The 10 Best Ferengi Episodes Of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, Ranked
"Star Trek: Deep Space Nine" is unlike any other "Star Trek" series, diverging from franchise creator Gene Roddenberry's vision after his death and digging into stories and characters that were more morally gray than the original series or "Star Trek: The Next Generation." "Deep Space Nine" took place on board the space station Deep Space Nine, located in a key position near the freshly liberated planet of Bajor and a newly discovered wormhole to another quadrant of the universe. Several seasons are occupied with the Dominion War, forcing "Star Trek" to contend with concepts like terrorism, torture, and more, making it one of the darkest of all of the "Trek" shows. Thankfully, however, the show also has a secret comedy card: the Ferengi.
The big-eared, bulbous headed aliens obsessed with capitalism were something of a bad stereotype in the franchise until "Deep Space Nine," where they finally got a chance to shine and correct earlier missteps by making the Ferengi more complex. It paid off incredibly well, with several Ferengi characters becoming fan favorites by the series' end, especially begrudgingly empathetic bar owner Quark (Armin Shimerman). As a result, there are quite a few great episodes centered around the Ferengi and their various misadventures, and I have collected and ranked the 10 best for your enjoyment. Honorable mentions include "Looking for Par'Mach in All the Wrong Places," "Who Mourns for Morn," and "In the Cards," which are all fantastic episodes but weren't quite as Ferengi-focused as the ones that made the cut. Without further ado, please insert your latinum to the left and let's check out the best Ferengi episodes on "Star Trek: Deep Space Nine!"
10. Prophet Motive
Throughout "Deep Space Nine," Quark has a complicated relationship with Grand Nagus Zek (Wallace Shawn), the supreme leader of the Ferengi people, but things get their absolute weirdest in the season 3 episode "Prophet Motive." In the episode, Zek reveals to Quark and his brother Rom (Max Grodénchik) that he is changing the Rules of Acquisition and completely turning Ferengi culture on its head, embracing kindness and sharing — not exactly well-known Ferengi traits. He even tells a customer of Quark's how to get the item he's trying to sell her at wholesale, which is pretty much a Ferengi hate-crime. It turns out that he found one of the Bajoran prayer orbs and the prophets changed him, so Quark decides to take Zek into the wormhole to confront the prophets directly.
The prophets are basically gods who exist outside of linear time, so having the Ferengi, who are basically just greedy "Star Trek" hobbits, go to confront them is absolutely hilarious. The prophets aren't particularly impressed with the Ferengi and it takes some serious sweet-talking on Quark's part to not be changed the same way Zek was. Instead the prophets "fix" Zek and kick Quark and his ship back out into the Alpha quadrant and tell them not to ever come back, like some unruly house guests no longer welcome at a party. It's really funny and gives the prophets the chance to be something other than just frustratingly mysterious.
9. The House of Quark
Quark has to be good at talking his way out of trouble ... because his mouth so frequently get him into trouble. When he's not working on various get-rich-quick schemes or ways to smuggle illegal goods through a Federation station, he's lusting after women that are totally out of his league and pretty dangerous for him to be around. Quark loves a feisty woman, and perhaps his most intense romance was with Grilka (Mary Kay Adams). After Quark accidentally kills her husband in a bar fight and then claims to have done it on purpose, he is tasked with marrying Grilka and taking over her Klingon house. That goes about as well as one might expect, since Quark is not exactly up to Klingon social standards.
In the end, Quark ends up saving Grilka and her house in a very Ferengi way, using his wits and knowledge of finances to figure out that Grilka's rival house has been stealing from her, which is a real Klingon no-no. Quark ends up divorced from Grilka but they stay friendly, and he eventually tries to woo her for real a few seasons later in "Looking for Par'Mach in All the Wrong Places." Who doesn't love a Ferengi-Klingon episode? That's a match made in "Star Trek" heaven.
8. Family Business
In the season 3 episode "Family Business," three great recurring characters were introduced for the first time, and two of them are Ferengi. (The third is freighter captain Kasidy Yates, played by Penny Johnson Jerald, who eventually goes on to marry Captain Sisko.) In the episode, Rom and Quark are tasked with returning to the Ferengi home planet of Ferenginar because their mother, Ishka, has been charged with the crime of earning a profit while female. It's the first appearance of Ishka, played by Andrea Martin, though in future episodes she would be played by Cecily Adams, and she's a hilarious blessing of a character. Ishka is a brilliant financial mind who wears clothes (Ferengi women are supposed to stay nude) and resists the gendered rules of her society, and that drives Quark absolutely up a wall.
