Review Text
Nutshell: Not bad. Not outstanding, but quite respectable.
"Business as Usual" is a very respectable Quark vehicle that uses Quark's values reasonably and intelligently to mold a story that has a seriousness that we usually don't get to see from stories crafted for the character. I welcomed that. As the resident Ferengi, Quark has been saddled with more "comedy" episodes than probably any other regular character in the Star Trek universe, and I think that's an unnecessary and even misguided approach. There's plenty of potential for milking relevant drama out of Ferengi greed and profit—in fact, I've found drama about these topics much more effective than comedy, because with comedy they're treated with such one-joke superficiality that the joke has long since become quite old.
In "Business as Usual," Quark loses his shirt when his last stock hopes fail. He's in trouble. He's in debt. And since he put the bar up as collateral, he stands to lose everything he owns—and drown in debt as his brokers foreclose. Quark may even be in danger of receiving broken legs if his brokers run out of patience.
Suddenly, Quark's infamous cousin Gaila shows up and offers him an opportunity: If Quark helps Gaila and Gaila's gun-running partner Hagath (Steven Berkoff) deal weapons through the station, then Quark will profit enough to pull himself out of debt, and then some—Gaila promises that Quark would make enough profit to own his own moon within a year.
To sidestep the legal technicalities, Quark and Gaila devise a rather clever holosuite program of weapon samples. Quark's line of logic is that since all he's dealing are "holograms," Odo and Sisko can't touch him since he isn't really breaking any laws.
Well, needless to say, that's not the point. Once Odo discovers what Quark is up to, he hauls him in for questioning. In a scene that sets the tone for the episode, Sisko and Kira realize that they can't press charges (the Bajorans owe Hagath a favor because he offered them weapons during the resistance)—but they aren't going to let Quark off easily. They both come down hard on him, and once Quark realizes what he's done in the face of the people of DS9, the message becomes clear. In perhaps the most perfect touch in the episode, Quark looks at Odo with a blank stare—and all Odo can do is stare back with an expression that says all without using a single word: "Now see what you've gotten yourself into, Quark?"
The rest of "Business as Usual" is a morality play of how Quark deals with the fact that he's trapped in a sinister situation while he suddenly finds that he's developed…scruples. Before long, Quark realizes that he cannot simply distance himself from the fact that he's selling items that are helping people kill others—and in mass volume. "They're only used for defensive purposes!", Quark tries to rationalize on more than one occasion. He tries to draw pity from Dax, who is quite disgusted with the Ferengi's willingness to indirectly cause death for the sake of his own profit motives. It doesn't work—no one wants to talk to him, no one cares about his troubles, and no one visits his bar.
And yet the beauty of "Business as Usual" is that it puts Quark in a totally sympathetic position. Quark doesn't want to sell weapons, but he had no choice when he started—Gaila's option was the only way out of his predicament. But once Quark makes enough money to pay his creditors, he finds himself in a new bind. Hagath does not take betrayal or disappointment well, and there's a very uneasy sense that if Quark "crosses" Hagath by wanting out of the partnership, Hagath may suddenly cause a mysteriously fatal "accident" upon Quark. Such things have happened by Hagath's will before.
Steven Berkoff's rendition of the Hagath character is amusing to watch at times, and I think that he was perfectly cast in this comedic sort of villain personality. But, at the same time, Berkoff sometimes goes just a little too far over-the-top, to the point that his scenery-chewing becomes a little annoying. Berkoff's performance is very evidently stylized—he should've scaled it back just a bit. I couldn't help but constantly think of Hagath as an interstellar version of Beverly Hills Cop's Victor Maitland. (I was endlessly awaiting the line, "Goodbye, Mr. Quark.")
Still, it's very easy to see why Quark—or anyone, for that matter—could be intimidated by Hagath's always-conveyed "Don't cross me" evident behind that salesman's smile. It's when the stakes really start getting high that Quark truly realizes what he's gotten himself into and decides he has to do something to get himself out. The regent of a warring, non-Federation government (Lawrence Tierney) comes to Quark and Hagath, asking for a biological weapon that would help him achieve a death toll in the range of…oh, about 28 million.
Quark's conscience knows where he needs to go, but his Ferengi greed tries to talk him into rationalizing that his peripheral involvement in this deal doesn't make him responsible.
But that's the point of "Business as Usual"—and the "episode moral" is nicely realized because it's obvious, yet not spoon-fed for the most part. (Although, Quark's dream sequence was a tad excessive and probably unnecessary) What the show understands—and Quark, as well—is that if you have involvement in something that kills 28 million people and you could've prevented it, then you helped kill 28 million people. Both Quark's conscience (something we all know he has) and the greed that tries to dissuade him from doing the right thing are within the parameters of his character. Armin Shimerman's performance is on-the-money, and some of his grim facial expressions (apparent through the prosthetics yet still subtle) show that the character is really thinking hard—particularly in one extremely serious scene where Gaila tries to convince him that 28 million "anonymous" deaths is a small price to pay considering the number of warring worlds in the quadrant bent on destroying each other. Gaila's argument strikes me as a realistic notion. No, I don't agree with it, but I can see how a weapons dealer would come to live by it being in the business for 40 years.
"Business as Usual" was written by Bradley Thompson and David Weddle, the team who also brought us the teleplay for "The Assignment" earlier this season. Both stories are effective in that they center around individuals who are trapped alone in difficult, high-pressure situations. Both also end with the protagonist using sleight of hand to escape, but I definitely like the cleverness written for Quark's solution here better than the standard ending supplied for O'Brien's problem. Quark's solution is a rather underhanded trick on his partners and prospective buyers. He invites the regent's enemies to the station as prospective buyers…and then sets all of them up to meet unexpectedly in a cargo bay. The way Quark goes about this is fairly amusing. Of course, we all knew Quark would get out of his situation in a way that would preserve his image, dignity, life, and values—but since it was all inevitable, at least the ending was amusing in its chaos while also serious in the gravity of its implications. (Gaila and Hagath flee the station after the resulting mess and will likely not be heard from again; the regent is subsequently killed by his enemies.)
"Business as Usual" is nothing particularly audacious or original; it's mostly just decent and respectable. Woven into the plot is some standard but amiable fluff concerning Chief O'Brien's baby—lightweight, but at least an acknowledgement that the kid exists. As a Quark show it has unprecedented seriousness, which is a welcome change of pace. For the most part, everyone and everything comes off well. Not too shabby at all.
