Line #50 Recap/StarTrekDeepSpaceNineS02E07RulesOfAcquisition


1	[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/pel_dosi_quark.jpg]]
2	[[caption-width-right:350:Let's play guess the females! [[note]]Hint: It's not Quark.[[/note]]]]
3	It's after hours at Quark's. The crooked Ferengi and associates (including Dax) are engaged in a friendly game of Tongo. One of these players, a new waiter by the name of Pel, brings Quark aside with a new money-making idea: sand peas. A saliva-drying snack food, they could help Quark's beverage profit skyrocket. Quark is impressed, to Rom's annoyance.
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5	Soon afterwards, [[Recap/StarTrekDeepSpaceNineS01E11TheNagus Grand Nagus Zek]] contacts Quark. He's heading for [=DS9=] with the deal of a lifetime. He's made contact with a Gamma Quadrant species called the Dosi, and he'd like to hold the conference on the station.
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7	Upon arrival, Nagus Zek negotiates with Sisko to hold the business meeting at the station. After sweetening the deal with some almost-free and much-needed provisions for Bajor, Sisko approves. With that taken care of, Zek finally reveals his amazing idea: Tulaberries! Specifically, Tulaberry wine! Quark is confused until Zek explains that this simple product will establish invaluable business contacts within the Gamma Quadrant and pave the way for future profits. Best yet, he wants Quark to headline the negotiation, netting for himself a cut of all future trade form the Gamma Quandrant.
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9	Quark accepts, seeing mountains of latinum in his future, but Pel warns him of the 48th Rule of Acquisition: "The bigger the smile, the sharper the knife." Pel thinks Zek is setting Quark up to be the FallGuy if this deal goes south. Impressed again by his business savvy, Quark makes Pel his assistant for the negotiation over Rom's objections.
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11	Well, the Dosi turn out to be what you'd get if you combined Ferengi with Klingons; they love profit, but their short tempers and aggressive attitude make negotiations quickly turn sideways. The lead Dosi staunchly refuses to meet Quark's request of 10,000 vats and demands to speak directly to Zek. Only the quick thinking of Pel helps cool things down, and the Dosi agree to "think about" selling 6,000 vats.
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13	Returning to Zek with the news, Quark's interrupted by a new request: Zek wants ''100,000'' vats instead. The Dosi do not take this well and leave the station for their home-world. Zek is about to tear Quark a new lobe-hole when Pel intervenes, declaring that he and Quark will take the Nagus' ship to the Dosi home planet and negotiate again.
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15	Before leaving, Dax has a sit-down with Pel on the promenade. She's never met a Ferengi like Pel-- and has also noticed Pel's obvious crush on Quark-- and she's intrigued. Well, there's a reason Pel seems so unique: because she's the first Ferengi ''female'' Dax has ever met. She's disguised her gender with a pair of fake lobes and a vest, and she's breaking a lot of laws with this ruse.
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17	On the Dosi home planet, Quark has difficulty getting any of them to even pay attention to him. After another pep-talk from Pel, Quark makes a scene and trashes a fountain in hopes of getting some respect. While waiting to see if their plan worked, Pel starts making serious advances on Quark and kisses him. Quark is shocked, but before Pel can reveal her secret, a Dosi named Zyree interrupts them with a proposition. She admits that the Dosi don't have 100,000 vats of wine to sell in the first place, but she can tell Quark who does, for a price. Quark agrees and Zyree names the Karemma, a mysterious race working for something called "The Dominion."
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19	Quark refuses to speak about Pel's recent behavior and focuses on returning to Zek with the good news. The overjoyed Nagus reveals that getting into business with the Dominion was his plan all along. Quark is about to become a ''very'' rich Ferengi.
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21	Well, things go south quickly. While they were away, the jealous Rom ransacked Pel's quarters looking for dirt and found it: Pel's fake lobes. He reveals the secret to Quark, who passes out on the spot. Rom wants to report this to Zek at once, but Quark knows better. It's a crime for Ferengi females to conduct business as well as conduct business ''with'' them. If Pel goes down, Rom and Quark would go down with her, so Quark manages to talk Rom into keeping this between the three of them.
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23	Well, Pel has different ideas. Marching into an audience with Zek, she reveals her true gender. The Nagus is outraged. A ''clothed female'' conducting business is a heinous crime. As Zek declares her an outlaw, Quark stands up for her, noting that Zek himself is just as guilty of doing business with Pel as anyone.
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25	The leader of the Ferengi Alliance would look pretty dumb if the news of a female doing business for him got out. The Nagus knows when he's beaten, but Quark isn't escaping this unscathed. He will lose all his Gamma Quadrant profits, and the secret of Pel will remain a secret.
