Star Trek is a franchise set in the near future, but many of its best moments are inspired by the distant past. For example, Captain Picard's Enterprise in The next generation It's a ship where people can relax on the holodeck while playing classical music or enjoying literary adventures (from Shakespeare to Sherlock).
Things were very different. Deep space nineBut the Star Trek spinoff still takes inspiration from the past. For example, in the episode "The Abandoned," author Jim Tromtatta deliberately models Odo on a Renaissance gentleman.
Even if you've seen this episode of Star Trek countless times, I won't bother you with any renaissance references because nothing about that time is overtly mentioned. Instead, Trombetta takes up the contemporary idea of the gentleman to solve Odo's unique problem.
The episode has a very interesting Lwaxana Troi with the shape shifter stuck in a broken turbolift. She blushes at the thought of being the first person to return to Odo's liquid form.
Like Troy herself, we can hear everything Star Trek Fans reading this are asking: What does Odo being stuck in an elevator with a crazy Bethazd have to do with the Renaissance? According to Jim Tromtatta (who wrote the story but not the script), Odo's predicament mirrored the Renaissance "gentlemen" who had to be "stout-built, strong-armored warriors". The metaphor here is very straightforward, as Odo's solid form is collapsing in the turbolift, and he's in danger of melting, something he desperately wants to hide from Lavana Troy.
Star Trek writers tend to be historical, and as Tromtatta helpfully points out, there was a "worry" during the Renaissance that nobles would "go soft." Men of the time worried that they would turn from fierce warriors to "helpless" and "childlike" people. Odo had to return to his fluid state every day, and after stubbornly trying to hide his pain. As a gesture of kindness from Troy, she takes off her wig and shows the constable a more exposed side of herself that no one else has ever seen before turning into a pool of liquid caught in the hem of her dress.
While some of the Star Trek tropes are starting to get a little tortuous, Tromtatta is confident that the Renaissance Knights angle will "work very clearly" in "The Forsaken." As he puts it, “Odo is a constable and a very strong man, but he has to go through that process and let someone else help him. Odo learned a valuable lesson that, frankly, many fans watching at home could stand to learn: surprisingly, it takes a lot of strength to be vulnerable in front of others, maybe (maybe). Especially those) who care.
Luwakana is fun to watch Troy in all her glory, but for some it was hard to see her scenes with Odo above her equally middle-of-the-road comedy. Now that we know that even their silly days are eclipsed by the Renaissance, we can't help but look at the scene with a new respect. Plus, real talk, we always love it Any An excuse to see it again Deep space nineWhat remains the best performance in Gene Roddenberry's long-running franchise.
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