Quodo in Every Episode discussion: "The Search" parts 1 & 2

[chacusha]

This week we're discussing... episode 3x01/02 "The Search" parts 1 & 2!

Episode synopsis: Following an alarming first contact with the Vorta and Jem'Hadar, DS9, Bajor, and the Federation are on high alert anticipating that the Dominion might invade the Alpha Quadrant through the wormhole. Sisko is given a brand new warship, the Defiant, and a mission to make contact with the founders of the Dominion and sue for peace in this two-parter that reveals Odo's origins.

What The Boys are up to in this episode: The episode opens with Odo sidelined in his duties as chief of security. He accompanies the Defiant crew on their mission and ends up escaping a battle with the Jem'Hadar in order to travel to the Omarion Nebula, where he and Kira spend time with his people until they discover that the Changelings are holding their friends prisoner. Quark has several scenes: one where Sisko recruits him for the mission, one where he and Odo share quarters on the Defiant together (a very Quodo scene), and one where he negotiates with the Karemma in order to get more info about the leaders of the Dominion. He also appears in the bridge crew's simulation, where he expresses optimism about peace and increased business with the Dominion, before a fight breaks out in his bar.

One screencap from this episode:


Transcripts:
http://chakoteya.net/DS9/447.htm
http://chakoteya.net/DS9/448.htm

Quodo fics tagged with this episode: None (https://archiveofourown.org/works?work_search%5Bsort_column%5D=revised_at&work_search%5Bother_tag_names%5D=Episode%3A+s03e01-02+The+Search+Parts+1-2+%28Star+Trek%3A+Deep+Space+Nine%29&work_search%5Bexcluded_tag_names%5D=&work_search%5Bcrossover%5D=&work_search%5Bcomplete%5D=&work_search%5Bwords_from%5D=&work_search%5Bwords_to%5D=&work_search%5Bdate_from%5D=&work_search%5Bdate_to%5D=&work_search%5Bquery%5D=&work_search%5Blanguage_id%5D=&commit=Sort+and+Filter&tag_id=Star+Trek%3A+Deep+Space+Nine)

Tell us:
- What did you think about this episode?
- Have you written a fic set during/after this episode?
- Do you know of any other fics set in or that build off this episode that weren't linked above?
- What do you see as the Quodo potential for this episode?

Anonymous comments are on, so feel free to chime in even if you don't have a Dreamwidth account! If you prefer, we are also available on Discord:
https://discord.gg/VaCnMYvKu6 (18+ proship Quodo Discord - there is a dedicated channel for this event)
https://discord.gg/Htz4crCdCt (general Quodo Discord)

Comments

[chacusha]

Random thoughts:

- I love Odo being so petulant here. This is only like... the third time(?) he's either quit or threatened to quit because of a Starfleet security officer moving in on his turf, lol.

- Quark: "Rom only has a son to think about. I have a business." Lol, I love the way this show uses Ferengi for humor.

- A bit shallow, but Jadzia's hair here *is* kinda weirding me out... This scene between her and Sisko is sweet, though. Same with the scene between Odo and Kira. Odo is very proud to the point where he didn't really recognize Kira trying to do something nice for him as a friend and mistook it for pity instead. Him coming on the Defiant and using Kira's cover story is him swallowing his pride here and implicitly thanking her for the gesture, which is sweet.

- The officer stations on the Defiant look pretty cool. It seems like it'd be fun to sit at these.

- Bashir: "I think I'll let you two... bunkmates... get more comfortable." Lol. I wonder if Bashir is being sincere here that this is the best place to put Odo, or if he purposely put them together to tease them.

- The script for this episode has some interesting elements for this scene between Quark and Odo. Odo cuts Quark's line off earlier, but in the script, Quark's line is, "This won't be so bad... sharing quarters, that is... we might even find that we --" (in the filmed scene, Quark gets cut off at "sharing"). (You might find that you WHAT, Quark??) And Quark's reaction to Odo yelling at him is described as, "A chill runs up Quark's spine and he reacts as if someone just slapped him across the face. Quark falls silent and Odo MORPHS into his pail." The filmed scene also cuts off once Odo enters his pail, but the script has another instruction for Quark after this happens: "Quark waits a beat, then sits down on the bunk and tries not to look at the pail of goo sitting on the deck." Interesting!

- It's also kind of interesting to me that in the scene where Odo is drawn to the Omarion Nebula on a space map, I feel like Quark is the only one who keeps his eyes on Odo the entire time and he looks quite puzzled at Odo's behavior.

On part 2:

- Kira chiding Odo for peppering his people with questions is one of my favorite Kira+Odo moments. The difference in the way they react and just Kira giving this moment the weight it deserves is just really nice.

- I've always wondered what the other Changeling here meant by Odo not being ready, and also how often individual Changelings disagree like this.

- I like getting to see some smaller characters like Admiral Nechayev, T'Rul, and Garak in this one. Also, damn, Garak and Bashir are bantering a lot, and Garak is dying in Bashir's arms.

- Oh yeah, I forgot to mention Eddington earlier and how this episode introduces him too. I think his snake-y behavior in the simulation always kind of set him up to be a suspicious character. Like, is that meant to be a reflection of how he acts in real life, or how the people in the simulation assume he would behave, or did Borath just kind of arbitrarily cast him as the villain here?

- The script here also seems to contain some extra lines/scenes, mainly building up tension between Kira and the Changelings, where they make it more clear she is not welcome and they don't trust solids. I kind of wonder if the reason these were cut is because they wanted it to be more of a plot twist that the Changelings are behind the Dominion?

Anyway, I generally like this two-parter, although the second one spends so much time in a simulation it's a bit disorienting. The Quodo scene in 3x01 is amazing and 3x02 is, like, required viewing if trying to write Odo/Changelings.


Thoughts on the Quodo potential:

To be honest, I'm a bit surprised there isn't a Quodo fic for this episode?? I wonder if there is one out there that just hasn't used the tag.

- I mean, they were bunkmates. Can we have some sexual tension in here?!

- Also, I've always thought it would be interesting to have an AU where Quark stays aboard the Defiant and either he or both he + Kira accompany Odo to his homeworld. A very minor change that I feel could have some big Quodo implications.

[firebatvillain]

There's a lot to like about this one! of course in the plot of DS9 this is a huge episode with a lot of reveals. But it's also a good quodo episode! I know people like to write Garashir stuff set in this episode for the obvious reasons (dying in arms tenderly - oh my god!), but actually the Quark Odo bunking up action is great as well. I didn't know about those cut bits from the script you mentioned chacusha but that adds a lot to the scenes for me. I kind of wish Quark had ended up sticking around for the rest of the story but i can see why they were trying to slim down the cast a bit for what would happen next.

I think I'd be interested in a Quodo story that spent more time on their bunking together and a tender revelation there. Given that everyone but Kira and Odo is in a mind-holodeck thing for the back half of the episode, it's hard to make Quark stuff happen there, so I'm not sure where you'd go with a fic with that - though you could have some possibilities like Quark being on the surface with Kira and Odo. I definitely am here for their bunking time together though.

[chacusha]

I'm glad you appreciate getting to see the cut lines! And yeah, I always felt Quark's exit from the episode was a bit abrupt, almost contrived? Like, he's basically like, "Can I go now? Don't worry, I have transport, you don't have to worry about the logistics of me getting back to DS9," and then goes and doesn't appear again.

The bunking together aspect is indeed great. So many possibilities!