The episode also introduces Jeffrey Combs' character Brunt, who works as a liquidator for the Ferengi Commerce Authority and has it out for Quark and his family. Combs has played a ton of "Star Trek" characters over the years, but as Brunt he gets the chance to be a part of the greater ridiculous Ferengi family, and he's terrific. "Family Business" is great for finally showing us Ferenginar and introducing Ishka and Brunt, but there's another episode that gives them even more to do and it's wonderful.
7. Ferengi Love Songs
Quark can be pretty selfish, and in "Ferengi Love Songs," he puts his own happiness and success before his mother's when it's revealed that she's having a romantic affair with Zek and Quark does everything in his power to drive a wedge between them. The episode introduces Adams as Ishka, better known as "Moogie," taking over the role from Martin. Ishka is a sassy, self-assured woman who ends up being the brains behind the throne, so to speak, helping Zek to right Ferengi finances and become more competitive throughout the universe. When Quark gets in the way, it ends up being disastrous not only for Moogie and Zek but for all of Ferenginar, and he soon realizes that he needs to give his mother a lot more credit than he has before.
The episode is one of the best comedic episodes in all of "Star Trek," with several great moments involving people either hiding in Quark's closet or using it as a place to teleport, leading to some sci-fi sitcom-esque hijinks. Adams and Shawn are fantastic together, calling one another pet names and nuzzling their prosthetic-covered noses, and it's hard not to root for their romance. It's rare to see love between elderly couples on TV, let alone elderly aliens with bulbous heads, making "Ferengi Love Songs" as refreshing as it is funny.
6. Body Parts
"Deep Space Nine" is unique among "Star Trek" shows in that it forces characters who otherwise wouldn't interact to live in the same space station. Quark is, arguably, the greatest character in the franchise because he provides a totally different lens through which to view humanity and the Federation. His episodes run the gamut from zany and irreverent to much more serious fare, and in the episode "Body Parts," we get to see who he really is when things go horribly, horribly wrong. When Ferengi die, they have their ashes pressed into collectible coins to be sold to the highest bidder, and when Quark discovers that he is terminally ill, he begins the bidding. Unfortunately, the medical tests were wrong and Quark isn't going to die, but he's already sold his remains to an anonymous bidder who turns out to be his nemesis, Brunt. He either has to kill himself and fulfill the contract or break it, which will lead to him being cut off from all of Ferengi society and forfeiting all of his assets.
He ends up deciding to live even though it goes against everything he's ever believed, and in the end all of his friends aboard Deep Space Nine help him by replenishing his supplies and helping him to restore his business. Even though Quark thinks he's lost all of his assets, Rom informs him that he's richer than he ever knew because of his friendships. It's a moment that shows how much Quark has grown and changed on account of being surrounded by filthy hu-mans, and it shows how much the people around him have changed too, growing to love the fiscally finicky Ferengi.
5. It's Only a Paper Moon
Not all Ferengi episodes are funny or full of warm and fuzzy feelings. The season 7 episode "It's Only a Paper Moon" follows Nog (Aron Eisenberg), Rom's son and Quark's nephew, after he loses his leg in battle during the Siege of AR-558 and is subsequently stricken with severe post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). After years of hard work to become a Starfleet officer, he becomes unable to cope with what happened on AR-558 and seeks solace in the holodeck. He spends all of his time in a well-loved program that hosts Vegas lounge singer Vic Fontaine (James Darren), trying to escape reality through Vic's music and the glittering false world. It's tough to believe that one of the best episodes in all of "Deep Space Nine" features a Ferengi who we were introduced to as a child character and a hologram, but "It's Only a Paper Moon" is truly an all-timer.
Originally, the plan was for Nog to lose both legs, but that was just a bit too much. Even then, "It's Only a Paper Moon" is heart-wrenching stuff that deals with the horrors of war in a very personal way. Eisenberg's performance is nuanced and exquisite even beneath all of those layers of prosthetic makeup, and the episode is even more poignant following the actor's death in 2019. If you can watch "It's Only a Paper Moon" without crying, you might be a Vulcan or a Borg.
4. Little Green Men
Time travel episodes in "Star Trek" can be hit-or-miss, but the season 4 "Deep Space Nine" episode "Little Green Men" is a total blast. After being gifted a shuttle by his cousin Gaila, Quark takes Rom and Nog to Earth so that Nog can enroll in Starfleet Academy. Of course, he also does a bit of illegal smuggling in the process to make things profitable, and that illicit cargo helps send the Ferengi back in time to Roswell, New Mexico in 1947. The shapeshifting Constable Odo (René Auberjonois) also comes along, as he hid aboard the shuttle to spy on Quark. The Ferengi crash land and end up waking up in a government facility and Quark sets about trying to swindle humanity as quickly as possible once Rom gets their universal translators fixed. Odo ends up convincing them not to change the timeline or alter Earth's history any more than they already have, though Quark has to really fight against his worst instincts.
