In the tenth episode of the sixth season of Deep Space Nine, Quark is tasked with rescuing his mother from the Dominion, and it is exactly the kind of disaster you’d expect. Intrigued? Then it’s time for Mark to watch Star Trek.Â
Look, I don’t think I’ll ever be fully excited by a Ferengi episode, but I at least found this story to be amusing. It’s a trainwreck, and sometimes, watching a mess unfold can be entertaining. And what a mess this is, y’all. I didn’t expect anything less, of course. The Ferengi are not experts in warfare. Or strategic fighting. Or being commandos. Or in anything, really, that doesn’t have to do with gaining profit.
So I knew that Quark and company would royally mess up everything as soon as he decided to take up the Grand Negus’s offer to rescue Ishka. The episode works as a loving parody of movies like The Magnificent Seven, or any action film involving a large cast set on achieving a single goal. In a sense, you can view each of the team members for this mission through that lens, too. Quark is the reluctant leader; Nog is the super serious strategist and the most accomplished member of the team; Rom is the man looking for glory and redemption; Leck is the uncaring member who just wants to be violent; Gaila is the bumbling fool with a chip on his shoulder; and Brunt is… well, he’s the one with the getaway vehicle, and that’s very important. Necessary! Integral!
And yet, despite largely having all the pieces, this is still a disaster. Look no further than the Holosuite training sequence, in which not one Ferengi – not even Leck! – manages to shoot a single Jem’Hadar soldier. (Leck does shoot Ishka perfectly, which is so goddamn hilarious to me that I can’t deal with it. HOW CAN HE HIT HER SQUARE IN THE CHEST, YET HE DOESN’T EVEN GRAZE A SINGLE JEM’HADAR.) Once the group makes it to the abandoned Cardassian station, Deep Space Nine ramps up the absurdity of this episode by having the Ferengi be SUPER HORRIBLE at LITERALLY EVERYTHING. Well, Nog’s pretty competent, but he tries so hard, and his nerves are affected by the constant panic that exists around him.
AND THEN IGGY POP SHOWS UP AND IT’S SUPER WEIRD BECAUSE HE’S PRACTICALLY UNRECOGNIZABLE. Though his droning monotone voice isn’t unrecognizable? And then part of me realizes how perfect that casting was because Yelgrun has to be uncaring and bored and annoyed with the Ferengi, and Iggy Pop feels perfect for that role. It’s right here, as I’m writing this review, that I can fully comprehend how weird this episode is. It’s silly, disastrous, absurd, and features Iggy Pop as a disinterested hostage negotiator. Oh, and then it turns into Weekend at Bernie’s at the very end??? HOW IS THIS EPISODE REAL?
It just is. Yet I think there’s a value here besides the humor. Over the course of Deep Space Nine, Quark has felt like a staple, a constant amidst a frequently-changing batch of characters. Yet his growth has been happening, albeit much slower. Yes, he is motivated by profit throughout this episode, but I think it would be silly to ignore that he also wants to save his mother. As the prisoner trade becomes more and more complicated, Quark is able to lead the group towards that ridiculous ending. And when he does, Rom asks him an important question: How does it feel to be a hero? Heroism is not something the Ferengi know well, nor do they really care about it. Indeed, Quark has often criticized the members of Starfleet for giving the concept any validity. Who cares about heroes when you can make profit?
However, at the end of this episode, he realizes that it feels good to do good things, that there’s an emotional value in actions that lead to a positive end that has very little to do with profit or money. Is this part of a revelation? Maybe, and I think it’s a vital part of how season six has specifically addressed Quark’s characterization. At the end of this, though, I mostly saw this as a chance to have fun.
The video for “The Magnificent Ferengi†can be downloaded here for $0.99.
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