May 13th, 1991, "The Host"
I've said it before and I'll say it again, they should've called the DS9 race something else. It's another case of "the people who didn't watch 'The Host' won't care, and the ones that did will question why so many changes were made."
Fiver by Marc
The Episode
Doctor Beverly Crusher, personal log, stardate 44821.3. Began an analysis today of the respiratory problems being experienced on the beta moon of Peliar Zel. Finally got an actual letter from Wesley. Topped the class in exo-biology, but he's still struggling in Ancient Philosophies. And there's someone new in my life.
One wonders if the Ancient Philosophies are all human, or if they actually talk about Surak and such.
CRUSHER: I'll set you up at the medical monitor, Data. It'll take you a while to input the figures, won't it?
DATA: At least an hour, but I do not believe much time can be saved by exhibiting such haste now.
Really? Can't Data hook himself to the computer and "think" the data into it?
ODAN: Do you know, when I first met the formidable Doctor Beverly, what, ten days ago? I thought to myself, this woman is ice through to her bones. Who would have ever guessed that instead of ice, there is fire.
Beverly doesn't seem like the type to fall in love this fast.
TROI: It's Ambassador Odan. I continually feel fluctuations of emotion from him.
PICARD: Perhaps it's perfectly normal among the Trill.
TROI: It could be. We know so very little about them.
This seems like one of those cases where more information would be required before sexual liasons are approved. Goodness, am I saying that NextGen should be more like Voyager? Is it Opposite Day?
CRUSHER: I am a grown up and I know the difference between love and infatuation. All I know is, I haven't felt this way for a long time.
"Transfigurations" was ten months ago. Whether that counts as "a long time" is a discussion that I'll skip.
ODAN: Captain, you know her better than I. Do you have any idea how committed she is to remaining with Starfleet?
PICARD: I wouldn't presume to speak for her.
ODAN: Oh no, of course not. I just thought, well, you've known her so much long than I.
We don't actually know when she met Picard. She met Jack Crusher in 2347 or 2348, so it's probably been twenty years or so. The "Generations" photo album has Picard's invitation to her wedding to Jack, although it has other mistakes.
ODAN: If you transport me, it will kill me. Please.
Another thing that should've been in the initial briefing, and another thing that DS9 ignored. The simplest solution is that he was just lying and wanted to hide his symbiote (although in this case, I think "parasite" is more applicable) from them.
ODAN: This body is just a host. I am that parasite. That is what must survive. It has always been this way. The Trill are a joined species. A host and a symbiont, and in this fashion we have survived for millennia.
CRUSHER: You're dying. What can I do?
ODAN: The host body is dying. You must contact the Trill quickly. Tell them I need another host. They will send a replacement.
The implication that the host doesn't matter is unsetting. Does this version of the Trill labgrow humanoid bodies for the symbiotes to walk around in?
DATA: Would it be possible for me to serve as a temporary carrier?
Data, how is that even remotely possible? You're an idiot, or maybe it's just the writers.
RIKER/ODAN: It never occurred to me. This is what I am. Did you ever tell me that you are only a single being? Of course not. That was normal to you.
This is beyond idiotic. I don't buy this sort of argument for a second. The Trill deliberately hid this aspect of their biology until it was necessary to talk, so they must've known how other species would react.
CRUSHER: You know, Deanna, the first man I ever loved unconditionally was named Stefan.
Maybe it's just cause I've never been in love, but the idea of loving "unconditionally" is a little unsettling to me. Forgiving absolutely everything seems like something a doormat or victim of abuse would say.
CRUSHER: I feel his pull. It's very powerful. I wish he'd never come on this ship.
TROI: Don't wish that, Beverly. You can't be open to love if you don't risk pain.
I get the message, but this doesn't seem like the place for it.
RIKER/ODAN: Can you make balso tonic?
COMPUTER: There is no formula on record. Please supply a molecular structure.
RIKER/ODAN: Never mind.
