René Auberjonois disapproved of the Star Trek: Deep Space Nine love story between Major Kira Nerys (Nana Visitor) and Constable Odo, which means he forgot that it was his idea! Odo and Kira became DS9‘s will-they-won’t-they love story after it became apparent that Dr. Julian Bashir (Alexander Siddig) and Lt. Jadzia Dax (Terry Farrell) would never get together. DS9 finally got Odo and Kira together in Star Trek: Deep Space Nine season 6, episode 20, “His Way”, which provided a happy ending for one of the longest-running DS9 love stories.
Odo and Kira stayed together until the Star Trek: Deep Space Nine finale, in which Odo returned to the Great Link to help the Changelings move on from the Dominion War. Odo and Kira’s love story weathered the Dominion War and the Morphogenic Virus, so there was a melancholy to their parting. However, touching Kira and Odo’s romance was, both René Auberjonois and Nana Visitor didn’t agree that their Star Trek: DS9 characters should have got together as a couple. So it’s ironic that an acting choice made by Auberjonois back in DS9 season 2 first seeded the idea of a romance for Odo and Kira.
In Star Trek: Deep Space Nine season 2, episode 24, “The Collaborator”, Kira’s lover, Vedek Bareil (Philip Anglim), is accused of betraying the Bajoran Resistance during the Cardassian Occupation of Bajor. Odo helps Kira to investigate the damaging claims, and has an interesting response to her declaration of love for Bareil. When Kira tells Odo she loves Bareil, René Auberjonois plays his response with a degree of discomfort and gives a look that can only be described as one of heartbreak. Gary Holland, who co-wrote “The Collaborator”, was surprised by Auberjonois’ performance choice, and decided that Odo must be in love with Kira.
As written, Odo’s responses reflect his emotional detachment from humanoids and their relationships in the early seasons of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine. This was what Gary Holland had originally intended, but René Auberjonois’ performance of the lines as a deflection from his true feelings gave him a completely different idea. DS9 fans also began to speculate that Odo was in love with Kira, and it was eventually written into the episode “Fascination”, in which Lwaxana Troi (Majel Barrett) helps Odo acknowledge his feelings. Finally, in Gary Holland’s “Children of Time”, an older Odo from an alternate timeline was finally able to tell Kira that he was in love with her.
In the Star Trek: Deep Space Nine Companion, Ira Steven Behr cited Gary Holland’s “Children of Time” as the story that gave the writers the impetus to get Odo and Kira together. René Auberjonois and Nana Visitor weren’t big fans of getting Odo and Kira together as a couple on Star Trek: Deep Space Nine. Both actors felt that their characters were better as platonic friends, as Odo and Kira had been since the days when DS9 was Terok Nor. Nana Visitor discussed her initial reaction to the decision to pair up Odo and Kira in the Star Trek: Deep Space Nine Companion:
Despite René Auberjonois and Nana Visitor’s objections, their romantic partnership made a lot of sense. Odo and Kira knew each other’s darkest secrets, and never judged each other. They were always there to support each other throughout Star Trek: Deep Space Nine. Be it as platonic friends or romantic partners, Odo and Kira had an unbreakable bond that should be celebrated as one of the great Star Trek love stories.
All episodes of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine are available to stream on Paramount+.