DS9 News & Stories: Founders of the Dominion

Site: http://lcars.frontierfleet.net/core/Founders

Quadrant: Gamma Quadrant

Physiology:

The Female Founder

In their natural form, the Founders exist as a gelatinous liquid and can unite is what is described as the Great Link which they can leave and reform into any any shape whenever possible.

Their ability to shapeshift is so complete that a founder in the guise of another species is virtually undetectable even with scanning equipment. However, should a piece of the Founder’s body be separated from the main body mass, the separated piece reverts to a gelatinous state. The Founders also revert to a gelatinous state upon death.

Starfleet phasers set to a force of 3.5 are sufficient to force a Founder to revert to a gelatinous state.

Dr. Ethan Locken theorized that the Founders were once solids, but their current state was achieved through the same genetic engineering used to create the Jem’Hadar and the Vorta.

History:

The Founder’s Gelatinous State

The Founders created the Dominion. Some Dominion subjects believe they are a myth. The Founder’s homeworld is a sunless Class-M planet located in the Omarion Nebula.

Long ago, the Founders explored the galaxy, but were persecuted by non-shapeshifters. This persecution fueled their all-powerful drive to control the chaos around them. Beginning some 2,000 years ago, they sought to maintain order out of this chaos with a rule based on strict obedience, enforced by the Jem’Hadar troops they genetically bred into chemical addiction for control, and administered by the cloned Vorta both of whom worship the Founders as gods.

The Founders did not lose their curiosity about the universe. They sent a hundred infant members of their race across the galaxy, implanting in each a powerful desire to return home, so that the Founders could learn of distant places. Odo was one of these infants.

Odo & The Female Founder linking

Until Odo’s torn loyalties led him to defend the U.S.S Defiant by accidentally killing a Changeling spy in 2371, no Founder had ever harmed another due to their strong link with all other members of their species.

In 2371, the Romulan Tal Shiar and Cardassian Obsidian Order launched a massive attack against the Founder’s Homeworld, bombarding the planet with a fleet of 20 starships. The Founders had learned of the plan, and staged an ambush, by evacuating the planet, and placing a fleet of 150 Jem’Hadar ships nearby to destroy the invading fleet. Both organizations were decimated by the Jem’Hadar.

The Founders also tried to initiate a war between the Federation and the Tzenkethi.

Sometime before 2373, the Founders replaced Klingon General Martok in hopes the Dominion could gain control over the Klingon Empire. The Founders then led Odo to believe that Gowron, not Martok, had been replaced by a changeling. However, the truth was discovered, and the original Martok was eventually rescued.

In 2373, The Founders entered into an alliance with the Cardassian Union, giving the Dominion a significant foothold in the Alpha Quadrant. The agreement resulted in a reinstatement of the Khitomer Accords.

Cardassians, members of the Dominion

New Info:

Founders have to return to their natural state every 18 hours to regenerate. (DS9: A Man Alone)

Founders do not eat. (DS9: The Forsaken)

Contributed by: Clare Bradley

DS9 Stories/News: Boss Chicks: Female Changeling (aka “Gertrude”)

Source: http://www.amaya-radjani.com/2011/11/boss-chicks-female-changeling-aka.html

One of the many races that Deep Space Nine introduced the world to was the Changelings.  Changelings are shapeshifters.  One of the major characters on DS9 is the changeling Odo, the space station’s security chief.  Odo’s pretty badass; if you could change into anything at will, you’d better be a badass.  But having been around humans, Odo has developed some empathy and respect for them, as well as the ability to love.

Odo questioned his origins for many years; as far as he knew he was the only one of his kind.  But in Season 3, he found himself drawn to a rogue planet hidden inside a nebula.  The inhabitants of the planet turned out to be a race of Changelings, in their default liquid form.  The leader of the Changelings was a female.  She had no name, so I took to calling her Gertrude.  Gertrude is played to the T by Salome Jens.  Gertrude tells Odo that their race was once hunted by the “solids” (her term for humanoids) and they sought solace and peace on the rogue planet.  Determined to make sure that never happened again, Gertrude instigated a plan to take over the galaxy.

