SDS9 – S3E23: "Family Business" (Audio + Transcript) (Patreon)

This episode was recorded on February 15, 2024.

In this episode, Sam and Scott discuss "Family Business," in which Quark returns home to the planet Ferenginar to deal with his mother's violation of the misogynist precepts of Ferengi culture.

Find seasons 1 and 2 on the Southpaw podcast stream. Find the rest of season 3 on Patreon.

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Transcript

[Note: Transcripts are autogenerated and may contain errors.]

SAM

We are back with Southpaw Deep Space Nine Season 3.

If you don't know what SDS9 is, it's Southpaw's completest DS9 watch-along show where we watch every episode, recap it, and analyze it.

We are your hosts, Scott and Sam, me.

Scott is someone who's watched DS9

More than once, whereas I'm someone who's casually watched some episodes when it first aired, but this is my first time watching each episode in earnest.

And one of the cool things is this also gives us different perspectives of each episode.

After we watch each episode, we come together and talk about it.

We are discussing episode 23, Family Business.

Scott, can you tell us about this episode?

SCOTT

Yes, I'd love to.

So we start with Ben.

He's cooking and singing.

He's got his goatee going, so we know we're in the zone.

He's cooking Hungarian food, chicken paprikash, which for my Eastern European Jewish soul, just like, I love seeing it.

Something you'll see throughout the show is that even though there are replicators and, you know, we have this

Post-scarcity world, Ben, whose father owns a New Orleans kitchen, likes to cook with real ingredients.

Whether he gets it from the replicator or not, I don't know, but he likes to cook.

And his son Jake figures out that this is probably because Ben has convinced the Paljanites to switch ambassadors with the Federation.

And Jake, if you remember from previous episode, has been

I'm very hellbent on trying to set Ben up with a freighter captain named Cassidy Yates who just happens to be at the station.

And Jake asks, like, hey, why doesn't she come to eat some chicken paprikash with us?

And Ben's like, I'm going to meet her my way.

He's hesitant.

At Quark's, it is jumping.

Quark is flummoxed that Nog, who is Rom's son, is not there because he's studying for Starfleet.

He would be the first Ferengi person to join Starfleet, and Quark worries that this is the end of Ferengi culture.

It's very important in this episode that you understand that Ferengi culture is super important to Quark.

Brunt, a Ferengi commerce authority guy, and as you know in the Ferengi culture like commerce and laws like pretty much together, he busts in and slaps a notice on Quark's wall, a writ of commerce, basically like an audit slash injunction.

And Quark and Rom freak out and close the bar.

Brunt has come to punish Quark, a family-based punishment.

Ishka, or Mugi, their mother, has been charged with the obscene crime of making profit.

As one might remember, in Ferenginar, it is illegal in the law for women to make profit and also wear clothes.

On the deck, Dax asks if Ben is going to meet Yates.

Dax says if she were still Curzon Dax.

She is Jadzia now.

As you know, Jadzia is part of a long line of Dax because the Trill culture, some of them are fused to symbionts and they live connected lives.

She's like, yo, if I was Curzon, I would kick it to her.

She's got the stuff.

Quark closes the bar.

He's on a trip to Ferenginar.

Quark, who doesn't like the word Mugi for his mom, feels that Ram is just going to take their mother's side.

Quark is a daddy's boy and Ram is a mother's girl.

Ram says someone needs to take her side.

It's their mom.

We get to Ferenginar and we're at their family home.

Mugi appears and she's wearing clothes.

and reveals that she will not do a thing and addresses Brunt.

This is all a crime on Varanginar.

Quark is upset and Ram is upset.

Everyone is upset.

Mugi is asked to disrobe and admit to her crimes and she refuses.

And we find out that Quark hasn't been home in 20 years.

Back in DS6-9, Miles and Bashir try to break in to get their dartboard.

They play darts all the time.

Darts might play into next episode.

Odo points out, like, look, there are special locks made by ROM.

It's not happening.

Cisco asks, what's up?

And everyone is just waiting for Cisco to kick his game to Cassidy Yates.

Everybody's talking about it.

At the Ferengi family home of Quark, Rahm, and Mugi, their patriarch has passed away.

Rahm cooks food, which again is normally, as they say, a female's job.

