Another episode where the B story is more interesting than the A story. Now to be fair Nog deciding that he wants to apply to Starfleet Academy would be a hard thing to write an entire episode about, but you could also say that about a changeling pretending to be a dying Kira to find out of Odo really loves solids or not. In the more interesting story it is cool to see how all the various characters react to Nog's decision. Jake assumes he is joking, Sisko and Dax assume he is up to something, Quark is just outraged at the idea, and Rom is totally on board.
The episode opens with Kira and Odo on a runabout together after checking in on a Bajoran colony. They detect a Maquis vessel and pursue into the badlands. It lands on a moon and they follow despite sensors not working. For no apparent reason they split up and Kira gets trapped in a growing crystal around her leg that from the very beginning looks a lot like a changeling, but it takes Odo forever to figure it out. On the station Nog shows up at Ops and asks to see Sisko. It seems he has reached Ferengi adulthood and is supposed to buy an apprenticeship from someone he looks up to, in this case Sisko. Sisko tells him it isn't that simple, he will need to get accepted into the academy and for that he needs a letter of recommendation, which Nog takes to mean Sisko will write such a letter, but he is going to think about it instead.
On the moon the "crystal" around "Kira" is growing and Odo is getting desperate. He sends a distress beacon, but it won't get help in time. He tries rigging up an ultrasonic thing to shake the crystal apart, but it keeps reacting and changing, like maybe some sort of changeling. On the station Jake runs into Nog and laughs at the funny joke about Nog wanting to join Starfleet, but Nog insists it is no joke. As a test Sisko has Dax give Nog the job of inventorying a huge cargo bay in about 12 hours, he does it in 5 and even finds things the previous inventory missed. This still isn't enough for Sisko, he wants to know why and Nog finally breaks down and tells him. His father is a terrible Ferengi who never makes any profit and he doesn't want to turn out like him. He wants to be something more than an assistant bar tender for the rest of his life. This impresses Sisko and he agrees to recommend him. On the moon Odo finally figures out it isn't Kira after they admit they love each other and is bummed out to find it was the Changeling he met in their homeworld. The changeling leaves and he rescues Kira and they return home. More importantly he never tells Kira how he learned he was being tricked.
Review: Not a bad episode, but not the best either. The whole Kira/Odo romance/trickery wore thin about half way though, but at least the Nog plot was good. Looking forward to seeing him transition into one of the shows truly outstanding characters.
5 out of 10
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