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Quark knows that when Morn leaves the bar he might as well close up for the night and went so far as to suggest a new Ferengi “rule of acquisition” in order to describe it. Quark on occasion lets Morn run the bar.

Morn will more likely be around for a long time as Jake Sisko finds Morn running the bar sometime in the future. Enough pieces of the puzzle for the audience to wonder and keep them on the edge of their seats when he is about to say something; Morn might be the most famous non-speaking part in Star Trek History .

  • Quark’s most regular customer
  • From the Ionite Nebula (The way of the warrior)
  • Has never spoken on camera, however it is mentioned that he talks a lot (The Jem’hadar)
  • Has 17 brothers and sisters (Starship Down)
  • Has more that one heart (Through the Looking Glass)
  • Was once caught sleeping on the promenade
  • Enjoys a Raw Slug Liver breakfast at Quark’s (The Assignment)
  • Rule of Acquisition #286: “When Morn leaves, it’s all over!” -Quark. (The House of Quark)
  • Morn wears Vaterian wool undergarments form Garak’s shop but no earmuffs (The Way of the Warrior)
  • Is not good at darts (Accession)
  • Morn’s name is an anagram for Norm the similar character from Cheers
  • Is played by Mark Allen Shepherd

Screen Rant

Star trek's dax thought morn was cute & 9 other ds9 reveals.

Star Trek's Morn may have kept to himself, but Dax's favorite Lurian courier had a wild life that became a running joke on Deep Space Nine.

  • Morn, the beloved barfly in Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, appeared in more episodes than Jake Sisko without uttering a single word.
  • Morn's criminal past was revealed in an episode where he faked his death after being involved in a heist.
  • Morn had various love interests and was even Worf's sparring partner in the holosuites.

From Lt. Jadzia Dax (Terry Farrell) finding him cute, to his gift for poetry, Star Trek: Deep Space Nine revealed a number of wild details about its resident barfly Morn (Mark Allen Shepherd) across its seven seasons. Named after the beloved Norm (George Wendt) in the classic sitcom Cheers , Morn propped up the bar at Quark's throughout seven seasons of DS9 . Morn never uttered a word on screen, despite actor Mark Allen Shepherd claiming that lines would be written for the character before being cut from the finished script. One notable example was an apparent scene where Morn is dressed in a tuxedo and ordering a drink " shaken not stirred " after playing a James Bond holonovel.

Incredibly, Morn is one Star Trek: Deep Space Nine character who appeared in more episodes than Jake Sisko (Cirroc Lofton). Mark Allen Shepherd has 93 DS9 credits to his name, while Cirroc Lofton only has 71, without uttering a single word. Morn became such a beloved character that he took center stage in the classic Star Trek: DS9 episode, "Who Mourns for Morn?" However, Morn's gruff and quiet exterior belies a wild life of criminality, romance, and artistry that would regularly be hinted at throughout DS9 .

RELATED: Before Voyager, A Borg Queen Actor Romanced Star Trek: DS9’s Dax

10 DS9's Dax Thought Morn Was Cute

Star trek: deep space nine, season 1, episode 15, "progress".

Traveling to Bajor's fifth moon, Jerrada, Dax and Major Kira Nerys (Nana Visitor) discuss the Quark's Bar regular in the Runabout. Morn has recently asked Jadzia out for dinner, much to Kira's shock and mild horror. Although Dax says she turned Morn's offer down, she does note that the " seven or eight little wiry hairs that come out of his forehead " make him look kind of cute. Kira is visibly bewildered by this revelation, but as one of Star Trek: DS9 's Trill , Dax is clearly a lot more open-minded than the Bajoran Major. Later, in "Who Mourns For Morn?" Dax reveals that she did indeed have a crush on him, but he turned her down.

9 Morn Speaks German

Star trek: deep space nine, season 2, episode 26, "the jem'hadar".