Mind you, girls & boys, this sorta thing ain’t for the short-sighted or half-assed.  Old Gert was a master manipulator and literally did not give a shit about any other race other than her own.  Gertrude felt that her race was superior above all others and there was an underlying hatred and mistrust of all humanoid cultures.  She founded the Dominion and instigated a bloody, genocidal war across the Alpha & Gamma quadrants, taking over many planetary systems in a serious effort to protect her people at all costs.  The Dominion, ran by the Founders (the Changelings), was a major political power and the sworn enemy of the Federation.  Gertrude coordinated the war efforts which resulted in the deaths of over 800 million people.  She was so completely bad-ass that she negotiated deals with several cultures (Cardassia and Breen, to name a couple), and promptly reneged on them once her objective was met…and they couldn’t do a damn thing about it.

One might ask how it was possible for Getrude to run half of the galaxy on her own?  She didn’t.  The Founders cloned thousands of loyal assistants called Vorta, who in turn cloned millions of warriors called Jem’Hadar, who were literally built to fight.  They ensured the loyalty of the Jem’Hadar by instilling an addiction to ketracel-white (cocaine) in their genetic makeup.  If any race decided to get up to some chicanery and cause problems, Gertrude sent the Jem’Hadar in to literally destroy their entire population.  This kept societies firmly under Dominion rule.

Gertrude was focused on bringing order to the galaxy (meaning other cultures would serve the will of the Founders or face genocide) and it was her justification for the millions of people who died in the war.  She had no regard for life itself, and ordered the execution of many innocent individuals, even children, regardless of whether they were actual participants in the war or bystanders.  Even Vorta & Jem’Hadar, her personal army, selflessly sacrificed themselves and she…did…not…give…a…fuck.  Even when it was clear the Dominion was going to lose the war (thanks to Kira’s terrorist efforts), Gertrude did not order her troops to stand down, but to fight to the last man.  She was comforted knowing that the Dominion War cost the lives of nearly a billion people and the destruction of hundreds of worlds.

Cardassia: Destroyed. By a Boss Chick.

Best lines:

“…because what you can control can’t hurt you.”

“Isn’t it obvious? You may win this war, Commander. But I promise you, by the time it’s over you will have lost so many ships, so many lives, that your victory will taste as bitter as defeat.”

“I would promise the Breen the entire Alpha Quadrant if I thought it would help win this war.”

Earth: Destroyed. By a Boss Chick.

She never once showed remorse and never apologized to anyone for her actions.  I respect the game.  Therefore, she’s a Boss Chick.

DS9 Stories/News: The Dominion Members

“But why control anyone??”

“Because what you can control…can’t hurt you.”

- Odo, Female Changeling (DS9: “The Search, Part II“)

The Dominion Emblem

So, There is the Founders

“The Rulers of the Dominion“

The Female Founder

The Changelings are native to the Gamma Quadrant. All but one hundred of the Changelings are Founders, the rulers of the Dominion (Odo is one of The Hundred, which were sent out to explore the galaxy). wiki.changeling

Founders having a little spat!

It was not until 2371, when Odo discovered the changelings’ homeworld in the Omarion Nebula, that the Founders’ true status was revealed. They seek power because they were once persecuted by non-shape-shifters, whom they call ‘Solids’, or ‘Mono-forms’. wiki.changeling

Those are two Founders right there...

And that's another one...

Their natural state is a liquid protoplasm. The Female Changeling once told Odo that their race once had bodies similar to those of other species, but they had since evolved beyond those physical bodies. Changelings have the ability to meld together (in a process known as “linking”) to share information and emotions in a very intimate manner. wiki.changeling

What they really are

Changelings can turn themselves into almost anything. They can form themselves into any solid, liquid, gas, or even chemical reactions like fire, and can flow through any gap in their gaseous or liquid state. It is speculated that their power involves sending matter and energy to (and recruiting it from) subspace, as they have often demonstrated the ability to alter their apparent mass. (For instance, when Odo assumes the form of an object much smaller than he is, his temperature does not increase as it would if he were simply compressing his volume, and he can become light enough for an ordinary person to carry without trouble.) wiki.changeling

Odo & Kira

When they assume a different shape, such as a rock, scanners will show them as that substance. Changelings who have sufficiently disciplined their shapeshifting abilities are able to turn themselves into convincing imitations of lifeforms, including both animals and other humanoids. wiki.changeling