Quark was ridiculed for Mugi growing up.

Mugi has always been rebellious.

And she has embarrassed the family for being friendly and defiant.

Quirk wants to say that Mugi is unwell for the case, pleading insanity or something.

Quirk wants Mugi to be put in her place.

Mugi and Quirk argue.

Mugi uses Quirk's stipend, because apparently in this culture you give your mother a stipend because they can't make money, and she's been using the stipend to invest in Beatles and has made a small profit.

Ram is proud, but again, females, that's a word they use, are not allowed to make profit according to law.

As you know, there's a law, the rules, you know, of Ferengi acquisition.

And Quark says that without law, society will go to chaos.

And Mugi argues that maybe Ferengenar deserves some chaos.

Quirk knows Mugi is different and does love her, but he knows that if she doesn't sign a confession over this minor profit, she will be forced to be an indentured servant, and this will also cause the reputation of Quirk's business and vigor to be affected, and they'll never survive.

But Mugi will not sign.

Quark says she is selfish and never cared about family.

Mugi believes that Ferengi tradition is unfair to women.

Ram is uncomfortable with Mugi being clothed, but is so happy to see her.

They have such a tender relationship.

To make him comfortable, she disrobes and takes care of him, cleans his teeth and rubs his forehead.

Expresses how bad Quark is dealing with all this, and Mugi wants to visit Deep Space Nine, but again, Ferengi women aren't allowed to travel.

Mugi explains that it's not about money, it's about pride, and that she is capable of earning profit just as much as male Ferengi, if not more.

She wants a seat at the table more than anything.

Mookie is willing to be in servitude for the principle of the thing.

Back on Deep Space Nine, Ben goes to meet Yates.

They have a banter, a tête-à-tête, and agree to a coffee in the morning, or a rack of Ticino.

Quark finds out that the money that has been earned is a lot more than Beatles.

She's been using, Mugi has basically been using like VPNs and private Bahamian style bank accounts to turn the money that she's been given to lots of money.

She's clearly gifted at this and Quark is worried that he wouldn't be able to pay all this back if he had to.

But later we see Quark smiling, Quark's solution is to kill Mugi.

Quark has figured out Moogie is making lots of money.

She is actually a better profit maker than Quark.

And we find out that apparently Moogie used to try to help their father in business, but he wouldn't let her.

And everything is explained as just cause.

This is the way.

Do this because this is how we do things.

And Quark is going to snitch on his mom and

Just let his mom fall.

Ron explained that he stayed when Quark left and their dad was a bad businessman and Mugi is right about this and they have a physical fight that Mugi has to break up.

And Quark leaves their house, and he gets to like the Ferengi IRS Law Office Bureau, where like, to go up the stairs costs some money, to talk to someone costs money, to sit costs money.

He goes to see Brunt, but Ram shows up with a message from Mugi.

She'll share the profits 50-50.

Quark leaves.

Quark apologizes to Mugi.

Mugi accepts, though we find out that Ram lied about the profit sharing.

Ram insists that Quark be ashamed.

Ram points out that if Quark can find her money, the Ferengi will eventually, and is worried about Mugi's safety, and that they all need to talk and figure something out.

Moogie says, Quark, you're too hard on Rom.

He's a kind, good man.

And Quark said that he has to because of his softness.

And Moogie says that that is Rom's gift and that Rom is like Quark's father and that Quark is like her, Moogie.

Moogie taught Quark the rules of acquisition and through that learned that she had a knack for all of the Ferengi customs and business.

and explains that their father was a good man, a good husband, a good father, but not good at business and that these things are actually important and to separate these things and this might be an advantage to the Ferengi culture and this might be important later on.

Moogie and Quark make up, and they show love for each other.

Moogie offers to sign the confession and give back the latinum.

Back on Deep Space Nine, Yates and Sisko have coffee, but then Yates has to leave, so it turns out that Yates' brother plays baseball.

If we know anything,

Ben loves baseball, and in this world, baseball has not been played for hundreds of years.

But on Sestas III, where Miss Yates is from, they play it.

They have teams.

They have a league.

Ben is very happy and is like, hey, so you're leaving our date to go listen to the game of baseball that your brother's playing?

Uh, can I come?

