"Heart of Stone"
Episode 3 Season 14. I guess you could call this the Pi Episode!
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This is another one of those instances where I like the B-Plot better than the A-Plot. Which is not a knock on the A-Plot. What they both have in common is getting down to characters' motivations and asking, "Why?"
The A-Plot: The Female Shapeshifter impersonates Kira (I'd forgotten about this) and pretends to be trapped in a growing crystalline structure that threatens to bury her inside as it grows. Odo won't leave, "Kira" asks why and Odo says it's because he loves her.
Now, at this point, I'm wondering "What a minute... I thought Kira didn't know about this until later." Then I found it was really the Female Shapeshifter and then it made sense. I remembered she was involved with the story somehow, but I didn't remember exactly how. For some reason, less of this season ended up sticking to my long-term memory.
At the end, when Odo reunites with the real Kira, Odo says the Female Shapeshifter said something he knew the real Kira would never say. Then doesn't say what it was. So, Kira doesn't get a chance to confirm or deny if she loves him. But putting that thought in ours is basically just screaming, "This is set-up for what we want to do later!" And another reason to have written out Bariel.
This is also the first time DS9 uses a cave setting with only two characters where there's nothing to do but talk about their lives and what motivates them. We also find out the Female Shapeshifter wants to take way any reason Odo might have for not being with them. I think she made a mistake here because if anything, I think revealing that would make Odo even more resistant to returning to the Great Link.
The B-Plot: Earlier in the season, they re-framed Jake's character now that he's older. In this episode, they did the same with Nog. The old days of Jake and Nog being kids and getting into hi-jinks are over. Nog wants to join Starfleet Academy. Sisko can't believe it, Jake tells his father it was a joke, then Nog insists it isn't, Sisko gives Nog a job to prove he's serious, and then plays hard ball to get the truth out of Nog. And it's something very genuine: He doesn't want to be like his father. He wants to live for more than to not be underneath Quark's thumb and never living to see his potential like Rom.
I admire that. I admire him wanting to pursue something other than what Ferengi society wants him to do. I had to deal with that crap from my own father. "Why don't you get a job like this?" "Why don't you cut your hair?" "Why don't you do this?" "Why don't you do that?" "Your field is so competitive." So, I get Nog wanting to break off to forge his own path and defy expectations. Quark wants to forbid it. When Rom stands up to Quark and says he's Nog's father, Quark tells Rom to tell him "No" and instead Rom encourages Nog to do his best in Starfleet.
At the beginning of the series, as it was airing, if someone asked me if Jake or Nog would've joined Starfleet, I would've said Jake. I think it's what all of us would've said, not knowing what's ahead. But nope. Jake doesn't want to join Starfleet and Nog, who started off as a juvenile delinquent, does. Not only did they defy expectations, but they sent a message that anyone can do better with their lives if they want to, and if they apply themselves.
Summing Up: I think the A-Plot sets up what's going on inside of Odo's head rather than anything immediately apparent to the other characters. Meanwhile the B-Plot sets up something that happens not just in someone's head. Nog's begun his path towards Starfleet Academy, which changes everyone's perceptions about him. Weighing everything, I give this episode an 8.
One More Thing: At one point, the Female Shapeshifter reminds Odo that no Changeling has ever harmed another. Odo doesn't care. Nothing happens to the Female Shapeshifter, but that's definitely foreshadowing in the middle of the season about what happens at the end of the season, when Odo finally does kill another Changeling.
Continuing on with the B5 S1 re-watch binge. Just had to take a break from it. The next time I take a break; it's going to be a VOY episode in the VOY Forum.
