Day 99: DS9, Looking for par'Mach In All The Wrong Places

Show: Star Trek; Deep Space Nine

Episode Particulars: S5EP3, “Looking For par’Mach In All The Wrong Places”

 Summary: Grilka from “The House of Quark” has returned to the station to ask for Quark’s help in sorting out her House’s finances. Worf is attracted to her, but thanks to his outsider status in the Klingon Empire, he would not be acceptable as a suitor. When Quark expresses an interest in courting her, however, Worf and Dax agree to help him, with bizarre results. Meanwhile, O’Brien and Kira have been getting closer thanks to Kira’s pregnancy, but now that closeness is starting to feel more romantic than platonic. Fortunately, these two plots don’t interact with each other. Love triangles are hard enough; I cannot imagine the havoc a love polygon would cause.

Standalone Thoughts: There’s a part of me that thinks this episode is a lot of fun. There are certainly some amusing moments scattered throughout, and the tone plus the actors make the whole thing very watchable. However, the rest of me, as a critic, has to admit that this episode is really, really messy. The reasons for this are a combination of strange character motivations and the infamous Idiot Plot (aka a conflict that could be resolved if everyone involved wasn’t an idiot). Worf is, I think, the only person in this episode who manages to remain in character and not do anything overly stupid; everyone else has problems in one way or another.

Let’s start with Quark. He decides he wants to actively pursue Grilka, and it’s equally obvious that it’s mostly for the sex. But in order to properly woo her, he needs to risk being seriously injured or killed, and deal with a lot of customs that he explicitly says he doesn’t like. I suppose I should give him some credit for being willing to put himself at risk for the sake of getting what he wants, but this really seems like it can only end in tears. Maybe I’d buy it if I thought Quark had genuine feelings for Grilka, but he still acts like the same Ferengi we see every week (or every day, in my case), so that doesn’t ring true. And since that’s the driving force behind the main plot, it becomes more and more inexplicable the farther we go along.

Then there’s the subplot about O’Brien and Kira developing unexpected and unwelcome romantic feelings for each other. That is a totally reasonable and believable thing, on the surface. They’ve been thrust together because of unusual circumstances, and Kira’s hormones are going crazy; it’s not a surprise that something like this would happen. In fact, I would absolutely believe it if this sort of thing happened in the real world with surrogate mothers. The problem is that neither of them sit down and discuss it with each other, or more importantly, with Keiko. And while I (sort of) hate to beat a dead horse here, Keiko’s actions this episode really don’t speak well of her. First off, she’s way more friendly and understanding in this episode than she’s ever been in her other appearances, which I suspect is just there to make it harder for O’Brien and Kira to get away from each other. But secondly, one has to wonder, especially since she’s being so understanding, why O’Brien and Kira aren’t saying to her “Listen, we’re kind of developing romantic feelings for each other, but we honestly don’t want to pursue it and we need your help in figuring out what to do about it.” Could it be because she’d probably fly off the handle? I have no proof of this, but based on what I’ve seen of her, I wouldn’t put it past her, which is almost as damning in a way.

Even the supporting characters don’t cover themselves with glory. Bashir is mostly all right, but he’s got a bit of an attitude with O’Brien that teeters on the edge of mean-spirited. Odo, meanwhile, goes full on mean-spirited, getting increasingly sarcastic as he discusses O’Brien with Kira. While I can justify this as him lashing out both because of his issues with being human and his feelings for Kira, it just doesn’t feel right for him to be that snarky, especially with someone he likes and respects (I could buy him having a similar tone with Quark, but even then, not to this extreme). Despite only being in one scene, Sisko has an off-camera moment where he seems oblivious to the potential carnage taking place, despite having clear opinions about this sort of thing in the past (see “Sons of Mogh” in particular). And as for Dax, well…I’m going to dig a bit into SPOILER territory in the next paragraph, although it’s mostly just for plot details.

