The Ferengi Appreciation Thread
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I think Ferengi are strongest when they stop being cartoons and start being a counterpoint to Roddenberrian idealism.
My prediction: This thread will not go as intended, unfortunately. I appreciate the sentiment behind it, all the same.
Quark is one of my top three favourite characters of the show.
I found all the Ferengi episodes to be very enjoyable. It was nice to have some light-heartedness amidst all the darkness.
I found all the Ferengi episodes to be very enjoyable. It was nice to have some light-heartedness amidst all the darkness.
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My favorite Ferengi quote:
QUARK: No one's hiding and no one's escaping, and no one's surrendering. What's wrong with you people? Have you forgotten the Battle of Prexnak?
ROM: Who could forget the most important battle in Ferengi history?
QUARK: Ten Ferengi stood alone against two hundred and seventy three Lytasians.
GAILA: As I recall, all ten Ferengi were slaughtered.
QUARK: No one's hiding and no one's escaping, and no one's surrendering. What's wrong with you people? Have you forgotten the Battle of Prexnak?
ROM: Who could forget the most important battle in Ferengi history?
QUARK: Ten Ferengi stood alone against two hundred and seventy three Lytasians.
GAILA: As I recall, all ten Ferengi were slaughtered.
I have mixed feelings about this. I like Quark and the dignity Armin Shimmerman tried to give the character. The early Nagus episodes were good. The Ferengi really began to be somewhat of a caricature and joke on DS9 during the 3rd or 4th season. Silly rules based on unadultersted greed became a one note joke stretched far too thin. Then the Moogie episodes started, which were well written and mildly amusing sitcoms. You couldn't take the Ferengi seriously at all anymore, which is the opposite of what DS9 hoped to achieve. Someone here once said the Nagus went from being a believable ruler of an alien race to the silly leader of a cult.
I definitely want to see the Ferengi again in Picard. Did Zek and Rom's reforms take hold on Ferenginar?
Captain Nog to the rescue! It could work.
I wish the "marauder" type Ferengi from TNG had made a couple appearances in DS9 (I mean actual characters, not just Quark's action figure). Perhaps they could have joined in on the action during the Dominion War, or had a DaiMon show up to represent the interests of the more militaristic Ferengi faction at that conference with all the Ferengi bigwigs. It's just kind of jarring that they seem to have disappeared completely.
Kor
Kor
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I love Ferengis. Quark is a fantastic character. I don't know how DS9 would have been without him. He always made me laugh or give me a smile.
Quark is fantastic. Rom, Nog, and Ishka were pretty cool and well-acted.
And it's Armin who elevated the Ferengi, thanks to early stories like the underrated "Move Along Home", who made the Ferengi more like developed characters and not 1D caricatures.
And his double-act with Odo is great.
But having tried to sit through a certain season six entry,do I really have to point it out by name "Profit and Lace", it's not hard to see where some actors camp it up so gracelessly to return them to caricature state.
It doesn't help that the Ferengi Grand Negus Staff has a visage of Yogurt from Spaceballs on it...
Armus is right, Armin did put in a ton of effort to make the Ferengi more than the butt of jokes. Ultimately, the Ferengi were inescapable from that but there were a handful of moments that surpassed all that. Like this one:
Apart from a surprisingly almost-emotional outburst of "Do you propose to lecture me on logic?!" before she goes back to Sheldon Mode(tm), it's largely fascinatingly clever dialogue, hit out of the ballpark by Armin. This is the sort of stuff DS9 needed to stick with, with some depth and intrigue and not the blighted comedy acts that he and others had to fight against, though "Little Green Men" is an exception...
Oh, the Nog/Jake frenemy spars are always fun, for lack of appropriate word as those scenes always felt shallow, superficial, lots of other words that start with the letter "S", and ultimately ineffectual either which way. Two examples: In one episode Nog mocks Jake for being in a system that has no money. In later episode Jake suggests mockingly Nog for not trying to do a business transaction in the way only an awkward teenager can.
And it's Armin who elevated the Ferengi, thanks to early stories like the underrated "Move Along Home", who made the Ferengi more like developed characters and not 1D caricatures.
And his double-act with Odo is great.
But having tried to sit through a certain season six entry,
It doesn't help that the Ferengi Grand Negus Staff has a visage of Yogurt from Spaceballs on it...
Armus is right, Armin did put in a ton of effort to make the Ferengi more than the butt of jokes. Ultimately, the Ferengi were inescapable from that but there were a handful of moments that surpassed all that. Like this one:
Apart from a surprisingly almost-emotional outburst of "Do you propose to lecture me on logic?!" before she goes back to Sheldon Mode(tm), it's largely fascinatingly clever dialogue, hit out of the ballpark by Armin. This is the sort of stuff DS9 needed to stick with, with some depth and intrigue and not the blighted comedy acts that he and others had to fight against, though "Little Green Men" is an exception...
Oh, the Nog/Jake frenemy spars are always fun, for lack of appropriate word as those scenes always felt shallow, superficial, lots of other words that start with the letter "S", and ultimately ineffectual either which way. Two examples: In one episode Nog mocks Jake for being in a system that has no money. In later episode Jake suggests mockingly Nog for not trying to do a business transaction in the way only an awkward teenager can.
Armin & Rene were one heck of a team. I'd love to be a fly in the casting room to see these performers do their routine then listen into the meetings that followed to decide who got cast and why because DS9 definitely had the right actors for the right characters on all levels and it shows.
Has anyone seen that Star War's symbol that looks like a Ferengi starship? Am I confusing the two?
That would be the symbol of the Rebel Alliance. I never realized until now that the two also have the whole 'alliance' thing in common, and not just the visual resemblance. Maybe someone was actually making a reference.
The relationship between Quark and Odo is my favorite among the entire Trek franchise.
The constable might visit the bar several times a day in search of wrongdoing, but when Quark's shady dealing is, in fact, for the sake of helping others, he looks the other way.
When Odo was at his most despondent over Kira, who was there for Odo most of all? Quark, though he won't admit (I felt you were talking to me as a friend, said Odo. Nah, said Quark.) it.
Armin Shimmerman and Rene Auberjonois helped made David E. Kelley's legal shows for me, too.
The Ascent is one of my favorite Trek episodes ever - hilarious Quark vs Odo scenes!
Although it was mostly painting around the edges, so to speak, I really liked the hints of Rom's backstory with Nog's mother and the family dynamics among Quark, Rom, and Nog. There are lots of small hints and implications about the difficulties of single parenthood as well as explorations of what it means not to fit in with your family or society. I would argue that at least in part, it's Nog's perceptions of his father as a failed Ferengi that lead him to want to explore his options outside of that societal mold entirely.
And while Season Seven is an extremely mixed bag, the explorations of Nog's struggles with PTSD after losing a limb in the war were some of the most real and down to earth emotional themes of that entire season. Aaron Eisenberg brought his A-game.
Quark, Garak, and Odo all three represented different outsider perspectives throughout the series in a way I found very nuanced. Quark's root beer scene with Garak remains one of my ultimate favorite small character moments for both of them.
And while Season Seven is an extremely mixed bag, the explorations of Nog's struggles with PTSD after losing a limb in the war were some of the most real and down to earth emotional themes of that entire season. Aaron Eisenberg brought his A-game.
Quark, Garak, and Odo all three represented different outsider perspectives throughout the series in a way I found very nuanced. Quark's root beer scene with Garak remains one of my ultimate favorite small character moments for both of them.
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