Re-Watching DS9

[Lord Garth]

"Birthright, Part II" (TNG)

I'm only reviewing this episode because I don't like to review Part I of something and not Part II. Since this is a DS9 Rewatch Thread and not a TNG Rewatch Thread, I'll try to see what I can find relevant to DS9. All of it has to do with Worf. We lucked out in that Worf eventually becomes a DS9 character!

To start off, even though Mogh actually really did die at Khitomer, Worf says he would've been happy to see his father. One of the Klingon elders tells Worf that if his son found him, he'd hope his son would be Klingon enough to kill him. Proof that Worf wants to be the textbook Klingon but is only capable of going up to a point. This is a nuance lost on the Romulan in charge, Tokath.

Worf having a different view from other Klingons is something that comes up multiple times on DS9. Three examples that immediately spring to mind: 1) Worf not supporting the attack on Cardassia in "The Way of the Warrior". 2) Kor finding out in "The Sword of Kahless" that Worf refused to kill Duras' son Toral in the TNG days and saying any Klingon that doesn't take the Act of Vengeance is "no Klingon at all." 3) When Alexander stabs a dagger into the table in front of Worf in "Sons and Daughters" and Worf says, "You are lucky I am your father."

Later on, Tokath tries to force Worf to live according the ways of their settlement where Romulan captors, Klingon captees, and their children leave in peace that comes at the price of the Klingon children being ignorant of their culture and where they came from. Worf wants to reveal what's been hidden from them. Tokath decides that Worf must be put to death. Worf says that he can be killed, but he can't be defeated. This is reminiscent of when Worf fought one Jem'Hadar after another in a Dominion Prison Camp in "By Inferno's Light". There, one of the Jem'Hadar finally gives up fighting Worf, because as he says, "I cannot defeat him. All I can do is kill him."

Worf doesn't get executed because the other Klingons eventually stand together with him, and they're located by the Enterprise. End of episode. This all feels like a preview of things to come, once we get to DS9 Season 4 and beyond. Well, except for the Klingons standing with him, but that's a whole other story.

I don't think Part II was as good as Part I. Like Part I, this also is NOT going to be factored into the average for DS9 Season 1. But I'm rating everything else, so why not? I give this episode a 7.

Back to DS9. And onto the aptly titled "Move Along Home"!

 

[Poltargyst]

There, one of the Jem'Hadar finally gives up fighting Worf, because as he says, "I cannot defeat him. All I can do is kill him."

"...and that no longer holds my interest." One of my absolute favorite moments and lines of the series. Just great stuff.

 

[Lord Garth]

Three other interesting things about "Birthright, Part II" that I forgot to mention.

Every time Worf finds a romantic interest, she's either not Klingon or only part-Klingon and hasn't embraced Klingon ways. Ba'el is an example of this, being half-Klingon/half-Romulan and knowing nothing of Klingon culture. This is something we'll see again in "Looking for par'Mach In All the Wrong Places". Worf wants Grilka, but he can't have her, and then he starts gets into a relationship with Jadzia Dax, who's Trill. Though Dax knows a hell of a lot more about Klingon culture than Ba'el and embraces it more than K'Eylar.

Worf will never admit this, but I think he wishes Alexander was more like Toq. Toq is the type of son Worf would really want to have. Even though Toq didn't know about anything Klingon ways, he has natural Klingon instincts, and took to what Worf taught him very quickly.

Since we barely see the Enterprise at all, this could just as easily have been a DS9 episode a few years later. Change the one scene on the Enterprise bridge to Ops on DS9 and have Dax worried about Worf. Then replace the Enterprise with the Defiant at the end, when Worf and the second generation of Klingon captives are rescued.

Okay, that's enough of that. Putting on "Move Along Home". Seems like I've been putting this off. I wonder why. What will I think of it? Let's find out!

45 minutes later...

.
.
.

"Move Along Home"

Gotta love the Wadi! Also gotta love Falow's mullet! "Take us to... Quark's!" "First Contact isn't what it used to be..." You can tell even before the credits, this is going to be a silly one, but silly can be fun. Right? Let's see. It's like a roll of the dice!