Previous episode: A Simple Investigation
Next episode: Ties of Blood and Water
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70 comments on this post
AeC
DS9's writers really do like to mine classic cinema for inspiration. They've adapted Casablanca for "Profit and Loss," The Searchers for "Indiscretion," and here they basically crib Harry Lime's speech in The Third Man about "one of those little dots" for Gaila's speech to Quark about "one of those lights." Not necessarily a criticism. Just some (usually) interesting homages.
Odon
Not to mention The Spy Who Came In From The Cold for "Inter Arma Enim Silent Leges".
Vee
And, as we all know, "The Magnificent Ferengi" riffs on "The Magnificent Seven".
Shannon
How about "Field of Fire" as a nod to Hitchcock's Rear Window?
Connor
My favorite Quark episode.
Anthony2816
I wasn't clear on just why Quark now has nothing to fear from revenge by Hagath...or by Gaila...who also should be fearing revenge by Hagath, since he vouched for Quark.
Jeff
Steve Berkoff also portrayed the Bond villain Gen. Orlov in OCTOPUSSY. His Hagath is a more understated version of Orlov.
Nic
I was pleasantly surprised to see Laurence Tierny in this episode. "I want weapons. Are you selling weapons?" Ouch.
Travis
I enjoyed most of the episode, but I thought Quark got off way too easy. Dax disowned him for being an arms dealer, but the moment he turned his back on the deal she was playing cards with him. How many deaths were caused from the weapons he sold in the first half of the episode?
Jay
I agree with Travis...Quark did make enough selling weapons to climb out of debt...that doesn't change at the end of the episode.
Also ridiculous is the notion that the Federation suddenly cares about the financial cost (however that's calculated in a supposed post-currency economy) of repairing something (here the cargo bay) when the plot needs it. I don't recall it being mentioned when they had to reconstruct the pilon after the Iconian gate incident.
JD
I guess Quark could've handled everyone's disapproval, but not Jadzia's. Nice to see how she's once more the good hearth of the station. She was missed in season 7!
Chris Freeman
This episode has really sloppy camera work (I assume it was Siddig's first time directing). The scene where Hagath first enters the bar is really awkwardly shot, with really crowded framing. There's a scene in somebody's quarters where Quark is in front of a candelabra so that it looks like it's coming out of his head. In the pre-regent banquet scene, the extra holding one of the food trays starts really shaking it just before it goes out of frame. And most noticably, Quark says "nobody from the federation has been in my bar all day" when THERE IS AN EXTRA IN A STARFLEET UNIFORM AT THE BAR IN THE BACKGROUND.
Justin
It seems DS9 could really use a day care center.
@Chris, the extra in the background is wearing a Bajoran engineering uniform.
Ian
Sorry, Ds9 does not work as a morality play. Considering it is one of the more serious minded and adult versions of Trek it falls flat when it over does it.
Also, as I have mentioned elswhere on these boards, considering that Star trek is the most successful television franchise in history, it really annoys me when they prattle on about how bad it is to make profit and how bad the Ferengi are in general for caring about it etc...
Gene Roddenberry was THE archtypical Ferengi history has proven...
Grumpy
This episode proves, in case there was any doubt, that the problem with Ferengi episodes wasn't the Ferengi or Quark or whatever. Clearly, they only sucked when Ira Behr wrote them (with the exception of "Prophet Motive," which I liked, and "Little Green Men" and "The Magnificent Ferengi," which some others like). In the hands of other writers, Quark stories are tolerable-to-good, whereas Quark stories by Behr are a genre to themselves.
Note that the idea of using the holosuite to sell items by proxy pre-dates the advent of e-commerce. There were clearly precedents (the Sears catalog or Ron Popiel commercials) but the idea of selling merchandise without the merchandise present seemed prescient before 1999, when Amazon's Jeff Bezos was named Time's Person of the Year.
Peremensoe
The Federation does use money. Apart from transactions with Ferengi or similar, or gambling, it's usually credits rather than cash.
ProgHead777
The issue of currency in the Federation is actually a confusing one. On one hand, Federation credits were mentioned more than once in TOS and even a couple of times on TNG and DS9. On the other hand, characters from both eras have stated that the Federation doesn't use money (for example, Kirk to Gillian in The Voyage Home, Picard to Lily in First Contact).
Paul
TNG is pretty steady in its stance that there's no money in the Federation. Occasionally, Starfleet officers acknowledge money (Riker in "Unification", Ro in "Preemptive Strike") but both are in sort of non-Federation situations.
I'm pretty sure there was money on TOS, but it was in the form of credits, not cash or coins. DS9 was a little vaguer on the point, but you could argue that DS9 wasn't like most parts of the Federation.
Now, Jake's discussion with Nog in "In The Cards" sort of discusses how humans don't use money. That works for the son of a Starfleet captain who doesn't interact with the Maquis, the Cardassians, etc.
Nick P.
The episode wasn't bad, until its pompous star trek ending. People right here on this board have stated "what about the people that died witht he weapons Quark already sold"? Really? It is only wrong because it is a ferengi making profit. What about Kirk GIVING weapons in "A private little war"? How many died from that? How many died from Kirk, Picard, Sisko, etc....From DIRECT action? How many did Picard kill be inaction (I' Borg or Symbiosis)? Quark did not kill anybody, and if anyone died from those weapons it was indirectly. Further, if Quark had not sold those weapons, they simply would have gotten the weapons from someone else, it makes no difference.
I love Star Trek, but this is one of those issues that really makes me hate the underlying philosophy. Picard killing millions through inaction in I Borg is OK because it "feels nice" but Quark trying to make a buck where someone else will if he doesn't is somehow evil and wrong....Ridiculous.
Kotas
Average Ferengi episode.
5/10
Ric
A nice character development for Quark, as he got one of the few serious episodes so far. Also, nice acting from the guest actors. Overall, good episode.
The only serious flaws, for me, are those that have become quite constant this season: the lack of consequence for misconduct of characters and the Federation/Starfleet looking not the Federation/Starfleet that exists in the standard Trek reality.
Not only is irritating to see, as someone recalled here, Dex playing with Quark just so fast as if he didn`t have helped killing thousands of people with the already sold weapons. It strikes me as dramatically stupid to the point of infuriating that is just that easy to Bajor (and the Federation next) to accept a guy smuggling illegal weapons in the DS9 just because he was the one who sold most of weapons for the Bajorian resistance during the occupation.