Did joining with Will make you stupid, Odan? Your people are isolationist, of course they haven't shared replicator patterns!
CRUSHER: Perhaps it is a human failing, but we are not accustomed to these kinds of changes. I can't keep up. How long will you have this host? What would the next one be? I can't live with that kind of uncertainty. Perhaps, someday, our ability to love won't be so limited.
KAREEL/ODAN: I understand.
So they make the new host a woman to subvert expectations, but they decide to do nothing with it? What's the point? They can't have Beverly expressing homophobia outright, they can't declare that all Trill are bisexual, nothing?
On the whole this almost seems like a plot that would've worked better in the Voyager days when things were a little looser.
The Fiver
Troi: Beverly, are you sure your feelings for Odan aren't just an infatuation?
Beverly: I don't think they are -- though I admit that I do have a weakness for men with long, dark, wavy hair.
Where did this come from? Ronin is the closest to this description, and his hair barely reached his shoulders.
Odan: Before I shuttle down to the negotiations, I have a gift for you -- a pair of Trill earrings.
Crusher: They're lovely! But...how could you have bought them for me? We hadn't met before you came aboard.
Odan: Actually, they're mine. I mean, uh, they're sort of an old family heirloom. Yes, that's it.
The fiver tradition of characters being lousy liars lives on.
Crusher: The Ambassador's in shock, he's lost as lot of blood....
Nurse Ogawa: ...and he also seems to be pregnant.
Crusher: But that's impossible! We were really carefu--
"We even put condoms on the magic telepathic rocks!"
Blerg, "Unexpected" was a real stinker.
Riker/Odan: Will you allow me to serve as mediator?
Alpha Moon Delegate: Not if you are acceptable to the Beta delegate!
Beta Moon Delegate: Not if you are acceptable to the Alpha delegate!
Riker/Odan: Since each of you finds me unacceptable, does this mean that you both agree to my offer of service?
Both Delegates: Of course.
Leka: (aside to Picard) He's good.
I wonder if Marc is a Phantom Tollbooth fan. I was shocked to see that his last visit was in 2005...
Crusher: I was, uh, thinking that...if Deanna were to be attracted to Worf, that would hypothetically make it all right for me to be interested in you.
Riker/Odan: And how likely is that, do you think?
Troi/Worf won't really be a thing for another couple seasons, and I never did like the pairing. Then again, I never really liked Dax/Worf either.
Memory Alpha
* They had to shoot around McFadden's pregnancy. You'd think they'd put off the script until next season for that reason.
* The creators had to answer the questions of homophobia. Marvin Rush's explanation might make sense if they had actually devoted some screentime to it. But they didn't, so it sure looks like homophobia was a factor.
Fan attempts to reconcile the Trill contradiction
*
There really are two different species that just happen to both be called Trill. This wouldn't necessarily be without precedence, given the Xindi and Rigellians, among others.
*
Apparently there's a short story that declares "Host"-style Trills to be a subspecies. Someone compares it to Pon Farr being unknown before "Amok Time". I call that one very easy to reconcile, they stated in the episodes that outsiders aren't told and until Spock joined Starfleet it was never allowed to be a factor/
*
Ex Astris Scientia tackles the question. They also bring up the reassociation issue which hadn't occurred to me.
*
The fans at Jammer's Reviews tackle the episode. I find the notion that Pulaski would be more accepting intriguing (even if I don't quite buy it). Another fan raises the valid point that if the host is just a puppet being driven around by the symbiote, why would they care about having sex with a humanoid? Another correctly points out that Trill hosts are treated as slaves by the symbionts.
Nitpicker's Guide
* Odan called himself a parasite, in case any of the viewers missed the point. Awkward.
* Phil has some interesting points on the TNG/DS9 disconnect, but they've been covered elsewhere for the most part.
* Our heroes are handling the parasite thing rather well considering the events of "Conspiracy" and "Identity Crisis", aren't they?
* Why didn't Beverly implant Odan into herself for a short time?