Season 3, Episode 3 - "House of Quark," or "Bat'leth Wedding"
Before I begin ruminating on "House of Quirk," I have two questions. First, who is Quark's tailor? Is it Garak? Someone tell me how any Ferengi can look this good. Quark's outfits look like they've been textured with a Geocities background from 1997. Quark makes MC Hammer look like a Calvinist minister. Quark's outfits looks like Joseph's Technicolor Dreamcoat hooked up with a Jackson Pollock painting.
And my second question is this. Did anyone else notice how Gowron looks a lot like Klingon Steve Buscemi?
It occurs to me that House of Quark is the first time I've ever seen a story focused entirely on the relationship between the Ferengi and the Klingon. I'm vaguely aware of the socio-political tension between the various species of the Star Trek Universe, but I never really knew how Ferengi and Klingon got along at all. Prior to this episode, I always assumed the most interaction the Ferengi had with the Klingon was if a Klingon knocked one over on their way to the bar.
"House of Quark" is an outstanding episode that surprised me at every turn. When I watched the opening scene between Quark, Rom, and a lone Klingon drunk off his ass in an empty bar, I felt like I was walking into a joke and waiting for a punch-line. I expected a farcical Ferengi romp as a palate-cleanser after the last three episodes of heavy narrative lifting. I expected a comedy of errors, shotgun weddings, awkward conversations between Quark and his ultra-violent wife, and timely discourses on the virtues of the Rules of Acquisition.
What I got was a clever, subtle, sometimes touching, frequently poingant episode about relationships.
Quark gets into an ugly scuffle with a drunk Klingon named Kozak. Kozak stumbles around with a brandished dagger, trips, and falls on it like a disgraced Roman general. Quark seizes on the opportunity to spin an elaborate yarn about his struggle to the death with a brutish Klingon lout. The story earns him some respect and the attention of Kozak's arch-rival, D'Ghor.
The political maneuvering that follows is elaborate and twisted, but the situation is that Quark's braggadocio has landed Kozak's widow, Grillka, in serious risk of losing the rights to her own house. Grillka makes a desperate play to win her house back by evoking an ancient Klingon law whereby a widow may marry the warrior responsible for slaying her husband.
The synopsis of events isn't really important here. "House" is an episode about relationships. Relationships between people, between cultures, between rivals, and between friends.
Keiko and Miles have a loving and sweet relationship. Their own marital problems are a sub-plot to Grillka and Quark. It's odd to describe Keiko and Miles as having marital problems; they don't really have problems. They have marital solutions. They work through their problems together, but the nature of their problems don't originate in their marriage.
Keiko is unhappy, but it isn't Miles's fault. She's unhappy because the conflict with the Dominion drove families off DS9; no families means no school; no school means Keiko has no outlet for her profession. She has no way to be her most authentic self. She can't allow herself to complain in front of Miles, because she doesn't want him to feel guilty for keeping her on DS9 as a glorified stay-at-home wife with no outlet to express her most authentic self. So while Keiko and Miles's problem is professional, their solution is personal.
I really enjoyed watching Miles slowly try to figure out how to help his wife. The underlying problem is her unhappiness. Keiko is unhappy and Miles doesn't like it. The nature and cause of her unhappiness are important, but secondary to the simple fact that she is unhappy. I loved their mutual sense of empathy for one another, expressed through shared affection. Miles is a good husband. His attempts to cheer her up are good-natured and a bit ham-fisted, but sweet.
Similarly, I enjoyed watching Miles have intimate talks with the other men in DS9 about the problem of a relationship. Sisko is a remarkably perceptive guy and has a lot of empathy, which is not so surprising, I guess, seeing how he's a commander. Even Bashir's advice comes from a place of empathy and understanding; underneath his shameless flirting, he's a sensible fellow.
The Miles-Keiko subplot was a nice foil to the short and turbulent arc between Quark and Grillka. Grillka hates Quark but needs him to wrest control of her House back. Quark is terrified of Grillka, but I think part of him sees the ridiculous injustice built into the Klingon system of jurisprudence. Klingon obsession with honor leads to ironically dishonorable political games. In fact, this is not the first time Quark has gone head-to-head with the irrational behavior of the chronically honorable: remember his speech about "buying peace at a discount price"?
What I love about Grillka and Quark is how well they work together. It's almost as if, despite the racial antipathy between Klingon and Ferengi, the two people can benefit from one another's strengths. Quark's business acumen and diplomatic finesse is essential to winning Grillka's house back. He can be subtle and nuanced in ways that are utterly alien to the headstrong, pugnacious Klingon. Similarly, Klingon notions of honor and upright behavior do resonate powerfully with Quark, and his surrender to D'Ghor at the end of the episode was a stunning combination of Ferengi theatrics and Quark-like logic.
That's what I really like about Quark as a character. He's not like Rom. Rom is subservient to the Rules of Acquisition. Rom treats being a Ferengi like a religion, perpetually self-conscious about his obedience to Ferengi doctrine. Quark still cares about Ferengi culture and identifies powerfully with being a Ferengi, but he has a strong sense of self. Quark knows who he is and what he stands for, and that always comes before bull-headed obedience to cultural norms. You'll never see Quark betraying who he is just because the Rules of Acquisition call of it; no, he'll find a way to bend the rules to his own ends.
How can I not admire that level of self-confidence? Quark is a little guy, but he stands tall. Even when he's on his knees surrendering his life.
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