Day 59: DS9, Heart of Stone

Show: Star Trek; Deep Space Nine

Episode Particulars: S3EP14, “Heart of Stone”

 Summary: Kira and Odo, on their way back from a Bajoran colony, spot a Maquis ship and give chase. The ship crashes onto a moon with lots of seismic activity, and as they search the caves for the pilot, Kira gets her foot trapped in an odd crystalline rock that slowly starts to grow over the rest of her body, forcing Odo to simultaneously look for a way to get her out and keep her distracted from what’s going on. Back on DS9, Sisko gets a surprise visit from Nog, who has reached Ferengi adulthood and declares his desire to join Starfleet (in fact, he’d be the first Ferengi in Starfleet). Pretty much everyone is skeptical of his motive for this, but Nog is insistent that it’s what he wants. While the two plots never connect, they both share a theme of personal desires, eventually emotionally expressed. And that’s why this episode works.

Standalone Thoughts: I’ll just say it; this is a great episode. It doesn’t seem promising initially, but the longer it goes on, the better it gets. I suppose I shouldn’t be too surprised, though; since I’ve repeatedly cited Visitor and Auberjonois as excellent actors, having the two of them bouncing off each other is bound to be good. Slightly more surprising is Eisenberg, who really makes you root for and sympathize with Nog as the episode continues. No matter who’s on the screen, though, the writing is good, and the acting makes it all sound sincere. That’s the main reason it works so well.

About the only thing I don’t like about the episode is that it kind of tips its hand early when it comes to Kira’s situation. Sure, there’s a technobabble explanation that sounds plausible, but if you’ve been paying attention, you might figure out what’s going on only ten minutes into the episode. I had a suspicion the first time I watched the episode, and though I was partially wrong, I still got close enough that I’ve wished it could have been better handled ever since. Still, it’s glossed over easily enough, especially in the wake of the acting and story developments. Besides, if that’s my biggest complaint, then the episode is doing just fine for itself.

How it Relates to the Whole: We’ve got a lot today. We learn more about Odo’s backstory, explore his feelings for Kira a bit more, and there’s even some slight foreshadowing at the very end of the episode. What’s even more interesting, however, is the whole plot involving Nog. His desire to join Starfleet might have come out of nowhere, but after establishing it in this episode, the writers do an excellent job moving Nog from comic relief character to a more mature, serious character. In fact, I’d go so far as to say that Nog has the most impressive, complex story arc of any of the characters on this show, and this episode does a fine job of setting all that up. It seems like the writers have finally realized the potential of their supporting characters, and since that’s one of the highlights of the show for me, I’m excited to watch things develop even further.

Other: *The episode acknowledges the treaty made in “Life Support” yesterday, which is good continuity. Still no indication if it will ever play a major role, but I’m glad it wasn’t just forgotten.

*Odo declares that the Maquis ship they’re chasing is having problems because “his attitude stabilizers have failed”. Yes, attitude stabilizers. I checked the subtitles, and they say “attitude” too. Either Auberjonois misspoke and they just ignored it, or the pilot is the Incredible Hulk and the ship somehow keeps him from getting angry. I know which one’s more likely, but I also know which one I want it to be.

*According to this episode, Odo is striking up quite the friendship with O’Brien. I hope we actually get to see this in action sometime, partially so that this doesn’t just feel like a case of “informed attributes”/“tell don’t show”, but also because it would be nice to see Odo having friendly interactions with more of the crew. Given everything, he certainly deserves it.

*There are a lot of nice little touches in this episode. There’s a discussion between Bashir and Sisko that touches on alien biology and reproduction that’s decidedly different from our own, which makes the world seem a little more complex and thought-out. Odo has a morph effect that’s both impressive from a technical standpoint and implies something about how he’s improved as a shapeshifter. There’s even a small but well-executed moment where the doors to Quark’s bar open, you can hear the sound of people chatting on the Promenade, then the doors close and it’s silent again. I think everyone brought their A-game to this episode, and it really paid off.

*One of the few things that don’t quite work about this episode is when Sisko confronts Nog about his reasons for wanting to join Starfleet at the end. Sisko sounds unreasonably angry about it. I get that he was in essence playing “bad cop” to get Nog to talk, but Nog’s just a teenager. There was no need to intimidate him that much. I know if I’d been on the receiving end of that, I’d probably be a mess afterwards. Couldn’t you try talking to him like you would to Jake, Sisko? You’d all probably be better for it in the long run.

Best Line/Exchange: There are a lot of good speeches in this episode, but some of them are spoilery. So I’ll go with a bit right at the beginning of the episode instead;

(Odo’s been huffy with Kira, and now he finally explains why)

Odo: It’s just…when Governor Avesta invited us to dinner at his house…

Kira: Go on…

Odo: You said no.

Kira: And?

Odo: You never bothered to ask me if I wanted to go.

Kira: You wanted to go to the Governor’s house for dinner?
Odo: Not particularly.

Kira: Well then what’s the problem?

Odo: The problem is you never asked what I wanted.

Kira: Odo, you don’t eat. Besides, you hate socializing with people you don’t know.

Odo: Well that’s beside the point! I would have liked to have been consulted, that’s all.

Kira (irritated): You’re right. Next time we are invited out for dinner, I will make sure you are the one to say no.

Odo (nods): I’d appreciate that.

(Kira looks at him for a second, then chuckles)

Whoever wrote this exchange has been involved in stupid yet understandable arguments before. This whole thing feels so true to life, complete with the laughter at the end when you realize what you were just arguing over. Furthermore, both sides have a point—Kira figured she was just cutting to the chase since she knew they were in agreement, while Odo felt like his needs and wants were being ignored (something he’s probably a little extra sensitive to thanks to both his upbringing and the recent developments with the Founders)—so you can easily take either side. It’s great writing and acting, and is a good start for a really good episode. I can’t give much higher praise than that.

After the Fact Update: According to Aron Eisenberg, this new development for his character came as a surprise to him, but after reading the script, he agreed with the new direction and changed his acting and character interactions accordingly. Which kind of shows you what good writing can do.