But let me put this right. Of course it is understandable that Bajor feel in debt with such smuggler and asks him not to be arrested after Odo finds out the illegal weapons dealing. It is credible. But really giving a free pass for the guy to keep negotiating the illegal weapons indefinitely in DS9? Common! So with they had kept with small business, not finding a 28million-death deal, would DS9 have become a well-known spot for illegal weapons?
This is ridiculous. And Federation accepting in easily and pacificly as with Bajor had just asked to paint the station wall with a different color, is preposterous.
eastwest101
A passable to good episode, does not fall into the trap of becoming too "preachy" but still has something to say about Quark and the wider subjects of the arms trade/business and moral consequences.
Some prescient ideas in 1997 about "virtual/online" commerce as well...
Ash Pryce
Berkoff is rightly considered one of the greatest theatrical practitioners of the last 50 years. His plays are required reading on most drama courses (At least in the UK). As a wordsmith he is stunning, weaving a variety of styles together and as a director of theatre he was truly revolutionary and few come close.... However something has always let him down when he tries to do acting work that isnt his own on stage, heavily stylised mime based work- the man cant act. At all. His role in this episode was typical of that. If this was his Herod in Salome, or Mike in East it would have been great fun, but he really cant do "straight" acting. And thats disappointing. As a theatre worker I was happy to see one of my idols in DS9, but as a viewer I was dissappointed.
Vylora
"There's plenty of potential for milking relevant drama out of Ferengi greed and profit—in fact, I've found drama about these topics much more effective than comedy, because with comedy they're treated with such one-joke superficiality that the joke has long since become quite old." - Jammer
I could not have said it better myself. It's not a bad idea to do a Ferengi comedy episode per se. The problem is the over-blown silliness that happens one too many times. "Look at me - I'm a bumbling Ferengi getting into crazy antics and acting like a clown! Aren't I zany?" Har har. Snooze. No thanks. Unfortunately, this seems to be the downhill portrayal they'll have the last few seasons.
Fortunately though, this episode is most definitely not one of them. The review hit the nail on the head with this, too. However I didn't find the character of Hagrath over the top. I always saw him as that's who he is and is that way for a reason. If that makes sense.
Jadzia being seemingly too forgiving, according to some above comments, didn't occur to me as something that stood out as an issue. Quark did quit that position and did potentially, by proxy, save 28 million lives and risked his own doing so.
As for selling the weapons in the first place, well, he wasn't. He was an intermediary between the customer and the assistant to the weapons salesman. Quark's conscience got the best of him as he realized he didn't even want to be a part of it whatsoever no matter the degree of involvement. Plus Quark is known to have been a very despicable person during the Occupation. Quark has taken strides to better himself since. It makes sense that Jadzia would be that much more willing to forgive, not only to show good faith, but also to show Quark that good things come from not doing bad things. Plus it almost seemed Jadzia's cold shoulder was more along the lines of pretense rather than actuality. She was "going" to hate him if he didn't quit. Yah she was pissed, rightly so, but I didn't see it as friendship over.
Admittedly the ending was a little TOO happy but it wasn't glaring. The B-plot was more pleasant filler albeit pleasant filler I rather enjoyed. Worf holding baby = my huge grin.
I'm a softy. (:
High end of 3 stars.
Nissa
What really bothered me about this episode was the assumption that anyone who sells weapons is bad. There are those who just want to arm those in need, or like weapons as a hobby (boys and their toys), or like them for their historical value. Quark's guy wasn't bad because he sold weapons, he was bad because he sold specific weapons (those of mass destruction) to evil people. It's not as simple as this episode pretends it is.
That's the real failure of the Ferengi in DS9. Basically every real world issue they faced was overly simplistic and unintelligently stated.
Dusty
I agree with Jammer; this is a very decent Ferengi episode with an entertaining (and cute) subplot. I think people are missing that the true focus was not on the moral implications of selling weapons--an issue that will never be resolved--but on how Quark himself perceived them. Quark having an active conscience was old news by this time, but I for one am glad that we learned exactly where he stands on the issue.
As soon as he had a choice in the matter (i.e. his debts were paid off), Quark got out of the business. Let that sink in for a moment. A Ferengi turning down perfectly legal and easy profits, and putting himself at personal risk to do so? On moral grounds? Either Quark has never had the stomach to be the kind of ruthless profiteer his people celebrate, or the Occupation years left a really bad taste in his mouth. However indirectly, on Terok Nor he was an accessory to one world attempting to wipe out another, and he did not want to be in that position again. Because of that, I like him more than I did before I saw the episode.
Yanks
Nick P. - Right on the money, I agree whole-heartedly. Excellent post.
In Quark’s defense, the questioned changed. "I need a bio-whatever weapon to kill 20+ or so million people" is different that "I want 2000 of these". Quark was right, the latter is considered for defense of something. The 1st was just genocide.
I thought this episode was a pretty good one aside from the ending. So I can't go 3.5 or above.
3 stars for me.
Jack
@ Nick P.
I don't buy the "kill people by inaction" thing. You can only kill someone actively, not passively. If an event unfolds while you watch and that event would proceed the same way if you had been absent from the scene, you aren't responsible for that event.
Elliott
@Jack :
Well, Edmund Burke would disagree with you, but he was an asshole, so, yeah, I can go along with that.
Robrow
I enjoyed that one, despite the overly contrived ending. And I thought Berkoff was very good as the suave, slightly camp, sometimes menacing and not so comic villain. A pity he didn't give Gaila's Harry Lime speech - would have been a nice little nod to Orson Welles from an actor who in some ways reminds me of him - but I guess creating a villain so charming and sympathetic would have shifted the focus away from Quark. So no Third Man but, to quote Jammer, quite respectable.
David
I found it particularly hypocritical of Kira to come down against Quark in this episode. She used weapons the Bajorans bought from these suppliers to kill Cardassian men, women, and children. Now, since the occupation is over she gets to look down her nose at Quark and say that what he is doing is immoral?
The same goes for Sisko, who just a bit ago used two quantum torpedoes to scatter trilithium resin into the atmosphere of Solosos 3 making the planet uninhabitable for fifty years (For the Uniform). Time wasn't even spared to tell us how many casualties that decision caused; neither was time given to let someone berate Sisko for this immoral decision to put lives at risk, and all this so that he could fulfill his personal vendetta he took on while violating Starfleet orders.
