Product Details

• Actors: Avery Brooks, Rene Auberjonois, Alexander Siddig, Terry Farrell, Cirroc Lofton
• Directors: David Carson
• Writers: Bill Dial, Gene Roddenberry, Jim Trombetta, Michael Piller, Rick Berman
• Producers: David Livingston, Ira Steven Behr
• Format: Closed-captioned, Color, HiFi Sound, NTSC
• Rated: NR (Not Rated)
• Number of tapes: 1
• Studio: Paramount
• VHS Release Date: April 7, 1998
• Run Time: 46 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• ASIN: 0792146247
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #548,342 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

Security chief Odo (Rene Auberjonois) travels with his "father"--actually the scientist Dr. Mora Pol (James Sloyan), who discovered and studied him--to a distant planet to investigate DNA signatures that might provide a clue to Odo's origins. While there, Odo is exposed to a mysterious gas that causes him to metamorphose against his will, tantamount to a split personality in that he can remember nothing of what he says or does in his alternate, monstrous form.

Producer Ira Behr called this episode a "cross between Forbidden Planet and primal therapy." Certainly it has the visceral impact of a good monster movie and the psychological urgency of a complex character personifying his anxieties in a bold way. Any episode focusing on the tragic, shape-shifting Odo is a good episode anyway, since it creates an opportunity for veteran actor Auberjonois to demonstrate his stirring command of any scene he's in.

"The Alternate" was the last Trek television assignment for director David Carson before he helmed the theatrical feature Star Trek Generations, and while the budgetary contrast between the two can not be more pronounced, "The Alternate" looks and moves terrifically well within its tight constraints. --Tom Keogh

From the Back Cover

Dr. Mora Pol (James Sloyan), the scientist who studied Odo (Rene Auberjonois) after he was discovered, arrives on the station with a clue to the shapeshifter's origins. Together they take a Runabout to investigate some unique DNA patterns found on a distant planet in the Gamma Quadrant. While on the planet's surface, they collect an unusual life form and barely escape before a series of violent tremors expose Odo to a strange volcanic gas.

Back on the station, the life form escapes, destorying the science lab. Later, its remains are found, but it is not the same creature from the planet. After a crew member is attacked, an investigation reveals the creature's DNA matches Odo's - and now it is hunting Dr. Mora!

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars iron filings pass for Odo's cousin, November 9, 2004

By 

Shelley Gammon "Geek" (Kaufman, Texas USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Star Trek - Deep Space Nine, Episode 32: The Alternate [VHS] (VHS Tape)

While Bajoran scientists were on a survey mission in the Gamma Quadrant, they found indication of some DNA traces that are similar to Odo's on many fronts. Odo is given this information by Dr. Mora Pol (James Sloyan), the scientist that was assigned to Odo when he was first discovered. Odo is a Bajoran word meaning "unknown sample." No one, including Odo himself, knew what he was. The scientists knew he was an interesting compound of goo, but they had no idea he was alive, much less sentient. As Odo "awakened" into being a person, self-aware and yearning for knowledge, he grew weary of being trapped in a lab and being a source of entertainment for the scientists as they asked him to be a chair or a table. As he looks back on his formative years, he is embarrassed by the memories and put off by Dr. Mora's father-like affection for him. Despite his awkward feelings about Dr. Mora, he does care for him - but there is a thin line between love and hate.

Odo, Dax, Mora and another Bajoran take a runabout to the planet in the Gamma Quadrant. They beam down to find some interesting ancient ruins. Instead of asking an archeological team to study the site, they instead decide to pillage the ruins by beaming a large pillar right to their shuttle. Dumb move. Moving the pillar has caused seismic activity that released a bizarre gas from the ground, incompacitating everyone but Odo, who gets all of them beamed back in one piece. In addition to the pillar, they have found a clump of black stuff that looks like iron filings being moved around by a magnet.

The iron filings appear to have DNA, however, and it is similar to Odo's, although it is unknown if the clump of black stuff is sentient.

Mora, Dax and the other Bajoran recover slowly in sickbay from the gas. O'Brien sets a containment field over the sample they brought back - a sample that grows fast and metamorphizes many times into new, interesting things.

The next morning, the container with the sample looks to have been ruptured from the inside-out and someone has ransacked the lab, even though the security seal is still in place. The sample is later found in a ventilation vent - but it is dead... or is it?

Dr. Mora gets attacked in the infirmary by an unknown metamorphizing ghoul and Dr. Bashir is able to fend it off with a laser scalpel. If the sample "died," then who or what is attacking Dr. Mora? Who or what destroyed the lab? The conundrum forces Odo and Dr. Mora to work through their differences with one another and come to an understanding. Dr. Mora realizes how he humilated Odo and the broken hearted scientist expresses his desire to be involved in Odo's life - even if just once in a while. The final scene is touching and as always, Odo's tragic loneliness persists throughout.