3.3 — “The House of Quark”
Plot: Quark finds business declining as the threat of the Dominion causes visitors to shun the station. His fortunes turn when a drunken Klingon finds an accidental death in his bar. Quark falsely claims to have killed him in self defense. A series of misunderstandings later finds Quark on Qo’noS, the Klingon Homeworld, facing the High Council and High Chancellor Gowron. Meanwhile, O’Brien worries about Keiko’s happiness after the school closes on DS9.
What I Like: Mary Kay Place, who plays the Klingon Grilka, also played Na’Toth on Babylon 5. She’s great. “I really am very grateful for all you’ve done, Quark. That is why I’m going to let you take your hand off my thigh instead of shattering every bone in your body.” Snort!
The Klingon divorce is pretty good. The wife belts the husband across the face. Probably wouldn’t be too funny if it also works in the other direction (husband to wife). I take it back, I don’t like this part. I do feel a nostalgia factor being back on Qo’noS.
What Isn’t Good: The plot is farfetched to the point of making no sense. Why does Quark come back to the fight at the end? Surely not because he is concerned about the welfare of a Klingon who kidnapped him? It should have been revealed that Quark made a side deal with Gowron to help Gowron get rid of a rival to power, and allowing Quark to profit. If he helps Grilka at the same time, so much the better. Since when does a Ferengi value self respect over profit? I call BS.
“House of Quark” is a throwback to the old Klingons of TNG Season 3, especially as seen in TNG 3.16, “Sins of the Father.” These Klingons do not truck with opera singing or mysticism; these are rage clowns who yell and settle factual disputes by personal combat, not by consulting evidence. In no way do I believe these Klingons could have become a spacefaring race without outside intervention. “Sins of the Father” was fun when it aired, but the farcical version of the script doesn’t look so good in retrospect.
On the other hand, the episode is intended to be light-hearted, and has memorable moments, mostly centering around Grilka.
What Makes It Star Trek?: Well, it does look just like “Sins of the Father.” We get some increased cross cultural understanding.
Rating: 3 of 5 wedding ceremonies.
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