"Little Green Men" is great because it's not just fun "Star Trek" but fun science-fiction, positing that the little green men with big heads and beady eyes associated with the purported Roswell crash were actually Ferengi from 24th century. Not only that, but it's also an episode that forces Odo and Quark to work together, which is always pure gold. "Little Green Men" isn't groundbreaking, but it is a seriously good time.
3. Rules of Acquisition
Perhaps the most interesting thing about Ferengi society throughout "Deep Space Nine" is the way it evolves, especially when it comes to the treatment of women (or "females," as Quark and co. are prone to calling them). Ferengi culture is deeply sexist, forcing its women to stay home, naked. The only men they are allowed to talk to are members of their own immediate family, and they're not allowed to hold jobs or earn profit. While Ishka eventually made major changes to the status quo when she started dating Zek, another Ferengi woman first shook things up in the season 2 episode "Rules of Acquisition."
Pel (Helene Udy) is a Ferengi woman pretending to be a man, wearing prosthetic ears over her own. She works for Quark and falls in love with him, eventually confessing her secret to Jadzia Dax (Terry Farrell). When Quark discovers her true identity, he is shocked but actually tries to help her, offering her money so she can leave and start a new life. (Sure, it would protect him from the punishment of doing business with a Ferengi woman as well, but he could have thrown her under the bus just as easily.) Quark has feelings for Pel but can't accept them, and though Zek learns the truth, Quark still defends her. Pel ends up starting a new life in the Gamma Quadrant and we never see her again, but she made a lasting impact on Quark, who would develop newfound empathy and become a much better man in time.
2. Bar Association
While Quark learns to be more flexible in his dealings with women, he has a much harder time when it comes to his hardcore capitalist leanings. He treats his employees terribly, even his brother Rom, which leads to poor Rom collapsing at work with an ear infection. In the infirmary, Dr. Bashir (Alexander Siddig) suggests that Rom form a union, something that's extremely illegal among the Ferengi. Rom does it, taking advice from Miles O'Brien (Colm Meaney), who tells him about his ancestor who wasn't "just a great man, he was a union man." Rom and the rest of Quark's employees unionize and go on strike, leading to just about everyone boycotting his establishment. The episode gives Rom a chance to really shine, which is great because he's a truly unusual Ferengi man. He's sensitive and caring and in touch with his feminine side, and is more interested in doing the right thing than he is in making profit. (He even gives up all of his wealth when he marries a Bajoran woman, something that's absolutely unheard of.)
The episode doesn't have the same kind of dramatic tension that became the standard on "Deep Space Nine," but the interpersonal character relationships are stellar and it shows that Ferengi are still individuals who can shirk tradition. Despite Brunt showing up and giving Quark a hard time, the bar owner eventually relents and gives his employees raises and time off, as long as they pretend like he "won" to save face with the Commerce Authority. The best part is that Rom ends up taking a job in engineering, realizing his own worth and giving himself a fresh start.
1. The Magnificent Ferengi
What do you get when you task a group of ragtag Ferengi with a hostage rescue mission against the Dominion? You get "The Magnificent Ferengi," an absolute joy of an episode that sees Quark assemble a team of crooks and relatives to rescue Ishka after she's taken hostage. They end up doing a hostage trade, turning over a Vorta named Keevan (Christopher Shea) in exchange for Ishka on an abandoned Cardassian station that looks just like Deep Space Nine. The only problem is that they accidentally kill Keevan before they can do the exchange, and they're surrounded by an army of Jem'hadar under the command of a Vorta named Yelgrun (played by punk icon Iggy Pop). As such, they end up pulling a "Weekend at Bernie's" by rigging electrodes to Keevan that Nog can control via remote, forcing his body to walk. It's really funny, and while the episode is about as deep as a kiddie pool, it's a much-needed respite from the bleak Dominion War episodes that dominate the later seasons of "Deep Space Nine."
"The Magnificent Ferengi" has it all: Quark being savvy, Nog saving the day, a whole bunch of great in-fighting among the Ferengi, a reanimated Vorta corpse, and some brilliant moments. Keevan's last words might be "I hate Ferengi," but this episode should help anyone who watches fall in love with them.