When the Wadi go to Quark's, they play Dabo and are very good at it. They keep winning and winning and winning... and winning. It's hurting Quark profits, so Quark cheats them out of further wins. The Wadi suspect wrong-doing, and challenge Quark to a Wadi game of Chula. This is when the episode goes from silly to sillier. I don't know how SIsko, Kira, Dax, and Bashir end up wherever they are or how Quark moving pawns controls what they face.

Cringey stuff:

• Bashir's screaming when we first see him in the game.
• "Allamaraine!" You can tell the actors didn't want to do that!
• Quark pleading with Falow to no have to sacrifice anyone.

I feel like this episode was written by a role-player. I was never into role-playing, but I knew some role-players in college and this is exactly the type of thing they would've come up with.

Primmin and Odo are back to not being able to work together well. It's like "The Passenger" never happened. The only good exchange to come out of this is "I'm sorry, is that a Starfleet regulation?" "Yes, it is." "Well, I'm not in Starfleet!"

The episode felt half-baked, cringey, and I hate to do this, but I'm going to give it a 4.

Ouch.

To quote Kira, "This isn't what I signed up for!"

 

[Lord Garth]

Raw Numbers since we're at the half-season mark:

"Emissary" --> 10 (counts twice)
"A Man Alone" --> 7
"Past Prologue" --> 8
"Babel" --> 6
"Captive Pursuit" --> 7
"Q-Less" --> 5
"Dax" --> 10
"The Passenger" --> 7
"Move Along Home" --> 4
Mid-Season Average: 7.4

I'd forgotten how up-and-down episodic TV can be. In a serialized season: if you like it, you tend to like all of it. If you don't like it, you tend to like very little of it (if at all). If you have a mixed opinion, your entire view of the season is mixed. There's not anywhere near as much variation in quality as you see here.

 

[Farscape One]

Three other interesting things about "Birthright, Part II" that I forgot to mention.

Every time Worf finds a romantic interest, she's either not Klingon or only part-Klingon and hasn't embraced Klingon ways. Ba'el is an example of this, being half-Klingon/half-Romulan and knowing nothing of Klingon culture. This is something we'll see again in "Looking for par'Mach In All the Wrong Places". Worf wants Grilka, but he can't have her, and then he starts gets into a relationship with Jadzia Dax, who's Trill. Though Dax knows a hell of a lot more about Klingon culture than Ba'el and embraces it more than K'Eylar.

Worf will never admit this, but I think he wishes Alexander was more like Toq. Toq is type of son Worf would really want to have. Even though Toq didn't know about anything Klingon ways, he has natural Klingon instincts, and took to what Worf taught him very quickly.

Since we barely see the Enterprise at all, this could just as easily have been a DS9 episode a few years later. Change the one scene on the Enterprise bridge to Ops on DS9 and have Dax worried about Worf. Then replace the Enterprise with the Defiant at the end, when Worf and second generation of Klingon captives are rescued.

Okay, that's enough of that. Putting on "Move Along Home". Seems like I've been putting this off. I wonder why. What will I think of it? Let's find out!

45 minutes later...

.
.
.

"Move Along Home"

Gotta love the Wadi! Also gotta love Falow's mullet! "Take us to... Quark's!" "First Contact isn't what it used to be..." You can tell even before the credits, this is going to be a silly one, but silly can be fun. Right? Let's see. It's like a roll of the dice!

When the Wadi go to Quark's, they play Dabo and are very good about it. They keep winning and winning and winning... and winning. It's hurting Quark profits, so Quark cheats them out of further wins. The Wadi suspect wrong-doing, and challenge Quark to a Wadi game of Chula. This is when the episode goes from silly to sillier. I don't know how SIsko, Kira, Dax, and Bashir end up wherever they are or how Quark moving pawns controls what they face.

Cringey stuff:

• Bashir's screaming when we first see him in the game.
• "Allamaraine!" You can tell the actors didn't want to do that!
• Quark pleading with Falow to no have to sacrifice anyone.

I feel like this episode was written by a role-player. I was never into role-playing, but I knew some role-players in college and this is exactly the type of thing they would've come up with.

Primmin and Odo are back to not being able to work together well. It's like "The Passenger" never happened. The only good exchange to come out of this is "I'm sorry, is that a Starfleet regulation?" "Yes, it is." "Well, I'm not in Starfleet!"

