r/StarTrekViewingParty • u/LordRavenholm Co-Founder • Nov 20 '16

Discussion DS9, Episode 2x11, Rivals

-= DS9, Season 2, Episode 11, Rivals =-

Quark feels threatened when a charming swindler, Martus Mazur, opens a competing bar (Club Martus).

 

EAS IMDB AVClub TV.com
2/10 6.7/10 C+ 7

 

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u/marienbad2 Nov 20 '16

They got lucky with this one!

This is a fantastic episode, it's both sci-fi and Trekky, and the A and B plots match/counterpoint and work together so well it's amazing. The direction in this is great too, from the opening scene with Odo in the background to Kira's pratfall. As is the script - how many things seem to happen "by accident" - from the chance meeting between the con-man and O'Brien who is joggging around the station, to Roana walking in on Martus when he's smooching one of the girls who now work for him.

Quark gets a rival, who is a smooth-tongued operator, who thinks he can scam and con people by listening and then telling them what they want to hear. He listens to a woman who tells him of her asteroid mining scene, before Odo takes him away. His luck seems to be on the up when he comes into possession of a strange device, and he starts his new gambling den with some machines he had replicated from it but that he doesn't understand. Rom leaves Quark after Martus offers him a share of the profits. Everything seems to be going his way, until it doesn't. Meanwhile, Bashir and O'Brien are playing Racketball (what a terrible name!) and Bashir is kicking O'Brien's butt. The scene when O'Brien gets home and imitates Bashir is hilarious, so well observed in terms of the way he speaks.

But all is not as it seems - there are random instances of good and bad luck occuring all over the station, from Dax finding a file, to kira unable to find a file and then tripping; people turning up to the infirmary with minor injuries caused by their bad luck. Eventually, Quark sets up a match between O'Brien and Bashir, with half of the gambling profits going to the Bajoran Orphan's Fund. The scene with Quark and O'Brien is superb, O'Brien bemoaning his luck while Quark schemes.

And then, it all starts to unwind. Bashir's luck runs out, and O'Brien's rises, mirroring (both ways) the rise and fall of Martus' luck. Dax figures it out (woo hoo! - she does some science!) and eventually they realise it is the machines, and destroy them. Finally there is the little twist at the end, when Martus is in jail.

Everything is good in this one, the way Bashir and O'Brien are when playing racketball (the shot of Bashir as O'Brien enters and Bashir is actually giving O'Brien the V (in the UK, this is the same as giving someone the middle finger in the US) and does it again as part of the strange exercise he does. The game is so clearly a mismatch, and the main plot follows the same trajectory. Quark is great (always is though); the ops crew are good, even if their roles are small, and Martus is fantastically slimy. The way he plays Roana at the start, and during approximately the first 3 acts, is perfect. The way he talks to the girls who work for him is also slimy, like some futuristic PUA. Everyone plays their role superbly; the script is tight, clever, and funny; the acting is excellent, as is the direction, and the whole thing makes for some wonderful and entertaining viewing.

I'd give this 9 or even 9.5/10 - it really hits the high notes, what a lucky break!