Well, she offers, and he comes, and they are off to a good start, and then we see that Jake has been looking on in joy from the sidelines.

Back on Ferenginar, Mugi is naked, and she signs the bill to the FCA.

Quark bribes Brunt to not make news of the matter, worries that

This could cause an uproar, and everyone agrees this is best.

Ram, as he says goodbye to Mugi, Mugi reveals that she only returned a third of her profit.

She's good at this, and she's going to do great things.

Or as they would say in I Think You Should Leave, she has great car ideas.

SAM

The opening scene where Quark and Rom is both funny and informative.

The Ferengi, at least expressed through Quark, seems to be anti-education, which contrasts nicely with actual human capitalists who are all about elite education.

Capitalism as we know it is very much tied to elite status.

But one thing I've noticed about Ferengi culture so far in DS9 is that

They don't seem to care much about elite status.

So human capitalists are seemingly more elitist than Ferengi.

Many of the other cultures of Star Trek are seemingly more elite status-seeking.

The Federation itself is very much about that.

We've seen this in past episodes.

With that said, we see the Ferengi still replicate a lot of historical oppression human capitalists and landowners are known for.

Like patriarchy and misogyny.

But Scott, how would you compare Ferengi capitalism with human capitalism?

SCOTT

It's very complex.

I would compare

Franky capitalism to almost anarcho-capitalism to almost like an Andrew Tate or Nelk Bros capitalism that all is fair as long as you're making money and that education is second to profit.

and no laws are above bribery?

There's no morality.

And while I would argue that free market capitalism has no morality, there are people that do believe in it, which is something that I will talk about later, I'm sure, when we talk about Moogie's almost neoliberalist view.

SAM

Okay, you caught that too.

SCOTT

Capitalism versus the anarcho

S3E23 S3E23

Making big way in our culture is that reading is effeminate and weak because to show any effeminate traits or female traits is weakness which obviously is naive and honestly stupid and one of the worst

Doers of this, Andrew Tate, literally said, men should read.

Which, I mean, what separates us as a species and our evolution is reading and the sharing of ideas and communication and education.

So it's very interesting.

And Quark has some of those ideas.

He's a men's rights activist without knowing it because Ferengi in our culture is men's rights activism mixed with no cap capitalism.

SAM

Yeah, it's interesting.

And that is one of the things that makes Ferengi so interesting is that they're hard to completely

Pigeonhole because they are all that you said but then they're not also very macho or even into machismo either so I like that right I like that they can't be just categorized simply

They're kind of like Andrew Tate, except they're not all into the working out and tiring yourself out either.

So many men's rights activists, capitalists are all about, you should do things to exert yourself.

Whereas the Ferengi, as far as I've seen, they don't want to exert themselves too much.

So you can't completely map it onto any type of human capitalism.

And that's what makes them such a unique character to study.

SCOTT

Absolutely, yeah.

And it's something that makes their... So, they were introduced in Deep Space Nine... Sorry, they were introduced in The Next Generation and they were very one-note and not very interesting.

And Ferengi episodes in Star Trek The Next Generation are not that exciting, whereas Ferengi episodes in Deep Space Nine

I was actually surprised how explicit they were.

SAM

What enforces oppression and makes it systematic and systemic?

Law and order.

It seems like the writers were using the Ferengi as a cautionary example

of how law and order can be unjust.

Scott, what did you think about this subversion of the friendly culture to examine ourselves?

Because I think this was very much an episode as I look at them and now look at yourself.

SCOTT

Again, I feel it to be like capitalism versus neoliberalism.

That is the crux of this episode to me.

And that even the most generous of characters, Ram, is still fighting for a system that even he believes is fundamentally broken.

SAM

Yeah, I noticed that too.

But they can't envision any alternative, right?

They have no moral imagination.

And they're also very indoctrinated.

Now, I enjoyed both the character of Ishka and also the writing of Ishka.

At first, she seemed extraordinarily honest and transparent for a Ferengi.

Now, this is where, you know, of course they had me for a ride because she did her dealing seemingly in the open rather than using evasive tactics to cover up her trail.

You know, things that typical capitalists as we know it in the real world would do.

She does honest business.

Then we find out, no, she doesn't.

She turned out to be just as corrupt as most capitalists.