The episode felt half-baked, cringey, and I hate to do this, but I'm going to give it a 4.

Ouch.

To quote Kira, "This isn't what I signed up for!"

Okay, time for me to once again defend "MOVE ALONG HOME". (I feel like I do this at least twice a year. ) Here are some reasons why I love this episode and why it is a GOOD episode.


1. You have a fantastic concept. Being inside a board/video game? How many of us have wanted to do exactly that.

2. You have real character development for Quark. This is the first episode where you truly see him as something other than a shady bartender. He shows he actually has a line that he won't cross... hurting/killing people. And his plea was so excellently done. Armin Shimerman completely shines here.

3. We get a rare look at a Gamma Quadrant race outside the Dominion. (Granted, this was before the Dominion was cooked up, but the point stands.) This illustrated, once again, how sophisticated technology is the dominant trait of that region. A big difference from the Delta Quadrant (again, before VOY was created, but point still stands), which for the most part was either not as advanced or equal to Federation technology.

4. Avery Brooks singing is always a treat.

5. The Wadi makeup may not have been inspired, but the costumes were very alive and colorful... almost game-like. Matches their love of games.

6. We get to see our Starfleet heroes use nothing but their wits and intelligence to solve their situation. This doesn't happen often enough... they are always using their technology to solve whatever crisis is going on.

7. This is more a personal view, but the hopscotch song is rather catchy. (Though I will agree the actual hopscotching can come across as ridiculous... but they are inside a game. Totally fits the narrative.)

8. The fact they were never in any real danger was a nice twist. It's so rare to see that, particularly when it's implied during the entire episode that Chula is a deadly game.


There are a couple missed opportunities here, and you can tell the budget was not enough to fully realize what they were trying. But I must fully disagree with your ranking and give it an 8. I

 

[Bad Thoughts]

"Allamaraine!" You can tell the actors didn't want to do that!

This is more a personal view, but the hopscotch song is rather catchy. (Though I will agree the actual hopscotching can come across as ridiculous... but they are inside a game. Totally fits the narrative.)

The fact that people can recite the entire rhyme after having seen the episode only once is extraordinary. Indeed, Brooks, who probably never watched the series, could still do it 20 years later. It's not a great moment, but not one people are trying to forget.

 

[kkt]

Three other interesting things about "Birthright, Part II" that I forgot to mention.

Every time Worf finds a romantic interest, she's either not Klingon or only part-Klingon and hasn't embraced Klingon ways. Ba'el is an example of this, being half-Klingon/half-Romulan and knowing nothing of Klingon culture. This is something we'll see again in "Looking for par'Mach In All the Wrong Places". Worf wants Grilka, but he can't have her, and then he starts gets into a relationship with Jadzia Dax, who's Trill. Though Dax knows a hell of a lot more about Klingon culture than Ba'el and embraces it more than K'Eylar.

Worf will never admit this, but I think he wishes Alexander was more like Toq. Toq is type of son Worf would really want to have. Even though Toq didn't know about anything Klingon ways, he has natural Klingon instincts, and took to what Worf taught him very quickly.

Since we barely see the Enterprise at all, this could just as easily have been a DS9 episode a few years later. Change the one scene on the Enterprise bridge to Ops on DS9 and have Dax worried about Worf. Then replace the Enterprise with the Defiant at the end, when Worf and second generation of Klingon captives are rescued.

Okay, that's enough of that. Putting on "Move Along Home". Seems like I've been putting this off. I wonder why. What will I think of it? Let's find out!

45 minutes later...

.
.
.

"Move Along Home"

Gotta love the Wadi! Also gotta love Falow's mullet! "Take us to... Quark's!" "First Contact isn't what it used to be..." You can tell even before the credits, this is going to be a silly one, but silly can be fun. Right? Let's see. It's like a roll of the dice!

When the Wadi go to Quark's, they play Dabo and are very good about it. They keep winning and winning and winning... and winning. It's hurting Quark profits, so Quark cheats them out of further wins. The Wadi suspect wrong-doing, and challenge Quark to a Wadi game of Chula. This is when the episode goes from silly to sillier. I don't know how SIsko, Kira, Dax, and Bashir end up wherever they are or how Quark moving pawns controls what they face.

