[DS9] Lynch's Spoiler Review: "Family Business"
Timothy W. Lynch
Business" -- unless spoiler information is _your_ business, I
recommend caution.
In brief: Avoid this. The few reasonable Sisko moments do not even
begin to outweigh an unwatchable main story.
======
Brief summary: Quark returns to the Ferengi homeworld to confront
his mother, who is guilty of earning profit on her own.
======
I'm short on time this week, and also am looking forward to getting
my memories of "Family Business" purged, so I'll keep this quick.
Ferengi episodes, at least for me, have gotten progressively less and
less enjoyable over DS9's tenure as a series. Although season 1's
"The Nagus" was hugely entertaining, the best one since then is
probably "The House of Quark", which was no more than adequate --
and what with "Rules of Acquisition", "Prophet Motive", and now
"Family Business", I'm coming to the conclusion that trying to work
cultural shows around Quark and his fellow Ferengi is an experiment
gone wrong.
Here, after all, is a race that was originally intended to be TNG's
major villain -- an idea abandoned about two seconds after "The Last
Outpost" aired, it seems. More than that, the race is very explicitly a
caricature, specifically of capitalist ideas. Regardless of the wisdom
of creating a long-term race merely to serve as a caricature, it means
that any "cultural" show about them has to either milk or defeat that
caricature -- and with the exception of "The Nagus" (which milked it,
and how), no show has managed it.
"Family Business" certainly didn't, but I'm at a loss to explain how
anyone thought it would have a chance of doing so. The attempted
message about the role of Ferengi women was very nearly the same
one we saw in "Rules of Acquisition", after all -- and it didn't work
*there*, so why should here be any different? The rest of the show
was basically showing off Ferengi traditions (the entering-a-home
ritual, the coin-boxes at everything, the FCA) or exceedingly bad "she
loved you best" soap opera dialogue. (This last element was brought
to a head in the Quark/Rom fight, which in light of the Picard/Robert
battle in TNG's "Family" made me acutely aware of the differences in
quality between the two episodes.)
Speaking of the "message" on women here, it seems to be a little
poorly handled. Both here and in "Rules of Acquisition", we had
Ferengi female characters that "were the match of any male" in their
abilities. All well and good. But in placing them in the middle of
shows that are such caricatures of society, it rather subtly suggests
that independent and able women *also* deserve ridicule -- in short, it
can in some ways be used to justify exactly the sort of treatment that
we're supposed to be laughing at here. Doesn't strike me as a
particularly good idea, that.
I'd love to say something positive about the Ferengi elements of the
show, but quite frankly I can't -- I found that side of the story very
nearly unwatchable. The dinner scene with Ishka and her two sons
was unpleasant (and Rom's "hey-yup, this is just like the old days"
effectively removes _any_ chance the episode could have of giving
him depth, which was clearly what the ending was trying to do); the
rest of the Ferengi we saw were no more than one-note examples of
greed; the "she loved you best" moments were trite; and the idea of
making *Rom* the grownup at the end, while not a bad twist to the
story in and of itself, is more an example of bringing all the other
characters down than of bringing him up to a more interesting level.
To sum it up, Lisa walked out in the middle of the show (coming back
for the Sisko scenes), and I was tempted on several occasions to join
her.
Fortunately, the B-plot was somewhat better. It wasn't, alas, fantastic
-- but unlike Quark's plot, it didn't have two strikes against it from its
conception. Although the Sisko-meets-Yates, Sisko-gets-along-with-
Yates, Sisko-connects-with-Yates story was about as hard to predict
as tomorrow's sunrise, it had the benefit of some nice dialogue and
actually being about a character. From Jake's line about Sisko's
cooking habits ("you only cook Hungarian food when you're in a
*really* good mood"), to the baseball connection used to provide
Sisko and Yates with a link to each other, there were signs that both
the writers and directors (not to mention Brooks et al.) understand
Sisko fairly well and know how to write for him. That may not sound
like much, but it's enough to take the sharpest edges off my
annoyance with the rest of the show.
[And, of course, the image of O'Brien and Bashir trying to break into
Quark's to get their dart board back was priceless. The way the scene
turned around and put Sisko back in the glare of the lights was good,
of course, but I just like the concept of the chief engineer and CMO of
an entire space station trying to crack a lock on a bar without success.
It was the only successfully silly moment of the show.]
That pretty much covers the show as a whole, I think. A couple of
very short takes, then, and I'm off:
-- The phrase "oh, joy. NAKED Ferengi females. Now I can truly
die happy" was, in fact, not even remotely close to being said this
week. Something like "I can't believe the show's stooping this low"
would probably be more appropriate.