In the whole of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine , Morn is only ever heard laughing, and even that is rare. However, there is a bizarre exception in the German language edit of the season 2 finale, "The Jem'Hadar." In a scene at Quark's Bar, Morn is about to explain to Quark (Armin Shimerman) what was bothering him, but the Ferengi bartender walked away before he could speak. In the original version, Morn stays silent, but in the German edit, Morn says " Dann nicht… " which roughly translates as " So much for that… " It's possible that this is one of the lines that was written for Morn but cut, but remained in translated scripts for the German dub.

8 DS9's Morn Appears In 4 Star Trek Shows

Ds9, tng, voyager, and lower decks.

As well as appearing in 93 episodes of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine , Morn made cameo appearances in three other Trek shows in the 1990s and 2020s. In the Star Trek: The Next Generation episode "Birthright", Lt. Worf (Michael Dorn) passes Morn while trying to locate the information broker who claims to have the location of his father. Later, in the pilot episode of Star Trek: Voyager , Lt. Tom Paris (Robert Duncan McNeill) is stood next to Morn at the bar while he intervenes in Quark's conning of Ensign Harry Kim (Garrett Wang). Years later, in Star Trek: Lower Decks ' DS9 crossover, Morn was seen in his usual spot at Quark's Bar.

7 Morn Had A Criminal Past

Star trek: deep space nine, season 6, episode 12, "who mourns for morn".

Morn's criminal past was revealed in the classic Star Trek: Deep Space Nine episode "Who Mourns for Morn", in which he faked his death. This was because he could no longer be punished for his role in the Lissepian Mother's Day Heist , meaning that his co-conspirators could come looking for him and the missing latinum. Quark and Odo end up becoming involved in the aftermath of the heist, as Morn's associates come calling. It was revealed that Morn had stored the latinum in his second stomach, the poisonous effects of which had made him lose his hair. Quark and Morn later shared the proceeds of the heist, after the Ferengi helped dispatch Morn's former associates.

6 Morn Was An Associate Of Star Trek: Picard's Sneed

Star trek: picard, season 3, episode 2, "disengage".

Star Trek: Picard 's Ferengi villain , Sneed (Aaron Stanford) was connected to several of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine 's less reputable characters. As well as Quark and Liquidator Brunt (Jeffrey Combs), Sneed was also a known associate of Morn, perhaps from his days pulling heists. One of Sneed's many crimes was arson aboard Deep Space Nine, though it's unclear whether it was Morn or Quark who was the target of Sneed's fire-raising.

RELATED: Every New DS9 Reveal In Star Trek Since Sisko's Show Ended

5 Morn Inherited Quark's Bar In An Alternate Timeline

Star trek: deep space nine, season 4, episode 3, "the visitor".

In the best-ever Jake and Benjamin Sisko episode , the disappearance of Captain Sisko created an alternate timeline in which an older Jake Sisko (Tony Todd) dedicated his life to finding his missing father. Of the many changes to Star Trek history caused by Sisko's disappearance, Deep Space Nine was handed over into Klingon hands. Quark left the station and Morn took over the running of operations, later calling the bar Morn's Bar.

4 Morn Played A Vital Role In The Dominion War

Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, season 6, episode 5, "Favor the Bold"

When the station was retaken by the Cardassians at the end of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine season 5, it appeared that all hope was lost. Morn was so panicked by the precarious state of the station that he got drunk, attacked Quark, stripped off and nakedly pleaded for the Bajoran prophets to protect him. However, in DS9 season 6, he played a key role in the Dominion War, when he passed a vital message between the resistance movement on the station and Captain Sisko. The information contained in the message allowed Sisko to lead Operation Return , retaking the station from the Dominion and regaining a tactical advantage, all thanks to Morn!

3 Morn Was A Ladies Man

Various star trek: deep space nine episodes.