Cringey stuff:

• Bashir's screaming when we first see him in the game.
• "Allamaraine!" You can tell the actors didn't want to do that!
• Quark pleading with Falow to no have to sacrifice anyone.

I feel like this episode was written by a role-player. I was never into role-playing, but I knew some role-players in college and this is exactly the type of thing they would've come up with.

Primmin and Odo are back to not being able to work together well. It's like "The Passenger" never happened. The only good exchange to come out of this is "I'm sorry, is that a Starfleet regulation?" "Yes, it is." "Well, I'm not in Starfleet!"

The episode felt half-baked, cringey, and I hate to do this, but I'm going to give it a 4.

Ouch.

To quote Kira, "This isn't what I signed up for!"

If 'Move Along Home' gets a 4, what do they have to do to get a 1?

 

[Lord Garth]

If 'Move Along Home' gets a 4, what do they have to do to get a 1?

You'll find out! There's one episode I've refused to re-watch since 199X. I'll let you know what it is when we get to it.

Then there's another episode I already wasn't too thrilled with at the time that I know will hit even worse in the 2020s.

So they're out there!

 

[Lord Garth]

"The Nagus"

I'm at the beginning of the episode. I'm going to lie, I think Jake's out of his mind. I'd rather go to the Fire Caves. I'd say I'm so glad I don't have kids (I'm really glad I don't), but I can tell you that when I was 14, I'd have definitely have rather gone to the Fire Caves. I'm siding with Commander Sisko.

I love how lively the music is during the introduction of Grand Nagus Zek. You're not going to see me comment on DS9's soundtrack again for a long time because, after Ron Jones was fired, '90s TV Trek was notorious for having bland music most of the time, but I'm glad they didn't hold back here.

I can also sympathize with Chief O'Brien (welcome back!) at the beginning of the episode, being a Substitute Teacher for Keiko. Why? Because I used to be a Substitute Teacher, a long time ago, and it was just like what's depicted in "The Nagus". Oh my God! This is so painful to watch. In a good way! I feel so bad for the Chief! "The Vulcans stole my homework!" my ass. "The Vulcans have no ethics!"

Quark is so willing to bend over backwards for the Nagus. I'm surprised he doesn't say, "I'll even toss your salad for you!" Quark feels so tense when Maehardu tries the Tube Grubs for the Grand Nagus. And the music (once again) really sells it and helps to build the tension.

In the scene where all the Ferengi are in Rom's quarters, where the Nagus is staying, with the greens, purples, oranges, reds, blues, silver, bronze, copper, gold, and high-contrast lighting the visuals really pop even in SD. This is how DS9 separates itself from TNG visually, where everything is beige.

"Great" parent Rom is at this point in the series, trying to impress the Nagus, telling Nog: "Don't go to that school again! And no homework!"

The Nagus sees the Gamma Quadrant as The Future. Rich to exploit. If only they knew...

When Jake finds out Rom pulled Nog out of school, they get into an argument. Nog says he's a Ferengi and doesn't belong there. Echoing his elders, even though he doesn't really believe it. it's interesting that the Ferengi don't value school. You'd think the more they know, the more business savvy they can gain.

When the Ferengi are all gathered for the Grand Nagus' all I can think of are the Water Buffalos from The Flinstones, who themselves were based off Masonic Lodges. A place where "men can be men". 10 years ago, someone tried to get me to join a lodge. But apparently you have to believe in a Supreme Being. I was asked upfront "Do you believe in a Supreme Being?" I told him I was Agnostic. Then he felt deflated and said, "Then you can't join." I was going to save this for later, but my view of faith is, "I won't know what will happen after I die, and I'm not in a hurry to die." Also, I don't believe a being can be Supreme because there's always room for improvement and I believe in the concept of Infinity. So something can never be Supreme from my view. I do believe in Spirits and having a spirit. And I do believe in karma. So I would say that even though I have no view on religion, I am spiritual.

But this is getting way off topic. Back to "The Nagus", where these Ferengi are definitely NOT spiritual! It's like watching an episode of Mad Men in space.

Nog claims he wants to retire and he pretends he wants to appoint a successor. He chooses Quark! "Congratulations. I know you'll do a wonderful job." The Nagus is so full of shit. And, of course, thinking he's Nagus goes straight to Quark's head. Then everyone tries to see if they can manipulate him.