The same goes for Jadzia. Has everyone forgotten the innocent hired men and women she killed in Blood Oath (season 2)? How can she really go about killing in cold blood with her own two hands, and then turn around and give the cold shoulder to Quark for simply selling weapons?
Not to mention the deaths caused by simply serving the wishes of Starfleet. I don't see anyone thumbing their nose at O'Brien for the countless Cardassians he personally killed during the war (Tribunal, season 2). It would seem that when people die, the killers aren't responsible but the people they bought their weapons from are. What kind of insanity is this?
Robert
@David - You should have stopped earlier in the post. Your point decreased in validity as you moved on.
An enlisted man killing someone in war is the same as selling weapons to a despot? Really?
By that logic a US WW2 soldier is more what, evil(?), than an arms dealer supplying the Nazis (and being aware of the monster Hitler is). Hell no on that, O'Brien gets a pass.
Likewise... if Hitler's armed guards were mercenaries you'd be morally terrible to kill them? Jadzia went after a man that murdered children in cold blood. One might debate if revenge killing is moral, but if it were this guy deserves it. You're closer to the mark here than the CHASM away you were in the O'Brien comment, but still pretty far off the mark.
The episode with Sisko and the trilithium resin doesn't mention deaths because there weren't any. Plenty of poisons have been shown to be fixable in Trek unless you reach a specific level and length of exposure. They evacuated and switched planets with the Cardassians. Period. The episode does not support your theory any more than it does mine and yours is horrible so why have that be your head canon unless you're disturbed? It's still a morally questionable decision, but nothing on the level of selling weapons to a genocidal maniac.
Now Kira... see now THAT would have been interesting to explore a bit. She may see him as evil and dealing with him as a necessary evil, but it would have been a cool B plot to have her face up to some of the darker people she had to deal with in the occupation.
Still though... in the vein of... does Hagath become as evil as the Regent by selling him weapons? Does Quark become as evil as Hagath by letting him use the holodeck? Were the scientists that made the atomic bomb guilty at Hiroshima? Does selling weapons to an evil man make you evil? Could a story about Kira have fit into that? Maybe it could.
Robert
As a followup thought, while there are Kira things to mine here we already have a previous season story about her committing murder as a "Necessary Evil".
So I think perhaps the answer was that this would have been a rehash for Kira, and a less interesting one.
Chrome
"if Quark had not sold those weapons, they simply would have gotten the weapons from someone else, it makes no difference."
"As for selling the weapons in the first place, well, he wasn't. He was an intermediary between the customer and the assistant to the weapons salesman."
You both are falling for Quark's defense he tried to give to Odo. You seem to forget that Quark's position on a legitimate Federation station literally made sales possible for Haggath that weren't possible before due to regulations in other areas. It's quite possible none of the sales Quark made would have been made at all without his help dodging the authorities. That's what makes Quark culpable. It doesn't matter if he was an intermediary, he literally made more weapons sales possible which logically led to the deaths of more people possible.
methane
This could have been an excellent episode if they admitted that sometimes selling weapons is justified, and examined the shades of gray. Sometimes wars need to be won, and sometimes peace can only be maintained through strength. The episode only briefly acknowledges this when they mention they sold arms to the Bajorans during the occupation.
Other commenters have referred to the hypocrisy here, as Star Trek characters (not just DS9 characters) have consistently needed force to save lives and maintain peace.
That said, even acknowledging the hypocrisy, Starfleet would never approve of a group under their jurisdiction selling truly powerful military weapons to outsiders without their approval. They would want to decide which outside group gets weapons and which doesn't.
An episode that was truly interested in an honest discussion of weapons-dealing would have had the group selling to people we have some sympathies for, one the Federation itself refused to arm. The characters could then take different sides even as Starfleet is asking Sisko to shut down Quark's group. You could have sensibly had Dax against Quark while Worf & Kira supported him (an inversion of the usual order).
Towards the end of the episode, the question of whether it is right to sell arms isn't really an issue any more. The dictator at the end isn't looking to win a conflict or prevent a conflict. He simply wants to kill people to make a point. Few people would see that as acceptable, but it's not the same thing as, say, selling weapons to the Bajoran resistance.
That said, I don't think this is a bad episode. You can overlook the failed moral "lesson" and still appreciate Quark's dilemma. The fact that Starfleet would oppose him is sensible, as is the fact that people who work outside the law (like Quark's associates), sometimes end up going way-outside the law. It was good to see the Dax/Quark relationship brought up, as it's been mostly ignored since Worf joined the show. The B plot isn't really funny, but isn't really awful.
James
Sisko is absolutely hypocritical in this episode. Quark selling WMDs are no different to him launching those two torpedoes a while back. Both actions MIGHT have resulted in massive deaths, which is what makes them criminal.
Diamond Dave
Quark becomes an arms dealer and discovers a conscience. After the Bashir and Odo episodes, we are definitely in that mid-series run of character pieces now. Again, this is a fairly well worn theme and is handled competently enough, with a jaw-dropping scenery chewing performance from Steven Berkhoff to add a little piquancy to the process. But Quark is definitely in lovable rogue mode now than the highly dubious antics of Season 1 so it all plays out broadly as expected.
The B-story is some fun fluff. "Perhaps he's become prematurely aware of life's existential isolation" indeed. 2.5 stars.
William B
Quark is one of the characters who was rendered an outcast from his people in season four, and like most of those characters there is one or so significant episode regarding their new predicament that deals with it effectively. For Worf, that was *most* of "Sons of Mogh" (depending on how one interprets the ending) and some of "Rules of Engagement," for Odo it was "The Begotten," for Dukat it's "Return to Grace" and "In Purgatory's Shadow." The headline episode for Quark is "Business as Usual," which I think is one of the show's stronger Quark vehicles. Rather than putting put Quark’s conscience against his greed, as in some of the other (sub)standard Ferengi episodes, this one puts him through the paces as a result of desperation: he is utterly broke, about to lose the bar and his livelihood, with the implication that his debtors may literally kill him (“nothing but a greasy spot on the Promenade left”). Gaila comes and offers him a lifeline, and essentially his choice is between doing nothing and losing everything, maybe even dying, or sacrificing one of his relatively few cardinal rules for himself (no weapons) and becoming rich beyond his wildest dreams. On top of that, Quark is disconnected from the consequences of his weapons selling, and so can very safely rationalize the damage away. That Quark basically agrees with Gaila is not a surprise and it also reflects essentially the compromise that most people make at some point or another in their lives.
