Monday, January 22, 2018

Episode Review - Little Green Men (Deep Space Nine, Season 4)

For those who are new to my episode reviews, you can find the post where I establish my point criteria here


Overview – Nog is selling all his childhood possessions and is heading to Starfleet Academy. While Rom is proud of his son, Quark continues to be disappointed by his nephew’s choice. When Quark receives a ship from is cousin Gaila, however, he decides to transport Nog to Earth himself (with a ship load of contraband to make the trip profitable). When it turns out that Gaila has sabotaged the shuttle, the trio of Ferengi find themselves stranded in Earth’s past. Captured by the US military in 1947, Quark, Rom, and Nog must try to find their way back home, unless Quark gets his way and is able to make some financial inroads in Earth’s barbaric past.


Score: 9/10 – There are fans of the Ferengi stories, and there are those that despise them, but it is hard to argue the appeal of this episode. It is on par with “The Trouble with Tribbles” as far as great Trek comedic episodes go. It is also a touching tribute to the B-movies of the 1950s, complete with the standard and fun archetype characters, ranging from the paranoid officer to the idealistic nurse to the cigar-chomping general (played by Charles Napier, who guest starred as a much different character in a much less enjoyable TOS episode “The Way to Eden”). We not only get to see a lot of Ferengi culture but they also serve in an observer role of the human (or should I say “hew-man”) condition. It is almost akin to how Spock was able to observe humanity from a Vulcan viewpoint, but with the Ferengi we get to have some fun along with it. Odo, unbeknownst to Quark and Rom, happened to come along for the ride, is able to help the hapless trio escape from the military. Overall, the episode is pure fun and extremely enjoyable. Even those who hate Ferengi episodes have to concede that this episode is good.


Relevance – 3 points. A point is scored for a sort of ending for one part of the relationship of Jake and Nog. Before he leaves, they meet at their usual hangout overlooking the promenade and reflect back on how far the two have come. When Nog comes back to the station they don’t often go back there, so this scene has a bit of finality to it. Another point is scored for the infamous cousin Gaila. Quark reveals that he is responsible for loaning his cousin the money to start his weapons consortium, and it is nice to see that Gaila has finally given Quark the ship he promised him (with a little surprise for him, of course). Finally, there is a fun nod to a great two-part episode from season three, “Past Tense”. As Nog is reading up on Earth’s history, he comes across a reference to the Bell Riots of 2024 and remarks that Gabriel Bell looks a lot like Captain Sisko (who, of course, had to be Bell in that episode to preserve the timeline). That fun little bit is enough to score a third point in this category.


Continuity – 2 points. Character continuity gets a great reception here. The three Ferengi all act the way that they should. Of particular note is when the soldiers are about to start using physical violence to get the Ferengi to talk, each one has a reaction that is just perfect for their character. Quark admits that he just wants to sell them stuff, clever Nog invents an elaborate invasion story that gives the soldiers exactly what they want, and Rom just starts wailing for his Moogie. Story continuity is also good here. Where I have to deduct a point is when Quark says that if they can give the humans of 1947 warp technology then they would have it centuries before anyone else, even the Vulcans, had it. There are many episodes that contradict that statement, so I have to take a point from them here.


Character Development – 2 points. As fun as this episode is in giving Quark some attention, it really doesn’t give us much advancement to his character. He basically tries to con his way to fame and fortune in the past, only to have it blow up in his face. He really doesn’t learn any valuable lesson either. Since Odo is the only one who goes back in time with the Ferengi, the rest of the cast get hardly any air time (I believe Captain Sisko only has two lines in this episode). Nog and Rom also get some attention, but again little is done in the way of advancing their characters much. While this category is usually reserved for the main cast members, Rom and Nog have become so familiar to the show that their development can be seen as significant as well.


Social Commentary – 1 point. This is where the episode can come up a bit short. They give us a fairly obvious knock on the hazard of smoking, a none-to-subtle reminder as to how dangerous A-bombs are, and generally tells us that humans have come a long way in the 24th Century. They are none too subtle about those messages, even in 1995. Still, they don’t really give us anything to think about. I have yet to meet one person who watched this episode and be able to give me anything solid about how this episode made them think about their lives. So yes, this episode is a lot of fun. It has the right mix of silliness and light-heartedness and is cleverly written. Quark makes some great observations about humans of the past (“If they’ll buy poison they’ll buy anything”). When the episode is done, it really doesn’t tell us anything we didn’t already know or in a way that was profound to us.


Cool Stuff – 3 points. I have to score a point for the insights into the Ferengi culture. It was great hearing all the dialogue in the Ferengi language. It was also quite clever of the writers to come up with the idea of putting the Ferengi universal translator in their ears instead of on a combadge like everyone else seems to do. The scene where the humans are smacking the sides of their heads mimicking Quark trying to reboot his translator is one of the great funny moments. I am also going to score a point for the irony of how they got back home. After telling us again and again how stupid humans were for making such destructive weapons like atom bombs, it is the explosion of an atom bomb that provides them the energy needed to ignite what was left of the kemocite and send them back home. What they thought was man’s folly proved to be Quark’s salvation. Finally, I have to score a point for the casting of the guest stars in this episode. Charles Napier, as I mentioned, plays a much different character from his space hippie he did in the Original series, and it is much better. I was glad that he was able to have a better role to be remembered by in the franchise, and it shows how great an actor he was. Megan Gallagher plays her second of three Trek roles (she had previously been in the DS9 episode “Invasive Procedures” and will go on to be in Voyager’s “Body and Soul”). She is a very talented and delightful actress with an impressive acting resume, and she shines here as the idealistic nurse that sees the reality of people far more clearly than anyone else.



Rank – Captain (20 points). So close to being the score of Admiral, but I can’t recommend this episode more. It is definitely a fun ride and I would argue the best Ferengi episode of all the series. The multiple nods to the B-movies of the 1950s, the great script, near-perfect casting among the guest stars, and just a great performance by all three of the Ferengi actors makes this a great episode that should not be missed.

If you would like to read other reviews from Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, please click the following link.

If you would like to read an episode review from any of the Trek series, click the following link to get to the series catalog. If the episode you want reviewed has not been done yet, then feel free to request it in the comments and I will see what I can do.


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