And just like that, Zek fakes his death in the middle of the episode!

Jake and Nog mend fences mid-way through as well. Nog says his father thinks Humans and Ferengi can't get along. Jake says his father things that as well. Then here are Jake and Nog, the next generation, proving them wrong. That's very Star Trekkian. And, in a weird way, reminds me of Star Trek VI in contrast to TNG. To quote Gorkon, "If there is to be a brave new world, our generation is going to have the hardest time living in it." Then look at TNG where Worf serves on the Enterprise and Picard was the Arbiter of Succession. In DS9, it isn't anything as large scale as that. It's just two people, one Human and one Ferengi, getting along.

Meanwhile, there was an assassination attempt on Quark's life. Sisko and Odo try to figure out who was responsible and ask Quark. Quark doesn't know. When running down the list of suspects, Maehardu is asked about. Rom, who's also around, says he doesn't remember Maehardu being at the Nagus' funeral when the attempt was made on Quark's life, which Odo finds very odd. That's when the wheels start turning in Odo's head. But little does even he know that it's Rom and Zek's son who are one trying to find a way to kill Quark. It's always who you least suspect!

Back in Sisko's quarters, Sisko tells Jake he notices he was out pretty late last night. He didn't get home until midnight. Wow. When I was 14, there's no way in Hell I would've been allowed outside anywhere close to midnight. None. If I wasn't home before dinner time, forget it. I wasn't even allowed to stay up past 10:00. So, I can't even imagine. Sisko wants Jake home as soon as he's done with school, and he doesn't come home as soon as he's done with school. He's upset. Then Dax visits. Dax says, "If I were you, I'd go find Jake and have him come home and eat his dinner." That's exactly what I'd do. Then again, she says she wasn't very good at being either a mother or a father. And I'm not a father. So, I guess we can't go by what Dax says or what I say.

So then comes the next big twist of the episode. Sisko wants to bring his son home, then he finds out Jake's teaching Nog how to read. And then Sisko finally understands.

Back to Rom. Now that we know he's the one trying to get Quark killed, he asks for the bar one last time. Rom says, "You have so much and I have so little!" Quark says, "As it was meant to be." This right here lays down the Starting Point of Rom's character arc throughout the series. Where he goes from this point and does a 180; ending up where he'll be at the end. Quark, meanwhile, it's laid bare what he thinks of Rom.

When Quark wants to meet with representatives from the Gamma Quadrant he says, "A pretty woman by my side will only add to my prestige!" This is pure Mad Men. Don, Roger, and Pete would fit right in. No way would these Ferengi be able to handle Peggy. Meanwhile, Joan would be manipulating the Ferengi without them even realizing it. But anyway...

Eventually Quark figures out Rom and Zek's son are trying to kill him by blowing him out an airlock. Then Zek orders Rom to release them. Which brings us to the third twist of the episode, since we didn't know Zek was still alive until this moment. Zek reveals he faked his death to see if his son was ready to take over, and he's not. "You don't grab power! You accumulate it! Quietly. Without anyone noticing!" "It's like talking to a Klingon!"

Quark was impressed Rom tried to throw him out the airlock. "I didn't think you had the lobes!"

The button on this episode is when Sisko tells Jake to go be with his friend. Up to now, it was thought that Nog was being a bad influence on Jake. But now we see that Jake can be a good influence on Nog.

Time for the rating. I didn't think I was going to do this, but I'll give "The Nagus" a 10.

I gave a Ferengi episode a 10? I'm just as surprised as I'm sure you are.

The only thing I don't like, and I can't not comment on it, is that stare Jake and Nog give that woman who walks by at the end of the episode. But it was a different time, and they're straight teenage boys. This is probably only there to show that Jake and Nog are friends, as in friends, not lovers. They're obviously into girls too much.

EDITED TO ADD: I had to look at the credits to see who composed the score, because it sounded so unlike all the other music from Star Trek during this time. And I was right. It was someone else. John Debney. Too bad they didn't keep him.

 

[Farscape One]

"THE NAGUS" is a very good one. Great introduction of Zek and continuation of the friendship of Jake and Nog.

