Who Mourns For Morn?

DVD, DS9 S6 (Who Mourns For Morn?)

Intergalactic Morn of Mystery: if I'd been told through all those years of seeing the blank-faced sluggard, lumbering laboriously along, gulping down his liquid fuel in the background, with only the occasional brush with the limelight in the lives of the other characters, that he was a two-stomached, Klingon-sparring, mud bath-sleeping former bank robber with a cunning brain to match the regularity of paying his bar bills, I'd never have believed it. But Morn had already saved the Alpha Quadrant this season by taking the all-important message out to Starfleet, hidden in his Mother's birthday present wrapping, so anything was possible. It's just that Morn's onscreen persona and the one we hear about doesn't exactly jibe. But 'twas ever thus, with Morn and his non-speaking volubility, his absent verbosity, more garrulous than Garak, more long-winded than most Cardassians, that provided the series' best-loved running joke: on camera, never to be heard, the next in a startling array of 'Dad's Army' parallels, in the same way that Captain Mainwaring's wife was never to be seen. So by the time the sixth season had rolled around, and Morn remained the blank canvas (as 'blank' as his matador painting, it turned out), he was ripe to be expanded; extended; brought into the light to be more than just a joke. Rather, his joke became a larger joke, that the unknown quantity, the still surface hid a deep pool, and I'm not just talking mud baths here.

The beauty of the story is to promote even more mystery about Morn than already existed in our minds - so many surprises are thrown on the canvas that we don't know what to believe. You know what they say: if you throw enough mud, it will stick. In Morn-ey's case this was as true as can be, with both lies and half-truths abounding. He really does have two stomachs, we learn. He really does have a mud bath as his only possession of note (not counting the matador painting he won in the auction during last season's 'In The Cards'), and certainly is a Lurian with a shipping business. Just not the crown prince, as much as I wanted it to be true. Quark may not have minded too much, either, though if the story Hain spun about it being a bequest on the occasion of his abdication were to have been true, Quark wouldn't have got anything out of it, when in fact he does get what must be a fortune at the end, thanks to Morn's generous belch of around one hundred bricks of pure liquid Latinum, since the statute of limitations on Morn's elicit haul had expired and he couldn't be arrested. Only nine years for it to run out? That seems rather stupid if you ask me, and asking for trouble, the patient kind of cunning trouble that Morn and his friends displayed. But we don't know much about the Lissepians, so maybe they're not a very legally advanced race, on the whole?

Morn proves to be more devious than even Quark had given him credit for, using his Ferengi barkeep to draw out those former colleagues, knowing they'd be along soon. But Quark was hardly blameless as a stooge, showing complete lack of concern for Morn's wellbeing or for his resultant, and apparent, death. All he cares about, in true Ferengi spirit, is what he'll get out of it. Odo's accompaniment to his run of disappointment as he finds nothing of value whatsoever begins the traditional ribbing between the pair, but Odo also plays his part in keeping an eye out for trouble, despite it being trouble for Quark. Just as when he saved Quark's brother Rom, and Kira, from enemy soldiers aboard the station at the end of 'Sacrifice of Angels,' he comes in with his security force to put a stop to the firefight in the Cargo Bay, rescuing Quark from the deadly intentions of Morn's associates (as well as walking into the bar like a cowboy expecting a draw when it's closed for Quark to entertain Morn's mates - was Quark's mention of 16:00 a reference for when Odo should come and help him, I wonder?). Morn probably guessed that that would happen, too, and had no doubt in Quark's strength and courage when motivated by his greed. And he was proved right, of course, but you'd think that someone like Quark who depends on Morn as his most lucrative, reliable customer, and someone that helped to keep his bar going, would feel at least a little bit sad about his demise? But no, he's completely uncaring, though he puts on a good show for the stations' occupants, so many of which cared about Morn - he was a lot more popular than ever expected!

Quark does wonderfully at the memorial service, and it was truly quite moving to see the number of people that turned out for Morn, bringing all kinds of gifts, filling Quark's Bar with their largesse and presence. Morn was clearly not the kind of person to die with no one to care. Quark's speech may have been intensely insincere, but he's a good enough actor that he sells it beautifully and really makes the audience feel the loss, surprising even Odo with such seemingly heartfelt reminiscences. You can't fault his business idea to have Morn's seat kept warm, too, though it looks like people were more sitting there for this reason than to be emulating Morn's drinking if O'Brien and Bashir were anything to go by (the Chief fixing something, and Bashir twiddling his fingers!). My favourite piece of trivia is not that Morn speaks at long last (he doesn't), but that the man beneath the latex, Mark Allen Shepherd, was the Bajoran whom Quark selects at random from the crowd to begin this new (money-making) tradition of keeping it warm, for Morn. For the first and only time, the real Morn was onscreen (though even without the makeup he didn't get to speak!). I have to wonder if underneath all that heavy padding the Lurian wears, he's actually a more energetic figure than imagination credits, since we learn from Worf that he sparred on a weekly basis with him in the Holosuites, something difficult to imagine, unless it were sumo-wrestling, though we know Dax used to mud wrestle, so maybe that was it - perhaps, like a physically awkward person who comes alive in the freedom of water, Morn was a different man in mud?

