DVD, DS9 S5 (Looking For Par'Mach in All The Wrong Places)
Having help from Worf in his Klingon wooing was quite the turnaround, as the frowning warrior had shown little but contempt for Quark and his snivelling Ferengi ways. But even Worf wouldn't lower himself to challenge the bartender to a death match. Thopok, Madam Grilka's bodyguard, is utterly disgusted with Quark and against, his elder's, Tumek's, advice and age-old experience, he cannot contain his revulsion to the Ferengi. There's a nice twist in the casting this time - though Tumek had been in 'House,' Thopok was a new character, but both Joseph Ruskin and Phil Morris had an association with Trek dating back decades, both having been in 'TOS,' (Ruskin as a younger man, Morris as a young boy!), and both going on to be in 'Voyager,' though sadly, not in the same episodes. Grilka's retinue is filled out from when she was in danger of losing control of her house, having lost her husband to Quark in an accident, she grew mildly fond of him for his quirkiness and hidden depths. As much as he always kids himself that profit is his ultimate goal, he really isn't such a 'good' Ferengi as all that, which is why he's hung around and, if not thrived on DS9, made plenty of friends and vindicated Sisko's decision to have him be at the centre of a community. Just like the Cardassian, Natima Lang, Grilka sees more in him.
Joyfully however, and true to his character, Quark never loses his essential Ferengi-ness to all the Klingon ritual and regalia he puts on. He wears the clothes of Kahless (literally, it appears, as Kahless was short and stout in his 'TNG' appearance, and wore that muffled fur outfit, and they never threw anything away if they thought it could be reused, so it was very likely the actual clothing of the Emperor in production terms!). Even after learning choice Klingon phrases, battling the night away in the Holosuite, and going out of his way to be true to the lady's cultural traditions, he'll suddenly come out with a 'romantic' line that being a Ferengi means he's always looking to acquire items of great worth. This is too much for Grilka, but even then he follows it up with a statement that she is worth more than all the Latinum in the Quadrant, mollifying her pride excellently. But Quark is at his best when he's put on the spot and has to lie like Garak to keep himself alive.
The situation: a bat'leth about to bear down on him. The problem: Worf's super-cool holographic puppeteering signal has been lost, meaning Quark can't fight like one of the best Klingons around any more. Just as in 'House' he's forced to improvise, but the clever thing is that they were able to come up with another way of getting him out of a fight with a Klingon, on the Klingon's terms, yet one that would be accepted by viewers! It makes me wish Quark had been thrown into the same problem every season like the annual torture O'Brien episodes, just to see what the writers would come up with next! The technology was so simple in concept, yet also a marvel in terms of using existing and understood tech in a completely new way. But as we see, anything can go wrong, especially something new. This is where Quark's wit comes in and he's forced to improvise a Ferengi tradition out of thin air to give Dax time to repair her handiwork. The whole sequence is fantastic, from Quark striding in dressed as a full Klingon (the fourth cast member to do so this season, after Sisko, O'Brien and Odo), to his delight at being able to parry and block Thopok's assault, his dismay at losing Worf's control, and the speech of love he rattles off on a whim. But my favourite moment is when he feels the holo-device reactivate, stops in mid-flow, whirls around, and throws a look back over his shoulder, saying 'back to the fighting.'
Quark's (or really, Armin Shimerman's) comic timing is impeccable, but he's not the only member of the cast allowed to shine. Some of them add more humour in their body language (Bashir straightening up as if stretching when Quark finds him eavesdropping on the 'O'Briens' arguing; Dax trying to poke her head around Worf's huge form to see into the bar; Morn, unexpectedly being given a flying lesson by Worf), but with Rene Auberjonois it was all in the voice. He's been plenty sarcastic before, but rarely has it flowed so freely and with as much glee as he displays to Kira when she defends O'Brien after he's complained about the Chief's work standard of late. She says she feels like a member of the family and Odo digs the boot in, twists it around and enjoys himself more than he has for a long time ('What member of the family do you feel like? A sister? Daughter…? Cousin…?'), parting with a jab at her calling him 'Miles.' It's a scene of gold, and this episode would undoubtedly stand high in the pantheon of those episodes that show 'DS9' as the funniest, lightest series of them all, while also pulling off the deepest, darkest stories, too. What I love almost as much about that scene is that it shows Odo back in his rightful place, Kira there for her briefing, they've gone back to how they were before Shakaar came to the station in 'Crossfire.'
If there could be a complaint it's that we still haven't dealt with Odo's new life as a solid, beyond the first episode. But as I've noted before, there are so many stories and characters to peer into that it would take a good few episodes before we'd caught up with everyone, and that's one of the great charms of the series: each season looking forward to getting to a Garak episode, or seeing how the O'Brien's are faring, or whatever. In this the O'Briens are faring very well, too well as it turns out, in what may be one of the most bizarre twists of the series: O'Brien and Kira realise they're becoming too close for good sense and decency. What's worse (and makes it ever more funny), is Keiko's belief they've been fighting, leading her to do everything in her power to get them together! I don't know who to pity more, but I'm glad this didn't properly turn into 'Deep Soap Nine,' and that it was all done in an amusing way, not a serious one.