Now that you mention John Debney... I forgot he did the music for this episode. I know he did another season 1 DS9 episode (don't remember which) and TNG's "The Pegasus". Also the same guy who did the theme for seaQuest DSV, which I always liked.

 

[Lord Garth]

Two things I want to bring up before moving on to the next episode:

Not only was "The Nagus" the beginning of Rom's character arc, but it was also the true beginning of Nog's character arc. Before now, Nog was just as I described in the pilot "a hooligan". Even when Nog is made to go to school, it was Rom's choice, not his. Now, Nog still wanting to learn how to read even when he's not allowed to go to school shows Nog taking the initiative to become more than what his society told him he should be.

The next is the departure of Lieutenant Primmin, who we don't even get a peep about. It was strange to see him added as a character while O'Brien was away because he wasn't filling O'Brien's place. He was Security, not Engineering. But the room for the extra character did allow for us to see how Odo would deal with Starfleet Security and offered us a direct comparison between his way and Starfleet's way. Ultimately, I'm glad they didn't keep Primmin, because later on they'd circle back to Odo having to deal with Starfleet Security through Eddington. And I'm glad it was ultimately Eddington in those episodes and not Primmin... because I can't see Primmin joining the Maquis!

 

[kkt]

Primmin seemed a little dull. Glad we got Eddington. (Despite how much of a pain in the butt he was.)

 

[DonIago]

"The Nagus"

I'm at the beginning of the episode. I'm going to lie, I think Jake's out of his mind. I'd rather go to the Fire Caves. I'd say I'm so glad I don't have kids (I'm really glad I don't), but I can tell you that when I was 14, I'd have definitely have rather gone to the Fire Caves. I'm siding with Commander Sisko.

I love how lively the music is during the introduction of Grand Nagus Zek. You're not going to see me comment on DS9's soundtrack again for a long time because, after Ron Jones was fired, '90s TV Trek was notorious for having bland music most of the time, but I'm glad they didn't hold back here.

I can also sympathize with Chief O'Brien (welcome back!) at the beginning of the episode, being a Substitute Teacher for Keiko. Why? Because I used to be a Substitute Teacher, a long time ago, and it was just like what's depicted in "The Nagus". Oh my God! This is so painful to watch. In a good way! I feel so bad for the Chief! "The Vulcans stole my homework!" my ass. "The Vulcans have no ethics!"

Quark is so willing to bend over backwards for the Nagus. I'm surprised he doesn't say, "I'll even toss your salad for you!" Quark feels so tense when Maehardu tries the Tube Grubs for the Grand Nagus. And the music (once again) really sells it and helps to build the tension.

In the scene where all the Ferengi are in Rom's quarters, where the Nagus is staying, with the greens, purples, oranges, reds, blues, silver, bronze, copper, gold, and high-contrast lighting the visuals really pop even in SD. This is how DS9 separates itself from TNG visually, where everything is beige.

"Great" parent Rom is at this point in the series, trying to impress the Nagus, telling Nog: "Don't go to that school again! And no homework!"

The Nagus sees the Gamma Quadrant as The Future. Rich to exploit. If only they knew...

When Jake finds out Rom pulled Nog out of school, they get into an argument. Nog says he's a Ferengi and doesn't belong there. Echoing his elders, even though he doesn't really believe it. it's interesting that the Ferengi don't value school. You'd think the more they know, the more business savvy they can gain.

When the Ferengi are all gathered for the Grand Nagus' all I can think of are the Water Buffalos from The Flinstones, who themselves were based off Masonic Lodges. A place where "men can be men". 10 years ago, someone tried to get me to join a lodge. But apparently you have to believe in a Supreme Being. I was asked upfront "Do you believe in a Supreme Being?" I told him I was Agnostic. Then he felt deflated and said, "Then you can't join." I was going to save this for later, but my view of faith is, "I won't know what will happen after I die, and I'm not in a hurry to die." Also, I don't believe a being can be Supreme because there's always room for improvement and I believe in the concept of Infinity. So something can never be Supreme from my view. I do believe in Spirits and having a spirit. And I do believe in karma. So I would say that even though I have no view on religion, I am spiritual.

But this is getting way off topic. Back to "The Nagus", where these Ferengi are definitely NOT spiritual! It's like watching an episode of Mad Men in space.

