Change of Heart

DVD, DS9 S6 (Change of Heart) (2)

The story about the Klingon heart, as told in 'You Are Cordially Invited' is shown here in action. It's been two months, we're told, since the marriage of Worf and Dax, and this is really the first time they've had an episode together, aside from appearing side by side a lot in minor scenes, such as having Kira and Fake Bareil over for dinner - thinking about that incident, in which Bareil steals Worf's Mek'leth and uses it to cut up dessert, made me realise how much I hoped Worf gave it a good clean since in this one he's slicing into Jem'Hadar hide, so who knows where it's been!). Actress Terry Farrell has said she wanted to be killed off in this one if they were going to let her go that way, but although it would have been the perfect solution to cause Worf maximum grief, I'm not sure it would have been a worthy enough death for her. Regardless of how you feel about her eventual death at the end of the season which comes across as arbitrary wrong place, wrong time stuff, she was at least defending a Bajoran Orb at the time. I'd rather she hadn't been killed off at all, but at least it happened right at the end of the season, so we got maximum usage out of the character (not that I can remember many Dax episodes after this one, perhaps a case of lame duck actor, though I'd hope the writers wouldn't have been so upset with Farrell's decision to spite her by not giving her a fair shake of screen time). Did they even know she was definitely going to be killed off, at the time of this episode? I don't know, but they did give her and Worf a chance to shine in their newly married couple status - even the writers couldn't come between two Klingon hearts.

Or one Klingon heart and one honorary Klingon heart, in case the spots didn't give away that Dax is a Trill! Just to drive home the point we see the cross-species differences shown up starkly in a wonderful remembrance of established facts: Worf shivers in the jungle night because Klingons don't like the cold, and Dax is fine because Trills don't like the heat. Chalk and cheese, Mars and Venus, it's all that kind of thing except in Trek-specific language. It is good to see the pair interacting, another example of marriage being shown as a good thing in Trek, supporting the Godly attitude towards coupling. Which god, though, I'm not sure, as, in a rare glimpse of Worf's religious convictions we see him praying or meditating before a statue enshrined in his quarters! I don't remember ever seeing this before, not that we go to Worf's quarters much (he's happily sequestered on the station after spending previous seasons bedding in on the Defiant where he could play his Klingon opera as loud as he liked and no one would complain, except perhaps the Chief, who may have had to fix the comm system!). But that's the thing with Worf, he's decided to make adjustments to his life to make his marriage work. That doesn't mean he surrenders (oops, bad word - very bad), on every topic, but he's more amenable to change and the wants of wifey.

The Klingons supposedly killed their gods, so I imagine it was a figure of Kahless, but does that mean he prays to idols? And what about Kahless the clone, doesn't having him in the physical realm as figurehead Emperor make a difference? The idol may not have been Kahless, but I don't know of any other famous Klingon it could be (unless it was really a voodoo doll of Gowron that Worf sticks pins into nightly…). Seriously, I wish they'd explain the Klingon religion a bit more, as they did so effectively with the Bajoran. I suppose it comes under one of many subjects left open in case future stories needed to create details. Having Worf and Dax on a mission together may not have been the best idea, just because their loyalties are going to be to one another first and foremost, even though they knew their duty. You'd think there'd be some kind of protocol about not sending marrieds off alone, especially on such an important task, though I suppose at the time it wasn't known it would become a rescue mission, and was only supposed to be a relay of information. I think the main reason Sisko was angry was as much for his own lack of input into the mission - had he been there he might have reminded them of their duty, but he was (presumably, since Kira handed out the assignment), out aboard the Defiant, with no knowledge of events. He'd doubtlessly have expected them to carry out such a mission regardless of personal feelings, knowing how honourable and dutiful these particular officers were. So frustration must have played a part, as well as the mixed emotions of gladness that Dax was safe (and understanding from losing Jennifer, whom we haven't heard of for some time), and perhaps even some guilt at feeling that way when the stakes had been so high.