Something I felt that was beginning to come through for perhaps the first time, was that the series was starting to ponder its end. It seems a strange thing to say at the start of a fresh season, but there were little signs here and there that more was behind than in front - they had passed well into middle age. The most pertinent example for me, was O'Brien admitting he had recently begun to daydream of home in Ireland, not something we've ever heard from him before. He was always happy tinkering with this and that on the Enterprise, and then having full-time engineering problems on the station. Maybe I read too much into it, but like Odo's unrealised desire to be accepted by his people (which probably came before this episode, so I was wrong, there was a slight feeling of the end before this point), O'Brien is mentally preparing for his next stage in life, the place he would go to once the series had run its course. There are other things that signal… not quite the home straight, but the road towards the end: Dax and Worf finally get together.
To be honest her sudden interest in the Klingon does come unexpectedly, but not illogically. They'd long been friends, ever since he found the Klingon holo-programmes she had on the Holosuites and realised the depth of her Klingon understanding. But they'd always been colleagues both professionally and personally, rather like Julian and Miles. But Dax' advances still seem to come out of nowhere, to some degree, the catalyst being Worf's infatuation with Grilka, someone he tries hard to impress. But seeing as Dax got a rare belly laugh out of him at the end, she was destined to be the perfect match, I can't remember him ever laughing before or since. She even becomes the only other person in history, to my knowledge, to wear Worf's baldric! As ever (this being a Ron Moore Klingon episode), we get more of the culture displayed, whether that's the battle of Kahless and Lukara, or Worf's Klingon attempt at being noticed in the bar. Despite all the shouting and bravado, the old Tumek turns aside Worf's heated display and informs him, rather coldly for a Klingon, that Grilka is not someone he should pursue. There's a sense of talking down to Worf, but Tumek does it such a way that all parties are respectful and he is given his marching orders briefly and simply. I thought of K'Eleyr when Worf's asked if he's had any dealings with Klingon women, but she was the antithesis, reviling the traditions and being half-human with it.
From this, Worf goes into disinterested brooding (I love that he uses the Defiant as his own, personal house, blasting Klingon opera on the bridge, or talking to Dax in the mess!), until the initial disgust he feels that Quark should be the chosen one for Grilka's affection turns to inspiration as he lives out his Klingon traditions vicariously by sharing them with Quark. His eyes light up as he explains the intricacies of the rituals, and he just seems happy to pass on what he knows, despite Quark being a pretty dismissive student, only interested in the grand prize, not all the legwork, though I had the impression he came to enjoy the customs because he was taking part in them with Grilka. Maybe Worf even gained a new respect for Quark because of all this? Quark is praised by Grilka in the strongest manner for a Klingon who has had relatively little respect for other races, like most of her people, who tend to see themselves as best. His bar-tending is complimented highly (digression: seeing the Bolian, I thought he was a customer wandering behind the bar until I noticed him as the bartender - it makes sense as there's no Rom for backup any more, and Quark wouldn't trust his Ferengi employees!), but even more precious is being likened to a Basai Master, a poet! I found that interesting because we've previously heard of a Dahar Master, the title afforded to Kor, meaning a great warrior, so these could be among many 'Master' titles in the Klingon culture. It's great to still be digging deeper into the most fully realised alien race in Trek.
Captain Sisko makes only a cursory appearance to throw his baseball at Dax (this sounds more violent than it actually was), and I think the reason he was kept out of the picture, just as Kira was busy with her O'Brien problem (digression: the Runabout she leaves on is once again not named), was so that he couldn't interfere with the battle to the death, something I'm sure he wouldn't have sanctioned on his station. Worf and Dax seem fairly blase about their plan, Worf sounding mildly surprised that Quark's still alive when the sensor is damaged, but other than that not showing concern, even though this is supposed to be a fight to the death! He and Dax even say they can't attend the battle, but I have to presume that was because of it being a custom rather than them being busy with a shift at Ops or some other mundane duty. It's the way he says it… The difference between the fight in 'House' and this one, is that this time Quark isn't alone in Klingon space, cut off from all his friends and the familiar surroundings of DS9, as he was before. There he had to think on the spur of the moment and the reward was his life. This time he has to think on the spur of the moment, but the reward is Grilka, so the stakes are somewhat lowered. Thanks to so many funny scenes, what might have made a lack of tension compared with the earlier episode didn't matter in the slightest. It's all just good fun, bookended by a bewildered Bashir.
Something else I appreciate with the series is their careful selection of titles. They aren't worried that a title is too long or too short, sounds wrong or flippant, or even has any meaning at all ('Rocks and Shoals'?), it's all about the craft of the final product and sticking something on the front end that's different and suits the episode. For trivia's sake, this was the second longest title in Trek history, beaten only by one from 'TOS,' and that tended to be more flowery and varied, so 'DS9' was really only following in its ancestors footprints. Andrew Robinson had only appeared once so far this season, and that was in a recap of the Season 4 cliffhanger, but his character had been mentioned in each episode so far, I think. Well this time Garak didn't appear, but Robinson was behind every shot, directing his first Trek. I can't say I noticed a style, there weren't any shots that jumped out at me that were so good, but the episode was excellently directed in spite of that. The story was so enjoyable that the mind was never drawn to the technical side of it, so the direction never pulled me out and presented the performances as it should.
****
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