Wasn't Odo a collaborator?

[Mr. Laser Beam]

During the occupation, I doubt any Bajoran accused of a crime even lived long enough to reach the Cardassian court system.

 

[JirinPanthosa]

They may not have went through the whole process of extracting confessions and designing a psychological cause, but they probably had some kind of song and dance to publicize the consequences of dissent.

 

[Six of Twelve]

I liked the quote a poster made above about Odo being on the side of justice. You have your politicians and military personnel, but Justice is Justice. I think the Bajorans gave Odo a free pass because of what he was. Maybe Dr. Mora vouched for him.

And though Odo wasn't Bajoran, he was a Bajoran citizen. I suppose the Bajorans during the occupation preferred him in the post, rather than a Cardassian.

 

[JirinPanthosa]

Also in Profit and Loss, Odo helps the Cardassian students escape because he values justice more than the law.

 

[Jedi Marso]

For most of DS9's run, Odo's backstory was supposedly that he was chief of security on DS9, back when it was Terok Nor. For reasons that have never made much sense to me, when the Cardassians pulled out, Odo was allowed to keep his position and worked for Starfleet.

Ultimately, it doesn't really matter if Odo never really committed any sort of war crimes. The fact is he was working for the Cardassians during the occupation. He was part of the problem.

The more I think about it, the stranger it is that, with the exception of the episode "A Man Alone", most Bajorans seem to give Odo a pass for this. It's especially puzzling on the part of someone like Kira, who takes a dim view towards pretty much anyone else who collaborated with the Cardassians (including her own mother) but not only doesn't seem to hold against Odo, but eventually enters into a relationship with him!

The episode "When it Rains..." is probably the most blatant about this. We see the Cardassians asking why Odo didn't resign in protest, and Kira gets defensive. Now, granted, they were only asking in an attempt to bait him and Kira, but it's actually a valid question. What's even more galling is that earlier in the episode, she was explaining the need to not be afraid to hit targets with Cardassians because they're collaborators.

Anyone else noticed this?

I think Odo had a couple of points in his favor when the Bajorans looked at him:

1) He wasn't Cardassian or Bajoran- but a unique individual unto himself. As such, people found it easier to accept him as a neutral, objective LEO rather than an enemy or a collaborator.

2) Odo quite obviously conducted himself within the 'justice is blind' framework. In his very first job when hired by Dukat, he let a Bajoran off the hook. One can only assume that he pursued truth and justice with relentless efficiency after that, and it didn't go unnoticed by anyone. So, when the Cardies were kicked out, Odo was still accepted as a guy well suited for his job and duties. And there is also point #1.

 

[Shamrock Holmes]

As far as Kira herself goes,

We have to remember that any Cardassian security of legal officer is more interested in the comforting appearance of justice than real justice. Tribunal confirms this. Bajorans knew that if they were accused of a crime, it didn't matter if they were guilty or not, they were dead.

The only exception was if Odo was the investigator.

Very much this. As Odo would try his best to find the real culprit rather than a convient scapegoat like a Cardassian investigator probably would have. I also suspect that Odo tried his best to hold invidual Cardassians accountable for their crimes, which a Cardassian Security Chief wouldn't have. Though I suspect his successes were mostly limited to Cardassian on non-Bajoran (Ferengi for instanse) crimes.

We also shouldn't lose sight of the issue that Odo gets a 'free pass' because Kira knows he could have collared her for at least one murder (Vaatrik) but didn't. And I suspect this wasn't the last time he did so either.

 

[MacLeod]

Of course Odo was assigned as Security Chief for what in essense was a non-post same as Kira. Deep Space Nine wasn't exactly considered a plum assignment at first. Perhaps the Provisonal Government viewed the station as a place to assign people who weren't in high favour with them.

 

[Grendelsbayne]

I just didn't feel there was a natural progression in Kira and Odo's relationship. She only thought of him as a friend for years, was uncomfortable when faced with knowing he was in love with her, and then it was like someone flicked a switch and she just fell in love.
Kira's dislike of Quark is unreasonable at times. She knows he helped the resistance thru the black market. Yes, he made a profit, but I always had the impression the profit he made wasn't really worth the risk and that Quark was acting on humanitarian motives even if he'd never admit it to himself. Kira knows that Quark worked against the Cardassians in other ways, such as helping his Cardassian girlfriend escape them.
It does seem like Kira gives Odo a pass for his collaboration and is harsh with Quark beyond what I think he deserves.

The difference between Odo and Quark is that Kira's dislike of Quark is broad and visceral. If Quark were just a jovial bartender who used his position to play both sides, Kira wouldn't see him all that differently than Odo. But Quark's a lot more than that, and not in a good way. He's unscrupulous, sexist, materialist in the extreme (which is offensive to her religious sensibilities), opportunistic, and outright criminal (and not just some 'innocent' smuggling or Robin Hood style conman stuff like you might see on most shows - Quark is involved in seriously dark and dangerous things).

At the end of the day, Kira's a pretty black and white person, and Quark (despite the better qualities which he also possesses) is simply way too far away from her idea of acceptable, so she automatically views everything he does with suspicion and mistrust. She may not always understand Odo, but she does understand that he follows a certain code which isn't all that different from hers, so she views everything he does with the benefit of the doubt.

 

[borgboy]

Of course Odo was assigned as Security Chief for what in essense was a non-post same as Kira. Deep Space Nine wasn't exactly considered a plum assignment at first. Perhaps the Provisonal Government viewed the station as a place to assign people who weren't in high favour with them.

Working with Starfleet, as part of their initiative to join the Federation seemed important to Bajor. I'd think DS9 would have been important even if just for diplomacy. Obviously it's importance rose considerably with the discovery of the wormhole, but I don't think it started out as unimportant.

 

[Red Shirt]

I think Odo had a couple of points in his favor when the Bajorans looked at him:

1) He wasn't Cardassian or Bajoran- but a unique individual unto himself. As such, people found it easier to accept him as a neutral, objective LEO rather than an enemy or a collaborator.

2) Odo quite obviously conducted himself within the 'justice is blind' framework. In his very first job when hired by Dukat, he let a Bajoran off the hook. One can only assume that he pursued truth and justice with relentless efficiency after that, and it didn't go unnoticed by anyone. So, when the Cardies were kicked out, Odo was still accepted as a guy well suited for his job and duties. And there is also point #1.

I agree. Odo had to walk his talk or be discredited as a hypocrite by the Cardassians or the Bajorans.

 

[MacLeod]

Working with Starfleet, as part of their initiative to join the Federation seemed important to Bajor. I'd think DS9 would have been important even if just for diplomacy. Obviously it's importance rose considerably with the discovery of the wormhole, but I don't think it started out as unimportant.

If it was important to the Provisional Government, why would you assign a liasion why didn't believe the Federation had any buisness being there. Surely you would want an officer who believed in the mission at hand, i.e rebuilding Bajor whilst working towards it's admission into the Federation.

 

[borgboy]

If it was important to the Provisional Government, why would you assign a liasion why didn't believe the Federation had any buisness being there. Surely you would want an officer who believed in the mission at hand, i.e rebuilding Bajor whilst working towards it's admission into the Federation.

The provisional gov't was a bit crap?
No, really, you have a good point.

 

[kkt]

Some in the provisional government were skeptical of the Federation, and only went along with having them run the station if Bajor appointed a liason officer who would be deeply skeptical of the Federation and blow the whistle at the first sign of Federation empire building?

 

[locutus101]

I don't think Odo can be called a collaborator because he never was a Bajoran to begin with. Was Quark a collaborator?