Nog claims he wants to retire and he pretends he wants to appoint a successor. He chooses Quark! "Congratulations. I know you'll do a wonderful job." The Nagus is so full of shit. And, of course, thinking he's Nagus goes straight to Quark's head. Then everyone tries to see if they can manipulate him.

And just like that, Zek fakes his death in the middle of the episode!

Jake and Nog mend fences mid-way through as well. Nog says his father thinks Humans and Ferengi can't get along. Jake says his father things that as well. Then here are Jake and Nog, the next generation, proving them wrong. That's very Star Trekkian. And, in a weird way, reminds me of Star Trek VI in contrast to TNG. To quote Gorkon, "If there is to be a brave new world, our generation is going to have the hardest time living in it." Then look at TNG where Worf serves on the Enterprise and Picard was the Arbiter of Succession. In DS9, it isn't anything as large scale as that. It's just two people, one Human and one Ferengi, getting along.

Meanwhile, there was an assassination attempt on Quark's life. Sisko and Odo try to figure out who was responsible and ask Quark. Quark doesn't know. When running down the list of suspects, Maehardu is asked about. Rom, who's also around, says he doesn't remember Maehardu being at the Nagus' funeral when the attempt was made on Quark's life, which Odo finds very odd. That's when the wheels start turning in Odo's head. But little does even he know that it's Rom and Zek's son who are one trying to find a way to kill Quark. It's always who you least suspect!

Back in Sisko's quarters, Sisko tells Jake he notices he was out pretty late last night. He didn't get home until midnight. Wow. When I was 14, there's no way in Hell I would've been allowed outside anywhere close to midnight. None. If I wasn't home before dinner time, forget it. I wasn't even allowed to stay up past 10:00. So, I can't even imagine. Sisko wants Jake home as soon as he's done with school, and he doesn't come home as soon as he's done with school. He's upset. Then Dax visits. Dax says, "If I were you, I'd go find Jake and have him come home and eat his dinner." That's exactly what I'd do. Then again, she says she wasn't very good at being either a mother or a father. And I'm not a father. So, I guess we can't go by what Dax says or what I say.

So then comes the next big twist of the episode. Sisko wants to bring his son home, then he finds out Jake's teaching Nog how to read. And then Sisko finally understands.

Back to Rom. Now that we know he's the one trying to get Quark killed, he asks for the bar one last time. Rom says, "You have so much and I have so little!" Quark says, "As it was meant to be." This right here lays down the Starting Point of Rom's character arc throughout the series. Where he goes from this point and does a 180; ending up where he'll be at the end. Quark, meanwhile, it's laid bare what he thinks of Rom.

When Quark wants to meet with representatives from the Gamma Quadrant he says, "A pretty woman by my side will only add to my prestige!" This is pure Mad Men. Don, Roger, and Pete would fit right in. No way would these Ferengi be able to handle Peggy. Meanwhile, Joan would be manipulating the Ferengi without them even realizing it. But anyway...

Eventually Quark figures out Rom and Zek's son are trying to kill him by blowing him out an airlock. Then Zek orders Rom to release them. Which brings us to the third twist of the episode, since we didn't know Zek was still alive until this moment. Zek reveals he faked his death to see if his son was ready to take over, and he's not. "You don't grab power! You accumulate it! Quietly. Without anyone noticing!" "It's like talking to a Klingon!"

Quark was impressed Rom tried to throw him out the airlock. "I didn't think you had the lobes!"

The button on this episode is when Sisko tells Jake to go be with his friend. Up to now, it was thought that Nog was being a bad influence on Jake. But now we see that Jake can be a good influence on Nog.

Time for the rating. I didn't think I was going to do this, but I'll give "The Nagus" a 10.

I gave a Ferengi episode a 10? I'm just as surprised as I'm sure you are.

The only thing I don't like, and I can't not comment on it, is that stare Jake and Nog give that woman who walks by at the end of the episode. But it was a different time, and they're straight teenage boys. This is probably only there to show that Jake and Nog are friends, as in friends, not lovers. They're obviously into girls too much.

EDITED TO ADD: I had to look at the credits to see who composed the score, because it sounded so unlike all the other music from Star Trek during this time. And I was right. It was someone else. John Debney. Too bad they didn't keep him.

