1 SENTENCE PLOT SYNOPSIS:
Quark gets romantic, woos two women, breaks up a party by tipping over a table, pursues profit in the Gamma Quadrant, is the first from DS9 to hear about "The Dominion" and does it all in a 49 minute episode!
VIEWERS TAKE NOTICE:
*Every time I hear the Grand Nagus (Wallace Shawn) speak with his distinctive voice, I immediately think of the movie, "Princess Bride" and his many one line zingers & cackle laughter in that film.
*Other reviewers have tried to assert a LGBT agenda with the secret love desire the hidden Ferengi female (posing as a man) feels for Quark. I don't see it as clearly and, in any case, it is certainly not blatant. Hidden sexual identity is a frequent plot twist and other Star Trek series have used it.
*Doesn't Pel (disguised Ferengi female) remind you of Winnie The Pooh's friend, Piglet?
* One of the most interesting aspects of this episode is the fixation Dax has toward Ferengi culture and lifestyle. Major Kira is flabbergasted as Dax shares her near admiration of all things Ferengi. Dax is the only non-Ferengi (and only non-male) at the table playing a high stakes card game on at least 2 separate nights and when she tells Kira how Quark had wooed her into a date in a private holo-suite replication of Dax's personal bedroom, Kira is appalled. How could any advanced, space-age society (or person such as Dax) find anything redeeming in the way the Ferengi men isolate and abuse the females in their culture? It is revealed the Ferengi male-dominated society do not ALLOW their women to wear clothing, taking business advice from a female is a serious prison-inducing offense and other interesting misogynistic factoids. The Grand Nagus actually pinches/grabs Kira on her butt as she walks by him at one point. Huh? What is going on in the future for goodness sake?
*Speaking of grabbing and fondling....popular Quark's bar patron "Morn" (anagram for Norm from the popular NBC series, "Cheers") is seated at a table in the background when Odo and Rom (Quark's brother) have a brief conversation (27:00). It's hard to tell, exactly, but Morn is with either a Bajoran or human female. Take a look at all of the grabbing, pawing, pulling and familiarity going on in extra-ville. And that is in front of the camera - what in the world was going on behind the scenes?!? What a randy set DS9 maintained! Lol.
*At 33:35 the writers use the word "Dominion" to describe THE super power in the Gamma quadrant and THE group which would dramatically affect the entire rest of the run of the series and 5 further seasons. The whole thing was introduced by a woman from the Dosi race speaking to a Ferengi (Quark).
WAS THE GALAXY, DS9 or A PERSON AT RISK & NEEDED SAVING?
Unbelievable.....but NO ONE was in peril & needed saving! Mark this one down!!
WHAT DID YOU THINK??? FINAL THOUGHTS.......
Hmmm. This Quark-centric episode had many relevatory moments. Those back-stabbing, Blood Flea Grub-eating, misogynistic women-hating, obsessed with profit above all things Ferengi men are central to the continuation of plot developments around the wormhole and in the Gamma Quadrant for the next 5 seasons! Can you handle it? I wonder if there was a Women's Rights or Me Too organizations on the Ferengi home world? If not, one of you ladies should advocate for it!
