Business as Usual (DS9 episode)
Encyclopedia
"Business as Usual" is an episode of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine
, the eighteenth episode of the fifth season. It has an average fan rating of 4/5 on the official Star Trek website as of September, 2009.
and Jadzia Dax
are playing Tongo in the bar, but the Ferengi
's heart isn't in it. His debts are mounting and he will soon have to sell his establishment. Quark's cousin Gaila enters the bar and offers to help him out of his predicament. Quark knows immediately what the enterprise is - selling weapons. Gaila tells him that no weapons will be brought to Deep Space Nine
, as Odo would stop them. Instead, Quark will use his skills with customers to display holographic versions of the weapons in the holosuites. The weapons will be supplied by the suavely sinister Hagath. Gaila claims the money will help him pay off his debt, help renew his business license and enable him to buy his moon.
The scheme quickly alienates Quark's former friends, particularly Jadzia. To make matters worse, Hagath and Gaila
want to engage in the particularly risky manoeuvre of selling weapons to both sides in a conflict. Soon Quark realizes his new clients will kill him if he messes up, and also want to buy many weapons which will kill millions of innocent people.
Quark realizes he must find a way to escape with his life and avoid being part of a genocide program. He arranges for representatives of the two sides - the Regent of Palamar, and General Nassuc - to encounter each other at the station.
A firefight ensues, and they leave the station in pursuit of the double-crossing Gaila and Hagath.
Quark's friendship with Jadzia is renewed, but his financial woes are not over: Sisko makes him pay for damage ensuing from the firefight.
Star Trek: Deep Space Nine
Star Trek: Deep Space Nine is a science fiction television series set in the Star Trek universe...
, the eighteenth episode of the fifth season. It has an average fan rating of 4/5 on the official Star Trek website as of September, 2009.
Plot
QuarkQuark (Star Trek)
Quark is a fictional character in the American television series Star Trek: Deep Space Nine. The character, which was played by Armin Shimerman, was depicted as a member of an extraterrestrial race known as the Ferengi, who are stereotypically ultra-capitalist and only motivated by...
and Jadzia Dax
Jadzia Dax
Jadzia Dax , played by Terry Farrell, was a main character during the first six seasons of the science fiction television series Star Trek: Deep Space Nine....
are playing Tongo in the bar, but the Ferengi
Ferengi
The Ferengi are a fictitious extraterrestrial race from the Star Trek universe. They first appeared in "The Last Outpost", the fifth episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation in 1987, during which they made first contact with the United Federation of Planets in 2364 on the planet Delphi Ardu,...
's heart isn't in it. His debts are mounting and he will soon have to sell his establishment. Quark's cousin Gaila enters the bar and offers to help him out of his predicament. Quark knows immediately what the enterprise is - selling weapons. Gaila tells him that no weapons will be brought to Deep Space Nine
Deep Space Nine (space station)
Deep Space Nine is a fictitious space station, and is the eponymous primary setting of the science fiction television series Star Trek: Deep Space Nine. It serves as a base for the exploration of the Gamma Quadrant via the Bajoran wormhole, and is a hub of trade and travel for the sector's denizens...
, as Odo would stop them. Instead, Quark will use his skills with customers to display holographic versions of the weapons in the holosuites. The weapons will be supplied by the suavely sinister Hagath. Gaila claims the money will help him pay off his debt, help renew his business license and enable him to buy his moon.
The scheme quickly alienates Quark's former friends, particularly Jadzia. To make matters worse, Hagath and Gaila
want to engage in the particularly risky manoeuvre of selling weapons to both sides in a conflict. Soon Quark realizes his new clients will kill him if he messes up, and also want to buy many weapons which will kill millions of innocent people.
Quark realizes he must find a way to escape with his life and avoid being part of a genocide program. He arranges for representatives of the two sides - the Regent of Palamar, and General Nassuc - to encounter each other at the station.
A firefight ensues, and they leave the station in pursuit of the double-crossing Gaila and Hagath.
Quark's friendship with Jadzia is renewed, but his financial woes are not over: Sisko makes him pay for damage ensuing from the firefight.
Miscellany
- The characters make reference to a powerful Breen weapon called the 'CRM-114'. The CRM-114CRM 114 (device)The C.R.M. 114 Discriminator is a fictional piece of critical radio equipment in Stanley Kubrick's film Dr. Strangelove , the destruction of which prevents the crew of a B-52 from hearing the recall code that would stop them from dropping their atomic bombs on the U.S.S.R.- Real-life parallels...
is the nomenclature of the Strategic Air CommandStrategic Air CommandThe Strategic Air Command was both a Major Command of the United States Air Force and a "specified command" of the United States Department of Defense. SAC was the operational establishment in charge of America's land-based strategic bomber aircraft and land-based intercontinental ballistic...
decryption device aboard the B-52 StratofortressB-52 StratofortressThe Boeing B-52 Stratofortress is a long-range, subsonic, jet-powered strategic bomber operated by the United States Air Force since the 1950s. The B-52 was designed and built by Boeing, who have continued to provide maintainence and upgrades to the aircraft in service...
in the 1964 film1964 in filmThe year 1964 in film involved some significant events.-Events:* January 29 - The film Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb is released....
Dr. StrangeloveDr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the BombDr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb, commonly known as Dr. Strangelove, is a 1964 black comedy film which satirizes the nuclear scare. It was directed, produced, and co-written by Stanley Kubrick, starring Peter Sellers and George C. Scott, and featuring Sterling...
. KubrickStanley KubrickStanley Kubrick was an American film director, writer, producer, and photographer who lived in England during most of the last four decades of his career...
has used this designation in other films as well.
- The speech that Gaila gives to Quark when the latter is having a crisis of conscience is a reference to the one Harry Lime gives to Holly Martins in The Third ManThe Third ManThe Third Man is a 1949 British film noir, directed by Carol Reed and starring Joseph Cotten, Alida Valli, Orson Welles, and Trevor Howard. Many critics rank it as a masterpiece, particularly remembered for its atmospheric cinematography, performances, and unique musical score...
.
- This storyline is continued in the story "GREED: Reservoir Ferengi", part of the Star Trek Seven Deadly Sins book