A Dying Founder

Changelings can even survive in the vacuum of space, and can somehow propel themselves through it. However, if a part of a changeling is separated from the whole, it reverts to the liquid state. In addition, some inexperienced Changelings (such as Odo) must regenerate, returning to their liquid form once every sixteen to eighteen hours. The Cardassian Obsidian Order developed a device which, by emitting a quantum stasis field, can prevent a changeling from reverting to the liquid form, a state which Odo swiftly found extremely painful. wiki.changeling

The Dominion Emblem

Then there are the Vorta & The Jem’Hadar

A Jem'Hadar

For many years, the Founders were considered mythical by many of the races in the Dominion, although their policy was enforced by the Vorta and the Jem’Hadar. wiki.changeling

“The Dominion’s main fighting force” Memory Alpha.org

………

The Allies

The Dominion comprises of several “member races”, as the Founders claim to control the destinies of hundreds of species. (DS9: “The Search, Part II“)

The Dominion was founded on the principle of control, with the intent being to neutralize any potential threat to the Founders by whatever means necessary. In cases involving cooperative species such as the Karemma, the extent of Dominion interference is fairly minimal and restricted to material support. However, if the target species is or becomes less cooperative, the Jem’Hadar are dispatched to wipe out any opposition.

Courtesy of Memory Alpha.org

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Breen (2375)

Thot Gor & The Founder

In 2375, the Breen moved from a policy of low-level hostilities toward other major powers to one of open warfare when they allied themselves with the Dominion. They were then allowed access to the Dominion military database. According to the terms of the alliance, the Breen Confederacy received several planets in the Cardassian Union as compensation for joining the war. (DS9: “Strange Bedfellows“)

The Breen sided with the Dominion in the Dominion War. The Breen homeworld is rumored throughout the galaxy as being an extremely cold and a freezing place, but it is rather quite comfortable. When off of their homeworld, the Breen wear refrigeration suits. The Breen without their suits on, are never seen & they will not say why they need them, even to their allies. It may be a result of the refrigeration suits, but the Breen’s voices are extremely shrill and require special modifications to the universal translators to understand them. wiki.breen

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Cardassians (2373-2375) – Former Ally

The Cardassians were a humanoid species from the Alpha Quadrant. They were native to the planet Cardassia Prime, capital world of the Cardassian Union. Known throughout the Alpha Quadrant for their ruthlessness, the Cardassians became one of the greatest enemies of the United Federation of Planets and Klingon Empire when they joined the Dominion in 2373.

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Dosi

The Dosi were a humanoid civilization native to the Gamma Quadrant, and allies of the Dominion. The Dosi place great importance on business and are extremely aggressive negotiators, to the point that fatalities are not uncommon.

The Dosi city visited by Quark in 2370 for trade negotiations on behalf of the Grand Nagus.

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Karemma

A Karemma who negotiated with the Federation over trading taxes in 2372.

http://www.ditl.org/index.php?daymain=/picspecies.php?58

The Karemma are an important power in the Dominion. They began dealing with the Alpha Quadrant through the Ferengi, who bought 100,000 vats of tulaberry wine from them. The Karemma used the Ferengi as intermediaries with the Federation as the Dominion would not tolerate direct contact with the Federation.

The only contact the Karemma have with the rest of the Dominion is through the Vorta.

The Karemma are naive in matters of business are were easily taken advantage of in their dealings with the Ferengi for a time.

http://lcars.frontierfleet.net/core/Karemma

The Hunters

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The Hunters – Disputed*

(*Various conflicted sources)

Robert Wolfe has also stated in interviews that the Hunters from “Captive Pursuit” were also members of the Dominion (and that the same people who bred the Jem’Hadar for the founders bred the Tosks for the Hunters), although this was never established on-screen and is therefore not canon

The Hunters

The Hunters are native to an unknown planet in the Gamma Quadrant.

The Hunters breed and raise Tosk as a noble creature with but one purpose in life: to be hunted for sport.

http://lcars.frontierfleet.net/core/Hunters

Tosk

They honor Tosk, and see them as a symbol of all that is noble and courageous.

Ironically, the Hunters seemed much more dependent upon their high-tech weapons and body armor than the Tosk they have bred, who appeared to be endlessly resourceful.