It's not just Jadzia Dax who found Morn attractive, many other women fell under his spell. Despite the lies of the criminal Larell (Bridget Ann White), Morn never married, but he certainly had more than a few love interests. For example, he goes on a date with a female Starfleet officer in the Star Trek: Deep Space Nine episode "Let He Who Is Without Sin." He's also seen successfully flirting with Bajoran and Kobheerian women in DS9 season 1. Sadly for Jadzia, he never asked her out for dinner again after her first rejection.

2 Morn Was Worf's Sparring Partner

Star Trek: Deep Space Nine 's Lt. Commander Worf (Michael Dorn) revealed in "Who Mourns for Morn?" that the Lurian was an excellent sparring partner. Apparently, the two men would have weekly combat sessions in the holosuites at Quark's Bar. It's one of many unseen adventures for DS9 's enigmatic bar patron that are far funnier in the viewer's imagination than they would ever be when realized on screen.

1 Morn Never Shut Up

Star trek: deep space nine, season 1, episode 12, "vortex".

If there's a point at which the long-running Morn gag is established, it's possibly in the episode, "Vortex." Investigating a mysterious criminal visitor, Constable Odo (Rene Auberjonois) gains information from Morn that Quark bought the suspicious character a meal. This inspires Quark to reflect that Morn should " keep his big mouth shut. " This was something that Morn would regularly do when viewers were watching, but when he was off-screen, it was apparently impossible to get a word in edgeways. Morn's big mouth was first mentioned way back in Star Trek: Deep Space Nine season 1, and would be one of the longest-running gags in the entire show.

Star Trek: Deep Space Nine

Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, also known as DS9, is the fourth series in the long-running Sci-Fi franchise, Star Trek. DS9 was created by Rick Berman and Michael Piller, and stars Avery Brooks, René Auberjonois, Terry Farrell, and Cirroc Lofton. This particular series follows a group of individuals in a space station near a planet called Bajor.

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Star Trek: Deep Space Nine – Who Mourns for Morn? (Review)

Who Mourns for Morn? suffers a great deal from its place in the sixth season.

Who Mourns for Morn? is the second broad comedy in the last three episodes. It is the third light-hearted episode of the last six. That would be a lot of comedy for any season of Star Trek , but it is particularly apparent in the context of the sixth season of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine . After all, there is supposed to be a war raging in the background. The cathartic release of You Are Cordially Invited made a great deal of sense after the opening six-episode arc, and The Magnificent Ferengi was a brilliant comedy episode. However, this is just too much.

Painting a picture of a life...

Painting a picture of a life…

To be fair, the structure of the season contributes to this sense of humour fatigue. The decision to open the sixth season with a six-episode arc focusing on the retaking of Deep Space Nine was bold and ambitious, but it left little room for comedy or humour. As a result, the comedy episodes were concentrated in the aftermath of that sprawling war story, making for a particularly jarring contrast. The first half of the sixth season of Deep Space Nine only has three comedy episode, which is not too much by any measure. However, they arrive in rapid succession.

Taken on its own terms, Who Mourns for Morn? is a solid and enjoyable episode. It is not as funny as House of Quark or Little Green Men , but it moves quickly and works from a clever premise. It is populated with quirky supporting characters, none of whom outstay their welcome. Who Mourns for Morn? is a fun little runaround. Unfortunately, it arrives at a point in the season where the audience is exhausted from all those runarounds.

A very messy, very dirty business.

A very messy, very dirty business.

It is no exaggeration to suggest that Morn has received more character development than some of the regulars on Star Trek: Voyager and Star Trek: Enterprise . The silent barfly who has haunted Quark’s since Emissary has slowly evolved and developed over the course of the series into a surprisingly well-rounded and nuanced character, without ever saying a word. Of course, this development is a wry joke on the part of the production team, but the audience still has a better grip his character than that of Harry Kim or Travis Mayweather.

