The Good: Great character work, Nice acting, Plot
The Bad: Some special effects, Attempts at humor
The Basics: When a baby Changeling is discovered, Odo is left with a dilemma and a deadline while Kira gives birth to the O'Briens' baby!
At some point, fans of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine had to figure that the O'Brien's baby needs to be born. After all, Major Kira cannot carry it indefinitely. In "The Begotten" Kira finally gives birth and Odo's imprisonment within his body changes as well.
While Kira goes into labor, she feels anxiety because Shakaar has not arrived to be with her during the process. Elsewhere on the station, Quark delivers a gift to Odo; a baby Changeling he unwittingly purchased. Odo releases the Changeling and attempts to get it to perform, to learn the way to change shape and realize that it is alive. Odo meets with limited results until Dr. Mora Pol visits the station to help him. Dr. Mora was the scientist who inspired Odo into consciousness. Odo, still scarred in some ways from Mora's process, objects to his presence. But when StarFleet begins to pressure the Security Chief, Odo relents and allows Mora to help him. And Kira gives birth to a healthy baby boy.
"The Begotten" is an essential character episode of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine and it is executed fairly well. The only real problems with this piece are in the details. The humor that is played between O'Brien and Shakaar falls flat. Their conflict seems forced and the strange humor that is written for their characters does not come off well; it seems out of character for O'Brien and actor Duncan Regehr, who plays Shakaar, seems utterly unable to pull off humor.
The other fault of "The Begotten" is in the special effects. The Changeling that Odo is dealing with varies throughout the episode. Only some of the times is it made via computer graphics. The rest of the time it is gelatin and other materials. When it is one of any material, it is fine, the problem exists when the gelatin will be put on the test dish and then it must react, so all of a sudden, it will shift into a computer generated blob that looks nothing like the thing we saw moments prior.
But outside that, this is a truly great episode. Kira has a wonderful bit of character growth and she explores the depth of her affections for the baby as it is being born and her ability to give it up to the O'Briens. It's a complicated situation and for the first time, she shows real complications toward the baby. It makes a lot of sense and it is dealt with in a mature, sensible fashion.
But much of the episode is centered on Odo and his attempts to reach the young Changeling. His hatred for Dr. Mora, alluded to in the second season's "The Alternate" (reviewed here!) comes fully to light here and it's a welcome thing to see. Odo's anger is intense and realistic. What Mora justifies as scientific experimentation, Odo recalls as cruel and the differences in perspective are certainly compelling enough to keep the viewer's interest. As Odo must reluctantly go from fighting Mora to accepting his methods, we see some intelligent and clever character development.
Part of what makes the episode so compelling is the return of James Sloyan as Dr. Mora Pol. Sloyan has a great ability to create memorable guest starring characters and Dr. Mora is certainly one of them. His awkwardness with Odo is presented and highlighted by Sloyan's great facial control. His expressions go a long way to give character to Dr. Mora.
And while Nana Visitor does an excellent job acting at giving birth in the episode, it is Rene Auberjonois who dominates "The Begotten." Auberjonois plays Odo with outright love and a sense of sad desperation that he has never infused in the character before and here it works perfectly. This is a peak of Auberjonois' portrayal of Odo and it's easy to watch and recognize the quality of his performance with his amazing range of vocal tones throughout the piece.
"The Begotten" is a great family drama in a science fiction setting. While it is part of the essential Star Trek: Deep Space Nine for the key character and plot events, it may be appreciated by anyone who wants to see a drama about the way resentful sons interact with their father's as adults. It's a clever story and the resolution to it is both sad and wonderful.
[Knowing that VHS is essentially a dead medium, it's worth looking into Star Trek: Deep Space Nine - The Complete Fifth Season on DVD, which is also a better economical choice than buying the VHS. Read my review of the perfect season by clicking here!
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8.5/10
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© 2012, 2007, 2003 W.L. Swarts. May not be reprinted without permission.
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