Deep Space Nine, Season 5: Business As Usual

Deep Space Nine, Season 5
"Business As Usual"
Airdate: April 5, 1997
114 of 173 aired
114 of 173 produced

Introduction

Quark finds himself in dire financial straits and is tempted to deal weapons with his cousin Gaila in order to recoup his losses. But his personal ethics are tested when a client wants to kill millions.

Look at all these cool guns you'll never get to see on Star Trek!

Writing

Matthew: It seems like I've been bagging on DS9 a bit of late. I know this show is capable of very good things, so I'm interested in trying to dissect why several recent shows have been lackluster, while by comparison, this one largely works. I think the problems with the run of 2's I've given recently are story logic issues ("For The Uniform," "Doctor Bashir I Presume"), pacing issues ("A Simple Investigation") or issues with an errant B story ("The Begotten").  All of these problems are absent here. I think the story flowed briskly from setup through resolution. The basic plot line made sense and did not require much suspension of disbelief to allow it to progress. It gelled into a good ethical dilemma for Quark, which is always fun. It's all really solid, which puts those episodes mentioned above into stark contrast.

Kevin: There are a few places where I think the story pulls punches, but overall, I agree. It's an interesting dilemma for the character with a solution that they could only really explore on this particular franchise, and the result is an interesting episode both as a thought piece and as 43 minutes of entertainment. I am going to get my tiny quibble out of the way now. If it is illegal to sell weapons in the Federation, it is illegal to conspire to do so. The fact that the actual trade may take place outside Federation space is meaningless. And no one is allowed to say "Well it's 24th century laws and those are different," to me, cause that would also make no sense. If they were just plotting a murder on the station that would take place in neutral space, would that really not be a crime? Yeah, exactly. It's just one of those clever writer lines that makes no sense under even superficial legal analysis.

Matthew: The B story was innocuous, nothing more. I didn't hate it, but I wish it weren't taking time away from the A story. I do think the A story could have benefited from a bit more interaction between Quark and some of the rest of the crew. I would have liked to get a few more scenes like the one between Gaila and Quark, in which Gaila talks about the vastness of space and the "more where that came from" mentality that seems necessary to an arms merchant. It would have been nice to see Quark try to recapitulate that to his Starfleet neighbors, and perhaps fail to internalize it.  The zombie scene with the main cast was also pretty good, but I think they should have amped up the horror element and shown or almost shown the baby. That could have made Quark's emotional journey a bit more full bodied.

Kevin: I liked that they muddied the waters with the tacit Bajoran support for Hagath's actions. He was certainly not helping them out of a sense of altruism, but that doesn't mean he didn't help them. He may have done more to help them than the Federation's high-handed neutrality ever did, so that's a fun, complicated, unanswerable question. I liked Gaila's speech because it managed to turn his position slightly from one of a "lack" of morality to exploring how this is simply the way Gaila views the world. And Quark too, at least so he claims off and on, though maybe to a lesser extent. The episode should have driven that home more, that this isn't simply Quark being weak, but maybe Quark fundamentally viewing the universe differently than maybe either the Federation of his fellow Ferengi. The B-plot was cute enough, and at least if we are engaging in baby tropes, "bumbling incompetent father" was off the list.

Separately, I am surprised you liked the dream sequence. I liked it okay, and I get what they were going for, but DS9 long ago ran out of goodwill on dream sequences for me, and you haven't exactly loved them over the years.

Matthew: The overall solution to the story left me a bit incredulous, personally. I liked that Quark arranged a dust-up between the two factions in order to prevent the mass slaughter. What I didn't like was that Hagath and Gaila escaped unharmed. Hagath is portrayed as someone who will punish past associates at the drop of a hat, up to and including killing them. How is it that he would not eventually visit some awful thing upon Quark for this obvious betrayal? I would have liked it better if Quark had figured out a way to guarantee that they would themselves die, whether in a firefight or by just exploding a bomb or opening the airlock of the cargo bay.

Kevin: The solution that left me wanting was the ease with which Quark was accepted back into the fold. I liked the tension of Quark losing the relationships he had built, particularly with Sisko, where it seems they reached a real understanding of each other's positions, and even if they weren't friends, they understood one another and were happy to benefit from that understanding when they needed to. I think the last scene with Dax in particular felt almost like an inappropriate laugh out to the credits. I would have liked it to take a little more time for relationships to normalize.

Acting

Matthew: This episode had a lot of strong guest stars. I loved Steven Berkoff as Hagath. His voice is just terrific, and he projects a palpable menace in his scenes. He also projects the sort of greed and desire for "the finer things" that such a merchant might have. Josh Pais was an atypically good one-off Ferengi. His scene at the window with Quark was great, too. And of course, very few people play "irascible" as well as Lawrence Tierney.

Kevin: Everyone nailed the gravitas that the parts required. It's the first time in a while that a one-off villain felt really menacing. Berkoff really pitched it at a simmer and not a boil, so the few times when he did yell, it was really effective. I agree on Gaila. He really gave some life to the point of view. Again, it's more interesting that his is a coherent but extremely different morality rather than merely a lack of morals.

Matthew: Armin Shimerman had a lot of subtle shades of emotion to portray, and was somewhat underserved by the script (especially with the half-hearted zombie scene and the fact that he didn't get to arrange the deaths of the baddies). He did a great job with what he had, and his comedic beats (especially the gem scene) were really good.


Kevin: We've said it before, and we'll say it again, Shimerman can really act anything. I did like the bit of him talking himself up before going into that last meeting. He really is a master at finding the comedy in a serious moment in a way that doesn't undercut the drama.

Production Values

Matthew: This was a bottle show. For the most part what we have to look at are costumes and makeup. Everything was pretty good all around, with understated makeup on the warring factions (a hook on the nose). Gaila's clothes were really good, suggesting the regular Ferengi taste for opulence multiplied a few times over, but not seeming really tacky.

Kevin: The holosuite scene was well done. There were no seams that I could detect. I did like Gaila's jacket as well. I also liked the scene with presenting the food. I know it probably doesn't look like real food, but like that scene in Matter of Honor with the Klingon buffet, I always enjoy it when the prop people really let themselves go.

Conclusion


Matthew: If this episode had a bit more ambition, it would be a 4. But it pulled a few too many punches to ascent into loftier territory, and remains a 3 for me. Solidly entertaining, and even thought provoking to a degree, but not superlative in any one way or other.


Kevin: Yeah, even more so than say "Invasive Procedures," this leaves the viewer wondering how they let Quark stay on the station let alone not put him in jail. Still, anchored by some really good performances, I am always entertained and intrigued by this episode. The lack of external consequences do keep this from a 4, but the internal journey Quark portrayed definitely keep my interest enough for a 3. That makes a total of 6.