Series: Star Trek: Deep Space Nine
Season 3, Episode 23
Original Air Date: May 15, 1995
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| via Memory Beta |
Quark is in trouble. More accurately, his mother Ishka is in trouble and Quark, as her eldest son, will be expected to shoulder the blame. She has earned profit, one of many things Ferengi females are not supposed to do. Quark shuts down the bar and rushes off to the home world of Ferenginar, hoping to sort things out. Rom insists on tagging along.
Meanwhile, Jake Sisko succeeds in setting his father up on a date with freighter captain Kasidy Yates. The evening goes well then really takes off when Yates reveals her brother is a baseball player, the game being one of Benjamin's great passions, esoteric by 24th century standards. Spoiler alert: while it takes a while for the relationship to achieve permanent status, Yates will be a recurring character for the rest of the series.
"Family Business" has a lot going for it. Ferengi sexual politics are downright icky. Females are expected to stay naked, to remain at home, to refrain from speaking to a male outside the immediate family, to not only prepare but also pre-chew the family's food and to refrain from business. Ishka rebels against all of it, a source of endless frustration and embarrassment for Quark.
Rom is ultimately the story's hero. Rom adores his mother - only ever referring to her by the endearment Moogie - and she him. We soon learn that the boys' deceased father had been a constant failure in business. Ishka herself was the financial genius, teaching Quark everything she knew while accumulating her own well-concealed fortune. Rom inherited his gentler demeanor and his devotion to family from dear old Dad. Rom is the one who finally stands up to both Quark and Ishka, forcing them to reconcile and saving the day for all.
As I've said before, much of Deep Space Nine's strength derives from its deep bench. Garack will always be my favorite recurring character but not for lack of other worthy candidates. "Family Business" is a fantastic Rom episode and he only gets better over the rest of the series. Yates herself will be essential to Benjamin's character development. The episode also introduces Brunt, one of so many Star Trek characters played by Jeffrey Combs. Brunt exits this story saying he hopes he never sees the others again. He'll be back for six more episodes.
Acting Notes
Andrea Martin (Ishka) was born January 15, 1947 in Portland, Maine. She graduated from Emerson College in Boston. She was the first of two actors to play the role of Ishka.
Though American, Martin built her early career in the company of Canadian comedy royalty. After relocating to Toronto, she was cast in a production of Godspell with then-unknowns Gilda Radner, Martin Short, Eugene Levy and Victor Garber. Later, she joined the legendary sketch show SCTV, appearing alongside Levy, John Candy, Dave Thomas, Catherine O'Hara, Harold Ramis and Joe Flaherty. Martin was nominated for ten Emmys for her work on the show, one for acting, the rest for writing. She won twice, both for writing.
Martin made her Broadway debut in 1992 and has since been nominated for a Best Featured Actress Tony six times. She's won twice, for My Favorite Year in 1993 and a Pippin revival in 2013. As if all of that weren't enough, there have been films, too, including Wag the Dog, Hedwig and the Angry Inch and My Big Fat Greek Wedding.
I live Andrea Martin and knew her from SCTV. She played so many great characters on that show. Of course, I haven't seen this episode but it sounds good even though I hate the Ferengi.
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