I agree with commenters above that the episode might have benefited more strongly from letting the question or whether or not weapons sales were actually immoral be a bit more ambiguous—that Hagath sold weapons to the Bajorans during the Occupation is a really nice touch, and one which the episode could have expanded on more—but I think that part of what makes this work is that selling weapons is, ultimately, not just morally but somewhat personally offensive to Quark’s code and values. Quark traffics in *pleasure*: he makes money by letting people eat and drink, have sex and other forms of recreation on the holosuite, and have the thrill of trying themselves to strike it rich at his casino games. He is very selfish, but does operate on a sort of Golden (Gold-Pressed-Latinum?) Rule, looking to benefit and be happy and acquire and get various pleasures and taking some sort of joy in making money by selling the same to others. When he was willing to bend his usual rules and sell weapons to Sakonna in “The Maquis,” he fairly quickly started explaining to her why she could take advantage of the opportunity to make peace. He is, as he and Gaila discuss, a people person, and he prefers dealing with people who want to eat and drink and be happy and get laid rather than people who get excited by the prospect of mass killing.
Quark feeling the chill from the others on the station, especially Dax, is pretty affecting. I agree that there is a level of hypocrisy to their extreme reaction to what he is doing when, after all, Hagath sold weapons to the Bajorans; the point, I think, is that they do not believe that Quark is selling weapons based on any kind of moral appraisal of how those weapons will be used, which for a time is pretty accurate. But anyway the real change is when he meets the Regent, by which time he is already in too deep to get out easily. The Regent really is just a psycho killer, without any of the rationalizations (some of which may even be accurate) that Quark can use about his business. Gaila gives the Harry Lime speech to Quark pretty effectively, when he talks about whether anyone would mind if one of those stars blinked out of existence. But that’s not Quark, who can’t himself let one of those lights blink out.
Part of what I like about the solution is that it plays on Quark’s limited abilities. Basically all the power Quark has is to negotiate and to use his people-person skills to manipulate people into going different places and to appraise how they will deal with that situation. It is actually a pretty morally dark thing for Quark to do, to put the Regent and his enemy in the room where they will probably kill each other, even if he protests that he did not expect that to happen. But it’s also about the only option open to him where he survives, and, importantly, the only option where the weapons don’t get sold. Let the crazy people kill each other and hope that the people who replace them in the chain of command are slightly less crazy. The episode’s decision to show Quark’s perspective on what happens, while Quark waits and watches security arrive, is pretty cool; Quark played a very dangerous game here, and did not even get the comfort of seeing it happen and play out. Unlike in “The House of Quark” (or “The Magnificent Ferengi”), there is not even the comic sense of satisfaction at heroism; Quark misses the action entirely, which makes Quark’s big risk play out without quite the heroic fanfare. It gives Quark’s pretty genuinely heroic action—he basically risked that he would be killed should the Gaila or Hagath or the Regent or the Regent’s enemy find out what he was doing ahead of time, let alone that he might go to jail if it went badly, for the sake of lives he did not know himself—a kind of humility, that Quark still basically has to hide and hope for the best. I think the somewhat unusual ending helps me deal with the fact that the episode still basically has Quark working for a psychopath helping other psychopaths kill people just until his own debts are wiped out; Quark ends with a self-sacrificial action, and one that earns him back a bit of what he lost socially in the meantime, but he does not get to play the traditional hero at the end by any means. It’s somehow just the right key for me.
I thought that Gaila was pretty effective, and Hagath was a weird, brazen joy. Laurence Tierny’s presence as the Regent was great as well. I have little to say about the subplot, but it was cute and I appreciate the chance to see a bit of everyday life for O’Brien and for Kirayoshi. I don’t think the episode quite achieves greatness, because the morality of weapons-selling is oversimplified and because, while I like the ending, in some senses Quark does get off too easy (his debt being wiped out before he has to parachute out). A solid 3 stars overall.
Peter G.
@ Jammer,
I respectfully disagree with your suggestion that the dream sequence wasn't necessary to the story. I believe it was the most relevant scene in the show, notwithstanding the fact that it was somewhat melodramatic. Quark's whole position prior to that had been the anonymity of what he was doing, and although he was unequipped to perpetuate that cognitive dissonance in the face of 28 million casualties, his thinking had been quite in line with Gaila's. Just lights in the sky; just numbers on a page. The idea of the episode was that the anonymous deaths had to become real to Quark, and the dream sequence where he imagined those casualties as being people he cared about (even the Chief's baby) is the process by which he made the anonymous real to himself. It's hard to care about miscellaneous death or calamities we know nothing of; that's the story of our times. It's easy to care about people close to us - heck, even dictators can do that. The trick is to care about people we don't know just as much, and that requires an act of imagination. I don't think it was perfectly wrought, but that dream sequence IS that act of imagination, and without it Gaila would have been right about those irrelevant far off dots in the sky. Why risk your own life for others unless you can feel their worth as being personal to you? This is, perhaps, one of the central themes of the series, and although we take it for granted that Sisko is always heroic, it's nice to see the steps it takes to get to somewhere near being a Sisko or a Picard.
Luke
Have I slipped into a wormhole myself and ended up in the Twilight Zone again? A Quark-focused episode where the writers are deliberately trying to make him out to be something of a hero? The apocalypse has finally begun, pigs are learning how to fly, Satan is ice skating his way to work and I'm pretty sure that I just became a monkey's uncle!
As I'm sure you all have no doubt deduced by now, I like Quark. He's a great character who, sadly, is often used by writers who don't care for him and/or want to use him and his race as instruments for their anti-capitalist nonsense. I'm so glad this episode wasn't written by Wolfe and Behr but was instead given to writers who apparently don't have that ingrained bias against Quark.
GAILA: "Do you think if one of those twinkling little lights suddenly went out, anybody would notice? Suppose I offered you ten million bars of gold pressed latinum to help turn out one of those lights. Would you really tell me to keep my money?" Yes, he would. Because, deep down, Quark is a decent person. Sure, he might not live up to vaunted morals of the Federation but that doesn't mean there aren't crystal clear lines he absolutely will not cross. And that is what makes Quark an awesome character. This is a guy who, during the Occupations, offered Bajorans a chance to escape the grueling work of orc processing by working in his bar, who sold food to them at just-above cost prices (a truly humanitarian gesture for a Ferengi) and who has always stepped up to do the right thing - even without the Federation "showing him the light." Thank God we finally got an episode that treats him with the respect he deserves.