-- Back when TNG's "Aquiel" aired, someone wise (I'm afraid I've
forgotten who) made the point that the most annoying word ever used
repeatedly on a Trek episode would have to be "pooch". I pretty
much agreed then. However, "pooch" has now been dethroned. In a
word: "moogy". I'd rather not ever hear it again.
That's it. So, all in all:
Writing: Well, Behr & Wolfe seem to have a handle on Sisko (as well
they should!), but exactly where the concept of writing talent
went to for the rest of the show escapes me. Bad caricaturish
soap opera that does not, alas, even have the saving grace of
being particularly funny.
Directing: It's difficult for me to tell when the base to work from is
this weak. I don't recall anything jumping out at me as bad
direction, but I don't recall much on the direction at all.
Acting: Good from most of the station personnel. The Ferengi --
better left unsaid.
OVERALL: A 2.5 -- DS9's worst of the season, save "Fascination".
With only three episodes left this season, I really really hope it stays
that way.
NEXT WEEK:
Kira, her old resistance leader, civil war -- and who will Winn?
Tim Lynch (Harvard-Westlake School, Science Dept.)
tly...@alumni.caltech.edu
"You only cook Hungarian food when you're in a really good mood."
-- Jake Sisko
--
Copyright 1995, Timothy W. Lynch. All rights reserved, but feel free to ask...
This article is explicitly prohibited from being used in any off-net
compilation without due attribution and *express written consent of the
author*. Walnut Creek and other CD-ROM distributors, take note.
Peronet Despeignes
: WARNING: This article contains spoilers for DS9's "Family
: Writing: Well, Behr & Wolfe seem to have a handle on Sisko (as well
: they should!), but exactly where the concept of writing talent
: went to for the rest of the show escapes me. Bad caricaturish
: soap opera that does not, alas, even have the saving grace of
: being particularly funny.
: Directing: It's difficult for me to tell when the base to work from is
: this weak. I don't recall anything jumping out at me as bad
: direction, but I don't recall much on the direction at all.
: Acting: Good from most of the station personnel. The Ferengi --
: better left unsaid.
Well, I agree with everything but the acting. For some reason, I really
liked the actress who played "moogy". Though her dialogue was painfully
generic and soap-opera-like, she did carry the role with a strange and
somewhat humorous air of dignity. As for the Sisko-Bashir-O'Brien-Odo
scene I also found it funny, but I am concerned that these comic scenes
will become as overused and as tiresome as the Ferengi crap and I'm anxious
to see the good doctor and engineer get some meatier roles and dialogue
in future episodes. They've been on the sidelines for too long.
: OVERALL: A 2.5 -- DS9's worst of the season, save "Fascination".
: With only three episodes left this season, I really really hope it stays
: that way.
Is this the best we can hope for? There are only a few episodes left so
this shouldnt be too unrealistic....right?
Perry D.
Ted McCoy
Timothy W. Lynch <tly...@alumni.caltech.edu> wrote:
>WARNING: This article contains spoilers for DS9's "Family
>Business" -- unless spoiler information is _your_ business, I
>recommend caution.
>less enjoyable over DS9's tenure as a series. Although season 1's
>"The Nagus" was hugely entertaining, the best one since then is
>probably "The House of Quark", which was no more than adequate --
>and what with "Rules of Acquisition", "Prophet Motive", and now
>"Family Business", I'm coming to the conclusion that trying to work
>cultural shows around Quark and his fellow Ferengi is an experiment
>gone wrong.
You found "The Nagus" hugely entertaining? Could've sworn you hated it.
Must be thinking of somebody else, I guess.
>Here, after all, is a race that was originally intended to be TNG's
>major villain -- an idea abandoned about two seconds after "The Last
>Outpost" aired, it seems. More than that, the race is very explicitly a
>caricature, specifically of capitalist ideas. Regardless of the wisdom
>of creating a long-term race merely to serve as a caricature, it means
>that any "cultural" show about them has to either milk or defeat that
>caricature -- and with the exception of "The Nagus" (which milked it,
>and how), no show has managed it.
I thought "House of Quark" also did a remarkable job. But, about the more
general problems with the place of the Ferrengi in the Trek universe, I
agree with you. Always amazed me that the TNG writers never gave up and
kept bringing them back.
