Star Trek fans got some sad news on December 8 when it was reported that actor René Auberjonois had passed away at the age of 79. His career as an actor included starring roles on Broadway, voice acting in Disney’s The Little Mermaid, and of course, his memorable role on Star Trek: Deep Space Nine as the shapeshifting changeling Constable Odo.
As fans and colleagues express their love and admiration for the life and career of Auberjonois, Trek fans are probably yearning to rewatch his greatest DS9 hits. Every single episode featuring Odo on Deep Space Nine allowed Star Trek to explore the concept of the Other and Othering in brave new ways. And thanks to Auberjonois’ thoughtful portrayal, Odo was more than just a collection of head-scratching sci-fi metaphors. He was, in many ways, Star Trek’s greatest alien.
As we all mourn the death of Rene Auberjonois, it can also be a moment to celebrate what made his work so wonderful. It’s nearly impossible to select every single fantastic Odo episode of Deep Space Nine (nearly every episode centering on Odo is brilliant), here are a few starting points that come to mind.
(And just in case you’ve never seen these, or you want your rewatch to be more surprising, I’ll avoid spoilers in these descriptions!)
“A Man Alone” Season 1, Episode 3
This very early DS9 episode sometimes gets overlooked because the later seasons were where the fandom really took hold and the mythology of Odo’s background started to coalesce. But, as the title suggests, this episode really makes it clear what an isolated character Odo is relative to the rest of the DS9 crew.
“Necessary Evil” Season 2, Episode 8
The fact that Odo was the head of security on space station Deep Space Nine before the Federation came to watch over the station, and in fact, worked for the Cardassians, is part of what makes the character really interesting. In this episode, DS9 shows us how weird that was, and exactly why Odo did what he did back in those days. Odo is certainly a hero, but this episode is great at demonstrating some of the more explicitly grey aspects of his life before the series began.
“Fascination” Season 3, Episode 10
In The Next Generation, Lwaxana Troi—Federation ambassador and mother to Deanna Troi—was always flirting aggressively with Captain Picard (culminating in…this amazing scene). But, in DS9, she notably switches to Odo and the pairing of works in an astoundingly sensitive way. While Patrick Stewart’s Picard was just kind of stolid and annoyed with Troi’s advances, Auberjonois’ Odo used the pairing to expose just how emotionally vulnerable Odo is and how sensitive and caring Lwaxana can really be. The episode greatly enhances both characters, and you can never look at either of them quite the same way again.
“Facets” Season 3, Episode 25
This episode lets Auberjonois really show you what a phenomenal actor he really is, mostly because, throughout the entire episode, he’s not really Odo. “Facets” starts off as a Dax episode: Jadzia wants all of her buddies to experience memories from her past selves. But it’s when the memories of Curzon Dax—the voracious and life-loving Trill host immediately preceding Jadzia—merge with Odo that things get interesting. Being another person forces Odo to face some serious questions about how much he’s cutting himself off from truly exploring the choices he has made. Is Odo REALLY living, or just getting by? It’s a question we all face at some point.
“Homefront” and “Paradise Lost” Season 4, Episodes 11 and 12
A classic DS9 two-parter, this episode deals with the choices between war, freedom, and paranoia, and Odo’s very existence, as the sole representative of the species that the Federation is at war with, serves as the confluence of all of these themes. (To say anything more would be a bit spoilery, so I’ll leave it at that!)
“Broken Link” Season 4, Episode 26
Without getting into spoilers, this episode changes who and what Odo is for a good chunk of the series. It’s an essential episode because it gives Odo a conflict that is essentially unsolvable. In order to make peace with his people, he also has to understand why they hate “solids” so much. From a big, plot-arc perspective, this episode sets-up a lot of stuff that changes the shape of the last three seasons of DS9, but people forget that this episode is more than table-setting. It’s one of Auberjonois’ best turns in all of Trek.
“The Begotten” Season 5, Episode 12
How do you raise a miniature version of yourself when you have no confidence in how you were raised? Especially when you can be almost anything you want to be? The episode is also smartly paired with the impending birth of Keiko and Miles O’Brien’s second child and these narrative parallels are not an accident. The episode builds on Odo’s struggle to understand where he comes from and what it means to be a Changeling.
