DS9 Flashback: Children of Time

Just when the writers of Deep Space Nine had seemingly closed the door on Kira and Odo as a couple, along came an episode to kick that door wide open -- presenting an interesting personal quandary for plenty of other characters in the process.

While investigating unusual readings at a planet in the Gamma Quadrant, the Defiant encounters a colony of thousands of their own descendants! It seems that their attempt to leave the planet in a few days' time is destined to fling them 200 years into the past, where they'll become trapped and begin a new life. But knowing about this accident gives them the means to avoid it -- and a tricky moral dilemma. Do they avoid their destiny and return to their own lives, consigning their own descendants to non-existence? Or do they abandon everyone and everything, and let an injured Kira die, so that the people of this colony may live?

At first, the episode feels a lot like an episode of The Next Generation: the ship is on its way somewhere else when it diverts to do some random science, winding up in a situation that technobabble might be able to solve. But it soon becomes a uniquely Deep Space Nine take on a Next Gen premise, more deeply rooted in the characters and their history, and with very personal stakes.

The story got there in a roundabout way. Outside writer Gary Holland had seen Rene Auberjonois interact with Kira in his previous second season episode and concluded Odo was secretly in love with her. So long before the staff was ready to play with that idea, Holland was trying to come up with a way Odo's secret might come out. His idea: some sort of time travel premise that would bring in an older, more mature Odo who was more open with his feelings.

By the time Holland pitched that idea, the staff felt that too many time travel ideas had been put in the mix -- they'd just done the "Past Tense" two-parter, and "The Visitor" was on the horizon. So the response was "good idea, but not right now." But in season five, when another outside writer (Ethan H. Calk) independently pitched almost exactly the same idea, the staff decided the time had come. They bought both pitches, had both writers submit an outline, and wound up taking the best parts of each to then craft the script.

Indeed, it is an interesting Odo story. The older version truly is different, with Rene Auberjonois giving a more relaxed performance, assisted by a lighter costume and a less severe makeup. It's also well contrasted with an especially awkward "regular Odo" at the beginning of the episode, as he reacts oddly to the (off-screen) breakup of Kira and Shakaar.

There's a great story arc in the episode for Kira too, as her religious faith comes into conflict with a Star Trek-brand technobabble cheat that would allow her to escape destiny. Her entire life has been devotion to causes greater than herself, and she stays consistent when it's literally her life weighed against literally thousands.

Both Auberjonois and Nana Visitor play the Odo/Kira scenes with the right emotions -- even though (for different reasons) they were reportedly not fans of this story. Visitor felt that the two characters should have stayed friends, that it would have been more interesting to maintain their "real deep friendship without it becoming physical." Auberjonois felt the final twist -- that the older Odo chooses Kira over all the lives in the colony -- was "tricky" for his character, sending a dubious message to the audience. The writers, for their part, loved taking the less obvious route. After early talk that Yedrin Dax would have the change of heart that Sisko and Jadzia assume, show runner Ira Steven Behr insisted on painting Odo in the shades of gray in which the series thrived.

The episode does a remarkable job of making us care about the fates of the people of the colony, through smart connections to most of the main characters. The character of Yedrin is arguably most effective here, in that it is Dax, several hosts later. Guest star Gary Frank seems to have been given some episodes to study for his performance here; he appropriates parts of how Terry Farrell speaks and stands, and it feels quite natural when Sisko starts calling him "old man" like Jadzia. (But his more sparse spots are a nice unspoken nod to the fact that Trill genes are thin in the colony pool.) Meanwhile, Jadzia herself is full of regret for having brought them all to this planet in the first place.

O'Brien is set up as the "last person to come around" -- after talking about his family back on the station and pointedly refusing to engage with the colonists, him changing his mind is a big moment. Worf gets the opportunity to lead a group of Klingons -- some by blood, some by choice -- in a lesson that some enemies are not defeated by armed combat: he directs them to help the colonists plant their fields. Bashir is almost eager to embrace his destiny, or at least interested in exploring it. Sisko is seen playing joyfully with a baby, as he has done in past episodes. Nearly all the main characters are in this episode, and all of them ultimately open their hearts to these descendants. No matter who your favorite character is on Deep Space Nine, you have an avenue into caring about this story.

Other observations:

• Shakaar has made his last appearance on the series, as Kira announces they've broken up at the start of this episode. The writers have said that by jumping him straight from Resistance hero to government leader, they left him no arc but to become an adversary of Sisko and our gang -- a role they preferred giving to Kai Winn. (Fair enough. You want to give good material to the Academy Award winning actress who wants to keep doing your show.)

• Matte paintings are often static in Star Trek up to this time, but in this episode we see moving wind turbines to help sell the environment. There's also poignant outdoor shooting at the site of Kira's grave. From how windy you can see it was on the day, you know they must have had to re-record every last line of dialogue. Still, the visuals are worth it.

• The "medical device" that Bashir stores "present day Odo" inside is a bread maker that was widely available at the time.

• It's important to this story that it takes place in the Gamma Quadrant -- stranding our heroes not just in the past but on the wrong side of the undiscovered Bajoran wormhole, should they go back in time. Interestingly (according to info I found online), this is the last episode to have any scenes set in the Gamma Quadrant until the series finale.

• The discussion of whether the crew will go back in time shows just what was lost in the previous edict that characters shouldn't have conflict with each other on Star Trek. O'Brien pointedly notes that for all he and Kira have been through together, he doesn't believe in her prophets. And when Worf suggests that O'Brien be willing to let his family go, the Chief notes that Worf hardly ever sees his own son. It's very meaningful texture that draws a bit of emotional blood without inflicting permanent damage.

While "Children of Time" is built on one of the more elaborate science fiction premises presented on Deep Space Nine, that emerged from the desire to tell a character-driven story. The results are effective and emotional. I give the episode an A-.