Quark gets into a bar fight with a drunken Klingon who accidentally falls on his own knife and dies. In order to drum up business and his own ego, the foolish barkeep concocts an audience-pleasing story saying he killed the Klingon in self-defense. When the Klingon's family chases Quark down, the results are anything but predictable.

It's a good Klingon episode and one of the best Quark vehicles yet. I guess when the writers need a lightweight episode, they can always count on Armin Shimerman to get the job done.

The Klingon's widow Grilka (Mary Kay Adams) comes to DS9 and abducts Quark to the Klingon Homeworld, where she forces him to marry her so she can keep claim on her family house and land under Klingon territorial laws. (Sound like a contrivance? It is, but who cares?) Now Quark and Grilka must work together to convince the High Council that the land should not fall into the hands of rival Klingon D'Ghor (Carlos Carrasco), who is an honorless opportunist anyway.

Adams and Shimerman work well together due to their characters' contrasting personalities, and the laughs flow plentifully from the silly setting. (I especially liked when the pint-sized Ferengi marched into the Chamber of the High Council wearing a powerful looking cloak and announced in a powerful voice his claim to the House of Quark.) Quark's eleventh-hour display of courage is surprisingly refreshing. Also welcome is the wild-eyed presence of Robert O'Reilly as Gowron and the appearance of Max Grodenchik as Rom, who displays a brief, unexpected wave of shame over Quark's display of initial cowardice.

What is likely to be overlooked here is the well-played B-story involving Miles and Keiko O'Brien, who have some delightful scenes together. Miles tries to lift Keiko's spirits who feels useless on the station without a career. It's nice to see them in scenes where they're doing something besides arguing. Ultimately, he finds her a six-month job opening on Bajor. It's one of the most simple stories, and often it's the simple stories that are the best. Character moments like these are what really defines Deep Space Nine as the one-hour television drama it is.

Previous episode: The Search, Part II
Next episode: Equilibrium