A group of hunters on board DS9

They appeared to be reptile like the Tosk but with hair and a smoother face below the forehead.

The lead Hunter in 2369

Hunters use modulated particle beam to scan.

They have a weapon that bombards vessels with radiation very rapid magnetic flux variations that can reverse the polarity of shields, causing them to fail.

Hunters wear armbands that can withstand phaser fire.

A fully geared Hunter

The Hunters were a humanoid species from the Gamma Quadrant, from the same homeworld as the Tosk. They were characterized by pale yellow skin, a cleft upper palate, and corrugated foreheads.

http://en.memory-alpha.org/wiki/Hunter

The Transporter Effect

Armed with energy crossbows powerful enough to blast through the door to the brig in one shot on the space station Deep Space 9, the Hunters were formidable opponents in a fire-fight.

The energy crossbow

They dressed in a type of protective suit that shielded them from the full effects of stun settings on phasers.

The helmet

In addition, they wore deflector shields on their left arms and specialized helmets, which were able to locate an invisible Tosk.

The hand-held deflector shield

The special suit

A humanoid race who live to pursue the Tosk in an endless life-and-death hunt, never contacted again after a single incident on DS9 in 2369 soon after the wormhole was discovered.

Like the designation “Tosk”, it is not known whether the species name was “Hunter”, or whether this was an indication of their job, or even their class or rank on their homeworld.

However, a pre-production sketch of an original design for the Hunters in The Making of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine indicates that the species is called the Drai. Their homeworld’s name was never mentioned, or even their species.

We only know what they are called from what Tosk tells Miles O’Brien.

The Hunter's prosthetic

Michael Westmore talked about the creation of the make-up for the Hunters in the DS9 Season 1 DVD special feature “Michael Westmore’s Aliens: Season One”

http://en.memory-alpha.org/wiki/Hunter

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Son’a

The Son’a were a narcissistic and materialistic humanoid race descended from the Ba’ku.

They left the idyllic Ba’ku home planet in the Briar Patch during the 2270s after a failed attempt to take over Ba’ku society. They had rebelled against the Ba’ku philosophy of rejecting high technology.

The Son’a equipped their vessels with unpredictable isolytic subspace weapons, in defiance of the Second Khitomer Accord.(Star Trek: Insurrection) They also manufactured large quantities of the Dominion narcotic ketracel-white in the Son’a colonies in the outlying areas near Cardassia and the Bajoran wormhole.

One of their white storage facilities was located at their outpost at Devos II. (DS9: “Penumbra“)

Son'a Shuttle

During the later days of the Dominion War, Weyoun diverted a number of Dominion warships to the Son’a outpost on Devos II. They were diverted, rather than sent to pursue the USS Defiant, which was searching for survivors from the IKS Koraga, in order to help protect the new ketracel-white facility built there, as the Dominion was aware that the Federation had discovered its existence. Damar questioned this, as he felt the Son’a should be able to protect it themselves. (DS9: “Penumbra“)

http://en.memory-alpha.org/wiki/Son%27a

Son'a Shuttle Drawing

…

Conquered Planets of the Dominion

T-Rogorans (conquered 2370)

Yaderans (conquered 2340)

…

It would be safe to assume that were/are more members of the Dominion since they are the Dominant controlling race in the Gamma Quadrant that remained mostly unexplored during to Dominion’s threats to the Federation presence in the Quadrant

As Robert Hewitt Wolfe explains, “The Dominion was not monolithic, it wasn’t just the Romulans or the Cardassians, they were distinct in that they were the Dominion, they were, like the Federation, a collection of different races. But unlike the Federation, they were bound together by fear and extortion, whereas the Federation is bound together by noble thoughts and love and friendship and all that good stuff. So in a lot of ways, they were the mirror image of the Federation.” (The Birth of the Dominion and Beyond, DS9 Season 3 DVD special features)

…

Initially, the plan was for numerous different species to be seen on Dominion vessels and involved in various parts of the Dominion’s activities, although eventually, only three “main” species were firmly established: the Founders, the Jem’Hadar, and the Vorta, although the Karemma were also a member (indeed, they were the first member of the Dominion to be mentioned, in “Rules of Acquisition“) and subsequently, both the Cardassians and the Breen became members.