If there is a flaw to "Business as Usual" it's the reaction our Starfleet/Federation heroes have to Quark's actions. Having everyone from the Federation completely shun him was unnecessary to start with - the dream sequence would have worked just fine on it's own to show his moral hang-ups. But it really makes the other characters look like hypocrites as well. Having Dax and Sisko of all people come down on Quark like a ton of bricks is particularly galling. Dax as the moral center of the story? I guess I'll just ignore the fact that she once went off on a cold-blooded murderfest in "Blood Oath", without any repercussions I might add. Sisko coming down hard on Quark for selling weapons? I guess I'll just ignore the fact that he, not too long ago, deliberately poisoned a planet to satisfy a personal vendetta. "To be well armed is a deterrent to war; don't you know anything about the balance of power?" Quark pleads. To which Dax responds, "Quark, you don't really believe any of that, do you? " Well then, Jadzia, I look forward to you disarming all of the station's personal weapons lockers that are jammed packed with fully charged phasers (you know, the ones you people even keep in the cargo bays!), as well as getting rid of those 5,000 photon torpedoes and massive phaser banks you use to fight off any aggressive ships, not to mention scrapping that heavily armed gunboat (which was deliberately designed to be little more than a flying weapon) you folks like to keep moored at the station at all times! These people sure don't have a problem with being armed to the teeth in order to prevent war, do they? Like I said - hypocrites. With a little rewriting, this could have been easily solved.
8/10
Quarkissnyder
Eh. I felt like we've seen that exact Quark story before. Unethical business deal, Quark grows a conscience.
The acting by the guest stars was atrocious -- like an episode from Speed Racer.
In this episode security immediately knew when phasers were fired on the cargo bay, but in the last episode nobody knew when somebody was killed with a phaser.
As to the O'Brien story: Seriously? Do none of the writers have children? Have they never heard of slings? Or babysitters?
William H
I felt this episode was overly predictable. I mean, you basically know the moral that Quark will be learning from the first scene. I didn't feel the journey was sufficiently compelling to quite make up for that, though it wasn't bad.
I don't think the Star Fleet people were hypocritical. Sure, you can make a case for arms dealers not being necessarily evil, but its pretty obvious these guys aren't the types to give them a good name from the beginning. I mean, Gaila tried to murder Quark in an earlier episode, and the point of them using Quarks holosuite is to get round the law - including for "speciality items".
johng
I think some posters are missing the distinction between war and genocide.
Selling weapons for war is much more morally ambiguous than selling a virus that will be used to kill 28 million men, women and children.
An arms dealer could at least rationalize that his conventional weapons will be used mainly in combat as opposed to against civilians. He might even convince himself that if he helps balance out the military power between the 2 sides, a peace agreement might come more quickly.
Also, weapons are used for legitimate defense about as often as for aggression and can also be used to fight genocidal tyrants, as in the case of the Bajorans.
Genocide, on the other hand, is unambiguously and horribly evil.
Quark was willing to lay down his own life to save the lives of 28 million strangers, so I don't think he got off that easy.
As for the cost of the cargo bay, I think that was just Sisko's way of getting a pound of flesh from Quark for selling arms on DS9 in the first place. It seemed reasonable to me.
R.J.
Everyone forgetting about the mercenaries Quark hired in the episode The Passenger? With Quark's help, they beamed aboard a freighter and killed the bridge crew making him an accessory to murder. No pangs of guilt about that.
Filip
Funny that the props used for rifle models in the holodeck look a lot better than the ones used by the Federation and others great powers.
Gooz
Watching O'Brien having to deal with Yoshi helps me see why people shake their babies. Powerful stuff.
Dave
"TNG is pretty steady in its stance that there's no money in the Federation."
Which made the poker scenes, particularly the betting, kind of silly. Why not bet the moon in every hand? The only concern seems to be running out of chips, but not running out of money.
Rahul
Nothing special here -- a good episode for Quark's character that doesn't revolve around silly humor. In fact, Shimerman does really well portraying a greedy Ferengi who develops a conscience -- some great facial expressions. But the main arms dealer is over-the-top in his portrayal, making this another Trek episode needlessly hammering home a pretty basic point.
The dude wanting to kill 28 million people -- this is again over the top to hammer home a point. What if it was just 300 people -- would Quark's scruples still pop up? Obviously killing 28 million is out of the question...
As for the B-plot of O'Brien's baby crying -- what was the point of this? That Worf should be babysitting? "Business As Usual" is one of those episodes with a completely unrelated B-plot that is mildly humorous -- didn't do anything for me.
I also guess it's clear that Dax is Quark's "best friend" on DS9. Where was Rom in this episode? Or is he too 1-dimensionally stupid to have anything to offer? One thing I found hilarious was seeing Morn passed out drunk during one scene...
2 stars for this episode -- maybe a slightly clever ending to get Quark out of his pickle, but also highly fortunate that he could pull it off. He had little to no margin for error. Anyhow, we've always known Quark's not "evil" deep down inside -- just that he's a Ferengi.
Startrekwatcher
2 stars
I didn’t much care for this episode—the idea of weapons sales, everyone giving Wiark the cold shoulder, the resolution with Quark having everyone turn on each other. Meh
Mike
Dax says harumph to weapons dealing having a positive impact. This is right after a scene where we learn that Bajor was saved by a weapons dealer - the exact same one Quark is being disowned over.
Another note, this is the second episode where Trek bemoans someone selling weapons 'to both sides'. The other is the Arsenal of Freedom from TNG.
This is something that has actually happened, with the US selling weapons to both sides in the Bosnian war - although not at the same time and not in the same amounts. This is supposed to have exacerbated the war, but it's hard to tell for sure.
Contrast with the US giving aid to both Israel and some of its enemies. The aid isn't always weapons, but the any aid does free up money for weapons. It's hard to tell if this has made the states more or less belligerent, again.
This is a complex political issue with no clear answer, and I'm discouraged that the writers didn't take it up in a show that's supposed to show off shades of grey.
Iceman
I appreciate how "Business as Usual" humanizes Quark. Though his actions are immoral, the episode puts him in a sympathetic position to start. It also confirms that he's not a very good Ferengi-something that repeatedly comes up. However, the episode does have its flaws. Quark's arc turns on that dream sequence, but that sequence is almost unbearably cheesy, and it's an example of telling not showing. Using Dax as Quark's conscience also rings a bit false. But on the whole, this is a successful episode.