Those stakes were nothing less than information on the numbers and locations of all the Changelings in the Alpha Quadrant, most invaluable intel! I question the validity of the defector's claims, and the veracity of his statements. We have no way of knowing if Lasaran was telling the truth or making up a cock and bull story because he knew his cover was soon to be blown and his identity as a spy unmasked. In his eyes he wouldn't necessarily trust Starfleet to act with immediacy, unless he could provide them with a really juicy secret. I'm just speculating, it may have been he really did have the information, but you have to look at the likelihood of one man, one Cardassian man, having that knowledge about the Founders, and it's flimsy. He could have been a bit more polite (even though he turned out to be right in this particular case at not being happy to trust the word of a Klingon), when speaking to his potential saviours, but he was a stressed out guy, and a Cardassian, so his natural arrogance and sense of superiority was no doubt wounded, and to crown it all, Starfleet sends a Klingon, one of the species that had recently been annexing and battling his people at their weakest, so it was a bit of an insult. But beggars and defectors can't be choosers, and diplomacy might have saved his life - though probably not. Add his attitude to Sisko's possible reminder of the importance of duty, and Worf might have had just enough reinforcement of honour to keep his heart from ruling his head, but, again, probably not: Dax was more important even than his honour.

Sisko says Worf probably won't be offered a command because of his actions, and it was only because it was a secret, Starfleet Intelligence-led (two episodes in a row featuring our heroes working for the organisation - no wonder Section 31 came a-calling not long after!), operation that he wasn't going to be court-martialled (Ben Finney did it! It was Ben Finney, in the engine room, with a spanner). Even so, it sounds harsh to cap a man's career like that, especially that of a powerful, ideal officer like Worf, whom you could easily imagine going on to have his own ship (I'm still waiting for 'Star Trek: Worf'!), and taking into account all the great things he had done (not to mention many more in future), he could surely earn back the trust of Starfleet. But that was the point - he'd put his personal feelings above completion of the mission, so it was a question of trust. All that, and it would ultimately be pointless with Dax dying only weeks, or short months, later, though I'm sure even if Worf had known her eventual fate he would still have saved her now. How would the season have panned out if she had died on Soukara? As I said, I don't recall any big Dax moments in the remaining episodes, but it would have definitely affected Worf in the negative.

The third crewmember on the mission, and just as vital it was too, was Runabout Shenandoah. I've mentioned in other reviews how this season the little workhorses got back some of their status, becoming a more regular part of things again. Not that they were ever forgotten, but they were in danger of slipping into the background as tiny ships not much better for combat than a shuttlecraft. But they were so much more than that, and this is another example of how useful they were. Admittedly, it was because the Defiant was busy that a Runabout was chosen for the mission, but it would have been required anyway, as although the bigger starship could have got closer to Soukara without being detected, thanks to its cloaking device, it would have had to blast its way through the asteroid field in order to reach the planet, and sent a shuttlepod down to land. The Runabout was more inconspicuous, and manoeuvrable, as Dax demonstrated with her expert piloting skills in a thrilling ride through the wonderfully realistic asteroid field - it wasn't just Dax showing some skill there, but the people responsible for the field, as we've never seen such a dynamic and exciting depiction of that kind of space phenomena prior to this in Trek. I assume it was CGI, as photographing that many separate elements would have been prohibitive on a TV budget. I always love travel through asteroid fields (seen again in 'Treachery, Faith and The Great River'), the threat so massive, deft movement needed to get through. As Dax said, she had three hundred years of piloting knowledge, and now she gets to show it off to hubby!