…

The concept of introducing three species at once as opposed to the more traditional Star Trek method of introducing major races one at a time was Ira Behr‘s and came from the fact that he didn’t want to risk introducing only one species which may not work. If the Dominion was basically a single race and the audience didn’t accept that race, the ramifications for the show would have been disastrous, so Behr felt it better to err on the side of caution, feeling that if he introduced three races, at least one of them was bound to work. As it turned out, all three were readily accepted by viewers and all three would become major players in the later years of the show…

…

Robert Hewitt Wolfe explains the structure and organization of the Dominion: “The Gamma Quadrant isn’t empty, it isn’t just a bunch of planets. It’s bound together by the Dominion, a very very tough, very smart, very old civilization, run by the mysterious Founders, who are experts in genetic engineering, and who turn out to be Odo’s people, the Shapeshifters. They then go and engineer these slave races that do their bidding. Essentially, the two main slave races were the ‘carrot’ and the ‘stick’. The carrot being the Vorta, who would come to your planet and say, ‘Hey, you’re nice people, here’s some M-16s and some popcorn, and whatever else you want baby, alcohol, fire-water? All you have to do is sign this little contract and we’ll make you cool.’ Then there’s the Jem’Hadar. So the Vorta say, ‘Oh, you don’t want to play ball? Then meet these guys. They’re gonna kick your asses.” (The Birth of the Dominion and Beyond, DS9 Season 3 DVD special features)

…

One idea that the writers had that was never actively utilized on-screen was that the Dominion knew about the Federation long before the Bajoran wormhole was discovered, and that they were developing a long-term strategy to deal with the inevitable contact. As Wolfe explains, “The Dominion knew the Federation was out there long before the wormhole was opened, and they had plans to deal with the Federation when the Federation was projected to enter their space in two hundred years, and they were building slowly towards that, that’s why they sent out Odo in the first place. But then the wormhole opens up and suddenly the Federation is in their backyard today and it just throws everything into question for both the Federation and the Dominion.” (The Birth of the Dominion and Beyond, DS9 Season 3 DVD special features)

http://en.memory-alpha.org/wiki/Dominion#Members

DS9 Stories/News: The Sexuality of DS9 Part (7)

Let’s get to the Founders this time, Shall we?

There is of course Odo

He is a Shapeshifter

“One of “the hundred” sent out by The Founders long ago to explore the galaxy, Odo was found adrift in 2356 in the Denorios Belt by Bajorans” wiki.odo

They thought of it as a way to see how other species would react with infant harmless aliens. What they found wasn’t all that promising. The Founders were massively persecuted by what they called the non-shapshifters or the “Solids”. It was a chaos that needed order and that is what they saw later of the Alpha Quadrant.

So, there was a Founder Home Planet and there was a Great Link

All the while this man, Dr. Mora Pol studied Odo whom was labeled as “an unknown sample” by Bajoran Scientists

Nothing

“The Cardassian overseers translated this into their own language as “odo’ital”, which literally means “nothing”. Even after it became clear that Odo was sentient, the scientists kept calling him that, giving him the name ‘Odo Ital’ (like a typical Bajoran name), which was eventually shortened to simply “Odo” (Episode “Heart of Stone“).” wiki.odo

What’s Important to know about Odo I guess is that, he modeled his appearance on Dr. Mora. It’s more like an proximity.

That is because, being far from other Founders. Odo never had the talent to master shape-shifting all by himself.

“He never had the skill to duplicate humanoid features with precision” wiki.odo

By the way, Odo had some mixed feelings towards Dr. Mora. Feelings that were unsettled for a long time until those two found a baby Changeling and Odo realized for once how does it feel to be in Dr. Mora's shoes

Yup, that’s the baby Changeling who died later but survived his way into Odo, giving him back his shape-shifting abilities that were taken away from him by his fellow Founders for being the first Changeling who killed and harmed another.

Baby Changeling

Odo Kills another Shape-shifter

Shit happens... but not after he tells Odo a little secret.

It’s a long story really. And it has nothing to do with Sexuality BUT it gets you to know what the Founders REALLY are to understand what’s the sexual part IS.

So, Odo can’t really take other forms however there was once a moment where was able shape-shift himself into a dog

Odo can be an extra glass too, sneaking his way into one of those too many Quark’s shady business meetings. That is if Quark hadn’t noticed it first!

