Snowflake Challenge #6: Top 10 most unhinged Quodo moments

[chacusha]

Challenge #6 - Top 10 Challenge

Initially, I didn't have any ideas for this one, but then I happened to be looking at my old Quodo posts and found this post that opens with, "If someone makes a list of the top 10 most unhinged Quodo moments (which they should)..." and I was like, "Oh, I'm someone. I could make this list." So I decided to use this idea for the top 10 challenge.

Top 10 most unhinged Quodo moments

Okay, but first I have to define what I mean by "unhinged." I think there are several components to what makes a Quodo moment unhinged. First, gratuitousness: moments that really don't HAVE to be in an episode -- they serve no purpose or further no plot other than just illustrate that Quark and Odo are Like That about each other. Second, lack of explanation -- I was going to say "There is no straight explanation for this moment" but really, it extends beyond that. There is just NO explanation for this moment at all. It happens and the show just continues in a straight-faced manner as if nothing out of the ordinary happened. Related/contributing to the previous: witnesses. That is, Quark and Odo being unhinged around each other in front of other people who just react in a deadpan manner. Fourth, density: the moment packs a lot of shippiness (and weirdness) into a relatively small space.

In short, I've tried to pick mostly bizarre and shippy blink-and-you-miss-it Quodo moments that make you feel like you're going crazy. These are just my personal picks.

10. 4x08 "Little Green Men": This whole episode is peppered with little unhinged Quodo moments. It would be hard to pick one, but for me it's either the part where dog!Odo puts his paws on Quark (the bad special effects where you can tell they're not in the same shot as each other adds a little something to it), or... "My hero!"

9. 5x12 "The Begotten": "Do you ever think about having children?" "...Huh?" -- Quark is all of us.

8. 2x12 "The Alternate": Just the combination of Odo bullying Quark flirtatiously followed by Quark instantly going into "we are SO proud of the work your son Odo has done" mode when talking to Mora. Completely unexplained and yet containing a vague shippy energy...

7. 2x07 "Rules of Acquisition": "Well, I suppose if I did have a brother, even one as worthless as Quark... I wouldn't let anyone come between us." -- Just the serious way Odo delivers the last line, how deep in thought he is -- really adds something.

6. 1x06 "Q-Less": "What were you this time? The table? One of the chairs? The wine bottle!" "When are you going to realize that you have no secrets from me?" -- The combination of Quark's overacted delivery on this line and Odo's response being like that is a Lot. Just nemeses being nemeses. ☺️

5. 7x26 "What You Leave Behind": Their whole parting scene... It's a weird farewell all around, and nothing about this (or Quark and Odo's relationship in general) is explained, even in the final episode. Kira watching the whole thing and trying to be comforting afterward and Quark responding with "That man loves me." ????

4. 5x09 "The Ascent": The whole episode is unhinged, but in particular: Quark reading Odo's erotica out loud. The writers really didn't have to give us this moment. But they did.

3. 4x26 "Broken Link": "Then you ARE coming back." "Count on it." "I will." -- Why is Quark speaking so softly and tenderly here, and why is he stepping so close to the camera? Why are they staring at each other like that? Why do they do this whenever they're worried the other is going to die? Why are they doing this in the middle of the Promenade in front of everyone?

2. 1x10 "Move Along Home": "Blow on them." I really don't know what to say about this one. They're not normal with each other.

1. 3x10 "Fascination": "I usually make it a point to drop by Quark's three or four times a day at random intervals, just to let him know that I'm thinking about him." --Odo giving notes to the person in charge of security while he's off-duty. He didn't need to say it this way. But he did.

Thoughts? Are there moments you would include or put higher/lower here?