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27	Pel decides to seek her fortunes in the Gamma Quadrant away from Ferengi patriarchy. Although Quark is tempted, he opts to remain behind on Deep Space Nine. Pel fondles his lobes and departs.
28
29	! Tropes:
30	* AbhorrentAdmirer:
31	** Kira doesn't appreciate Zek's attraction to her.
32	** Quark is completely spooked by Pel's advances on him when he thinks she's a man.
33	* FallGuy: Pel warns Quark that this might be why Zek wants him to head the negotiations with the Dosi; if things go wrong, someone's gonna need to take the blame.
34	* {{Foreshadowing}}: The Dosi seem kinda nervous talking about the Dominion, don't they?
35	* GreenEyedMonster: Rom doesn't take kindly to Pel winning his brother's favor.
36	* HiddenBuxom: Pel isn't ridiculously stacked, but still conceals a rather ample bosom with nothing but a vest.
37	* HumanAliens: The Dosi have their faces painted... and that's about as "alien" as they get.
38	* InnocuouslyImportantEpisode: This otherwise humorous episode is the first to mention the Dominion. WordOfGod says this was intentional, as Ron Moore liked the idea of the overall villains of the show being foreshadowed in what is, in the grand scheme of things, a throwaway episode. Ferengi gender norms will also play a role in future episodes.
39	* IronicEcho: "Stupidity is no excuse."
40	* JerkWithAHeartOfGold: Quark is a mean and greedy businessman who follows the strict and sexist rules of his people. However, he’s quick to protect Pel, a female Ferengi who disguised herself as a man, once she reveals her true identity to the Grand Nagus and he ensures Pel safety from a severe punishment by getting Zek to agree to let the incident slide at a financial cost.
41	* MistakenForGay: A subtle moment, but Jadzia figures out Pel is in love with Quark before Pel tells Jadzia she's a woman. Jadzia expresses surprise when she finds out Pel is a woman, which strongly implies she thought Pel was gay. Quark also assumes Pel is gay after she kisses him, not finding out that she's female for hours (possibly more than a day) afterward. In contrast to Jadzia, Quark takes the experience very badly, denying it happened and getting visibly uncomfortable when Pel wants to talk about it.
42	* NotHelpingYourCase: Zek continues to claim that the Ferengi reputation as lying, cheating backstabbers is unearned. This is after he offers to give Bajor a large amount of fertilizer, then discusses the price, misleading them into thinking it was free.
43	* ProudMerchantRace: In addition to the Ferengi, we also have the Dosi, who are much more belligerent in their pursuit of profit.
44	* SeriousBusiness: ''Literally!'' If you thought the Ferengi take business seriously, the Dosi have them beat. They're willing to ''kill'' to get a good deal!
45	-->'''Zyree''': [...]like the Ferengi, the Dosi are very serious when it comes to profit.\
46	(''another Dosi is shot dead a few feet away'')\
47	'''Zyree''': ''...very serious.''
48	* StayInTheKitchen: This episode fleshes out the Ferengis' deeply-ingrained misogyny. We already knew they preferred their women naked and kept home; now we find out that women earning profit, being literate, reciting the rules of acquisition, and even ''advising'' males on financial matters are all illegal on Ferenginar.
49	* SuppressedMammaries: InUniverse, Pel conceals her breasts under a form-fitting vest. In fact, the director insisted on Pel having visible breasts as part of her gender reveal because he didn't think just removing the synthetic lobes was enough of a signifier, and later mentioned talking to people who still didn't realise Pel was female until she took off the vest.
50	* SweetOnPollyOliver: Quark denies it, but he's obviously holding a torch for Pel after she leaves.
51	* SweetPollyOliver: Pel is female and has disguised herself as male so she can pursue profit.
52	* ThereIsOnlyOneBed: Pel is understandably freaked out by this, partly because she'll share a bed with Quark but mostly because her fake ears won't survive a night of sleeping on them, which would expose her secret.
53	* TheyWastedAPerfectlyGoodSandwich: Pel sits down to a full plate of food but only nibbles at a small morsel before Dax engages her in conversation. At the end of the scene, Pel leaves without having taken another bite. Of course, the teeth prosthetics make it difficult for actors playing Ferengi to eat on screen.
54	* WorthyOpponent: Zek offers to give fertilizer to Bajor, but despite his earlier offer still insists on charging for it. Sisko threatens to forbid him from doing business on the [=DS9=]. [[GracefulLoser Zek smiles and happily]] [[YouAreACreditToYourRace compliments Sisko on his negotiation skills]].
55	* YouAreACreditToYourRace: In response to Sisko forcing him to give a shipment of free fertilizer to Bajor, Zek states his negotiation skills are very impressive for a hew-mon.

Context Recap / StarTrekDeepSpaceNineS02E07RulesOfAcquisition