liz_marcs | DS9: It's not a post-TOS Star Trek without a Q!

Episode 06: Q-Less

Know what I love about Q episodes? They’re fun. That’s all they are. Fun. There’s no great statement about anything. No staring at the bellybutton. Just chaos, witty lines, and more meta than you know what to do with.

DS9’s only outing in the Q genre is no different. The dialog is witty. The plot is a mere excuse to have Q show up and annoy the hell out of the locals. And how everyone reacts to Q speaks volumes about their character.

I know this isn’t one of the favorites from Season One, but I *heart* this episode so much.

The short story: When last we saw Vash, Captain Picard’s bad-girl crush, she had left the Q-created Sherwood Forest on Next Generation (in the very episode which gave us Worf’s immortal line: “I am not a merry man!”) with Q so she really could go where no human being had been before. Now it’s two years later and she’s baaaaaaack. Turns out she and Q had a huge fight and they parted ways in the Gamma Quadrant. (As for who left whom, it depends on whether you ask Vash or Q.) Lucky for her, a runabout piloted by Dax happened by and gave her lift back to Deep Space Nine.

And, as always happens when either Vash or Q show up, trouble ensues. Trouble, in this case, being a mysterious energy drain on the station that gets increasingly severe as the episode progresses.

Does the plot make sense? Does the resolution make sense? Oh, hell no. But that’s not the point. The point, people, is the laugh out loud dialogue that’ll keep you helplessly giggling through the whole episode. Everyone in the cast looks like they’re having the time of their lives as they deal with the arrival of Q and their mystery crisis of the week.

Any episode that lets Avery Brooks strut his comedic timing and Colm Meaney his deadpan delivery is a good thing.

In short, who needs a plot when you’ve got…Q!

God, so many cool points to count:

In the opening teaser, Dr. Bashir channels his inner Arnold Rimmer and dramatically re-enacts his triumphant path to salutatorian of Starfleet Medical School to an enraptured lady while O’Brien rolls his eyes in the background. What’s really cool about this is that his story about missing one question on his orals comes up at least twice more in two very different contexts. When I heard Dr. Bashir recounting this story, I almost fell off the couch. Typical DS9. Throw in something important in a comedic episode and then hit you with just how serious it really is at a later date.
Vash comes across as more Ferengi than Quark. What’s more, you can see that everyone knows that Vash isn’t just a real weirdo for when compared to your typical 24th century earthling, she’s really not “earth material,” despite being born there. (“You’ll be bored on earth,” Q sniffs at Vash. “Earth once had character. Crusades. The Spanish Inquisition. Watergate. Now it’s a dull place.”)
Q is actually creepy in some of his interactions with Vash. Even though, in the end, he agrees to stay out of her life, for most of the episode he comes across as the stalker boyfriend who just won’t let go.
Although, I can’t resist mentioning this: As part of his attempt to get Vash back, Q promises to take Vash to the Delta Quadrant. Considering that Voyager took place in the Delta Quadrant, I couldn’t help a little “Heee!” at that.
Vash’s list of Q-caused misadventures when she gives him reasons why she wants out is a hoot. (“What is it they called you? The god of lies?” Vash asks. “They meant it affectionately,” Q sniffs.)
Everyone is just as knowledgeable and just as ignorant as they should be. O’Brien is the only one who actually knows Vash (albeit slightly) and has had first-hand contact with Q, so naturally he’s the voice of experience (such as it is). Sisko’s only heard about Q in a Starfleet briefing 2 years before, and his reactions are dead on for that. Kira, on the other hand, is all, “Q who?”
When Sisko asks O’Brien about Vash, O’Brien tells Sisko that Vash was a “special friend of the captain’s.” Sisko’s floored because Vash just doesn’t seem like Picard’s type. “Well,” says O’Brien, “the captain does like a challenge.”
When Q shows up in Ops, and O’Brien confronts him, Q statement is so meta it’s priceless. He looks O’Brien right in the eye and asks, “Weren’t you one of the little people?” Bwahahahaha!
While the Deep Space Nine crew are trying to puzzle out what the problem is (they’ve already determined that Q ain’t the cause), Q can’t resist poking them by saying, “On the Enterprise they would’ve technobabbled out a solution by now.”
And, of course, the immortal exchange when Sisko finally has had enough and lands a right cross on Q’s face. “You hit me! Picard never hit me!” Q exclaims in a wounded voice. Sisko grins in response and says, “I’m not Picard.” Damn straight!

