The Begotten #StarTrek #DS9 Rewatch (Season 5, Episode 12) Kira and Odo face surrogacy

Rewatching ST:DS9

Odo walks stiffly into the infirmary, where Bashir scolds him for not taking better care of his recently-acquired humanoid body.

Quark presents a bottle with what he says is a dead changeling. Odo, entranced, says it’s alive.

Bashir manages to mostly unflabbergast the creature’s cellular jimberjams, and there is certainly no plot significance whatsoever to his inability to unflabber a few last gasts.

We get a quick infodump about Odo’s backstory with Dr. Mora (s2e12 “The Alternate”), the Bajoran scientist who discovered that a pile of ooze was the sentient shape-shifter we now know as Odo. 

Promising he won’t repeat Dr. Mora’s mistakes, Odo speaks affectionately to the substance, even pouring it into a mug and taking it on a tour of the station. (Worf’s only line in this show: “Constable, why are you talking to your beverage?”)

In a peaceful setting, Kira is almost ready to give birth to the baby she has been surrogating for the O’Briens. The chief is distracted and annoyed on behalf of Kira, because Shakaar is late coming.

As Odo chatters kindly to the batch of gunk, Dr. Mora arrives, with awkward smalltalk and an offer to help. Odo, clearly uncomfortable, invites him to “stay and observe.”

The midwife tells Kira that she wasn’t relaxed enough to have the baby today, and scolds both Shakaar and O’Brien to do better next time.

Odo keeps up a friendly patter as he pours the ooze into different-shaped containers. Mora’s low-key judgey snark and Odo’s defensive ripostes escalate. When Sisko arrives with news that Starfleet wants daily reports on his efforts to make contact with the changeling, Mora makes sure that Odo understands the he (Mora) was under similar pressure from the Cardassian occupiers. Reluctantly, Odo consents to using one of Mora’s strategies — mildly shocking the creature so it changes shape to avoid discomfort. This results in genuine progress, but there’s still tension between the men.

Though it’s scripted as comic relief, when Kira says “it’s time” again, it’s a bit disturbing to see O’Brien and Shakaar fighting over who will help her over which side of her bed.

After a dramatic breakthrough, an excited Mora admits Odo’s strategy is working. Odo kinda sorta shows gratitude for Mora’s guidance. Mora, encouraged, obliquely takes the blame for Odo’s “forbidding disposition.” They take a few more awkward emotional steps like this until Odo actually orders champagne for the two to celebrate together.

As Kira is about to give birth, Shakaar decides O’Brien shouldn’t stand with such a clear view of the big event, O’Brien stands his ground, and the women throw the bickering men out.

After hours, Odo buys the baffled Quark a drink, more content and joyful than we’ve ever seen him. Oh, remember that thing about Bashir not being 100% able to unflabbergast the changeling’s cellular jimberjams? It’s plot twist time.

A very relaxed Kira permits the outcasts back inside. They manage to behave and welcome the beautiful baby boy.

In the lab, Odo pours the now-murky changeling into his hands, and pleads with it not to die. The substance suddenly melts into Odo’s body. Stunned, Odo realizes something is different. He races out into the hallway, morphs into a bird, flies to an upper level, and returns to his usual form (so the audience can see his overwhelmed face).

In a shuttle boarding hallway, Shakaar invites Kira to visit with him on Bajor. She says for now she’d like to stay near the baby.

Mora helps Odo process the shape-shifting gift from the changeling, and pulls him in for a fatherly goodbye hug. Though the camera registers Odo’s initial discomfort, we see him relax into what looks like genuine affection.

The episode closes with Kira and Odo bonding over their respective losses.