DS9 Flashback: Family Business

While Ferengi-centric episodes of Deep Space Nine tended to be among the more light-hearted and funny episodes of the show, they would from time to time include more serious themes. "Family Business" was one of these, a light romp containing a healthy dose of family conflict.

Quark is in hot water with a "liquidator" from the Ferengi Commerce Authority. His mother Ishka, back on the Ferengi homeworld, has been earning profit! A female! If he can't secure her confession and restitution, he's on the hook both financially and socially. Meanwhile, Jake Sisko is trying to set his father up on a date with freighter captain Kasidy Yates... and he's engaged in a whispering campaign with half the senior staff to talk her up.

Behind many a sibling rivalry is a fundamental difference of outlook on two different parents. We learn here that this informs at least part of the friction between Quark and his brother Rom: Quark loved his late father and has always seen his mother as disrespectful and trying, where Rom saw his father's shortcomings and admired how his mother stepped up to close the gap. Quark couldn't wait to leave home, and hated how his mother coddled Rom; Ishka knew Quark didn't need as much help, and thinks he was too hard on his brother. It's a compelling background upon which to hang this fun little tale -- and more authentic than most Ferengi stories.

But there's plenty of comedy played here, to be sure. Ferengi society is fleshed out in more detail than ever before, and it's all great fun -- from the constantly rainy conditions on their homeworld, to the doors you have to crouch through even to enter a high-ceilinged room, to the bribe you must pay a law officer to learn of the charges against you, to the way house guests are expected to pay the host and sign a waiver.

To help bring the funny, they cast SCTV veteran Andrea Martin as Ishka. Director Rene Auberjonois (helming his second episode, and second Ferengi-centric one) suggested her for the part, after someone else's half-hearted suggestion to cast Grand Nagus Zek actor Wallace Shawn in drag was rightly dismissed. Auberjonois warned her that the makeup demands would be extensive, but all the same, it seems Martin was not prepared for old age troweled on top of the normal extensive Ferengi makeup, nor the extra pieces required for the nude scenes. Martin would decline to return to the role, leading Ishka to be recast in later episodes.

Bigger than Andrea Martin (to serious Star Trek fans, anyway) is that this is the first episode to feature Jeffrey Combs in a recurring role, as he plays Liquidator Brunt for the first time. It's a delicious, sneering performance that shines brilliantly through the makeup. His final exit line, "I sincerely hope I never see any of you again," feels like a great joke; they'd be foolish not to bring him back.

Meanwhile, the B plot about Sisko meeting Kasidy Yates is pretty fun -- and brings the third significant recurring character this episode introduces. It's entertaining to see the whispering campaign Jake has engaged in for Kasidy, and how Dax and O'Brien in particular are totally sold on her before Ben has even met her. There's a risk that talking up a character like this sets us up for disappointment, but actress Penny Johnson is endlessly charming and immediately likeable. It's no wonder she's continued to show up on television in the decades since this role, from 24 to Castle to The Orville and more. Her personality shines even bigger than her hairstyle in this episode, which is saying something. It helps that the writers have made her character a perfect match for Sisko, from her independence to her quick wit to her love of baseball.

Other observations:

• Sisko's beard is looking "normal" now, after the not-quite-final introduction in the previous episode

• Another new runabout is introduced this episode (the Rubicon), with a great joke by Kira about how it's good that Earth has so many rivers to name these things after.

• Rene Auberjonois is slowly gaining confidence as a director. Many of the shots in this episode remain conventional, locked-off "proscenium" style angles, but he does go handheld with the camera for the fight between Quark and Rom. And his skill working with actors continues to serve well as his technical skills catch up; the performances here are all solid.

• Maybe Quark missed his calling as a Liquidator. He finds money hidden by his mother that Brunt missed. (Not to mention how quickly he cracked the financial scheme in the Klingon Empire back in "The House of Quark.")

I give "Family Business" a solid B. It may not be among the very best Deep Space Nine, but for all the important characters who debut here, it's certainly essential. And quite fun.