Change of Heart

This Story: Season 6 Episode 16 (production code 540)
DS9 Overall: Episode 140
Trek Overall: Story 398, Episode 421
Airdate: 2 Mar 1998
Writer: Ronald D. Moore
Director: David Livingston

Notes

• It was at this point that Terry Farrell decided not to renew her contract for Season 7 of DS9.  It was her suggestion to have Jadzia die at the end of this episode, but the producers did not opt for that.
• The story is set up structurally different as the B plot (about Quark & Tongo) ends about halfway through the episode. The DS9 companion book says that’s because they didn’t want it changing the tone of the more serious A plot towards the end of the episode.
• The B plot was originally supposed to involve Rom’s ex wife, which I honestly would have preferred to see over the Tongo plot.
• According to the official count, this was the 500th overall of Star Trek to air, but that also counts Voyager, which was running concurrently with DS9, which I haven’t gotten to yet in my marathon count.
• Bashir being in love with Dax is brought up again – something that hasn’t happened since the first season I believe.
• The first episode where the runabout sequences were all done with CGI.
• There’s a reference back to the wedding ceremony in “You Are Cordially Invited“.
• The first time we have a mention of Worf’s adopted human brother Nikolai since he last appeared in the TNG episode “Homeward“.
• The last time we see tongo being played on the series.

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