Show: Star Trek; Deep Space Nine
Episode
Particulars: S2EP18, “Profit and Loss”
Standalone
Thoughts: Based on the fact that the word “Profit” was in the title, I
assumed this was another Ferengi comedy episode. Well, it is a Quark episode, but otherwise, I was completely wrong, and I couldn’t
be more pleased about it.
Naturally, the fact that Garak’s involved makes this
episode worth watching immediately, but this time, he’s given more to do than just
smile knowingly and say witty if cryptic things. We see a darker side of him in
this episode, and while it’s a little scary how fast he can spring into action,
it doesn’t seem out of character and it will probably only slightly change your
opinion of him. We also get the Sisko vs. Garak confrontation we were denied in
“Cardassians”, and it’s pretty much exactly what I expected; Sisko going straight
to the point and making it clear that he’s not to be trifled with, while Garak
seems unperturbed and smoothly says his piece. So no, no complaints on the
Garak front for me.
The relationship between Quark and Lang, on the other
hand, I’ve got more issue with. I don’t mind the idea in theory, and Shimerman
and Crosby do have enough chemistry to make their scenes together feel
believable. It’s just that it comes out of nowhere. We’ve never seen any
evidence that Quark was pining for a lost love—in fact, given his fantasies in “If
Wishes Were Horses”, his stated interest in Dax, and other such beats, it seems
more like he’s the “love ‘em and leave ‘em” type (or to be more appropriate to
the Ferengi, “Love ‘em until you can’t get anything more out of ‘em”). So for
most of the episode, I was just assuming Quark was play-acting, trying to prey
on Lang’s lingering feelings for him to get more profit out of it. Or perhaps
she actually put one over on him, and now he’s trying to get back at her out of
revenge. If the ending is to be believed, though, Quark was being sincere, and
that just doesn’t feel right for his character. And while obviously no one knew
this at the time, this relationship goes nowhere, or if it does come up again,
it’s going to be over by the time we hit the end of the series. Therefore,
Quark’s actions and speeches mean nothing in the grand scheme of things, so
while the episode and his interactions with Lang are good on their own, it’s
harder to enjoy it when you’re watching it the second time around.
Taken on its own, though, this is a good episode. Character development, shades of grey, moral
dilemmas that don’t end straightforwardly, and great dialogue all add up to
something I very much enjoyed watching, and reminded me of the material we’ll
see in later seasons, to boot. It’s not about to displace “Necessary Evil” as
the best of the season, but it’s definitely in the top five.
How it Relates to
the Whole: For the first time, the show appears to be developing its
supporting cast in addition to the main cast. We start to get hints about
Garak’s background, which in turn will lead to him becoming far more important
to the show as we go forward. It looks like the showrunners were finally
starting to figure out what to do with him, and if that means he starts showing
up more often, then I say “bring it on”.
Besides that (though that’s a pretty big besides), I don’t
think much else becomes relevant, aside from having the first reference to
Kanar, a Cardassian drink that pops up a lot in later seasons. While I think it
would be great to have Lang appear again, I don’t think she actually does,
which as I said above diminishes the impact of this episode. Oh well, at least
I can appreciate it as a character piece.
Other: *Nana
Visitor’s body language in the teaser is perfect. Kira looks tense over the
fact that a Cardassian ship is at the station, but does her duty, reluctant
though she is. I love small beats like that.
*Today was the first time I noticed that Quark either
paints his nails, or that Ferengi have unusual nail colors;
(This is one of the best shots of it, but if it’s hard to
see, rest assured, they’re painted silver)
I’ll need to keep an eye out for that sort of thing in
the future, to see if this is a recurring thing. It’s a weird detail, and I
wonder what the reasoning behind it is.
*The fact that Odo is reading a Mickey Spillane novel
amuses me. I haven’t read any myself, but I know Spillane wrote crime/noir stories, and thus this seems very
appropriate for Odo. The hints that he’s enjoying it and doesn’t want to be
distracted from it is a nice touch as well.
Best
Line/Exchange: After a long spate of struggling to find one line to pick, I
now suddenly have practically the entire episode to pick from. While Garak is
on fire as usual, his best moments are near the end, and since I don’t want to
spoil things, I guess I’ll go with this;
Lang: What is
it you want from me?
Quark: I know
you’re in trouble; I want to help you.
Lang: I don’t want
your help.
Quark: I owe
you. You saved my life; if you’d turned me over to the authorities, I would
have been executed.
Lang: I admired
your courage. It was a brave thing you were doing, selling food to the
Bajorans. I thought you were a man of honor.
Quark: I’m a
Ferengi, you should have known better.
While Quark’s last line is humorous, most of the exchange
is serious, and apparently sincere. It really shows that Quark is capable of
caring about things besides profit, and while I didn’t entirely believe it on
the first watch, I now consider it good character development. I just wish we
could see more hints of this on a regular basis.
After the Fact
Update: Apparently I’m not the only one who thought this was out of
character for Quark. The original script borrowed heavily from Casablanca (which becomes more and more
obvious now that I think about it), but when legal issues started cropping up,
they had to tone it down and it turned into more of a “soap opera”, at least
according to Ira Steven Behr. That led to Quark acting more like a Humphrey
Bogart character (not the first time the DS9
Companion has made that comparison, oddly enough), and Behr, at least,
doesn’t think that suits him. On the upside, Behr also says that “Every time
Garak showed up, the episode got wonderful.” In that, Mr. Behr, we are in complete
agreement.
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