450. ChimeraFORMULA: The Search + The Abandoned + The Begotten
WHY WE LIKE IT: The love story. Changeling tricks.
WHY WE DON'T: The Link still creeps me out. Odo's paranoia.
REVIEW: When Odo meets Laas, one of the other 100 infant changelings sent out into the universe, he perhaps sees himself in a 150 years' time. Laas - ably played by H.G. Hertzler of Martok fame - is more a more experienced/powerful changeling, able to turn himself into gasses, fire, and warp-capable creatures. He's also more jaded than Odo when it comes to humanoids. His experience seems much closer to that of the Founders, having encountered mistrust, grown bored and learned to appreciate other types of life form. He also thinks changelings are better than "monoforms". Odo's experiences have perhaps been different, but Laas still went through those motions once. And yet, Odo's destiny lies elsewhere... though not that far from the notion of starting a new, healthy Great Link with the other 100.
Of course, throwing a new changeling into the mix means Odo's gonna link sooner or later. And I so hate that. I'm with Quark on this. He gets a wonderful speech about how evolution has made us xenophobic and though he's right, Star Trek's message has always been that we can further evolve, socially if not genetically. Something this episode bears out eventually, though Odo has a massive chip on his shoulder regarding how changelings are viewed. I actually find it annoying how he suddenly looks at his friends as if they were racists all of a sudden. Such is the poison that is the Link, I suppose.
Kira is right to be jealous too. The Link IS intimate, and where we've seen Odo with a female changeling before (if they truly have gender), Laas is male, bringing a homoerotic vibe to the proceedings (fear of making people uncomfortable, changeling pride demonstrations, etc.). In light of this, I'm not quite sure what the episode is trying to say because it's an allegory that falls apart under scrutiny. If Odo is a gay man not allowed to "be himself", his choice of staying, effectively choosing to live as a "heterosexual" is all wrong, as is the representation of the "self-accepting gay man" (Laas) as essentially asocial.
Thankfully, there's a strong emotional core to the story, so you can (and should) ignore the veiled references to homosexuality. An Odo story must now also be a Kira story, and in the end, despite her being hurt by his existential crisis, she lets him go out of love. And when Odo is actually given that freedom, he still chooses to remain with her. All the previous indecision, the "what might have been", is gone, and his zen-like resolution is evident. Odo only ever makes that expression either after the Link, or in relation to Kira. The last scene is a gem, with her letting him be who/what he is, and getting to see what it must be like inside the Link. Quite beautiful.
LESSON: Love trumps primeval slime.
REWATCHABILITY - Medium-High: Despite its failed allegorical premise, Chimera is still a beautiful love story as well as a showcase for the changelings' potential.
Comments
In other words: how can Odo and Laas be gay, when they're not even "male"?
P.S. Sorry about the multiple deleted comments, but the pedant in me simply wouldn't let certain mistakes of mine slide.
But the truth of the matter is, whether it makes sense or not, the changelings HAVE been shown with genders or at least gender preferences. And in this episode, words like "changeling pride parade" are a little too on the nose.
The Federation is all cool with whatever lifestyle you want to live. The ferengi sure aren't. And the klingon's absolutely despise anything too alien for their minds.
Plus, I can't get to wrapped up in the sexuality of changelings. They're about as passionate as spore molds and fungus.
Quark: It wasn't me!
Odo: (Angry grunt) You're coming with me Quark.
Sisko: Constable. I need some information.
Odo: (Affirmative grunt) What is it Captain?
Kira: I love you Odo!
Odo: (Embarrassed grunt.) Yes well...
Er, what was my point?
Oh yes, "The Federation is cool with whatever lifestyle you live." As long as you don't have a caste system. And you don't swear a blood oath with some Klingons. And those Vulcans, eh? All logic and stuff. Oh, and clearly the Ferengi deserve no respect at all.
Of course, the Federation can't win here. They face the same issue more liberal minded people do everyday. Looking at other cultures and deciding which of their differences are "acceptable" and which are "wrong"? Even with the Changlings, we as fans have decided that "disguising yourself as stuff" is "acceptable", while "creapy blobby sex that looks like shooting up" is "weird and wrong".
"Oh yes, "The Federation is cool with whatever lifestyle you live." As long as you don't have a caste system. And you don't swear a blood oath with some Klingons*. And those Vulcans, eh? All logic and stuff. Oh, and clearly the Ferengi deserve no respect at all." - LiamKav
And let's not forget, if you believe in a religion- even a religion in which your gods have been proven to be categorically real and tangible and have all the powers and intentions your religion ascribes to them**- you are at best primitives to be pitied for your naivete and condescendingly tolerated (only in the sense of 'tolerating that annoying until it goes away') until they grow up and learn better. And don't even get them started on if you are from 20th century Earth or a culture that reminds them of it (particularly in early TNG); you are the lowest form of life imaginable.
"Looking at other cultures and deciding which of their differences are "acceptable" and which are "wrong"?" - LiamKav
That's the frustrating catch-22 of tolerance. Either *everything* is right, or Tolerance is hypocritical, because it's setting standards of what's right and wrong, whilst simultaneously telling others that being 'intolerant' (setting their own standards of what's right and wrong) is wrong.
*Horribly inconsistent about this, too. "This guy must beam down to commit ritual suicide because of his age. We respect that." "Oh, you challenged a guy by Klingon law to avenge the murdered mother of your child. You monster!" "Oh, we have to pardon this race-of-the-week, bloodsport is part of their culture!" "Oh, I morally condemn you, Klingon warrior (or Dax joining Klingon warriors) because bloodsport is part of your culture!"
**Seriously, rewatching these latter seasons of DS9, it keeps weirding me out how Bashir, Dax, etc., talk about whether they 'believe in the prophets.' Like, they have been tangibly, scientifically proven to exist and whisked an entire Dominion fleet away. Isn't that like asking if you 'believe' in Australia? It's kind of not something whose existence is in debate.