Star Trek: The Ascent

Episode: "The Ascent"

Series: Star Trek: Deep Space Nine

Season 5, Episode 9

Original Air Date: November 25, 1996

via Memory Alpha

With sheer delight, Odo arrests Quark who has been summoned to appear before a Federation grand jury.  The constable assumes the responsibility of escorting the bartender to Inferna Prime.  All goes awry and the two of them end up stranded on an uninhabited world - no communications, no replicator and practically no rations.  Meanwhile, Nog is back from Starfleet Academy.  He and his old buddy Jake become terrible roommates.

It's The Odd Couple times two.  

The writing staff had been wanting a story to dig into the Odo-Quark relationship, partly because of the thick tension between the two characters but also because of the undeniable skill of the two actors and the chemistry between them.  The initial inspiration for "The Ascent" was Samuel Beckett's classic minimalist play Waiting for Godot but they couldn't figure out how to make it work in a DS9 context.  Who would the two of them be waiting for?  Sisko?  Sure, but why?  Honestly, I don't think Beckett quite suits the obvious antagonism between Odo and Quark.  Neil Simon, on the other hand...

One of the first complaints Quark makes about Odo during their journey is the way he smacks his lips when he eats.  It's been a while but I'm fairly certain that's straight out of the Odd Couple script.  The Felix-Oscar vibe is more pronounced between Nog and Jake.  What's funny is that before Nog went off to the Academy, one would have expected Jake to be the neat freak and Nog the slob but with maturity, they've flipped roles.

Anyway, it's good fun.  Juxtaposing the comedy with the seriousness of a survival narrative is a little odd but it works in the end.

Acting Notes

via Memory Alpha

Robin Morselli plays a Bajoran officer in "The Ascent."  She was born in Bodega Bay, California, March 21, 1955.  She graduated from Western Illinois University, then started but never finished law school.  

Morselli appeared in 69 DS9 episodes, 77 Trek episodes in total - all of them uncredited.  She also appeared in The Nanny and the Clint Eastwood film In the Line of Fire - again, always uncredited.  Never forget, folks, all of those actors in the background without any lines have names and careers, too.

Morselli met her husband on the set of DS9: Mike Reilly, a camera operator.