The Shenandoah was a new Runabout, or at least, one we'd never heard of before. I always prefer it when they tell us the name of whatever Runabout is being used as it gives them more character. I guess there were more of the ships stationed at DS9 since the outbreak of the Dominion War (this one was docked at Landing Pad A - they'd gone back to designating by letter again, after they were called by number in last season's 'Things Past'!), but the others that we know about (Rio Grande, Rubicon and Volga), were off doing manoeuvres with Martok's Ninth Fleet, leaving this one (named after the river in Virginia, America) to take on the mission. So there must be room for four Runabouts at least (I'm not sure it's ever been stated exactly how many can be docked in the landing pads). They have so much character, so it's a joy that they've been allowed to come into their own this season. They may not be useful for battle, but for a small crewed mission they provide a greater range of options than if everything was down to the Defiant, freeing up the starship for work more suited to it. Plus the interior of a Runabout is more intimate and provides a good space for people to talk, in this case about where they were going to go for their honeymoon (not Risa!). Note that Worf says Andor, not Andoria - I prefer the former as it sounds more alien; there's also the very rare mention of Vulcan's Forge, a location that may have originated as far back as 'The Animated Series' and somewhere we'd see in live action on 'Enterprise' (with an episode even named for it)!

Instead, all they got was the trusty Badlands and a jungle planet. I was interested in Soukara, and not just because of the incredible effort the greens people put into creating a location of such dense vegetation on a soundstage. I noticed during Worf and Dax's jungle trek that one lizard she looks at was crawling across some kind of flat, constructed surface. Assuming that this was meant to be seen on camera, rather than part of the structure of the artificial roots of the jungle, does this mean there was a lost culture of ruins on the planet? It's such a small thing, but it begins to make me wonder about the culture and life of this planet before the Dominion used it as a base. I can't help but look out for these little snippets of another world that tweak the imagination and start it off on theories. What wasn't needed to speculate on was the amazing creation of the jungle set. The lighting doesn't look quite as realistic as a true exterior, but everything else is excellent: logs across the path, uneven, mossy undergrowth, drooping fronds and a great height to it all - Worf even shins up a small tree at one point! But the greatest achievement was in the sound department, which totally sells a jungle environment alive with the screech of alien birds or the howl of alien wolves. Even better is the evocation of a waterfall, which I didn't remember at all, but is so well done with the rushing noise, steam and drops of water giving the impression of vapour spreading out from the real thing, there in the background, even though we can't see it fully.

Another thing we see are the layers of a modern Starfleet uniform, from the discarded outer jacket, to the figure-hugging inner shirt in department colours (though Dax' is more flattering than O'Brien's), right down to the purple-grey vest as under-garment that seem to be standard issue. It's clear Worf doesn't take his uniform off because Klingons like the heat, but it could also be to do with the complications of showing his race's exoskeleton, as glimpsed in such episodes as 'Ethics' in 'TNG' where we got to see a Klingon spine, and 'Sons of Mogh' from this series, for a bony Klingon chest. It's good that Dax' spots are seen to go further down (as well as down the legs when Worf whips her furry bedclothes away back at DS9), although we'd seen that before, it's good that they stuck to such continuity, making the races consistent and more realistic in consequence. Something we don't see much is Dax taken to her limits: vulnerable, disheveled, drawn and hollow-eyed, weak and paler than usual, staggering along - you knew she was for it because of all that, and if it hadn't been for Worf's disobedience against his duty, she'd surely have died where she slumped. It was all thanks to those nasty anticoagulant Jem'Hadar weapons, something else long established. I suppose we should be grateful the blast didn't somehow contain poison as well (maybe that would have been the next step in weapons manufacture, recreating the old native poison-tip spear effect). We almost never see the irrepressible Dax in such low spirits, (though with Worf she keeps up a bright front), such as when she faced death in 'Invasive Procedures,' another time a lingering demise was imminent.

