I Finally Started Watching Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, And I Already Have A Serious Problem With Quark

I consider myself a Star Trek fan. I've seen all the movies more times than I can count. I grew up watching reruns of The Original Series and The Next Generation. I'm looking forward to beaming to the Enterprise at Universal Studios' upcoming Fan Fest.

Having said that, until recently, there were two entire series that I had never fully seen. Star Trek: Deep Space Nine and Star Trek: Voyager. Both originally aired during years when I was in high school and college, so my attention was largely elsewhere. Earlier this year, I finally sat down and watched all of Voyager, and now I’m taking a step backward in time to finally watch DS9.

Slightly more than one season into the show as of this writing, I’m enjoying it so far, Deep Space Nine's utter inability to properly handle a pandemic notwithstanding. It’s a significantly more serialized show than what I think of as Star Trek, which was likely a big reason I couldn’t get into it initially. However, while there’s a great deal about the show to like, there is a moment in Season 2 I have to talk about because it has completely changed my view of Quark, the Ferengi barkeep, and now I hate his guts.

Quark Should Have Been Thrown Off DS9 After “Invasive Procedures”

Early into Deep Space Nine Season 2 is the episode titled “Invasive Procedures.” A member of the Trill (played by John Glover) who is upset that he never got chosen to host a Trill symbiote like many of his race takes over DS9 while the station is mostly abandoned and forces Jadzia Dax to have her symbiote surgically removed.

The Trill transplant is carried out and is initially successful, even though this will likely lead to Jadzia’s death. Things are ultimately reversed and everybody is saved. However, Jadzia nearly dies and goes through a traumatic circumstance regardless, and it’s all Quark’s fault.

It ultimately comes out to the rest of the crew that Quark was paid to help the invaders get on the station. While they turn on him and don’t pay him, and he eventually helps the crew retake the station, Quark is threatened implicitly by Lt. Kira with being booted off the station for his treachery.

I Hope Future Seasons Of Deep Space Nine Don’t Forget About This

I may not have seen all of Deep Space Nine before, but I certainly know Quark is a major character and that he wasn’t going to get blown out an airlock, but that doesn’t mean I didn’t want to see it happen. Alternatively, seeing Lt. Kira just beat Quark within an inch of his life would have been acceptable. But the episode ends with no resolution on this topic, and it seems that the series has just moved on.

I’m furious. Up to this point, Quark, as played by Armin Shimerman, has been a certainly entertaining charlatan, but this move pushes things too far. The episode doesn’t specify exactly what Quark knew, it seems unlikely that he knew Jadzia was going to die by his actions, if only because he is attracted to her. But that just means Quark isn’t doing his due diligence on a business deal, and there must be a Rule of Acquisition about that.

Considering how serialized Deep Space Nine is, that makes it all the more odd that this particular issue hasn’t been dealt with. I suppose I’m supposed to believe that Quark helping to undo his terrible actions is enough to make up for it, but I don’t agree.

Of course, there are five seasons of TV between me and the end of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine. Perhaps this topic will be dealt with again in the future. I certainly hope so, because while I’m not saying Quark can’t be forgiven, he at least needs to apologize.