[ SECRET POST #5386 ]

[case]

⌈ Secret Post #5386 ⌋

Warning: Some secrets are NOT worksafe and may contain SPOILERS.


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Notes:

Secrets Left to Post: 02 pages, 27 secrets from Secret Submission Post #771.
Secrets Not Posted: [ 0 - broken links ], [ 0 - not!secrets ], [ 0 - not!fandom ], [ 0 - too big ], [ 0 - repeat ].
Current Secret Submissions Post: here.
Suggestions, comments, and concerns should go here.

Comments

[(Anonymous)]

Oh man, yes! I have a lot of thoughts about this that basically boil down to "keep watching, but also ultimately I agree with you."

The writers' intentions: I think the writers intended Odo to be (on balance) a force of good/protector of Bajorans' interests in a very oppressive system in a way that earned him Bajorans' respect and gratitude, but with some dark aspects to his character which are not public knowledge, which are explored in various episodes. But I also think the writers were a bit naive about what exactly counts as collaboration and how public aspects of Odo's character (such as his "neutrality") would have come off to Bajorans who were fighting for their lives. It is reading a bit against the intention of the text to call Odo a collaborator because the writers didn't intend him to be that -- they wanted him to be a neutral outsider who earned people's respect with his unbreakable sense of justice.

My realistic read of Odo: Is that he always wanted to do the right thing but (1) he was naive and generally a not very thoughtful person and was basically used by Dukat, and (2) he himself has fascist leanings that made the Cardassian regime attractive to him. To me, while he may not have wanted or realized he was playing that role, his overall effect in the Cardassian occupation was to legitimize it and its legal processes. Based on what you see of Odo's past in canon, there is no way he wasn't seen as a collaborator and wasn't an object of resentment for many Bajorans (probably a very polarizing figure), not a neutral outsider who made things more bearable and earned the respect of Cardassians and Bajorans alike.

My attempt to reconcile the two to try to come up with a canon-compliant read of Odo's character that respects the writer's intentions for his character: He must have regularly interfered/exerted his influence on the Cardassian government and/or regularly helped the resistance on the side. This is not actually shown in canon other than his willingness to be blunt with Dukat about the occupation and what he did for Kira when he first met her, but I just have to assume it was a regular thing throughout the years that Odo either assisted the resistance or gave the Cardassian government pushback. My guess is that he personally saved the lives of a lot of Bajorans and so was remembered afterward as a kind of Schindler character, and his history of collaborating with the Cardassians was basically papered over in favor of a more positive reputation. IDK.

[(Anonymous)]

If they'd made him a PI instead of "constable", then it would have worked out better. Leaned into the noirish aspect of him, with him setting his own agenda rather than being a part of either Cardassian or Starfleet/Bajoran security apparatus, then it would have worked. But they didn't.

[(Anonymous)]

AYRT. Yep, 100% agree. If he had stayed as his initial role as investigator, everything makes sense. But he was chief of security with significant policing powers, which is very "what??? how is that not collaboration??"

[(Anonymous)]

OP

I think you're very much right about the topic of reading against the intention of the text versus how it came off. And I do like your reconciliation attempt between the two as well. I can only assume that maybe the Bajorans were about to stage a large protest at the prospect of another Cardassian to replace the previous chief of security, and that Odo was already popular among the Bajorans as a replacement somehow.