, but sensibly sends his science officer, Jadzia Dax, with them. I say “sensibly,” but I have to admit I find Dax’s decision to remove the monolith, rather than image scan it, which is totally possible in the world of DS9, not sensible at all. We don’t revisit the fact that as soon as she beamed it off-planet the planet was rocked by seismic shifts and the release of the poisonous gas, but, seriously, cause and effect, people!

There are so many touching father-son moments between Odo and his “not Dad” Dr. Mora. Early in the episode, Dr. Mora rains down the critique about Odo still not engaging with others, while Odo defends himself as integrating “as much as I want to.” Dr. Mora entertains Dax with tales from the lab and encourages Odo to take over the story, yet interrupts to continue the telling. Dax smiles politely, and sympathetically, at both the story and Odo’s obvious discomfort as he turns his back on them. Yet, when Dr. Mora bemoans how much he misses Odo, Odo turns back with an incredulous, longing glance. When Dr. Mora nearly dies from the gas, Odo is filled with regrets, even as he continues to deny his connection. Sisko tries to comfort Odo with a story of his own father looking weak from illness, and Odo thanks him for the story, but says it is not the same, since Mora isn’t his father. However, the incident does shift their dynamic. After recovering, Dr. Mora sees Odo with new eyes. He is about to recognize how much Odo has grown without him. James Sloyan conveys Dr. Mora’s pride while Odo suggests the steps to investigate what is happening on the station. He beams as the others affectionately call Odo “constable,” even if Odo wants to reject the term of endearment. And, unlike most parents, he actually verbalizes his pride, “I’m very proud of you, Odo.” Like any child, Odo hears the words and accepts them with caution.

Of course, the mysterious entity that wrecked the lab and attacked Bashir in the infirmary while he cared for Dr. Mora turns out to be Odo himself. (There’s distinct symbolism in the act of Odo freeing the entity that they’d brought back from the planet before too much experimentation happens to it. He did not, of course, know that it would die in their atmosphere.) Dr. Mora knows this before the others do and he protects Odo by confronting him first. However, he phrases it all wrong and an argument ensues, which leads to him telling Odo he must come back to the lab for them to figure it out together. This triggers Odo’s rage. He (forgive me cross-pollinating franchises) hulks out, but he does not immediately attack Dr. Mora, who backs out of the office while Odo-monster slithers into a duct. When Odo-monster is trapped in the force field, Dr. Mora sees in vivid actuality what he has put Odo through their entire time together. He is truly sorry for imprisoning Odo when he says, “I’ve done it to you again, haven’t I, Odo?”  

The last scene of this episode is a touching moment between these characters while finalizing the metaphor of parenting. It is the responsibility of a parent to raise a child so that the child may become an individual. Sometimes the parent can’t let go. Mora summarizes this with, “You had to speak in a voice loud enough for me to hear…I’m sorry it was necessary.” He is wise enough to let Odo go now, but also, wise enough to suggest they stay in touch. He lays a hand on Odo, which Odo pats gently, and the smile that Odo gives is so natural, not the shapeshifter’s incomplete smile of other occasions. It is the first moment that Odo realizes he has a bond with Dr. Mora and that he is the closest thing he has to family.