Trivia / Star Trek Deep Space Nine S 03 E 02 The Search Part II

• Creator Backlash: Rene Auberjonois was initially not happy that Odo finally learns his origins and finds his people. He had become interested in the role because of Odo's uncertainty about his past and felt exploring that robbed the character of underlying mystery and vitality. However, Auberjonois came around once he understood the full dramatic potential of Odo's people being the leaders of the Dominion:
  Rene Auberjonois: What it did was make the character more complex. It just added to Odo's angst and to his depth, and it made him more challenging and interesting to play. And the fact that he ultimately comes to understand that he can't go back to his people, that he can't go home again. They opened up more avenues for me to travel as an actor.
• What Could Have Been:
  • Eris was supposed to return, but her actress was unavailable. The showrunners also decided that having to run it by one character every time the Defiant wanted to use the cloaking device (it was originally meant to be used sparingly, but they wound up leaning on it much more heavily) was too much trouble, and the character of T'Rul was dropped — though as it turned out, they would have been forced to drop or replace her anyway, after Martha Hackett was given a recurring role on Voyager.
  • Traditionally, Trek villain races are introduced one at a time, and if audience response is poor, they're simply never seen again. For the Dominion, it was decided to have it be represented by three species and introduced in the same three-parter, in order to test viewer reaction, and keep whichever of the three got the best reaction. Fortunately, the audiences reacted very well to both the Founders and the Jem'Hadar — and while reaction to the Vorta was more muted, the issues that viewers did have were easily fixable, allowing them to be brought back and take on a more prominent role starting with the following season.
• You Look Familiar: Salome Jens (the female Founder) previously appeared as the unidentified alien woman whose people gave rise to all other intelligent life in the Milky Way.