That’s Odo too. Sneaking his way around to anywhere.

That’s Odo too, morphing into something when you think you had finally hit him, killed him & got rid of him.

Odo... not so dead after all

He can do that as well...

And stuff happens to him that makes him look like that too...

After 16 hours in solid form, Odo must regenerate, revert to his gelatinous state in order to rest. If he can’t or that ability is taken away from him. Well, he would look like that for a starter.

Really... In pain

Long story short. Odo is a lot of things but the one important thing that I want to emphasis on is what Shape-shifters call “Linking”.

…

A group of Founders meeting Odo for the first time

http://www.ditl.org/index.php?daymain=/picspecies.php?55

“When others of Odo’s species (the Founders) are later introduced, they share a similar “unfinished” look, which they adopt to make Odo feel at ease around them as they are able to replicate humanoids exactly, whereas Odo, having grown up without others of his kind, never learned to master it. The other Founders refer to non-shapeshifters as “solids”, while Odo occasionally calls them “you humanoids” wiki.odo

The Female Founder began to teach Odo a lot about his people

And few chitchats about those "Solids"

The Female Founder then “linked” with Odo.

“Changelings have the ability to meld together (in a process known as “linking”) to share information and emotions in a very intimate manner.” wiki.odo

She encouraged Odo to Shape-shift the hell out of himself and then sat him free along with his Federation friends

Then the War happened, other Stuff happened too and the Dominion took over Deep Space Nine.

Those other Stuff... you know!

The Female Founder then visits the Station after being stranded in the Alpha Quadrant... She decides to have some time with Odo... some private time

She then links with Odo... Twice

http://rindastartrekds9.wordpress.com/2011/06/12/ds9-diaries-behind-the-lines/

Twice..!!

Although the writers didn’t intend for the interaction between Odo and the Female Changeling to be sexual in nature, this was how the vast majority of the fans interpreted the linking scene. Similarly, director LeVar Burton states clearly, “Those are love scenes. She was seducing him. Straight up. Plain and simple.“

Also, according to Rene Auberjonois, “I think it has some kind of sexual implications. It is definitely a very sensual experience. For Odo, it is absolutely the consummation of a kind of peace that he can’t have.” (Star Trek: Deep Space Nine Companion)

…

Later In the Next Episode “Favor the Bold”

Inside, the Female Changeling and Odo have just had sex in the manner of solids

The Female Changeling observes that the solids’ version of intimacy pales in comparison to the changelings’ linking

(Note: It’s quite obvious how the Changeling made a comparison between linking and having sex)

They discuss Odo’s previous experiences with sex. The Female Changeling guesses that Odo regrets not having had it with Kira

But Odo doesn’t want to talk about Kira. He says that he has a Ruling Council meeting to attend. The Female Changeling says that that meeting took place three days ago.

Odo is shocked at the passage of time. The Female Changeling tells him not to worry anymore about solids’ meetings and schedules:

we’re changelings; we’re timeless

And they link again

…

In (A Simple Investigation)

[Odo's bedroom]

(In the afterglow.)
ARISSA: I could swear that when we first met, your nose had a little curve right here.
ODO: I tend to look a little different every day
ARISSA: But you always manage to make these the same.
ODO: I pay special attention to my scowl. An air of stern suspicion is very important in my line of work.

ARISSA: What? Why are you looking at me that way?
ODO: I’m just trying to figure something out.
ARISSA: Tell me. Maybe I can help.
ODO: You’re the first woman I’ve ever been close with. I’ve never been able to let down my guard. I was just wondering what makes you different.

ARISSA: Wait a minute. Have you never been with anyone else before?
ODO: Not with a humanoid. Once, on my homeworld, I had an experience that you might consider sexual.

…

Odo confesses that “Linking” to other Founders is really, considered SEXUAL

DS9 Stories/News: How Battlestar Copied (And Improved On) Star Trek: Deep Space Nine

Source: http://io9.com/5016403/how-battlestar-copied-and-improved-on-star-trek-deep-space-nine

Tonight’s the last episode of Battlestar Galactica until the “first quarter of 2009″ (which could mean March!), but don’t go into withdrawal symptoms yet. There’s an obscure 1990s show called Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, which is currently in heavy rotation on Spike. It shares a lot of the same ideas and themes as BSG — which isn’t surprising, since BSG re-creator Ronald D. Moore and two other BSG writers worked onDS9. A roundup of the DS9/BSG similarities — and how BSG is better — after the jump. With old spoilers.

