Deep Space Nine Thoughts: The Alternate-- or, How DS9 Introduced an Abusive Dad and Handwaved It OK

[kitewithfish]

Wow, that was not where I expected this episode to go. Seriously, this is the kind of father/son relationship that you come back from?

From the minute Dr. Mora showed up to talk about Odo's past, I assumed that the episode was setting him up as the villain-- the abusive father figure.

Comments

[thehefner]

I just saw this episode the first time a few months ago, and yeah, I totally agree with everything you said here. That said, I do recall accepting the hand-waving on first viewing, but I can't really recall why. Was it because the point of the episode was to show Odo gaining perspective on what it was like for Mora as a parent? Was I simply too distracted with crying my eyes out with... wait, this was the tear-jerker Mora episode, wasn't it? The Begotten? Or was this The Alternate, Mora's first appearance? Well, either way, the hand-waving wasn't cool at all upon consideration.

[kitewithfish]

This is the Alternate (see title). I imagine they're going to bring Mora back again, having established him as a Person That Exists, but frankly, they need to work a lot more on selling this relationship to me. He just reads as talking about Odo like property in a way that really weirds me.