It could be he wore all the padding for another reason other than a fashion statement: maybe it was his protection against being stabbed, since his fortune was secreted inside his second stomach, so it's possible he was very sensitive about attack to his person (another reason wrestling Worf rather than battling with a Bat'leth is more likely!). And with people like Krit and Nahsk as associates, he had to be - that must surely be the only appearance of a flick knife in Trek when the slow brother decides to take Quark's thumb off, precipitating the usual Ferengi defence mechanism: screaming like a peculiarly high-pitched baby… At least we found out that Morn's bumpy, warty head may not be the standard look of his species - apparently he used to have hair, but carrying around all that Latinum in his belly probably made it all fall out (except for the little hairs on top, which Dax used to find so cute…). It's fun to think so, anyway, even though a lot remains undefined, the writers no doubt having their fun with the audience again (it's a construct; it's more than a construct; it's a construct; etc). It made me think the sight of another Lurian would have been appreciated (not counting the holo-Morn - at least Quark found a use for his bar's holo-projectors since he last used them to clone himself during the strike in 'Bar Association'), but then, on second thoughts, it might lessen the impact Morn has, to see others of his race, and more specifically lessen the wonderful reappearance at the end where we realise they didn't do such a horrible thing as get rid of what is essentially the station's mascot - even during the Dominion takeover Morn was there.

I thought it odd that Hain, a human, or human-looking person would be working for the Royal Family of Luria, but that was sorted out by his being a lying crook. He's very believable, however, and I couldn't exactly remember Hain's position so I was taken in by the official attitude Gregory Itzin performs so well (he'd already carried the same weight in 'Dax' back in Season 1, and would proceed to 'Voyager' and 'Enterprise,' just as Brad Greenquist, the actor behind green-skinned Krit would later be in 'Voyager' and as the alien Trip fights in 'Dawn' on 'Enterprise'). His brown/grey wardrobe and dull, adjudicator role nicely played off Larell's manipulative red-haired alien, and the green gangster twins. The group as a whole were a lot of fun, though perhaps not quite to the same level as the group from 'Statistical Probabilities' - the series really knew how to pull off a group of new characters that were as varied as they were interesting, another sign of strong writing. I wouldn't say they deserved to return, and I wasn't bothered when they didn't, but they brought some comedy to the station, with a line of unpredictability and danger to them that only a Quark pumped up on dreams of avarice could handle - when he discovers all he has are a thousand bricks of worthless gold, crumbling to pieces in his desperation to find the all-important Latinum missing from within, it's like his own personal hell, a misery of torment at being so close to his dreams coming true - instead, a nightmare!

Gold being worthless in the 24th Century, though some primitive cultures still believing in its value, was a nice dig at our own culture and a beautiful little vignette to end with. The episode, like the best Treks, makes you feel good, and even if you felt down before, by the end of it, you're not thinking about real life and the problems therein, you're sucked into the real world of DS9 and the adventures to be had. It's not always gently amusing or sadly moving, but when it does these things it does them better than any other series out there. The provocative title belies a strong comedic tone, the music one of the keys to unlock its power, straddling this tone of amusement and the seriousness of the stakes in Quark's eyes. It's not quite the same intensity of threat as he faced against Fallit Kot back in Season 2's 'Melora,' but Quark isn't having the easiest of times, regardless of the short term pleasure Larell brings him. This isn't an issues episode, Quark doesn't learn a lesson, unless it is not to judge by appearance (though he should know that well!), but it is enjoyable, not just for the character and tone, but for some physical comedy that Quark excels at (people breaking into his rooms, for one, or when he stands up and finds himself in the line of fire of all Morn's co-conspirators!). There are some nice little moments, too, such as Dax admitting she used to have a crush on Morn, much to the jealousy of Worf; Quark playing Tongo with Dax, just like the old days (and she makes a valid point through it); mention of the Assay Office again; and even a rare (possibly the first), mention of Broik, one of Quark's main Ferengi waiters. And who could fail to miss the similarity in titles to 'TOS' story, 'Who Mourns For Adonais?' A gold-pressed Latinum-rich episode.

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