“His Way” Season 6, Episode 20
One could fill an entire list with episodes or moments that defined Odo’s unrequited love for Major Kira, but of all these story moments, “His Way” is the best. In fact, in some ways, you could start your Odo-centric DS9 rewatch with this episode. This one isn’t about space wars or secrets or anything like that; it’s simply about Odo taking advice from a charming hologram (Vic Fontaine) in order to try and win the affections of Kira. It’s a brilliant little script and, even if your heart made of stone, watching this episode will turn it as gooey as Odo is when he has to regenerate in his bucket.
Ryan Britt is a longtime contributor to Tor.com and the author of the book Luke Skywalker Can’t Read and Other Geeky Truths (Plume 2015.) His other writing and criticism have been published in Inverse, SyFy Wire, Vulture, Den of Geek!, the New York Times, and StarTrek.com. He is an editor at Fatherly. Ryan lives with his wife and daughter in Portland, Maine.
So sorry to hear it. Thanks for sharing.
Odo was one of the essential characters in that series and nobody could have played him like Rene Auberjonois. He made Odo who he was.
When I heard about his death, my mind immediately went to “Shadowplay” from the second season where Odo argues for the reality of a holographic community that had been created by a man who had run from the Dominion. Even before this sad news, his speech at the end always got me in the heart.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NntwfUpx8YM
He will be missed.
While René Auberjonois did far more than DS9, that’s always how I’ll remember him. Odo was not only one of the best and most fascinating characters on Star Trek, he was one of the best and most fascinating characters I’ve experienced in any medium.
I am very sad. Thank you for entertaining me and making me think, René Auberjonois.
In WAREHOUSE 13, he played Hugo Miller, a crazy and drug-addled former member of the team. He was obviously having a great time on this show. So were we watching him. RIP, René.
As frustrated as I often was with the ways the writers and directors handled the character of Odo, I never had any problems with the actor portraying him (it?), who did fantastic emotional work with posture, voice, and facial expression even through heavy layers of prosthetic makeup. Mr. Auberjonois was a great actor, and he will be sorely missed.
(Thank God I can express this in text, though, because I always screw up the pronunciation of his name.)
Aw, thanks for posting this. When I heard the news I hoped there would be some tribute. His episode with Lawaxana is one of my favorites (and a turning point for her character as well).
There’s been a lot of changeling characters in SFF, but Odo must surely rank among the best realized, and he had a fabulous actor to play him.
He seemed like such a nice person and he was a brilliant actor. R.I.P. :( My thoughts goes to his family and friends.
In the list of the episodes you posted I would add Things past and Children of Time!
This is sad news. I remember Rene not only for his role as Odo, but as the pompous Clayton Endicott III from the TV show Benson when I was growing up.
@9 Last night, I was rewatching the recent DS9 documentary, “What We Left Behind,” in memory of Rene Auberjois.
It was uncanny that the documentary ended with him saying how, before DS9, he imagined that his obituary would lead with his role as Clayton Endicott III, who he described as a “nitwit,” but now, he looked forward to it leading with his role as Odo.
Very sad to hear this. I guess we’re at that point where the people we watched twenty years ago might not be with us that much longer.
If you’re after a Season 7 episode for a rewatch, I’d recommend “Treachery, Faith and the Great River”. I’m surprised to see “Fascinations” on the list: Of the three Odo/Lwaxana episodes, it’s the one that features him least and has the least insight. I’d probably swap it out for “The Forsaken” and those gorgeous elevator scenes.
@11 – actually, I think The Forsaken is the one I was actually thinking of!
I agree with all the commentators and contribute my own undefinable fascination with “Odo”. For me that was what elevated the series, the rest of the cast and their interaction to another level. Right now I am experiencing something similar with “The Expanse”.
I always loved his relationship with Quark–when he had wonderful news and dying to tell *someone*, he first went to Quark, who later offered consolation at Odo’s grief when the baby Changeling died. That relationship rang true–Quark was *his* old lag, not to be shared with any other cop.