S05.E12: The Begotten

[John Potts]

Quote

When Odo acquires an infant Changeling from Quark, he attempts to become a better "father" to it than his "father", Dr Mora. Meanwhile, Major Kira goes into labour with the O'Brien's child.

OK, I'm not a father, but I did like the way that Odo realised that, while he may have resented Dr Mora for the tests he was put through as a child, he really did care for him. I guess you can see it as a fight between the liberal "he needs to find his own path!" and the conservative "Children need discipline!" without actually demonising either viewpoint. Nice to see Odo seeing that Dr Mora really did love him, for all his occasionally hurtful actions and kudos to Rene Auberjonois for selling the "Talk to this beaker full of goo as if you really care about it!" scenes.

The Kira/O'Brien/Shakaar scenes though where really annoying - yes, go with the "Mother giving birth is calm while the dad is useless & bumbling" because that wasn't a tired trope 50 years ago. Was Worf in the episode at all? He'd said he was going to be on Earth when Kira gave birth, so I was trying to remember seeing him this episode at all (don't recall seeing Dax either - at least she could give some insight on having been a mother AND father).

[readster]

Yes, everything with Odo from beginning to end was fantastic. As for Kira's labor story, wow! I still have no words to this day. Miles came off like an idiot. He was more calm during Disaster on TNG when Molly was born. Plus, how Bajor deals with childbirth... umm ok. Not that it wasn't based on other Earth traditions, but I felt like it was too much. The end when Odo gets his powers powers back from dying Changling merging with him. It even cement the entire: "Changlings have never harmed another Changling" crap out the door. As we would learn that was not the real Julian and it was the Changling's fault the baby one died. 

[iMonrey]

I will never, ever understand why someone in the Star Trek universe chooses "natural" childbirth over just having the baby beamed out of their body. I mean, isn't that an obviously preferable choice? It's not as if this is even Kira's baby! And that's how the fetus got in there to begin with! Why on earth would she want to experience this? It defies explanation. There should have been some attempt to explain it - like maybe it was too "dangerous" for the baby or something. 

I also don't understand the mechanics of how "absorbing" the mostly-dead infant changeling turned Odo back into a shape-shifter, or how the Founders had the magical ability in the first place to turn Odo into an actual human. I can see them taking away his shifting ability so he'd be forced to maintain one shape, but actually turning his body human? With blood and bones and such? Ok then.

[starri]

4 hours ago, iMonrey said:

I will never, ever understand why someone in the Star Trek universe chooses "natural" childbirth over just having the baby beamed out of their body. I mean, isn't that an obviously preferable choice?

The Bajorans are all such hippies, I'd probably be more surprised if Kira hadn't had a natural childbirth.

[legaleagle53]

7 hours ago, iMonrey said:

I will never, ever understand why someone in the Star Trek universe chooses "natural" childbirth over just having the baby beamed out of their body. I mean, isn't that an obviously preferable choice? 

That's like asking why anyone wouldn't rather have a C-section as opposed to a vaginal delivery.  The beam-out is the 24th-Century equivalent of an emergency C-section.  It does NOT seem to be the normal method of delivery.

[iMonrey]

I don't think that's really a relevant comparison. There are always advances in medical practice - I can't imagine what kind of masochist you'd have to be if you chose to, for example, be awake during surgery and refuse pain killers. Or have a root canal without an anesthetic. They were able to save Keiko's fetus by beaming it out of her body and transplanting it into Kira's. So that technology exists - why would anyone choose to experience the agony and after-effects of childbirth if they could just have the baby beamed right out of them once it's ready to be born?? Yeah, I guess some hippies and weirdos would, but someone who's just a surrogate? That defies reason.

[Maverick]

 The implication was that a fetal transport causing a huge amount of stress on the baby's system and was used as an emergency procedure. 

 For how the infant Changeling restored Odo, the prevailing was that the Bashir Changeling did something to the infant to heal Odo, and in fact may have engineered the entire incident with it to test Odo.  

 The birth plot was nearly unwatchable.  It was almost like watching scenes from Fascination but without the Lwaxana's ailment to explain the bizarre behavior.  I pretty much hated the entire handling of the baby plot.  Keiko was a controlling bitch and the whole sexual tension between Kira and O'Brien was so juvenile and unnecessary. 

[readster]

12 hours ago, Maverick said:

 The implication was that a fetal transport causing a huge amount of stress on the baby's system and was used as an emergency procedure. 

 For how the infant Changeling restored Odo, the prevailing was that the Bashir Changeling did something to the infant to heal Odo, and in fact may have engineered the entire incident with it to test Odo.  

