I know the show has a reputation of having bad Ferengi episodes but I am going to make a argument that this is more theory than fact I went through all the main Ferengi or Quark based shows and counted the number of Great,good and bad episodes and the results might surprise you
Here is the great ones:
1"The Jem'Hadar" I know it's not considered as a Ferengi episode but Quark has a big enough role in it to count for me. Plus all the fun of the first part of the episode comes from Quark and he has the great speech to Sisko were he basically stands up for his people and talks about how Humans use to be worst.
2"The House of Quark" Great episode were you see Quark out of his element. Love the scene with all the Klingons looking at finacial records and Gowron just tosses his to the side. Also like Quark not using the Bat'leth which was really brave and I felt he had solid chemistry with his wife.
3"Family Business" First look at the Ferengi homeworld. I like his realtionship with his mom and they along with Rom and Brunt were just fun together.
4"Little Green Men" Works because all the Ferengi characters just play off each other so well. Toss in old Sci-Fi tropes a garage sale, Quark as a captain, jokes about Sisko looking like Bell from the Bell riots and maybe the first toliet joke via "waste extraction" and it's all great.
5 "The Bar Association" I like that it's exploring a issue like unions and I like that Rom stands up to Quark and even goes and gets a better job.
6"Body Parts" A deep character story that isn't just played for laughs. I'm not sure if Quark had ever had to look at his values as hard as he does in this episode. Basically tells Brunt to go fuck himself at the end which is a stand up and cheer moment.
7"The Ascent" Like "Jem'Hadar" this isn't a full Quark episode but you can't do this ep without him because we get to see one of the most intresting Trek duo's get a episode all to themselves and it works because Quark/Odo scenes always work.
8"Business as Usual" Like "Body Parts" this is more drama than comedy and I like how Quark is basically in dark place and yet finds away out of it. The line that I think is Gaila says about how "In all those lights in sky would anyone notice if one went out" is a great all time favorite line for me.
9"The Maqnifcent Ferengi" I got to admit I wasn't sure if I was going to put this on the great list but I went ahead anyway because I know everyone seems to love it. Me it's good but not great. I just don't think the Ferengi work well as action characters and I know that is part of the joke but I think if your going to do this story they should be at least a little more capable than we see here.
10"Who Mourns for Morn" I love this episode. A fun little caper of back dealing criminals coming together and Quark outsmarting them all. Plus it's nice to get some more backstory on Mourn.
11"The Siege of Ar-558" Not a pure Ferengi episode but Nog does seem to have the second most important story and Quark offers up sage advice and also gets to show concern when Nog is sent on a mission. I always like when they show that the Ferengi are capable of caring about each other and are not just greedy bad people all the time.
12"It's Only a Paper Moon" A little limited because the actor who plays Nog is not super talented but he does know his character well so that makes up for it. It's nice to see them explore PSD and have a character have emotional trama. Also I like VIc Fontaine and I like how he helped Rom basically by just being a friend to him.
13"Meridan" Should have listed above since I was going through the season as they ran but I forgot 2 stories. The A story is awful but I find the B story of Quark trying to create a sex program with Kira to be funny and it has a great payoff with Quark. While I like that Ferengi can have more depth on "DS9" than other Trek shows their is nothing wrong from time to time just writing them as creeps because that aspect is still there.
14"Heart of Stone" A story is average though a little more important than I think we might consider with a Founder already in the AQ and Odo actually saying out loud that he loves Kira. The B story though is what's great. Rom wanting to join Starfleet which feels a little out of the blue since the previous ep we saw him was him acting like a jerk on a double date with Jake. Still they explain his reasons well enough to were it makes sense and It's a great idea to see someone intrested in Starfleet who isn't a utopian human or even a alien who might also be from some paradise style planet.
That's it for the great episodes. I will list the good and bad episodes later. Getting tired of typing and can't find my pet monkey who usually makes half of my threads for me to finish at the moment.
Jason
Here is the great ones:
1"The Jem'Hadar" I know it's not considered as a Ferengi episode but Quark has a big enough role in it to count for me. Plus all the fun of the first part of the episode comes from Quark and he has the great speech to Sisko were he basically stands up for his people and talks about how Humans use to be worst.
2"The House of Quark" Great episode were you see Quark out of his element. Love the scene with all the Klingons looking at finacial records and Gowron just tosses his to the side. Also like Quark not using the Bat'leth which was really brave and I felt he had solid chemistry with his wife.
3"Family Business" First look at the Ferengi homeworld. I like his realtionship with his mom and they along with Rom and Brunt were just fun together.
4"Little Green Men" Works because all the Ferengi characters just play off each other so well. Toss in old Sci-Fi tropes a garage sale, Quark as a captain, jokes about Sisko looking like Bell from the Bell riots and maybe the first toliet joke via "waste extraction" and it's all great.
5 "The Bar Association" I like that it's exploring a issue like unions and I like that Rom stands up to Quark and even goes and gets a better job.
6"Body Parts" A deep character story that isn't just played for laughs. I'm not sure if Quark had ever had to look at his values as hard as he does in this episode. Basically tells Brunt to go fuck himself at the end which is a stand up and cheer moment.
7"The Ascent" Like "Jem'Hadar" this isn't a full Quark episode but you can't do this ep without him because we get to see one of the most intresting Trek duo's get a episode all to themselves and it works because Quark/Odo scenes always work.
8"Business as Usual" Like "Body Parts" this is more drama than comedy and I like how Quark is basically in dark place and yet finds away out of it. The line that I think is Gaila says about how "In all those lights in sky would anyone notice if one went out" is a great all time favorite line for me.
9"The Maqnifcent Ferengi" I got to admit I wasn't sure if I was going to put this on the great list but I went ahead anyway because I know everyone seems to love it. Me it's good but not great. I just don't think the Ferengi work well as action characters and I know that is part of the joke but I think if your going to do this story they should be at least a little more capable than we see here.
10"Who Mourns for Morn" I love this episode. A fun little caper of back dealing criminals coming together and Quark outsmarting them all. Plus it's nice to get some more backstory on Mourn.
11"The Siege of Ar-558" Not a pure Ferengi episode but Nog does seem to have the second most important story and Quark offers up sage advice and also gets to show concern when Nog is sent on a mission. I always like when they show that the Ferengi are capable of caring about each other and are not just greedy bad people all the time.
12"It's Only a Paper Moon" A little limited because the actor who plays Nog is not super talented but he does know his character well so that makes up for it. It's nice to see them explore PSD and have a character have emotional trama. Also I like VIc Fontaine and I like how he helped Rom basically by just being a friend to him.
13"Meridan" Should have listed above since I was going through the season as they ran but I forgot 2 stories. The A story is awful but I find the B story of Quark trying to create a sex program with Kira to be funny and it has a great payoff with Quark. While I like that Ferengi can have more depth on "DS9" than other Trek shows their is nothing wrong from time to time just writing them as creeps because that aspect is still there.
14"Heart of Stone" A story is average though a little more important than I think we might consider with a Founder already in the AQ and Odo actually saying out loud that he loves Kira. The B story though is what's great. Rom wanting to join Starfleet which feels a little out of the blue since the previous ep we saw him was him acting like a jerk on a double date with Jake. Still they explain his reasons well enough to were it makes sense and It's a great idea to see someone intrested in Starfleet who isn't a utopian human or even a alien who might also be from some paradise style planet.
That's it for the great episodes. I will list the good and bad episodes later. Getting tired of typing and can't find my pet monkey who usually makes half of my threads for me to finish at the moment.
Jason
