10 Most Rewatchable Star Trek: Deep Space Nine Episodes

This sixth season riff on the American Western is an amusing adventure buoyed by all the humour typical of Deep Space Nine's Ferengi-oriented episodes while avoiding the tedium of cringe-worthy miscues like "Profit and Lace". Although mostly trivial to the show's overall structure, "The Magnificent Ferengi" presents a pleasing diversion from the ongoing Dominion War's gloomier themes. Add the appearance of legendary singer Iggy Pop as a guest star, and you've got the makings of an episode just screaming for another visit. Come for the laughs, stay for the "Godfather of Punk".

"The Magnificent Ferengi" opens with Quark learning of his mother Ishka's capture by the Dominion. Ishka's secret lover, Grand Nagus Zek, offers a reward of 50 bars of gold-pressed latinum for her safe return, prompting Quark to assemble a Ferengi commando squad tasked with planning a daring rescue operation.

After gathering a team comprised of his brother Rom, nephew Nog, cousin Gaila, ex-Liquidator Brunt, and a mysterious Ferengi "eliminator" named Leck, Quark's plans are stymied when simulations against the Jem'Hadar go disastrously awry. Forging a different path, Quark decides to instead negotiate with the Dominion by offering Keevan, the Vorta recently captured at the conclusion of "Rocks and Shoals", in exchange for his mother.

Quark arranges a meeting with the Dominion on the abandoned Cardassian station Empok Nor, where a dispute over his phony claim that Zek's reward is only 20 bars of latinum leads to Keevan's accidental death. Faced with the impatient Vorta Yelgrun, played by Iggy Pop, the Ferengi rig Keevan's lifeless body with a neural simulator designed to make him walk and perform other basic movements.

The ruse works like a charm. The Ferengi escape with Quark's mother and the now captive Yelgrun, who Quark proclaims is their gift to Starfleet. Sometimes even Quark can have his tube grubs and eat them too.

Riding high on delightful guest performances from Iggy Pop, Jeffrey Combs, and Josh Pais, "The Magnificent Ferengi" is the kind of exhilarating caper Deep Space Nine excelled at on so many occasions. For fans desperately in need of a break from watching Dominion and Federation fleets annihilate each other, this one's always a surefire hit.