 The birth plot was nearly unwatchable.  It was almost like watching scenes from Fascination but without the Lwaxana's ailment to explain the bizarre behavior.  I pretty much hated the entire handling of the baby plot.  Keiko was a controlling bitch and the whole sexual tension between Kira and O'Brien was so juvenile and unnecessary. 

Yes on many points there. Keiko had to be turned into a mindless lunatic since they introduced the baby plot to write in Nana Visitar's pregnancy. Afterwards that Kieko disappeared and we got the one we had been watching since season 4 of TNG.

[rmontro]

Hard not to have empathy for Odo on this one, as he tries to raise a changeling baby.  Doctor Mora's techniques also make for an interesting moral dilemna:  Without discomfort, the changeling would be content to be a gelatinous blob, and never grow into its shape shifting abilities.  I suppose it's similar to discipline in a child's life.  This reminds me of the earlier episode where Odo was mentoring a young Jem'Hadar.  He took to the fatherhood role there also.

The sad ending is predictable, but Odo gets his changeling powers back!  A lot of potential implications there.

And Kira finally has the O'Brien's baby.  In real life, Nana Visitor had been pregnant with Alexander Siddig's (Doctor Bashir) baby.

Edited April 17, 2018 by rmontro

[blueray]

I've always loved this episode. Especially the relationship between Mora and Odo. It's like a father and son relationship. Mora really didn't know that Odo was sentient at first, but he realized that he needed some of those tests or Odo would have just stayed in his natural form.  I like how at the end they needed a mix of both ways. The ending is sad though, but I remember being glad when Odo got his abilities back.

[SVNBob]

On another forum I occasionally post on, someone remarked about Sisko's behavior in this episode being off at one point.  Primarily in the scene where it seems like he's pushing Odo to use Mora's harsher methods on the baby because of orders from Starfleet Intelligence.  Two fanwanks came up as replies; one from another poster, and one from me that got expanded on by that same other poster.

Their idea was that Sisko thought he was pushing Odo to make a parental connection.  They'd had a conversation about fatherhood back in "...Nor the Battle to the Strong", and how Odo didn't seem very paternal.  So his pressure was meant to encourage that kind of connection, not knowing it already existed.

My theory was that Odo's methods would have worked eventually, but that could have led to the infant siding with Odo and "healing" him, and thus there'd be two Changelings outside of the Great Link and the Dominion.  So in an attempt to drive a wedge between Odo and the baby,

Spoiler

that wasn't Sisko in that scene.  It was the Founder spy that had taken Bashir's place, temporarily using Sisko's form.  By using the same methods that caused the rift between Mora and Odo, the baby would either potentially grow up hating Odo like he did Mora.  Which would make the baby more receptive to joining the Link again.  Or, since it was still sick from radiation poisoning (which "Bashir" "treated"), the aggressive methods might have killed the baby, making a second Changeling life taken by Odo.

 

The first theorist liked my starting point (Changeling Bashir impersonating Sisko), but didn't like the further reasoning.  They were of the opinion that by making Odo harm the baby, the spy was doing harm itself, which Changelings are very loath to do.  So they'd want the baby to get well in order to link with it and sway it away from Odo/Starfleet and/or eventually smuggle it back to the Great Link.  The poster noted that the Founders seemed to be of the schools of "tough love" and "hard knocks", given their treatment of Odo throughout his entire life.  (Remember, Odo was one of the 100 infants sent out to explore the galaxy on behalf of the Founders.)  Given that, the Founders likely approved of Mora's harsher methods.  So perhaps the spy thought that the infant could survive the remaining radiation sickness by growing stronger faster.  And Mora's methods would accomplish that much quicker than Odo's.  Hence, a "fake" "hurry it up or we'll do it for you" from Starfleet via "Sisko".

Once I read that, I was quick to agree that it worked better than my original theory, and the person that pointed out the original oddness in Sisko also accepted this new combined effort as their headcanon.

[rmontro]

12 hours ago, SVNBob said:

Once I read that, I was quick to agree that it worked better than my original theory, and the person that pointed out the original oddness in Sisko also accepted this new combined effort as their headcanon.

That's an interesting idea.  I had also thought Sisko's behavior to be a little harsh, but I took it at face value:  Starfleet was interested in what was going on, and if Odo didn't come up with some results, they would end up taking the baby changling.  Obviously he would want to clue Odo in on that.  Better than not knowing, and then a week later Starfleet comes in and takes it away at phaser point.

Also, Odo's approach was awfully soft.  There is a difference between being a parent and being a friend, and SIsko would know that, being a father himself.