Star Trek: Deep Space Nine - Season 3

The Abandoned

This is, quite simply, an outstanding episode of Star Trek. In the old days, writer/producer Gene Coon made many attempts to pit violent instincts against a more spiritually enlightened intellect, which don't resonate as well as they might have done because (1) he would often portray the violence as man's natural "default" behaviour, and (2) it was seen as a one sided struggle where the enlightened intellect was always the better choice.

"The Abandoned" trumps all those previous episodes quite neatly. By giving the violent instincts to the Jem'Hadar instead of human beings, the writers automatically have far greater creative freedom, particularly right now as they are a newly discovered species that has peaked our curiosity and we naturally want to learn more. Add to that all the details concerning the genetic origin of those instincts, and the fact that those genetics were artificially engineered this way for a sinister purpose, and you've got a rock-solid source on which to base the premise. Coon was always on slippery ground by comparison.

Odo becomes an unlikely champion of the typical trendy New Age response, that of making the enlightened choices of peace, harmony, self-growth, and fulfillment, and the stage is set for an excellent drama centered on one of the most direct and successful examinations of the source of a person's choices. What's particularly nice about the way it's handled here is that there is such a variety of viewpoints expressed by the various members of the cast, and it does all rise above the one-sided conclusions of similar elements of 60's episodes. No matter how often Odo asks the boy to dig down into his soul and figure out what he really wants, the boy always comes up with something that points him back towards becoming a violent enemy of most of the races we have come to know on Star Trek so far, and we know that answer has come from genetics instead of the soul. And most disturbing of all, the boy feels no reason for the soul to triumph over or suppress genetic instinct. The audience is easily primed to expect Odo's philosophy to be vindicated at the story's end, but instead, we get a glimpse of what may be missing from it.

It is perhaps important to acknowledge and honour one's genetic instincts, and not attempt to separate them from intellectual and/or spiritual pursuits. Instinct must also be integrated into the whole if we are to be at peace and in harmony with ourselves, much less the rest of the universe. To me, that is the basic message of this story, and it's a powerful one.

It is a lovely bonus that much of what we learn throughout the exploration of this Jem'Hadar also has such long-term implications for the rest of the Deep Space Nine series, including the introduction of the as-yet-unnamed "White" substance that they are addicted to and the extra control over them that this gives the Changelings. The episode is also allowing Odo to verbalize on screen how he has processed the events of "The Search", which is an important consideration for the series. In short, this story really does a good job of taking care of long-term concerns and feeding continuing interest in the series, another big plus over the mostly stand-alone episodes of the sixties. The third season of Deep Space Nine seems to be a grand improvement so far over season two, and this represents yet another good example of that.

Star Trek: Deep Space Nine Season Three (1994-1995): 26 episodes @ 43 minutes each. Get your copy of this 7-disc DVD set from the links below: DVD Extras include: Crew Dossier featurette: Odo The Birth of the Dominion and Beyond Time Travel Files - "Past Tense" Sailing Through the Stars - "Explorers" Michael Westmore's Aliens
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