Big Hairy Aliens

"The Alternate" Plot Summary:

Odo's mentor arrives on the station to help Odo search for his origins> But when they return from the Gamma Quadrant, a nasty creature terrorizes the station, which turns out to be Odo himself.

Analysis:

Sisko orders Kira to kill Odo and she just reproachfully utters, "Commander!" What, was she pissed that Mora never talked to HER about Odo? Except for Dax, all the major characters seemed to be Picarding out - i.e. action like jerks and using their jobs as an excuse.

That said, I thought everything else in the episode was fine. I liked the direction, which avoided focus on the goo and the 'monster' effects. The ambivalent father-son, teacher-student relationship between Mora and Odo really clicked: Mora's condescension kept undercutting his affection, while Odo's shapeshifting scenes, which could have become cartoonish, were instead moving in an "Incredible Hulk" sort of way - I mean that as a compliment. Too much of the time the writers seem of forget that he's not human. Hell, too much of the time HE seems to forget that he's not human.