Star Trek: Deep Space Nine (TV Series) Business as Usual (1997) User Reviews

Quark is faced with the possibility that he MIGHT have a conscience.

[planktonrules · 8/10 · 18 January 2015]

A few episodes before this one, Quark's cousin, Gaila (Josh Pais), ruins Quark....for kicks. Because of this, Quark is broke and his future very bleak--especially since he's a Ferengi. So, when Gaila shows up at Quark's bar, you wonder what more can the cousin do to him?! No, it seems that he is actually there for a business proposition and perhaps bankrupting Quark was all part of this plan. So what is the plan? Quark will open up the bar to entertain Gaila's business prospects--folks who come from all around the quadrant to buy various weapons. Quark seems to have no choice to accept--even though he has repeatedly stated that selling arms is against his personal code of honor, such as it is.

This is a rather clever episode and helps to further develop Quark as a character. While it's not among the very best of the Ferengi episodes, it is quite good and worth seeing.

Is Mass Death Even an Option?

[Hitchcoc · 7/10 · 31 October 2018]

Quark has had some business setbacks and has mortgage his bar, three times! When his cousin, a gun runner for an evil man, makes him an offer, he falls in line. What he doesn't realize is how dangerous this guy is and what a monumental horror he represents. These guys arm whole societies and planets. They have no consciences and no respect for any lives but their own. Quark must make some decisions that are counter to his ingrained cultural being. This is a pretty decent episode.

Solid Quark episode

[snoozejonc · 8/10 · 25 January 2023]

Quark is struggling financially and is offered a shady deal by his cousin.

A plot that addresses how far Quark would go when desperate for money was a good idea and it works very well in a more lighthearted way than it really should given the subject matter. I loved the Harry Lime tribute in one speech from the character Gaila.

Strong guest stars like Steven Berkoff and Lawrence Tierney elevate the script with entertaining performances. Berkoff especially plays the comedic villain so enthusiastically he strays amusingly over the top at times. (All that's missing is the Alex F song) Armin Shimerman leads the episode very well.

The subplot involving Chief O'Brien is quite amusing, particularly to a Dad with vivid memories of parenting a newborn whilst his partner was indisposed for a period of time.

For me it's a 7.5/10 but I round upwards.

Come to Quark's, Quark's has guns.

[thevacinstaller · 7/10 · 27 July 2021]

This was a well paced and performed episode taking a journey around Quarks conscious. The performances of Berkoff is great ---- I guess that's no surprise as the man has been in more movies/tv shows then I have actually watched.

The morality of this episode is a bit questionable. Quark only has a crisis of consciousness when the 20+ million casualty number is presented and not when he was selling arms (that would be used to kill) to other clients previous to that. Perhaps it was the rational that the weapons were being used for 'self defense' purposes that allowed quark to bury his complicity with death? To be fair, in order to maintain engagement, I suppose Quark does need to dip a toe into the dark side of gun running.

There's also a message about exploiting the weakened. Quarks cousin could have loaned him the money for his debts but he saw an opportunity to use him as a resource to get out of the business.

Remember ---- save your money so you will not end up gun running or being a drug mule for the shady underworld of earth.

Good Noir Spoof

[griggsda · 9/10 · 7 August 2017]

This is DS 9's idea of a spoof of Film Noir, with Quark as the criminal who is not all bad, and Odo as the hard-boiled detective. The highlight must be the presence of Lawrence Tierney who is one of the giants of 1940s and 50s crime dramas (see esp. "Born To Kill"). He only does two scenes, but his icy presence gives this little comedy/drama a pedigree and authenticity.

Quark grows a Conscience... eventually

[Tweekums · 9/10 · 13 July 2010]

Quark is down to his last strip of Latinum and has no chance of paying off his debts so when his cousin arrives with a business opportunity he accepts even though in the past he has drawn the line at getting involved with the arms trade. Having access to top of the have holosuites means he doesn't need to bring any actual weapons on to DS9 and thus avoid breaking Federation law. Business is brisk and Quark's debts are being paid off but he learns that his boss Hagath is not to be crossed when somebody who displeased him has a fatal 'accident'. Quark may do almost anything for Latinum but when a new client wishes to buy a biological weapon to kill twenty eight million people his conscience gets the better of him and he arranges for the client and his enemy to meet hoping that they will kill each other or at least cause enough trouble for those present to get arrested. In a secondary story Chief O'Brien is finding it impossible to get his new son to stop crying when he is put down for more than a second so is forced to take him everywhere he goes.