"You failed! Miserably!!!" <-- The line I most remember from this episode.

Also, are you saying that Moogie is the Joan of Deep Space Nine? ;p

 

[Lord Garth]

"You failed! Miserably!!!" <-- The line I most remember from this episode.

Also, are you saying that Moogie is the Joan of Deep Space Nine? ;p

That's exactly what I'm saying!

Too bad Quark is like Kevin and acting like who/what he thinks his father was. Kevin thinks his father was an Army Doctor who was in 'Nam. Quark thinks his father was some business savvy guru.

 

[Reymet_2]

The Nagus sees the Gamma Quadrant as The Future. Rich to exploit. If only they knew...

Well, they actually did quite well with the Dominion and earned some profit from trade with the Karemma.

And even a hypothetical Dominion victory wouldn't have been such a nightmare for the Ferengi. They probably would have had to add a new rule of acquisition (something like "never defy the Dominion") but otherwise retained their status of "trade kings" of the Alpha Quadrant. It's even possible that they would have joined the Dominion some time for tariffless trade with the Dominion worlds.

 

[DonIago]

That's exactly what I'm saying!

Too bad Quark is like Kevin and acting like who/what he thinks his father was. Kevin thinks his father was an Army Doctor who was in 'Nam. Quark thinks his father was some business savvy guru.

Kevin?

Did we go from Mad Men to The Office? That doesn't seem quite right, bu it can't be Mad Men because the show ends well before anyone of appreciate age could have had a father who was in 'Nam.

Unless you're talking about Joan's kid, but I don't think we ever see him even as much more than a baby?

 

[Lord Garth]

Kevin?

Did we go from Mad Men to The Office? That doesn't seem quite right, bu it can't be Mad Men because the show ends well before anyone of appreciate age could have had a father who was in 'Nam.

Unless you're talking about Joan's kid, but I don't think we ever see him even as much more than a baby?

Kevin is the name of Joan's baby. So I'm getting creative and projecting what things would be like decades later. Like where would things be with the Mad Men universe in 2005 or something, if Joan was like Ishka and Kevin turned out to be like Quark when he grew up (hopefully not!). This would also make Joan around 75 and Kevin around 40, matching the ages of Ishka and Quark on DS9. All these ages are rounded off to 0s and 5s, so aren't meant to be exact.

As soon as I get an idea in my head, I run wild with it. It's fun!

 

[DonIago]

Kevin is the name of Joan's baby. So I'm getting creative and projecting what things would be like decades later. Like where would things be with the Mad Men universe in 2005 or something, if Joan was like Ishka and Kevin turned out to be like Quark when he grew up (hopefully not!). This would also make Joan around 75 and Kevin around 40, matching the ages of Ishka and Quark on DS9. All these ages are rounded off to 0s and 5s, so are meant to be exact.

As soon as I get an idea in my head, I run wild with it. It's fun!

The funny thing about my having somewhat misconstrued your comment is that I have on occasion thought that The Office could be taken as a satirical sequel to Mad Men set in modern rather than historical times.

 

[Lord Garth]

"Vortex"

This was going to happen sooner or later, but I don't have much to say about this episode. Odo thinks Croden is a lying criminal, then comes around by the end of the episode and realizes there's something more. Croden helps Odo, Odo helps Croden. Quark is in the thick of criminal activity, though nothing can be tied directly back to him. And Croden, being from the Gamma Quadrant, tells Odo that he's a Changeling and notes that they're strict and like order. I like the morphing key. They re-used footage of the Mutara Nebula from TWOK. The running gag about Morn not being able to shut up starts here. Nothing wrong with it, but that's all I've got. It killed some time.

I give it a 6.

Here's hoping I have more to say about the next one.

EDITED TO ADD: I've re-watched enough now to say I think the first season of DS9 is very uneven. It's a lot of up-and-down. The premise of the series is solid, the characters are solid, and the cast is great. But the stories, I think they were trying to figure out what does and doesn't work without the Starship Enterprise as the main setting, and they still had a bit of a learning curve at this point.

 

[DonIago]

I found myself somewhat randomly thinking about whether TPTB even had any long-term ideas for the series at this point (surely finding Odo's people must have been on the agenda), and if so, how things might have gone if they hadn't proceeded down the Dominion path.