Star Trek: Lower Decks' Exploration of the Ferengi Does Deep Space Nine Justice
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In a galaxy of compelling species, the Ferengi are one of Star Trek’s most peculiar, and most fascinating. Growing from not-quite-threatening villains in their TNG debut to a fascinating capitalist foil to the Federation’s post-scarcity utopia in DS9 through characters like Quark, Rom, and Nog, their outside perspective on Star Trek makes them an incredibly compelling tool for a series to examine its heroes. But Lower Decks turned that examination on the Ferengi themselves, and to amazing effect.
The incredibly titled “Parth Ferengi’s Heart Place”—a completely out of nowhere but appreciated nod to the legendary cult comedy Garth Marenghi’s Darkplace—has to balance a fine line between advancing the personal arcs of its heroes this season with what is arguably the more interesting bulk of its subject matter: a trip to Ferenginar as Grand Nagus Rom, and his wife First Clerk Leeta (DS9's Max Grodénchik and Chase Masterson making a triumphant return), seek to conclude negotiations with Starfleet as the Ferengi formally join the Federation.
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Having the Ferengi join the Federation—even though we largely knew it was coming given their prominence in Discovery’s far-flung future—is an important part of expanding our view of them, but Lower Decks cleverly still plays with their reputation as wheelers and dealers to show that, while Ferengi culture has changed and developed since we last saw it, it’s not been completely overhauled to the point of being unrecognizable. They’re still a proud people, they’re still shrewd orators and shrewder negotiators—what is diplomacy, if not another kind of business deal—and above all, they’re not stupid, as people metatextually or otherwise might often assume of them. That’s incredibly played here in Max Grodénchik’s masterful returning performance as Rom, as he and Leeta lull Captain Freeman and acting negotiator Admiral Vassery into assuming he’s a simple-minded wife guy that can be walked over into accepting Starfleet’s terms.
We likewise are lulled into the same false sense of security as an audience as Vassery is, until the twist that Leeta and Rom are actually working to strong-arm the Federation into a deal that would massively undermine them—not for insidious reasons as first assumed, but because what they actually want is for the Federation to stand up for itself under Ferengi scrutiny, to prove that they are actually taking them, and all the strides they’ve made under Rom’s leadership, seriously. Rom and Leeta want Captain Freeman to figure out what they’re really playing at, and to in turn be willing to negotiate like a Ferengi herself, out-dealing the dealers. It’s a remarkable expansion of Ferengi culture and its perspective on the Federation at large in a way that feels incredibly mindful of the years that have passed since we last really spent time with the Ferengi in Deep Space Nine, a natural evolution of the plot threads laid down by the end of that show, while still lovingly adapting what we do know about them already into new spaces and scenarios.
That Lower Decks managed to do all that while also still smartly advancing its main character’s personal arcs this season—in ways pleasantly unexpected or otherwise, considering Rutherford and Tendi’s relationship seems even stronger now in spite of the “setback” that they’re not acting on whatever potential romantic feelings they have for each other—is a package deal that even Quark would be envious of. In a season of strong episodes, perhaps no Star Trek fan would’ve expected a goofily titled Ferengi-focused story to be one of its absolute strongest so far—and in a season that has been all about defying expectation, perhaps that it is is also part of the point Lower Decks has been hammering home this time around.
Stream Star Trek: Lower Decks now on Paramount+.
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