Those long, sweeping arcs. It seems like a weird thing to mention now, because every random cop show or space adventure has storylines that carry on from episode to episode, more like serialized novels than collections of self-contained stories. But back when Deep Space Nine started, the idea of following “arcs,” especially ones that went on for more than one season, was still more unusual on TV. For a Star Trek show, especially, it was considered weird to have so many continuing storylines.

Says Ron Moore in a new interview at TrekMovie:

The Enterprise, like I said earlier, could pull up to a planet and have an episode and keep going. With Deep Space Nine, anything that took place on the station, well guess what? Next week you are still on the station. And Bajor is not going anywhere. So really you had to keep playing those stories. You couldn’t make a big change in Bajor’s political structure in one week and then ignore it then next. You had to keep it going. Kira’s story with his relationship with Bajorans had to keep evolving and so did Sisko’s and they had a long-term mission. They had a mission about Bajor into the Federation. That alone meant that it was going to be serialized at least on that front.

By the time BSG started, of course, “arc” storytelling was more the norm, especially on genre shows. But at the same time, you can see Moore, plus Bradley Thompson and David Weddle, applying the things they learned on DS9: you’ll often have an episode that advances one long-running plot while putting others on the back-burner.

Ronald D. Moore

The good terrorists It’s hard to think of too many TV shows that portray terrorists sympathetically — and science fiction has two: DS9 and BSG. Quite possibly the most sympathetic character on Deep Space Nine is Major Kira, who was a “resistance fighter” on Bajor when the Cardassians occupied the planet. We hear endlessly about how she planned raids and bombings against the occupiers. We also hear the Cardassian side, about how they thought they were doing the right thing occupying Bajor, and how Gul Dukat, the leader of the occupation, wanted to win the Bajorans’ love and respect, but they kept pushing him with their unethical terror tactics. Towards the end of the show, there’s a wonderful reversal where the Cardassians are themselves occupied by the Dominion (because Dukat gave away the store) and Kira comes in to teach her former oppressors the tactics she used against them.

The Cylons, meanwhile, thought they were doing the right thing occupying New Caprica. They grasped at a chance for humans and Cylons to live together in peace and harmony — but those stupid, stubborn humans wouldn’t go for it. (Actually, it turns out most of the “human” resistance leaders were Cylons too.) Col. Tigh defends his choice to use suicide bombers against all the doubters, saying it’s no different than sending soldiers to their deaths in a viper or raptor.

The enemy among us. The Dominion,DS9‘s evil empire, is run by “changelings,” shapeshifters who can look like anyone or anything. (Except for Odo, our friendly shapeshifter, who is a bit pants.) Honestly,DS9 didn’t do enough with the “shapeshifter” plot, because if anyone can be a shapeshifter, you open the door for endless paranoia. Commander Sisko could be replaced by a shapeshifter at any moment, and so could Dax or Kira. The show only follows this plot to its logical conclusion a couple of times — once when the changelings infiltrate Starfleet Headquarters in “Home Front,” and Starfleet imposes martial law. (Sisko finally realizes what a blunder this is, and there’s a great speech about how if the changelings want the humans to lose their freedoms, they’ll have to take them away themselves.) And the other time, a leading Klingon is replaced by a changeling and nearly starts a war. But for the most part, the “evil shapeshifters” plot goes on the back burner an awful lot.

In BSG, meanwhile, there are only a dozen of the Cylon infiltrators who could be anybody. This makes it a bit more manageable, even if you have to wonder why the Cylons don’t have the technology to make dozens, or hundreds, of models. You still have the paranoia of knowing that Admiral Adama could have been a Cylon from the beginning — but he’s not going to be randomly replaced with a Cylon halfway through one episode. It lets you have the “infiltrator” plot without having to back off its implications.

Divided loyalties. In DS9, Odo becomes one of the most compelling characters on the show because he discovers he’s actually a member of the evil changeling race, which oppresses the Gamma quadrant and wants to take over the Alpha quadrant. Plus there’s always Worf, who’s torn as usual between his Klingon and Federation allegiances.