But we also found out she's like a covert Warren Buffett who is also corrupt.

There is no, oh, I invest in this and that and I make clean money.

You're investing in things that exploit people and that's where the money comes from.

And also, you're very much invested in that exploitation.

But Scott, what did you think about the character of Ishka and the storyline?

SCOTT

So Ishka and Mugi is a character near and dear to my heart.

Wait, does that mean she comes out more than once?

Oh, yeah.

As far as subplots in Deep Space Nine go, she is important.

So this is really just planting the seed of her presence.

and who she is and the fundamentally flawed nature of some people that want to change things.

Because again, right?

Like, she's neoliberalism.

She doesn't want to change the system.

She just wants to be part of the system.

SAM

Yeah, she doesn't want to abolish it, right?

She just wants to become one of the oppressors.

SCOTT

Right.

So,

That's just who she is in this part of the story, that her only interest in changing Ferengi is that women should be able to travel, wear clothes, and do business.

SAM

Wait, do we even know that she wants all Ferengi women to be able to do this, or would she be perfectly fine if it was only privileged for her?

It's hard to say.

Right, but that's another angle to even think about it.

We don't know.

SCOTT

As we're watching it now, her interest is that she can do it.

SCOTT

Yes.

SAM

And you know what?

If she is very much self-interested, right, then she has to come out in more episodes because in pursuit of herself, she's going to show up.

Absolutely.

Now, I know the whole mommy take off your clothes scenes were meant to be funny, but they kept going back to the well for it.

So Scott, do you remember how that first came off to you when you watched it as a kid compared to how it comes off to you now?

SCOTT

I don't remember, to be completely honest.

But in my rewatches, I was uncomfortable about it.

SAM

I mean, I'm thinking about 90s.

I mean, we're about the same age, right?

I'm thinking about the 90s teens that we were watching that as edgy teens, you know, it's like

Deep into Gen X and Mountain Dew and we're extreme, we're edgy, and we're dark, right?

I could see that being funny at that time, right?

To a teenager, you know?

But then, yeah, watching it now, it was very cringe.

Yeah, absolutely.

It's almost like DS9, right?

It's like a time capsule of all of the 90s.

Mm-hmm.

Now Scott, I'm sure you get into discussions with liberals about inclusion and equality and they think you could have that under capitalism.

So how do you approach those conversations?

SCOTT

I usually approach them that the things that you're very passionate about

Sexism, racism, bigotry, a lot of that would be alleviated if there was equity, that many therapists would be put out of business if people had things.

Studies show that having what you need leads to less depression and anxiety.

So that's often the conversations I have, and like a meme I saw the other day, I sometimes just say, apes together strong.

SAM

What if they haven't seen that movie?

They understand the meme.

That is true.

More people have probably seen the meme than they have seen the movie.

SCOTT

Right.

So, I'm just like, apes together strong, and they're like, okay, yeah.

And that was a trouble I had in social work school, is that a lot of people understood the system was wrong, but couldn't stop, couldn't think past capitalism.

SAM

Yeah, I posted the other day something I thought was just very uncontroversial and just very matter of fact, which is that capitalism by its very nature is exclusive.

You can't have equality and inclusiveness under capitalism.

And it went a little bit, I'm not going to say viral, but a lot of people shared that and then some liberals saw it and they were just like, this doesn't make any sense.

What are you talking about?

Because in their vision of reality,

Capitalism and inclusion and equality, I guess, are all the same and non-contradictory, which very much speaks to this episode and probably even to the writers.

I can't say for sure.

Maybe the writers were socialists.

I don't know for this episode.

But definitely with the characters, even though they know something's wrong, they can't imagine an alternative to the system that they have.

To get equality to abolish oppression has nothing to do with abolishing capitalism.

It's just two independent things.

SCOTT

Absolutely.

SAM

All right, Scott, can you tell us about the next episode?

SCOTT

I can and I will also say that I give this episode a solid four because it's just fun and I like it.

SAM

So to explain to the listeners, this is a four for season three average.

Each season's rating system is scaled higher.

An episode in season one that was a three would probably be a two for season three metrics.

SCOTT

But I'm going to give this one a four.

It's one of the better of the season for me.

And the next episode's Shakar.

Kai Wynn tries to win some more.

Until then...