Comments | curuchamion: "The Forsaken": a really long look at one ep of DS9

curuchamion

"The Forsaken": a really long look at one ep of DS9

May 09, 2011 15:18

Okay, so over on ds9_rewatch we've been discussing "The Forsaken" aka The One Where Odo And Lwaxana Get Stuck In A Turbolift. I've been promising all and sundry a massive rant!post about that ep ever since I first saw it. This is that post ( Read more... )

ds9, writing, ramble, srs bsnss

Comments 11

pitry May 9 2011, 20:32:22 UTC

Eurgh. I hated that episode.

On a different note, I don't think Odo is in any way employed by the Federation. True, the commander of DS9 is Federation, but if I remember correctly it is considered Bajoran territory and the Federation are there as guests and on cooperation capacity.

curuchamion May 9 2011, 20:47:06 UTC

He's not directly employed by the Federation, I guess, and DS9 is indeed considered Bajoran territory with the Feds "just here to administrate" - but Odo is very definitely subordinate to Federation orders. He and Sisko have been butting heads over it all season (and will continue to do so for the rest of the series). He can't set a curfew, or throw people off the station, or make arrests without evidence, or do much of anything except snark at Quark ;-) without Sisko's approval.

(By and large, I hate this episode too, but it does provide a whole lot of material to chatter about! lol And the fourth-season Odo/Lwaxana ep "The Muse" turned me into a hardcore ace!Odo/Lwaxana 'shipper, much to my own perplexity - so I can't hate the ep 100%. *g*)

pitry May 9 2011, 21:06:45 UTC

He has to follow orders, but I think that's because the Bajoran chain of command endorsed Sisko? I'm pretty sure there were bits where Kira took it to the Bajoran authority, but I might be mistaken. Need to rewatch. Hmmm.

The Muse deserves to be hated 100%, though. I think it's my least favourite DS9 episode.

curuchamion May 10 2011, 01:59:34 UTC

'The Muse deserves to be hated 100%, though.'

Really? Wow. I mean, I can see that, but - well, I am pretty much in favor of whatever makes Odo happy ;-) so his little giggle of delight when he was playing hide-and-seek with Lwaxana in that ep made me squee.

(Now "Fascination" OTOH I cannot stand at all. The best part of that ep for me was the Quark/Keiko crackship, just because part of my brain thinks they totally deserve each other. LOL.)

solo_by_choice May 9 2011, 21:29:30 UTC

Interesting ( ... )

solo_by_choice May 9 2011, 21:31:24 UTC

*and by "was sexual," I meant "wasn't sexual" completely altering the point of that sentence... fail.

curuchamion May 10 2011, 02:26:20 UTC

I did actually figure that out. ;-)

curuchamion May 10 2011, 02:25:44 UTC

'Oh that was overly long, sorry.'

Well, look at the "comment" you're replying to, fer cryin' out loud! I have absolutely no problem with long comments. As somebody said to me a while back (about a comment related to this ep, even), the whole point of writing Opinions About Star Trek is to have Conversations About Star Trek.

'So I have a hard time believing that Odo has been self-aware longer than maybe 20 years? Probably less? I realize this is hardly relevant, but. Whatever.'

*shrugs* There was a cut line in the pilot script that implied Odo was found in the Denorios Belt 32 years ago. I don't know how long it would take before Mora et al figured out he was self-aware, which is not the same thing as him BEING self-aware... um, yeah. I have a whole fic-outline-in-progress about Odo's pre-series timeline. *g*

(Also, Mora wouldn't have to have been working with odo'ital the whole time "it" was in the lab; as long as he was the one who first figured out "it" was sentient, he'd probably feel and act toward "it" very much as he does ( ... )

Thread 5

(The comment has been removed)

curuchamion May 10 2011, 02:03:31 UTC

That's the way I always took it too, especially when watching the ep. The "So far" / "procreation" connection only struck me when I was reading the script through trying to figure out WTH the writer was thinking, and may well be the ravings of a pattern-seeking mind faced with this ep. ;-)

It would be sort of cute, though very weird, if Odo could bud or undergo mitosis or whatever... (don't mind me, I am incurably addicted to "guys I like being cute taking care of kids" fic in all forms. *g*)

chesari May 10 2011, 05:52:34 UTC

Oh wow, I hadn't thought about Odo's liquid form being like nakedness to him. But you're totally right, it would be, and in this ep he seems as embarrassed about it as a human would be about accidental/involuntary nudity ( ... )