Wednesday, February 7, 2024

Section 31: Star Trek: Deep Space Nine (1993-2024)

Episode o' the Day
"Rules of Acquisition" (season two, episode seven; 8 November 1993): Wikipedia-link.

Commentary: "Rules of Acquisition" launches two story threads that will persist until the very end of Deep Space Nine: The Ferengi female rights movement (Pel is also the first Ferengi female seen on screen) & the Gamma Quadrant's anti-Federation, the Dominion. The fight for equal rights for Ferengi females won't pick up steam until we meet Quark & Rom's "Moogie," Ishka, late in season three, but the first seeds have been planted.

The Karemma are mentioned as "powerful members of the Dominion," but will not be seen until the season three premiere, "The Search, Part I." (They will return in season four's "Starship Down" & on
Lower Decks, in season three's "Hear All, Trust Nothing.") The governing apparatus of the Dominion, the carrot (the Vorta) & the stick (the Jem'Hadar), will not be seen until the season two finale, "The Jem'Hadar." Television was different back in the 1990s, favoring episodic storytelling over seralized storytelling; in a perfect world, I wish DS9 had been just a little more serialized a little earlier, & that the Dominion had been teased & hinted at more consistently throughout season two.
Quark: "The Dominion? What's that?"
Zyree: "Let's just say, if you want to do business in the Gamma Quadrant, you have to do business with the Dominion."

No comments: