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Star Trek DS9 - Season 2 - Episode 07

Star Trek DS9 - 2x07 - Rules of Acquisition

Originally Aired: 1993-11-7

Synopsis:
A Ferengi female who has defied the law and disguised herself as a male risks it all when she falls in love with Quark. [DVD]

My Rating - 8

Fan Rating Average - 4.53

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# Votes: 52 4 2 1 58 9 14 23 29 16 6

Filler Quotient: 0, not filler, do not skip this episode.
- This is the first episode in the Dominion War arc, strangely enough. This is also the episode that establishes the role of women in Ferengi society.

Problems
None

Factoids
- This is the first episode to show Ferengi playing Tongo.
- This episode establishes that there are 285 Rules of Acquisition and that in addition to memorizing them, Ferengi are encouraged to memorize the various official commentaries on them as well.
- This is the first episode to feature a female Ferengi.
- This episode establishes that Quark doesn't have all the Rules of Acquisition memorized. He didn't know rule 103.

Remarkable Scenes
- Rom describing how he likes his women: "Naked and submissive."
- Zek "negotiating" with Sisko and Kira.
- The revelation that Pel is a female Ferengi.
- Zek smacking Kira on the ass!
- Quark and Pel negotiating with the Dosi on Deep Space Nine.
- Zek's gift for Kira. I love Kira's ensuing insults about the Ferengi.
- Dax telling Pel about a supposed time when Quark recreated the bedroom she slept in as a child in the holosuite from memory of a conversation he overheard between Dax and Kira.
- Dax discovering Pel a female.
- Zek slapping Kira on the ass again!
- Pel's reaction to being forced to sleep with Quark.
- Zyree, the first to mention the Dominion.
- Zek's reaction seeing Pel a female.
- Rules of Acquisition: 21. Never place friendship above profit. 22. A wise man can hear profit in the wind. 33. It never hurts to suck up to the boss. 48. The bigger the smile the sharper the knife. 59. Free advice is seldom cheap. 67. The riskier the road the greater the profit. 103. Sleep can interfere with--(Pel is interrupted, we don't hear the rest. It might be "profit").
- Morn appearances; 1. Odo catches him sleeping on the promenade. When awakened and told to "go home," he goes to see if Quark's is open! 2. In the background behind Quark, Rom, and Pel. 3. Can be seen just after Odo and Rom talk about brothers.

My Review
Another episode to feature another smashing performance by Wallace Shawn as Zek. He's so funny. Quark and Rom are excellent Ferengi characters too, but something about Zek just strikes me as great. Everything about his character is just perfect for his role. All the nuances and all the little details add up to a most remarkable character. Additionally, Pel's secret love for Quark makes for most remarkable story. The Dosi are interesting as well; the Gamma Quadrant equivalent of the Ferengi with unfortunately terrible makeup. They make mention of an ominous sounding thing called the Dominion, which is alluded to as a major power in the gamma quadrant. It's nice to see the inhabitants of the gamma quadrant finally fleshed out a bit. They've certainly been sitting at the edge of the wormhole long enough for us to finally map out the place somewhat.

The following are comments submitted by my readers.

  • From Pete Miller on 2006-05-22 at 3:31pm:
    I'm surprised that eric didn't take off more for their dropping of the Dosi race, never to be seen again.
  • From Bernard on 2010-10-12 at 12:58pm:
    Since revisiting Season One episode 'Nagus' and thinking it was one of the strongest episodes of that season I looked forward to revisiting this one. It didn't disappoint.

    Simultaneously blending the exploration of more ferengi social structure, teasing out another tidbit about the dominion and creating a plot twist nicely, this episode is excellent.

    I love the part where Pel is revealed and Zek cries out! Brilliant stuff.
  • From Wes on 2012-12-01 at 2:08pm:
    Notice in the scene above the bar where Kira returns the earring to Zek and then Quark and Pel come up, that you can see the tape on the floor marking where Kira was supposed to stand.
  • From Dstyle on 2013-09-09 at 2:36am:
    There were Pakleds at Quark's! I only wish we could have overheard a bit of their conversation.
  • From Dstyle on 2013-09-12 at 2:59pm:
    I feel silly now that I got so excited about seeing Pakleds at Quark's: as I continue to watch this season, I've been seeing Pakleds all over the station. Perhaps they were around the station in the first season or earlier in the second season and I just didn't notice them, but I always love seeing them: they're such a fascinating and absurd species. What are they doing at DS9? Looking for things? Things they need? Things that make them go?

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