Poll Rom's character development.

[Paradise City]

My view on the way they went with Rom is that it would've been better if they went in another direction. The writers obviously wanted to make the point that you are not trapped by your background and your strengths may lie elsewhere and you should follow those strengths. And that's a cool lesson. But I think they did that with Nog. For Rom, I would've liked to see him maybe get better at business and emerge from the shadow of being Quark's sidekick.

I liked the kind of the black comedy in that first season episode where Rom tries to have Grand Nagus Quark killed and Quark at end of the that episode genuinely congratulates Rom on his cleverness. That's the kind of stuff I would've liked to have seen as the series progressed. Not that I'm necessarily absolutely opposed to the general direction they went with Rom (loved the trade union episode), it's just that I think another direction would've been better. The whole Grand Nagus Rom debacle I put down to the madness of finale euphoria on behalf of the writers.

 

[JeffinOakland]

I liked Rom's character development quite a lot and I kind of shrugged over the Grand Nagus bit. I thought it was a bit of a cop out but it didn't bother me so much. I would have liked to see him remain committed to being his own man. I like the way DS9 took the time and effort to give significant screen time & develop minor characters in a way none of the other ST series did.

 

[Mr. Laser Beam]

I like how Rom and Quark each took after a different parent. Rom was like their father Keldar - a good family man, but who didn't have much business acumen. Quark, on the other hand, took after their mother Ishka, as crafty and devious a Ferengi businessperson as any other. So it makes perfect sense that Rom and Quark took such divergent paths.

 

[Bad Thoughts]

I was cool with Rom's development up to the point of becoming the Grand Nagus. While I liked the idea that Rom was advancing down a non-Ferengi path, perhaps becoming more accomplished than Quark, that new position could have been something else. I think it would have been interesting if he became a trade negotiator/ambassador for Bajor. That would have both affirmed his path and combined his unique talents. Moreover, it would have emphasized that the Federation way is not the only way.

That said, I think being killed in Sacrifice of Angels would have had much more dramatic impact than killing Ziyal.

 

[at Quark's]

While I liked the idea of Rom transforming from Quark's sidekick to an independent character with his own talents and troubles, and him not fitting in with Ferengi stereotypes, I seem to recall that in some of the S1 episodes, he was depicted as (almost) moronic, making really dumb remarks and such. I could buy into an intelligent but shy person to hide his talents, but not to this degree. (meaning that if he wanted to avoid attention by acting dumber than he really was, he really overshot the mark).

Also, the Nagus idea was silly. All in all, I voted for option 2.

 

[Terok Nor]

Rom's character development was fine right up until he became the Nagus. What the hell was that? It totally went against everything he'd been built up into. I'd much rather have seen him become DS9's chief of operations after O'Brien left. Rom was a fun character regardless. I like to think everyone realised what a ridiculous idea Grand Nagus Rom was and he abdicated so he could come back to DS9.

 

[apollo1984]

I agree with the above really, I was ok with Rom up to the point he became nagus, I feel the person that he had become would have turned down the position if it was offered to him. I like the idea above too that Rom could become chief of operations, though I think that may have been the position that Nog held after his promotion, I don't know however if Rom held that position what role Nog would have on DS9.

 

[JirinPanthosa]

I liked making him a talented engineer but making him Nagus was absurd.

They could have made him a little more uniquely Ferengi as a bad businessman without just making him more centrist and human like. Also they could have made his mannerisms a tad less cartoonish.

 

[CorporalClegg]

Rom was nothing but wish fulfillment of the male writers.

The quiet, introverted doof marries the most beautiful woman around and becomes king.

 

[JeffinOakland]

Rom was nothing but wish fulfillment of the male writers.

The quiet, introverted doof marries the most beautiful woman around and becomes king.

Sort of like Neelix (ugly & obnoxious) dating the cute girl and then becoming a respected member of the crew.

 

[kkt]

I don't think Rom would even have enjoyed being Nagus. Surrounded by Ferengi kissing up, wanting favors all the time, doesn't really seem like his thing after the 3rd so time they play the Ferengi version of Hail to the Chief.

 

[Bry_Sinclair]

I didn't like the "enlightening" of the Ferengi.

 

[Paradise City]

I didn't like the "enlightening" of the Ferengi.

Yes, this.

They tried to unravel the uniqueness of the Ferengi.

The female emancipation arc is appropriate. It makes sense to empower women to be consumers and business people. And the whole women in servitude schtick seems to a relic of how the Ferengi were first conceived of in TNG, that of a race of brutal pirates as opposed to the astute businessmen they later became.

But the whole Grand Nagus Rom just defanged the Ferengi at a stroke. Who was Rom before hand from a Ferengi pov? A nobody without a business to his name whose only real credentials are a failed marriage where he was duped and that of a trade union agitator; a kind of gross offender according to the standards of Ferengi society. You're going to make that guy Nagus? And Rom doesn't seem the slightest bit worried that he might be chucked off the Tower of Commerce on sight which is the fate of many high profile Ferengi who are rejected by Ferengi society. And all this apparently on the encouragement of his mother who rather being a woman in her own right, is implied to be scheming in the shadows behind a doddery Zek.

Messy stuff. But it's kind of the weak writing consistent with what the writers where doing with the Ferengi late in the series; making them into an out-and-out slapstrick-species.

 

[mythme]

I'll also chime in with the consensus that making Rom Nagus was a ridiculous move. Rom had made himself into the Ferengi version of his role-model O'Brien - a self-assured family man and non-com engineer in the Bajoran Militia. Ok, I could deal with Zek's senility in naming Rom as his successor, but it would have been the apex of his character to have Rom refuse the offer. Despite the reforms instituted (largely by Ishka), having Rom as Nagus would have surely set him in the cross-hairs to be assassinated (after all, look what happened to Quark in Season One).

 

[Six of Twelve]

Rom's character development was fine right up until he became the Nagus. What the hell was that? It totally went against everything he'd been built up into. I'd much rather have seen him become DS9's chief of operations after O'Brien left. Rom was a fun character regardless. I like to think everyone realised what a ridiculous idea Grand Nagus Rom was and he abdicated so he could come back to DS9.

Yes, this exactly. Rom was happiest when away from Ferenginar, where the pressure to conform to Ferengi stereotypes was much less. In fact, id not have been at all surprised if he'd taken on Bajoran citizenship after marrying Leeta.

I wish we'd seen Nog:s mother, Prinadora, at least in one episode.

And, yes, him eventually getting O'Brien's job would have been fitting and far more believable than him becoming Grand Nagus. I've always had the idea that after Moogie dies, he'd be just as happy to never visit Ferenginar again.

 

[kkt]

Yes, this exactly. Rom was happiest when away from Ferenginar, where the pressure to conform to Ferengi stereotypes was much less. In fact, id not have been at all surprised if he'd taken on Bajoran citizenship after marrying Leeta.

I wish we'd seen Nog:s mother, Prinadora, at least in one episode.

And, yes, him eventually getting O'Brien's job would have been fitting and far more believable than him becoming Grand Nagus. I've always had the idea that after Moogie dies, he'd be just as happy to never visit Ferenginar again.

That's a great idea, with the O'Briens going to Earth. And Moogie and Zek retired to Risa, so Rom probably never goes to Ferenginar again.

 

[Terok Nor]

I wish we'd seen Nog:s mother, Prinadora, at least in one episode.

I read she was supposed to be in an episode but the direction of the story changed during the writing and the idea was dropped. I'm not sure which episode it was meant to be.