3 stars.
Startrekwatcher
2 stars
Very lukewarm episode.
Really this should have ruined Quark as a character for the show for good and it wasn’t that great an episode anyway
Springy
I had a hard time paying attention to this one. My mind kept wandering.
Quark has bad dreams due to a guilty conscience, but at the end, he and Yoshi are both sleeping like babies. Except one baby is a whole lot cuter.
Very average.
Paul C
No one seems to have spotted it (or mentioned it anyway) so here we go... nice Easter egg at the start. Quark is selling a weapon in the holo suite and it’s serial number is CRM 114. A reference to Dr Strangelove. And of course, nuclear weapons. Also referenced in Back to the Future (Marty hooking up his guitar to that huge amp).
Bobbington Mc Bob
I thought Hagarth was meant to be a kind of Hannibal Lecter knockoff to be honest, he had a few Anthony Hopkins overtones in there.
I enjoyed the episode, a genuine sense of threat and pressure to Quark this time out, more from the "complicit in genocide" angle than personal death. Good nonetheless.
D K
So quark goes i to debt and starts selling guns to get solvent. Odo arrests him and intends to come down hard. Sisko is down with that but kira reluctantly comes to quarks rescue. Why help quark? Because the guy quark is selling guns for helped out the bajorans in their fight for independence from the Cardies - that is to say, sold guns illegally to the bajorans. And because he, and people like him helped the bajorans in their fight for independence, kira and the bajoran government tell sisko that as long as quark doesn’t break any laws, he is free to operate. The position her government took on this matter pains kira. She wants to hang quark by his heels (or, ears, i suppose) not just because he is doing something illegal again but because it is guns.
Kira was happy with illegal gun smugglers when they were doing it for her but now that she does not need them anymore she thinks that what quark is doing is the most horrible thing and even threatens him with personal violence if he should break the smallest of station laws. It would be easy to drive the point home from every angle but here is what it comes down to. Star trek is hypocritical about the values they preach.
They tell us over and over that war is bad, chasing monetary profit is bad, and preach a host of other 'good' sounding platitudes. And are hypocritical about each and every one - with the exception that women are always, and i mean always, strong, funny and smart and are always, and i mean always, the sexual aggressor in pursuing a relationship. But that is a matter for a future discussion.
smitty
I really like Steve Berkoff, he was awesome in Octopussy, one of my favourite Bond movies!
Jamie Mann
A Ferengi-focused episode? Be still, my beating heart.
As such things go, it's one of the better ones, even if it does once again reduce them to little more than caricatured capitalists. But as ever, it highlights just how odd Quark's position on DS9 is.
He runs a bar with a built in casino and a holosuite where people can play out sexual fantasies. His staff are mostly female and (as per one of the early episodes, where said staff were contractually obliged to service him) Quark uses his position of power to domineer over them. He's also heavily involved in smuggling drugs and other contraband, has acted as an intermediary for mercenaries (which led to Jadzia nearly dying when one such group used him to take over DS9), and done many other illegal things besides, all of which the crew of DS9 are aware of.
In short, he's dabbled with pretty much every illegal or immoral activity going in his quest for profits, and has only avoided reaping the consequences of this thanks to the largess of the DS9 writers, excepting when they want to have a comedy moment or throw him into a situation with Odo.
And now, we're meant to buy into the idea that selling weapons is a step too far? Above and beyond drugs, gambling, prostitution and sexual abuse of his staff?
Better yet, we're meant to accept that things - and his relationships with everyone else on DS9 - go back to normal, pretty much the minute he walks away from selling said weapons?
There's a lot of things which don't really stand up to inspection in DS9, not least thanks to the way that the majority of episodes had to have a zero-sum ending to make it easier to sell the series for syndication. And for me, for all that his character definitely evolved over the seven seasons, Quark's entire existence on DS9 was one of the shakiest elements of the show.
So yeah. Not a great episode...
Dave in MN
@ Jamie Mann
I haven't seen this one in at least 10 years, but I distinctly remember being impressed by the concept and execution of this episode.
A Ferengi developing a conscience is a pretty good concept (as far as Ferengi concepts go).
Jamie Mann
Hey, if you enjoyed it then it's all good :)
As an episode it was generally fine, but I've never been that impressed with how one-dimensional Star Trek aliens tend to be, and the Ferengi generally were painted in a far more simplistic way than even the Klingons or Bajorans.
Then too, we already know that Quark has historically always had some form of conscience or empathy - after all, he did sell supplies to the rebellion at cost (or only slightly above it).
For me, it's more of a general question. Why do the other characters still interact with him, despite the fact that he's proven time and again that he'll (nearly) always put profit above friendships, relationships, family and even the safety of the entire space station?
And then there's an even wider question. At what point does an unethical action become unacceptable? Quark was quite happy selling guns until the potential death figures started to reach six figures. So is it ok to sell a gun which will only kill one person? How about ten? A thousand?
Admittedly, Star Trek has always taken a wild-west/space opera approach to killing, with the main characters routinely building up (disintegrated) body counts in situations which would give a US marine PTSD for decades.
Though equally, there's also the age old debate about how far your responsibility goes when it comes to selling weapons (or drugs, or sex or anything else which can cause death, negative impacts or infringe on the rights of the people involved).
I dunno. It's just an odd and jarring setup. And when compared to contemporary shows like Babylon 5, it's definitely an overly simplistic one.
Eric Saavedra
Lol how many time must Quark be in financial trouble. I guess he isn’t a good businessman. He doesn’t even pay rent or maintenance.
Trent
A weak and obvious episode, "Business as Usual" opens with Quark in dire financial straits. To save his business, he begins selling weapons, using his holosuite as a sort of virtual arms fair. After having a dream in which he sees his friends dying of phaser blasts, Quark develops a guilty conscience, yells "What have I done!?", and then stops selling weapons.
Less murky and less interesting than TOS' "A Private Little War", and less morally forceful than TNG's "Arsenal of Freedom", DS9's take on the arm's trade plays out in slow and obvious ways. In typically literal DS9 fashion, the episode's A plot, in which weapons of death are coarsely traded, are "ironically counterpointed" against a B plot in which Federation officers try to delicately rock a baby to sleep.
Like most episodes in season 5, "Business as Usual" seems at odds with the events described in "By Inferno's Light". The Dominion have entered the Alpha Quadrant, the Cardassian Empire is rejuvenated, and yet it will be ten episodes of mundane standalones before the Federation gets its act together and mines the wormhole.
