The last Ferengi episode was more serious. I wasn't impressed. Now they go back to the comedy format we're used to. It works every time. Don't expect anything more than a comedy and you will be entertained. Add a modest amount of introduction to new aspects of the Ferengi culture ("pay your respect!)"and DS9 reliably produces solid episodes like this. Funny. Entertaining. Totally inconsequential. A total stereotype. Feminism for ignorant laymen. I still would like to see Quark in more serious episodes but given how much comedic talent he has, it would be a shame to not have the occasional comedy.
It's an 8/10. That's maybe underserved by objective measures. But I can't help it. I just like these little fellas. Silly or not.
Having another Ferengi episode so close in the heels of the previous one feels like a bit of overkill, but this is very different in tone to that more serious one. Here we get the classic comedy, and it works pretty well. Grand Nagus Zek and Ishka make a disgustingly perfect couple, and the repeated jokes about people appearing in Quark's bedroom closet are good. It's easy to forget what great comic timing so many of the Star Trek actors have.
The background story with Leeta and Rom matches the tone, but all feels a little dumb.
Most of the Ferengi episodes are awesome!
Review by Andrew BloomVIP 9BlockedParentSpoilers2023-09-15T20:24:47Z
[5.2/10] When an episode like “Ferengi Love Songs” comes up, I have no idea what show I’m watching. I know these characters. I know these performers. I even recognize the names on the “written by” credit. But this feels like a total aberration from the usual style and tone of Deep Space Nine, to where the entire experience feels off-brand.
Now look, flights of fancy can be good! We’re falling headlong into a grim conflict with the Dominion here. There’s nothing wrong with injecting a little levity. But this tale, of Quark discovering his mom is dating the Grand Nagus, and Rom worrying his romance with Leeta makes him “not Ferengi” enough, is broad and campy to the point of inducing eye-rolls.
Honestly, this felt like watching an episode of Dinosaurs, not just for the abundant use of prosthetics, but for the general goofy tone that pervades this one and leaves it feeling disconnected, in plot and in spirit, from the rest of DS9.
That’s the biggest problem here -- the approach. Frankly, I like the ideas behind both stories. Quark feeling depressed and stymied by the revocation of his Ferengi business license is an interesting angle. Brunt (FCA) cajoling him to break up his mother’s happy relationship to get it restored is a good conflict between Quark’s personal interests and his growing appreciation for what’s right and what might make others happy, even a mother he has complicated feelings about. And the reveal that his mom is the power behind the throne, arguably even necessary for the proper function of the Ferengi government given Zek’s decline, is a nice step along the way toward the long-simmering story of Ferengi feminism.
Likewise, Rom and Leeta’s story is a good one on paper. One of my favorite elements of Deep Space Nine is that, at heart, it’s about cultural exchange. Even with outsiders on other shows like Spock and Worf and Data, they’re all voluntarily a part of Starfleet and believe, at least in part, in its shared value. But Deep Space Nine is a mix of Starfleet officers and Bajorans and Cardassians and civilians from a mix of cultures and species who all have to get along and work together. Exploring the cultural clashes when a Bajoran falls in love with a Ferengi and they want to get married could be fascinating!
Instead, like so much in “Ferengi Love Songs”, it amounts to little more than sitcom-style cheese. Rather than treating Leeta and Rom like real people -- one of whom understandably wants his fiancee to appreciate his cultural traditions the same way he’s appreciating hers, and one of whom understandably doesn’t want to sign-up for backwards and repressive customs forced on women -- they’re hokey cartoon characters.
Rom gets weirdly cajoled by Dax. Leeta gets comforted in a cornball “No you don’t” call and response from Kira. Chief O’Brien plays cupid with Dr. Bashir’s benediction for some reason. And rather than having real human conversations about this, Rom and Leeta draw stupid lines in the sand and then just pout over them.
It kills me because you could do a lot there! Rom worrying about his funds since the last woman he loved took him for all he was worth is sympathetic! Leeta wanting to participate in Rom’s cultural traditions but drawing the line at sexism is valid and an interesting source of conflict. Rom being more open to hyoo-man experiences than his brother, but worrying that he’s losing his Ferengi-ness has tons of potential. Instead, they just get into a broadly-drawn fight that wouldn’t be out of place on Friends. It’s sweet that Rom is willing to give up all his latinum if it means renewing his relationship with Leeta, but that gesture might mean more if it wasn’t such a silly, artificial path to get there.
Speaking of which, setting up Quark’s predicaments as an extended goofy farce does his storyline no favors either. Again, Quark reconciling his mother’s happiness with his own fortunes, along with the prosperity of all Ferenginar, could put the sad sack bartender in a legitimately interesting position.
Instead we get a bizarre sort of comedy of manners, Quark discovers his mom and Zek are canoodling. Brunt leans on him to break them up whilst dangling a restoration of his license. Quark spins zany lies to drive Zek and Ishka apart, only to discover that he was an unwitting pawn in Brunt’s bid to seize power. Ishka (with a replacement actress who isn’t as good as Andrea Martin), and Zek ham it up as lovebirds. Quark does theatrical bits when trying to nudge his mom and his Nagus. And for some godforsaken reason, people keep popping in and out of Quark’s childhood closet.
It’s not funny. It’s not clever. It’s just stupid.
The one saving grace is that it advances Ishka’s story from the last Ferenginar episode. I do like the fact that she’s coming into her own, and while she and Zek make for an intentionally ridiculous couple, the idea that her relationship with the Nagus is not just good for their hearts, but also for the people, is a strong one. Ishka playing Nancy Regan stepping up when Ronald Reagan was suffering from Alzheimer’s, or Edith Wilson practically running the Presidency when Woodrow has a stroke is a good look. Quark continuing to appreciate his mom for who she is, recognize that “females” can do far more that Ferengi society permits, and that he himself has internalized some of those dastardly Federation values are all good beats.
I just wish they came in a better episode. The unfortunate reality is that “Ferengi Love Songs” is pretty essential. Rom and Leeta getting engaged is a big deal. The machinations of the Ferenginar throne and Quark’s relationship with his mother and with Ferengi feminism both have impacts down the line. This is one you might even consider a must-watch given its impact down the line. But if you do watch, and you’re anything like me, you could be mistaken for thinking you’d accidentally tuned into the wrong show. DS9 doesn’t always have to be the grounded, complicated series we know and love, but god help me, it can do better than this when it wants to get silly.