It becomes clear as the episode goes on that Dax has feelings for Worf, which she finally openly expresses in a Klingon manner. The thing is, while the DS9 Companion confirmed way back when Worf was first introduced that they had been toying with putting these two together, the scenes they had together up till now came across more as platonic friendship rather than romantic chemistry. Sure, there are places where you could argue the point, but I still say that Dax only really starts showing obvious romantic interest in Worf in this episode, which makes it feel a little rushed. But that may be a matter of opinion. What is not a matter of opinion is that Dax is being selfish again, as revealed by the end of the episode. She is the one who initiates the relationship, and as we quickly learn, the way she initiated it means that she and Worf now must get married, according to Klingon custom. Thanks to her experience as Curzon, Dax would know this, and also know that Klingons in general and Worf specifically will take this very seriously. And her response to this, basically, is “I don’t think I’m quite ready to take that step.” If that was the case, why did you do something that means you have to get married? Even if you try to blame this on hormones and/or impulsiveness, Dax’s Klingon experience and her Federation morals should both be enough to have her accept the consequences of her actions. It’s one of those things that just becomes more irritating the more you think about it, and since I’m not particularly fond of Dax as it is, it makes the situation worse.

SPOILERS OVER. While this episode isn’t actively bad in the same way “A Man Alone” or “Past Tense” was, it’s one you have to be wary about. If you just take it at face value, it’s fine, but if you think it over too much, the flaws become incredibly apparent. It’s an episode that will probably be enjoyed by more casual viewers, but the more invested you get, the less it will work for you. And given that I’ve been living with these characters for three months now, I think it’s safe to say that I’m invested at this point.

How it Relates to the Whole: This episode is most notable for really kicking off the Dax/Worf relationship, which will sometimes have entire episodes dedicated to it. Besides that, I really don’t think the other two relationships on display get a lot of further exploration, which just makes my complaints above even worse. Though to be fair, my memory is fuzzy enough that I could wind up being surprised on that score. We’ll find out together in the next few days.

Other: *The teaser for this episode made me realize something; in the right circumstances, Bashir and Quark make a good double act. Bashir’s curiosity mixed with Quark’s scheming nature can be very entertaining to watch, though I think it’s a combination best seen in small doses. Still, it was a good start to the episode, and even if the rest became messy, that part is still pretty good.

*While I haven’t ever discussed this, you may have noticed it for yourself in the Best Exchange section. Worf has a verbal tic much like Data from TNG where he doesn’t use contractions. Unlike Data, who wasn’t programmed to use them, I think Worf does it to show how serious he is, that he’s choosing his words carefully. Today, though, he uses one (“you’d”, to be exact), and that came as kind of a shock to me. Given that he was in an agitated state of mind, it would actually be a clever touch if the writers did that deliberately. I’ll have to keep an ear out for that to see if there’s a pattern.

Best Line/Exchange: While my absolute favorite moment in the episode is a bit of business involving Morn, it only really works when you see it. So for lines, I guess I have to go with;

Grilka: You are an interesting man.

Quark: I always thought so.

Grilka: Not much of a fighter, of course. Fortunately for you they were only holo-warriors.

Quark: Well, it’s the thought that counts.

Grilka: Yes, it is. And what are your thoughts, Quark? Why play out one of the most romantic scenes in Klingon literature for me? Why learn to speak Klingon, and observe our customs? (leans in closely) Why do you pursue me?

Quark: I only pursue those things I wish to acquire.

Grilka (sounding slightly contemptuous): “Acquire”. Now you sound like a Ferengi again.

Quark: I am a Ferengi. That means I have a talent for appreciating objects of great value. And I believe you may be worth more than all the Latinum in the quadrant.

Not only is this a great save on Quark’s part (it certainly seems to work on Grilka), but the whole scene is very in character for him. And given some of the issues on display in this episode, I’m particularly receptive to that this time around.