Star Trek DS9 - Season 3 - Episode 14
Star Trek DS9 - 3x14 - Heart of Stone
Originally Aired: 1995-2-6
Synopsis:
A desperate situation that could cost Kira her life forces Odo to face the depth of his feelings for her. [DVD]
Filler Quotient:
0, not filler, do not skip this episode.
- Numerous major long term plot threads are serviced here.
Problems
- Odo says he prides himself on being an acute observer of "human nature." Shouldn't he have said "humanoid nature?"
Factoids
- O'Brien just can't get enough of that Kayaking stuff. Now he's enlisted Odo, according to this episode. :)
- This episode establishes that Odo's full name was at one point Odo Ital. Although he shortened it to just "Odo" eventually and may no longer use the last name "Ital" even in formal contexts.
Remarkable Scenes
- Odo brooding over a supposed faux pas Kira committed unknowingly.
- Nog asking Sisko to help him join Starfleet.
- Kira getting stuck in the crystal formation.
- Quark to Rom: "Everything that goes wrong here is your fault. It says so in your contract!"
- Jake thinking Nog is joking about wanting to join Starfleet.
- Sisko and Dax giving Nog busywork to test his seriousness.
- Kira and Odo discussing O'Brien's kayaking hobby.
- Odo protecting Kira using himself as a giant shield.
- Odo discussing the origins of his name, Odo Ital.
- The female changeling revealing herself.
- Rules of Acquisition; 18. A Ferengi without profit is no Ferengi at all.
My Review
I like this one, as it appropriately explores the developing relationship between Kira and Odo. I like how Odo hides his feelings for Kira at the end of the episode. "Just a slip of the tongue, nothing important." This episode also nicely explores Rom and his son. Rom is a mechanical genius indeed. His hidden talents have surfaced a number of times, but he's weak in all the ways that make a successful Ferengi. Overall, I'm glad to see the Ferengi are being taken seriously in this episode and I enjoyed the rather complex character-driven plot.
The following are comments submitted by my readers.
I'd give this episode an 8. It is at the pinnacle of character development episodes. Before now, Nog has been seen as the annoying little ferengi friend of Jake's, not to be taken seriously. In this episode, he truly opens up his feelings to Sisko. I really liked getting to see that he has interests other than profit. I also liked how Rom expresses his pride for Nog and overrides Quark. I haven't seen further on in DS9, so I'll come back and edit this when I have, but I swear to God I'm going to be furious if I don't get to see Nog in a Starfleet uniform at some point....
If the changeling can perfectly impersonate Kira, including the features of her face, why in the freak does she have to have an Odo-like featureless face when she transforms into a changeling attempt at humanoid form? And why is she female with the shape of breasts? None of this makes any sense. She could have just transformed into a talking monkey. Or stayed as Kira and dropped the crystal part of the form. I just don't get why they need an actress in Odo face at all. Perhaps they are limited by special effect budget or something. The way they handle changelings boggles my mind.
I'm a big ol' softie and both of the story-lines in this episode made me tear up. That makes it a top-tier (tear?) episode by my standards.
All through this episode, I was thinking it was ridiculous. I thought Kira was actually stuck in a crystal, and that she would magically and quickly get out at the end. And the interactions between Sisko and Nog were really annoying (with Sisko being pretty rude and just mean by the final scene).
Then the ending totally redeemed it! There was an actual point to the episode! And character development ensued! Hooray!
"Just a slip of the tongue" was a tear-jerking line, and this episode does a good job building on Odo/Kira. Taking Nog seriously, a character who has mostly been comic relief so far (though a good insight into the Ferengi through his relationship with Jake) shows a level of maturity in this show's writing.
@ Lt. Fitz - I noticed all this as well. Regarding the changeling's impersonation of Kira, my guess is that much older and experienced changelings have developed their humanoid impersonation skills to an advanced stage. (See: alternate Odo in Children of Time.) Odo is quite young, relatively inexperienced, has barely linked, and has not been in the Great Link; the other changeling is probably one of the oldest and most experienced. It's very possible that changelings have already infiltrated DS9 and have observed all the people there. Whoever did that could return to the great link and share that information with everyone.
I agree this whole show handled the changelings very weirdly. "Female changeling" makes no goddamn sense. Are we supposed to believe that freaking shape-shifters evolved sexes like humans did? She should have been called the "head changeling" or something if she was the leader.
So far as I know, the other changelings adopt humanoid forms similar to Odo's out of affection and/or convention. They probably don't have a default solid state, but it might be useful to have a "look" for when they want to identify themselves as shapeshifters. Why not that look, since everyone in the Alpha quadrant already associates that look with shapeshifters? That's my guess.
IMO the primary story (Kira/Odo) was far less satisfying than the Nog one.
Nog proves he can be extremely focused in episode like his father Rom where he needs help O'Brien when Keiko is taken over by Pah-wraith. Aron Eisenberg ended up being guest star with most episodes.
Someone needs to make an episode about lowering the bar for Starfleet Academy admission between TNG and DS9.