DS9 S03E03 & S03E04

In this installment:
(watched Sunday, August 24th)

Star Trek:  Deep Space Nine, S03E03 - "The House Of Quark"
Star Trek:  Deep Space Nine, S03E04 - "Equilibrium"

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"The House Of Quark"

• (fake) 286th Rule of Acquisition:  "When Morn leaves, it's all over."
• Really, Quark's tactics are spot-on here.  If you have to fight a Klingon, your best bet is really just hoping that he's so drunk that he falls on his own d'k tahg.
• ...subsequently lying and saying that you fought a daring hand-to-hand combat with him, ultimately killing him yourself?  Maybe not such a good idea.
• Keiko O'Brien has to close her school in this episode, as the station's population dwindles due to fears of a Dominion attack.  After the last of the Bajoran students' families relocate back to Bajor, her only remaining students are Jake Sisko and Nog.
  
  If I didn't hate Keiko so much, I'd almost feel bad for her.
• "I'm not just some venal Ferengi trying to take their money.  I'm Quark!  Slayer of Klingons!  I've struck a blow for Ferengi everywhere."
  
  "But what about Kozak's family?  What if they come here looking for revenge?"
  
  "If that happens?  I'll stand up, look them straight in the eye...and offer them a bribe."
• "I can't believe you've forgotten!  It's 'I'm Married to the Most Wonderful Woman in the Galaxy' Day!  I marked it in your calendar!"
  
  Okay, listen up.  I don't think a spouse trying to make their partner happy is stupid.  I'm not one of those Neanderthals that thinks that a husband who does things just because he loves his wife is a sap, or is "whipped".
  
  But the romantic side of Chief O'Brien is easily one of my least-favorite things about DS9. 
  
  Puuuuuuuuuke.
• "Where am I?"
  
  "You are on Qo'noS."
  
  "Qo'noS?  The Klingon homeworld?"
• Give that Keiko an arboretum.  Keikos love arboretums.
• Hey kids, it's Gowron!
  
  (image spoilered for profanity)
  
  
  
  
  
• "The House of Kozak is gone.  For the time being, it will be known as the House...as the House of...?"
  
  "Quark."
  
  "Quirk."
  
  "Quark!"
  
  "THE HOUSE OF QUARK!"
• "You mean D'Ghor has been scheming and plotting like..."
  
  "...like a Ferengi."
• Rom!  You stupid bastard.
• I believe this is the first me that we hear the name of Quark's father:  Keldar.
• Some day I want to get a bunch of people together and do the whole "Klingons cross their arms and turn their backs on someone" routine.
  
  
  
  (this is from TNG's "Sins Of The Father", but the same
  thing happens to D'Ghor in "The House Of Quark")
• "Qapla' Quark, son of Keldar."
  
  "Qapla' to you, too."
• Hooray!  We're getting rid of Keiko and Molly for six months!
• "Brother, I haven't had the chance to tell you...but in the Great Hall, when you stood there in front of D'Ghor?  You were magnificent."
  
  "I was lucky.  If it didn't work, I didn't have another card to play...business is dropping off again!"
  
  "Money isn't everything."
  
  "If father were alive, he'd wash your mouth out with galcor."
  
  "You can't buy respect, brother.  And that's what you have now!  Respect!  After all, that's what you wanted isn't it?"
  
  "Respect is good.  Latinum is better."
  
  "Tell the story again--about how you stood there in front of D'Ghor, not knowing if you were going to live to see another day."
  
  "Everyone's tired of hearing it, Rom.  It's not going to boost business anymore."
  
  "No, I mean...tell me.  I want to hear it again."

---

"Equilibrium"

• Commander Sisko preparing a whole Creole-style meal for his senior staff?  It's a little eccentric.  I wish he'd hurry up and grow that goatee and start killing Jem'Hadar already.
• "You don't like beets, Doctor?"
  
  "Well...they're not exactly a persona favorite of mine, no."
• Aww, Kira just called Odo "cute".  All hands, brace for impact.  Incoming seasons-long, plot-destroying school-boy/girl rush incoming!
• "So guys, we've keyed up tensions with the Dominion.  What next?"
  
  "What about an episode where Dax gets a song stuck in here head?"
  
  "Yeah, that sounds about right."
• "Curzon always suspected you were a cheat."
  
  "Is this some kind of a joke?"
  
  "Don't play innocent with me, Benjamin.  We both know you're trying to cheat me here, so why don't you just admit it?"
  
  {SMASH THE GAME}
  
  Uh, okay...
  
  /me backs away slowly
• So, these guys are freaky...
  
  
  
• I know that when my isoboramine levels start to drop, I like to eat a banana.  I find that it helps.
• I'm not sure why they would take the Defiant on their little jaunt to Trill, given that its primary purpose is to help defend the station from the Dominion.
  
  I guess maybe speed was of the essence, and a runabout would be to slow?  Maybe?
• Julian finally gets his sleep-over with Dax!  Kind of...
• This is the first episode where we really see much of the Defiant beyond the bridge and crew quarters.  They did a good job with the corridors and such, conveying just how cramped the vicious little ship is on the inside.
• So apparently they keep their un-joined symbionts in mud puddles.
• I bet the inhabitants of every world within the Federation's sphere of influence screen their calls to avoid random, uninvited video chats with curious Starfleet officers.
• FAKE HOST, BRO.
• So instead of 1-in-1,000 Trill be suitable for hosting symbionts, we learn that "nearly half" of the entire Trill population is potentially compatible.  Sisko threatens to expose this fact, throwing the entirety of Trill society into chaos, unless they help to save Jadzia.
  
  It's a noble cause, for sure.  I'm not sure a Starfleet officer could get away with making that kind of threat against the governing body of a Federation member world, however.