Brings to mind some intriguing conceptual questions around symbiosis, consent, and what the Trill/symbiont's relationship dynamic/ societal structure /hierarchy might look like, tempered somewhat by a soapy romance A-story that feels like a re-hash of S03E08 "The Price," in which the love interest isn't entirely who he says he is.
Where "The Host" falls short of the former is in the lack of a substantial B-story to give the audience a sense of objective distance, contrast, or levity from Dr. Crusher and Odan's situation, i.e. The wormhole real estate expedition B-story in "The Price."
A more dramatic choice might have been to save Odan's life by having Dr. Crusher herself volunteer as temporary host, which might have - by virtue of their proximity and shared mind - given us deeper context as to how and why they had fallen in love in the first place.
In spite of this dud, Gates McFadden puts forth some of my favorite performances in the series, and has a real knack for conveying gravity and urgency that keep the dramatic aspects of TNG from going pure cheese. Here's to hoping for another "The High Ground" - tier character episode to truly give her character some human latitude.