On BSG, meanwhile, almost everybody ends up being torn in half eventually — especially Sharon/Athena, who rejects her own Cylon kind to join the humans. And Helo, who marries her. And the four secret Cylons, who still have all their old human loyalties, but are brought together by their shared identity. It’s a little more interesting than on DS9, because the Cylons are less blandly evil than the Dominion. It’s more compelling to see people torn between two groups that have a valid claim on their loyalty than it is to see someone deciding whether to support good or evil. (And you never really think Odo is going to turn his back on the humans forever.)

The mismatched romantic pairings. The love story between Odo and Kira is one of the few really compelling romantic sagas in Trek— unless you think Troi/Riker is full of awesome. But it does have some problems, like Kira’s decision to date Odo comes out of nowhere. And I was annoyed with Odo’s “changeling bros before hos” moment in the finale, where he ditches Kira to go off with his own people. But still — Odo pines for her for so long, and they finally get together, and he turns into mist in that one episode and swirls around her. It’s just too radical. And I actually loved the Dax/Worf pairing as well.

Meanwhile, BSG has nothing but mismatched pairings, especially the aforementioned Helo/Sharon marriage. Pretty much every marriage on the show turns out to be between a human and a Cylon — Saul/Ellen, Galen/Cally, Sam/Kara… the only people without commitment issues are Cylons. We won’t know for a while yet if Helo/Sharon will have a satisfying resolution, but we already know how Saul/Ellen and Galen/Cally turned out. In both those cases, it wasn’t a happy ending, but at least it was memorable.

The gods and prophecies. Few shows obsess about religion as much as BSG andDS9 have. Deep Space Nine has religion built into its DNA at so many levels, it’s practically a religious allegory with space-opera trappings. Let’s review: there are some mysterious aliens who exist out of time, whom the Bajorans worship as “the Prophets.” The Prophets anoint Benjamin Sisko as their “Emissary,” and it turns out they possessed his mother and arranged his birth. He’s supposed to help them fight their evil counterparts, the Pagh Wraiths. Meanwhile, the Dominion worships its leaders, the changelings, as gods. It’s interesting: in DS9, the non-Bajoran characters refer to the Prophets as “the wormhole aliens” — until somewhere in season three or four. You never hear the phrase “wormhole aliens” (I think) in the last few seasons of the show. And there’s less and less doubt that Sisko has a holy mission on the Prophets’ behalf. Sadly, it doesn’t end that well — there’s one episode where Sisko’s son gets possessed and has to fight a holy battle, and it’s both confusing and boring. And then in the end, the giant battle between the good gods and the evil gods turns out to be a matter of jumping off a cliff. And it’s pretty clear the changelings aren’t gods — they’re just slimy shapeshifters who have tweaked their slaves’ genomes or gotten them hooked on drugs, so they’ll be worshipped forever.

I complain about the portrayal of religion onBSG, but I do have to admit it’s a lot more subtle than on DS9. There are a few reasons for this. First of all, we never meet any gods on BSG. The Lords of Kobol and the Cylon God both have the decency to stay behind the curtain, giving people visions and causing coincidences. The more we see of the Prophets on DS9, the less impressive they are. And the more we see of the changelings, the less credible it is that anybody could worship them as gods — their “false gods” status gets too obvious, if that makes any sense. And usually when we see a religious experience on BSG, it’s ambiguous. Someone has a weird dream sequence and then they (and we) have to puzzle it out. And as annoying as the Baltar=Jesus stuff has been, it’s pretty audacious of the show to make its most repellent character into a guru. BSG has prophecies and books with funny names, just like on DS9, but they’re usually oblique. and of course, BSG has the Gemenons, who are sort of the equivalent of the hyper-religious Bajorans.

In both shows, though, there’s a “quest” aspect, and competing faiths. I’m holding my breath that BSG‘s journey of self-discovery and religious awakening turns out to have a more satisfying ending than DS9‘s did. In general, looking at the above list, it seems like Moore and co. have turned the lessons they learned doing DS9 to good purpose — so here’s hoping.

BY CHARLIE JANE ANDERS

JUN 13, 2008 5:21 PM