This was a good episode, Armin Shimerman was great as Quark and Steven Berkoff is suitably villainous as Hagath. It was good to see Quark's attitude to his new business change as he realised what the consequences would be. The secondary story was okay and inserted some humour to the episode but wasn't particularly memorable.

Wonderful Character Study of Quark

[GarakStarkX · 9/10 · 9 April 2020]

Quark is broke and his cousin Gaila, who recently tried to kill him, shows up with the offer of riches..... by becoming a weapons dealer. Quark goes along initially, until a crazy warlord shows up and wants to buy weapons to kill 28 million people.

Great performances by Armin Shimmerman (Quark), Lawrence Tierney (Regent), Josh Pais (Gaila) and Steven Berkoff (Hagath).

This dialogue between Quark & Gaila is a gem:

GAILA: Quark, maybe I didn't make myself clear. I've been in the weapons business forty years. I want to retire. QUARK: I don't blame you. GAILA: But I'm not going to be able to retire if my hand-picked successor can't control his conscience. QUARK: The Regent is insane. GAILA: Stop being so judgmental. It's his bank account, not his mental health you should be concerned with. QUARK: But twenty eight million people. That just seems wrong. GAILA: If Hagath heard you talk that way he would toss you out the nearest airlock. Look out there. Millions and millions of stars, millions upon millions of worlds. And right now, half of them are fanatically dedicated to destroying the other half. Now, do you think if one of those twinkling little lights suddenly went out, anybody would notice? Suppose I offered you ten million bars of gold pressed latinum to help turn out one of those lights, would you really tell me to keep my money?

This episodes helps provide depth to Quark

[DocIndy · 9/10 · 17 May 2019]

Many DS9 episodes utilize Quark for his comedic relief but this one shows that even when he is desperate he has limitations on what he will do to make money. It was a good episode and along with the episode The Ascent it helped make Quark a more three dimensional character.

Starfleet hypocrisy

[cloudbuster63 · 4/10 · 19 July 2020]

Deep Space 9 is armed with thousands of torpedos. Its crew goes armed routinely and use their weapons with impunity, as do many people traveling to and from the station, but other people, apparently aren't allowed to arm themselves. Star fleet is a a bully.

Fun A-plot w/ magnetic guests, affirming B-plot

[cgravesmontalbano · 9/10 · 31 January 2021]

Quark's story is a fun one, not only because we finally see him get to carry out A full operation on the station without Odo interfering, but his cohorts are such fun characters played by engaging actors.

Add on to that a charming and oddly-heartwarming B plot about O'Brien trying to get his baby to stop crying. Throughout the episode, men talk to other men about the wonders of fatherhood, and share tender moments together in support of a mutual cause. And that's just really nice to see in a time when gender roles were still a bit stuck in their old ways.

Siddig helms a great one

[XweAponX · 10/10 · 4 January 2012]

Quark is broke. He's mortgaged the bar to 3 different loan-sharks, if any of them are Ferengi, they'll hang his 'Lobes on their Belts! Meanwhile, with Keiko away, Chief O'Brien cannot locate a single babysitter on the station to take care of his new baby: So he has to carry Ioshi with him wherever he goes! Including OPs.

Quark's cousin Gaila (Josh Pais), who previously tried to kill him with a defective Ferengi Space Ship, throws Quark a very large BONE. Only catch is, he has to sell weAponS! They do so in the Holosuites, so that actual weAponS do not get carted through DS9... And that is where the Fun Begins. Odi tries to put a stop to it, but Hagath, the Arms Dealer who is the senior Partner with Gaila, at one time sold weAponS to the Bajora, and so the Bajoran Government will not pursue it.

Siddeg El Fadil directs this great 'sode, maybe his first, and does a fine job at it. Lawrence Tierney and Stephen Berkoff guest star as a "Regent" and "Hagath", the Arms Dealer Quark and Gaila are associated with. You will remember Lawrence Tierney as "Cyrus Redblock", a Sidney Greenstreet-Type Crook from the Next Generation Ep "The Big Goodbye" and he is just as good here.

This is one of the best Eps regarding Quark - As Religiously Ferengi as he is, he shows remarkable Humanity.