Are there plot holes? Yup. Does the plot actually make any sense? Not really. But that’s not the point! Shut off the brain, kick back, and prepare for one heck of an entertaining hour.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Ah. Q. My favorite under utilized character in the Star Trek universe. My favorite part of the way he was used in DS9 is that through his interactions with the crew, it gives you more of a sense of who they really are than what three or four 'serious' episodes would.

Because you can't be anything but yourself when you're that annoyed.

Q is a lot like spice. You don't want to use him too much, because I can see how he'd wear out his welcome very fast. So when he's brought in, it's a treat.

But, ooooo, yeah. Q shows, you pretty much know it's a good episode by default.

I adore Q. "The Q and the Grey" is one of my all time favorite episodes.

I had the absolute pleasure of seeing (and meeting) John DeLancie at this year's Dragon*Con. He was an utter delight to talk to and I'm a bit miffed that my friends walked away before I could have them snap a picture of me with him. But I have the memories (and the autograph).

Awww, I heard he's wicked nice to fans and seems to be very grateful to be attached to the character of Q.

It always makes me happy when people confirm that actors I like are nice people.

“You hit me! Picard never hit me!” Q exclaims in a wounded voice. Sisko grins in response and says, “I’m not Picard.” Damn straight!

hee! and I adore Q's response to that: "no, you're easier to provoke."

oooooooh. *grin*

With that evil little grin he gives when he says "provoke."

In all honesty, Q really couldn't show up on DS9 after S2 due to the later war arc. But it was nice seeing they did get him in.

Been *heart*ing these reviews (but lacked time to comment) - reminds me of all the reasons I love DS9! It has politics! It has moral ambiguity! (I recall a line of Sisco's to Worf I think - "You'll find on DS9 there are more grey areas"). It has character development! Actions have consequences!

Q is one thing the Star Trek franchise got right - after a weak start where he provided the foil for Picard to prove how wonderful humans are, he became, as with the examples above, a means by which the writers could laugh at themselves.

I started watching most of them on the Sky reruns here in the UK, which alternated between TNG, DS9 and Voyager. Later though they seemed to mostly drop DS9 from the alternation. I wonder if that was down to ratings or politics - having a self-professed 'terrorist' as one of the main heroes, and copious use of the word "Occupation" not so politically correct these days...

I wouldn't be surprised if politics came into play. Certainly, I suspect that's part of the reason why DS9 isn't played more prominently in the U.S. these days, despite the fact that it probably rivals TNG in popularity at this point.

I mean, have you tried getting DS9 DVDs used? It's impossible to get them and the prices are inflated to boot. You might as well buy them new.

But, yeah, I suspect Q was the writers' own little personal meta machine. A perfect case of the writers laughing with the audience instead of at them (I'm glaring at you Trio from S6 Buffy).

I, too, loved Sisko hitting Q, and the dialogue surrounding it. Very much similar to the scene in Prisoner of Azkaban when Hermione hit Malfoy.

Heee! The look of shock! Always does it for me.

Your reviews are bringing back memories of episodes I'd forgotten about, like this one. I love the Q episodes, in all the series. He's the trickster, the stirrer upper of all kinds of delicious fun.
I'm really enjoying your DS9 reviews, makes me wish it was on TV as much as Voyager is, so I could watch it more often.

Reminds me that somewhere on my hard drive is the start of a "Dawn meets Q" crossover, another sequel to my story Omphalos. Some time I really ought to give it another go.

Please do.

Aaaah, Sisko. I LOVE THAT HE HIT Q.

Picard is the best diplomat in the history of the Federation. But if you want something DONE, you call Sisko. XD

I forgive everything bad in this episode for "Weren't you one of the little people?" and "I'm not Picard." The look on Sisko's face when he said that was just wonderful.

I love Q. I even liked De Lancie the younger as Q's (and K'Ehleyr's) son. :) I also liked Vash. I liked the idea of there being human's in the 24th century who weren't all clean cut and uninterested in their own personal wealth and wants. To me the thing that always annoys me about the human characters in ST is that, overwhelmingly, they're all so bloomin' GOOD. (Not that Vash wasn't good, she was just differently good o_O)

DS9: It's not a post-TOS Star Trek without a Q!

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