The Begotten

"The Begotten" is the 110th episode of the television series Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, the 12th episode of the fifth season. In this episode, Odo attempts to raise an infant shapeshifter while contending with the scientist who mistreated him when he was an infant shapeshifter himself; meanwhile Kira gives birth to Keiko and Miles O'Brien's baby.

"The Begotten"
Star Trek: Deep Space Nine episode
The baby changeling greets Odo and Mora
Episode no.Season 5
Episode 12
Directed byJesús Salvador Treviño
Written byRené Echevarria
Featured musicJay Chattaway
Production code511
Original air dateJanuary 27, 1997 (1997-01-27)
Guest appearance(s)

This episode is the second appearance of Dr. Mora Pol, the scientist who studied Odo, introduced in the third season's "The Alternate". Actor James Sloyan reprises the role.

Plot

Quark has come into possession of an infant shapeshifting Changeling and sells it to Odo, a former Changeling who has been stripped of his shapeshifting abilities. Odo begins trying to teach his "child" to shapeshift; he is displeased when Dr. Mora, the Bajoran scientist who "raised" Odo, arrives to help.

Dr. Mora and Odo immediately clash over how to best raise the Changeling. Odo, still angry at the invasive methods Dr. Mora employed with him, hopes to reach the infant through encouragement. Mora insists on probing and measuring the creature, to Odo's disgust. Unfortunately, Odo makes little progress using his own methods. Under pressure from Starfleet, Odo has no choice but to resort to Mora's methods.

Using Dr. Mora's equipment, Odo employs electric shocks to prod the changeling into holding several basic forms. Both are both amazed when the creature imitates the shape of Odo's face. The moment brings Odo and Mora together — especially when Mora admits to Odo that his caring seems to have helped him form a connection with the baby. Mora's support helps Odo to finally forgive Mora for treating him more as a specimen than as a person. He invites Dr. Mora to celebrate their success with a glass of champagne. But the happy mood is shattered when Odo receives word that the little creature is dying.

Dr. Bashir is unable to save the "child". Odo holds the dying creature in his hands, and, as it dies, the infant changeling merges into Odo and restores his shapeshifting abilities.

Meanwhile, Major Kira goes into labor, and gives birth as a surrogate mother to Keiko and Miles O'Brien's baby. At the end of the episode, Kira tells Odo about explains her feelings of loss, after turning over the baby has to his parents. Odo tells her he knows how she feels, and the two go for a walk together.

Reception

This episode received Nielsen ratings of 6.2 points when it premiered.[1] This episode was directed by Jesús Salvador Treviño and written by René Echevarria.[2] It aired on television on January 27, 1997.[2]

In 2015, Geek.com recommended this episode as "essential watching" for their abbreviated Star Trek: Deep Space Nine binge-watching guide.[3]

In 2017, in the book To Boldly Go: Essays on Gender and Identity in the Star Trek Universe they note that in this episode, Keiko and Miles's son Yoshi is born.[4] Keiko and Miles are noted as the only successful long-term relationship in the entire Star Trek universe, with their marriage being featured in Star Trek: The Next Generation (starting in "Data's Day", S4E11) and across Star Trek:Deep Space Nine.[4] Their first child, Yoshi's older sister Molly was born in the Star Trek: The Next Generation episode "Disaster".[4]

In 2018, SyFy recommend this episode for its abbreviated watch guide for the Bajoran character Kira Nerys.[5] They note this episode for having connections and "beautiful moments."[5]

Tor.com felt it was a lost opportunity not to use the character Worf, as he had helped Keiko with her delivery of Molly; this event was previously mentioned on the show in "Accession" (DS9 S4E17).[2] In 2019, Tor.com also noted this as an "essential" for the character of Odo, but also noting the O'Brien's birth story with Kira and noting the common theme of parenting.[6] In particular they note how they explore Odo's feelings about parenting, compared to issues he had during his upbringing.[6]

gollark: I think I get about 30 seconds depending on how fast I type.
gollark: Anyway, I don't leave it *running*, it's suspended to RAM.
gollark: No.
gollark: I have to restart it every week or so or it runs into badness.
gollark: I think it's not the tabs *per se*, but Firefox having memory leaks.

References
  1. http://users.telenet.be/WebTrek/Ds9/Ratings/ratings5.html
  2. DeCandido, Keith R. A. (2014-06-11). "Star Trek: Deep Space Nine Rewatch: "The Begotten"". Tor.com. Retrieved 2019-06-25.
  3. "Star Trek: Deep Space Nine condensed: How to watch the most story-driven Trek". Geek.com. 2015-01-19. Retrieved 2019-07-13.
  4. Farghaly, Nadine; Bacon, Simon (2017-05-31). To Boldly Go: Essays on Gender and Identity in the Star Trek Universe. McFarland. ISBN 9781476668536.
  5. Krishna, Swapna (2018-01-16). "A binge-watching guide to Star Trek: Deep Space Nine's Kira Nerys". SYFY WIRE. Retrieved 2020-01-09.
  6. Britt, Ryan (2019-12-09). "Remembering René Auberjonois: 8 Essential Odo Episodes of Deep Space Nine". Tor.com. Retrieved 2020-01-07.
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