What's even more damning is that it's completely inconsistent with Rom's character arc. Rom started off as the idiot brother who was too stupid to be a successful Ferengi. Then it was revealed that he's just very socially awkward and lacking political savvy, but is actually really intelligent with machines and technology. So then he gradually accepts that he's not an ideal Ferengi and that it's okay to be rejected by his own people, as long as he's happy within himself. He quits the bar, stops caring about profit, and works as a Bajoran Technician/Engineer (I guess, based on his uniform, he's within Bajoran service ranks rather than Starfleet).RobbyB1982 wrote:The entire Ferengi ending feels like a twist just for the sake of a twist. First, out of an entire planet of Ferengi, the DS9 one is on the one picked? I know, main character and all, but...
and then it turns around to switches to Rom because... you didn't see that coming!
And that's it. That's the entire reason. Rom became Nagus because the audience would never see it coming. It's a writer's choice, rather than the story's.
Then he gradually becomes more integral to the plot with his technical expertise. Fitting in or being accepted by other Ferengi no longer matters to him since he has his hot wife, a son that he's proud of, and a job he enjoys. This job allows him to do important work, like helping design the self-replicating mines that blockade the wormhole. So his story arc basically ends with, "I just want to be an engineer, and that's enough ambition for any man." Then out of nowhere they decide that it's not enough for his character so they might as well jus tmake him the Nagus.
It might be okay if this was something that they were organically building toward. Instead it's just a pointless twist with no establishment in the plot that will have no effect on the plot, the story, or the rest of the Trek universe. It's such an afterthought that it's a wonder it actually made it into any episode.