>Speaking of the "message" on women here, it seems to be a little
>poorly handled. Both here and in "Rules of Acquisition", we had
>Ferengi female characters that "were the match of any male" in their
>abilities. All well and good. But in placing them in the middle of
>shows that are such caricatures of society, it rather subtly suggests
>that independent and able women *also* deserve ridicule -- in short, it
>can in some ways be used to justify exactly the sort of treatment that
>we're supposed to be laughing at here. Doesn't strike me as a
>particularly good idea, that.
Trying to think seriously about ferrengi makes my brain hurt....
>Writing: Well, Behr & Wolfe seem to have a handle on Sisko (as well
> they should!), but exactly where the concept of writing talent
> went to for the rest of the show escapes me. Bad caricaturish
> soap opera that does not, alas, even have the saving grace of
> being particularly funny.
Too many of the ferrengi scenes were played seriously, which is sort of
a strange thing to even attempt. A lot of the humor worked for me, but
I just wish there'd been more.
>Directing: It's difficult for me to tell when the base to work from is
> this weak. I don't recall anything jumping out at me as bad
> direction, but I don't recall much on the direction at all.
Seemed ordinary and uninspired to me. (It was that Odo guy, right?)
>Acting: Good from most of the station personnel. The Ferengi --
> better left unsaid.
Hey, let's not blame the actors for the writing!
>OVERALL: A 2.5 -- DS9's worst of the season, save "Fascination".
>With only three episodes left this season, I really really hope it stays
>that way.
I still say Dax's romance in the tree was the worst episode of the season....
>NEXT WEEK:
>Kira, her old resistance leader, civil war -- and who will Winn?
Hopefully it'll be the sort of episode they used to do last season. (And
not another "Life Support.")
Ted
Sue Boggs
>poorly handled. Both here and in "Rules of Acquisition", we had
>Ferengi female characters that "were the match of any male" in
their
>abilities. All well and good. But in placing them in the middle
of
>shows that are such caricatures of society, it rather subtly
suggests
Agreed. After hearing the FCA agent say, "Someone helped you. Tell
me _his_ name"and the shocked look on Quark's face when he was
investigating the extent of his mother's dealings I thought sure it
was going to turn out that she was part of a whole network of
females conducting business. That would have had interesting
consequences. Quark and the agent would have had to try to hide
the evidence before the whole planet learned that females were as
good in business as the men.
I thought we did learn a few good things about the characters of
Quark and Rom (the sibling rivalry, what parents are like which
does effect how children turn out, the fact the Quark doesn't want
to go back to the homeworld) that flesh them out but it wasn't a
very satisfying episode. The Bahsir-O'Brien scene was great
though. I was afraid they were going to drop the whole dartboard
story after "Visionary". I like that kind of continuity.
Sue
Mathew Englander
>Quark's to get their dart board back was priceless. The way the scene
>turned around and put Sisko back in the glare of the lights was good,
>of course, but I just like the concept of the chief engineer and CMO of
>an entire space station trying to crack a lock on a bar without success.
>It was the only successfully silly moment of the show.]
Why didn't they just transport it out?
Mathew Englander.
David Mears
> Timothy W. Lynch <tly...@alumni.caltech.edu> wrote:
> >[And, of course, the image of O'Brien and Bashir trying to break into
> >Quark's to get their dart board back was priceless. The way the scene
> >turned around and put Sisko back in the glare of the lights was good,
> >of course, but I just like the concept of the chief engineer and CMO of
> >an entire space station trying to crack a lock on a bar without success.
> >It was the only successfully silly moment of the show.]
> Why didn't they just transport it out?
Simple. If you live in a world that has transporter technology, then
door lock technology wouldn't be very useful unless it also prevented
transporter access.
David B. Mears
Hewlett-Packard
Cupertino CA
me...@cup.hp.com
Georgiana Gates
>In article <3ploh2$b...@gap.cco.caltech.edu>,
>>Quark's to get their dart board back was priceless. The way the scene
>>turned around and put Sisko back in the glare of the lights was good,
>>of course, but I just like the concept of the chief engineer and CMO of
>>an entire space station trying to crack a lock on a bar without success.
>>It was the only successfully silly moment of the show.]
>
>
There was a nice continuity touch here. In Heart of Stone, when Nog want
to go to Starfleet Academy, he talks about how Rom has so much technical
ability. Everyone on the Net laughed at this and said that it hadn't been
shown that Rom could fix a parking ticket.
Now we know that Rom has the technical know-how to set up a lock that
O'Brien can't crack. Maybe Nog does have some technical ability, too.