One of Farrell's best performances comes at the end of the episode in which she lies on the biobed in the Infirmary, Worf admitting he has no regrets for his actions. It shows the strongest bond between them, and one that could only have been broken by death (and even then it caused complications because the symbiont turned up so soon after). It would have been a lot more satisfying if we'd seen them continue to the end of the series, and perhaps thereafter - maybe Dax would have been in 'Star Trek Nemesis' if she'd still been married (we really needed more 'DS9' in the 'TNG' films!), as well as the possibilities of the child she would have had. The interest of family life would have been a great draw. Another family unit of the station, the O'Briens, had been somewhat lost due to the War, a part of the series that I did miss after the early seasons. In truth, I'm not sure exactly what they could have done with the Chief's family, and it was always difficult to find a role on the station for Keiko, but it was nice to see the Chief come home to them rather than be alone (even if he does supposedly have Bilby's cat Chester since the previous episode!). We learn it's been six months since they left, explaining the Chief's obsessive behaviour: he wants to beat Quark at his own game simply for the challenge, because that's why he became an Engineer, joined Starfleet, etc. He could have gone off and had an adventure in Bashir's spy holoprogram (maybe the only reference in all Trek to the Queen of England, when he's telling Miles about the latest story!), which would have been fun for us, if not for the budget or legal department, but instead he takes on Tongo!

Bashir's genetic enhancements once again come to the fore, this time bringing him down the path to wiping the smile off Quark's smug face. But intelligence and deviousness are too separate things, and Bashir allows himself to be drawn into Quark's wily prattling about Dax having been his last chance for happiness since she married 'Commander Boring,' distracting the unsuspecting Doctor, who probably could have taken the whole thing a little more seriously anyway, if he'd really wanted to break the Ferengi's winning streak (I don't know where O'Brien got the six bars of Latinum - maybe Morn was feeling generous?). It was a fine display of tactics from Quark, it has to be said, and the whole setup of this high stakes game of Tongo for which the players have come far and wide (some, at least, as one or two of the participants wore rich clothing like Quark, as opposed to the waiters, so must either have been visiting businessmen or had come specially), reminded me of 'Casino Royale' with everyone else knocked out and only the hero and villain left to face each other, so Bashir got to live out his spy fantasy after all. Just without the inevitable victory at the end. In the style of the series, both plots end unexpectedly - there's no winning against the 'enemy,' Quark, to teach him a lesson he won't forget, it's a lesson for O'Brien and Bashir in not underestimating an opponent. And just when we think we know WWWD (What Would Worf Do?), he surprises us by rejecting his values in pursuit of a newfound greater value.

Occasionally I get a scene or a line of dialogue stuck in my head, but can't remember exactly where it came from. I experienced this phenomenon watching 'Sacrifice of Angels' where Dukat talks about the meaning of a 'true victory,' and it happened in this episode, too: Worf says he was considered amusing on the Enterprise, Dax responds that it must have been one dull ship, and Worf notes that he gets the joke, even though it isn't funny. It's nice to know where these things originate! Dax playing Tongo, of course, had never been far from our minds, so I enjoyed the scene in which she's playing Quark at the beginning, Worf and O'Brien looking down from above like a couple of Greek gods watching the affairs of humanity for their own amusement, idly making a wager on the outcome. It sets up the tone of the episode, not in a comedic way, but to reinforce how tight the bond is between Worf and Dax, and to plant the seed for O'Brien's B-story, which handily comes to an end about halfway through so that the real story, Dax and Worf trekking in the jungle, can get serious, the music becoming more intense and focused to suit the mood.

Even this had its pleasant moments, such as Worf relating camping trips with his human Father, (I'll bet he had "all the maps of the area"!), as well as his brother, Nikolai. His urge to run into the woods and be wild sounds very Klingon, especially one that was brought up in the more restrained company of humans. I got that sense of adventure from the doors opening on the Runabout to reveal thick jungle, and the pair plunging out into it. But he gets his wild pursuits in this one, though the Jem'Hadar weren't very bright, not even shrouding as they travelled, and killed off easily. Why did Worf fling his mek'leth into the tree trunk on his decision to abandon the mission? I like to think it was part anger at not being able to complete a task, and a sign of his resolution to complete another. Plus it helped orient us to his location as the camera had been moving freely so it needed to be clear that forward was the destination he was denying, backward his choice. Hopefully he had a spare back home…

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