William B
I did like Quark's partner's Harry Lime speech though. Even if it's obviously not as strong as the inspiration.
EventualZen
Quark argues to Jadzia for the balance of power to ensure peace, something Kirk did in TOS 2x16 A Private Little War, but the moral perspective was quite different. Having Lawrence Tierney from Reservoir Dogs was a nice touch.
Exploring Quark's conscience made for good character development but this episode didn't have much substance. Still, it's probably one of the best of DS9's Ferengi focused episodes. Overall an average episode - 4/10.
Areliae
I have a soft spot for this episode. I often come back to it. It's just so wholesome and relaxing.
I wasn't always convinced about Quarks character. Obviously Armin is fantastic, but there was a danger of him falling into the same trap that befell many of Voyagers characters. Meaning that they go through the same conflict over and over and always forget the lesson at the end by next episode.
To me, this episode avoids that trap gracefully. Yes, Quark has gone through a crisis of faith before, but while he hasn't turned into a saint, you can still see differences in how he's portrayed. He's a little more hesitant, he's more concerned about what his friends think, and he's a bit more quick to realize he can't go through with it.
It feels like the payoff in body parts wasn't ignored. Season 1 Quark wouldn't give a hoot about his friends, and he probably wouldn't worry nearly as much about the deaths. It feels like the answer to Gaila's question "would you really tell me to keep my money" DID change over the years. That's a resounding success for his character arc.
He didn't change as drastically as he could've, but that's not necessarily a bad thing.
Silly
1 star or less.
Steven Berkoff nails it with a very large ham Haggath.
But this falls apart quick.
Kira demanding Odo not interfere with weapons transactions of arms traders is quite powerful and correct. I mean, wow, personally I was astonished with that scene.
That's very powerful and I fully believe The Sisko's outrage and what he would threaten, but I can't believe Kira would acquiesce so easily.
This story required being meaty but tried to play it off as a sitcom episode, with the crying baby Yoshi as a "funny" B plot. Sheesh, at the end, Sisko and Quark are practically joking about the firefight Quark orchestrated.
Michael
An enjoyable enough an episode. Yes, high-and-mighty moralistic at times but nothing too bad and certainly nothing unexpected from Star Trek.
The B-story with the kid was cute at times but mostly boring to the point of being annoying; a bit like a pesky fly you swat away but keeps coming back.
I was gutted to see Quark not turn a profit though. That guy just can't catch a break...
Someone mentioned up there that, for someone supposedly oh-so anti-"greed" and anti-capitalism, Gene Roddenberry and the Star Trek franchise sure flipped a dollar or two. Well, what else is new! Show me one "socialist" who practices what he/she preaches and I'll show you a flying unicorn. Everyone from Fauxcahontas who charges a half a million dollars to "teach" a 20-credit hour college course, to Bernie who has, what by now, *three* mansions, to B.Lies.M. scammers who raid the donations from gullible morons to go on spending sprees... - they all rail against consumerism and wealth acquisition while enthusiastically availing themselves of everything the free-market economy has to offer, including free speech. It's okay, I don't begrudge them taking advantage of suckers (one is born every minute, right!) and feathering their nests; I'm just bemused and amused in equal measure that anyone still takes them seriously.
Three stars, yup.
Smith
This was a pretty good episode but could have been better. Part of the problem was that Quark became too self-conscious as soon as he heard the 28m death count. It would have been better if Quary initially didn't have a problem with this and only later had a change of heart. This would have made the twist at the end better and more unpredictable.
In the early seasons the Fenergi were more greedy and unscrupulous which made them fun. Rom in season 1 tried to kill his brother by blowing him out of an airlock...but by the end, he's working for Sisko and drinking Root Beer. If you look at characters like Homer Simpson or Bender from Futurama, they are appealing despite being flawed, because they don't have that internal filter...they just say/do what is on their mind which makes them compelling. Self-conscious characters on the flip side are no fun...and it was sad to see how Ira ruined the Ferengi.
Jenny
I find both Dax and Kira poorly written in the episode.
Dax because she is typically the most go-with-the-flow, non-judgemental character, but suddenly comes down hard on Quark because he needs someone to act as his conscience. It seems like it would be more in line with her character to be the one who tries explaining to him why everyone suddenly abhors him.
Kira because just a few years ago, she would have been the one buying the weapons from him. And as The Darkness and the Light showed us, she still retains a lot of the same mentality from the war.
And while I'm at it, how is it ok for Sisko to put the lives of an entire planet at risk to satisfy personal vengeance, and now he stands in judgment of Quark?
This writer's need to find a moral compass that's consistent and have their characters abide by it. I'm ok with characters being imperfect ie- Kira still having a lot of hatred that she's working through; I'm not ok with her being such a hypocrite and being portrayed as having the moral highground in every single episode.
Booming
@Jenny
Welcome to the forum!
I disagree somewhat with your view on Kira and Dax in this episode. Sure, Dax is easy going and doesn't take things to seriously but when Quark jumps in bed with people who are probably known as the favorite suppliers of genocidal maniacs, then that might faaaar over the line for her. Quark knew what he was getting into and Dax probably did, too.
Kira on the other would have certainly bought weapons wherever she could get them. Revolutions and rebellions are rarely won by always doing what's morally right. That includes buying/getting weapons from people who are awful. Still, I don't think Kira was ever fond of any of these types and she already had a very mixed opinion of Quark because of him profiting from the occupation. He is also a horrible misogynist who tries to put sexual exploitation in the labor contracts with women. #Cancel Quark
Oh and finally Sisko. Yeah... I try to blank out the "I'm willing to use chemical weapons against an insurgency" episode. The worst DS9 episode. I guess technically Sisko did not commit mass murder... so he still has the moral middle ground maybe, while Quark occupies the lowest of low moral grounds.
" I'm not ok with her being such a hypocrite and being portrayed as having the moral highground in every single episode."
She is a freedom fighter and Americans love those. I always kind of liked that Kira had little problems being called a terrorist. Innocent pre 9/11 times...
And there were some episodes where she wasn't an example of moral goodness. Like the episode in which she went along with what that fake prophet demanded.
You mentioned "darkness and the light" and in that one she admits that she was ruthless and would blow up civilians. She also endangered Keiko's and Miles's child. In another episodes she almost kills her own mother for being a collaborator. Lots of grey in my opinion.
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