Who Mourns for Morn? starts from that joke premise, wondering what it would like to build an episode around a character who never talks. It sounds like the kind of idea that would originate in the writers’ room late on a Friday afternoon towards the end of the season, so it is remarkable to see that episode make it to screen. More than that, the resulting episode is far superior to the average Kim- or Mayweather-centric story. It is much better than  Emanations , Non Sequitur ,  Alter Ego ,  Favourite Son , Fortunate Son or Horizon .

Morning on Deep Space Nine.

Morning on Deep Space Nine.

Morn is a fascinating character. He has been a fixture of Deep Space Nine since the show’s pilot, one of the more distinctive background extras of Michael Westmore’s menagerie. He would appear in ninety-three of the series’ one-hundred-and-seventy-three episodes. Not bad for a character intended for a single appearance :

“It was supposed to be a one-shot deal,” recalls the gregarious Shepherd during a telephone interview from his home in California’s San Fernando Valley. “Apparently, what I did on my first day was pretty good, and it got noticed by the producers. “The next day, Venita Ozols-Graham, then the first assistant director, pulled me aside and said, ‘You’re the producers’ favorite alien and, confidentially, I think you have a future here.’ “They started using me in a few episodes, and then I became a regular extra. “Halfway through the first season, they gave the character a name and decided to script him into the stories and write specific moments for him,” Shepherd says.

Ira Steven Behr would describe Morn as the show’s “favourite barfly.” Over the following seasons, little details from Morn’s life would come into focus. His flirtation with Dax in Progress , his participation in Quark’s illegal vole-fighting ring in Through the Looking Glass , his panic over the looming Dominion invasion in Blaze of Glory .

Painting a not-so-pretty picture.

Painting a not-so-pretty picture.

Morn was very much a fixture of life on Deep Space Nine , particularly around the bar. Morn was such a core component of the bar that he would even get to run it, twice. Quark left him in charge of the bar while taking Nog to Earth in Little Green Men , and Morn even took over the day-to-day management of the bar during the alternate future in The Visitor . Morn could be seen flirting with female supporting cast members in episodes like The Forsaken and Dramatis Personae .

Starship Down confirmed that Morn had seventeen brothers and sisters. Favour the Bold suggested that he had a strong relationship with his mother. The care and attention paid to Morn was fascinating, particularly given that the character was mute. His loquaciousness became a running joke on the series, whether through Dax rescuing Bashir from his talkative clutches in Starship Down to his inability to offer anything more than a shrug when pressed about Bashir in Doctor Bashir, I Presume .

Morn opened their hearts.

Morn opened their hearts.

Ironically, Morn seems to have developed into a mute character by accident. As actor Mark Allen Shepherd recalls, he even shot some (delightfully nonsensical) dialogue during his first day working on Emissary :

The circumstances surrounding my first day on the show were so unusual. When they shot the bar scene in Quark’s where Morn is telling the funniest joke in the universe, they told me I could go ahead and tell my joke. And when Sisko gets off of the turbolift and just as he walks towards Quark’s, if you listen carefully to the background sound you might actually hear Morn saying “Finalism finger fink. Obligatory quotient yokefellow, coconut kachina cosmological argument. Bank swallow fish story, inculpate minuteman. Stress certifier in lecithin. Hard-hearted dill, divine minded domineer, mind reader sextuplet, garden fly honey suckle garbage. Palter rimfire, green peace. Change is the ultimate solution. Twenty-fourth century humor. You may not get it right away.”

No wonder Morn didn’t laugh at Quark’s (literally) blue joke about Andorian antennae in Homefront . Morn’s sense of humour operates at a whole other level. It might have been too much for twentieth-century audiences to handle.

Shepherding the character to greatness.

Shepherding the character to greatness.

Who Mourns for Morn? doubles down on the joke of Morn as a mute character. Most obviously, Morn is an absent character for most of the runtime. Morn is silent, even in an episode nominally about Morn. However, the characters repeatedly reference and acknowledge his silence. Confronting a holographic representation of Morn in the teaser, Odo asks, “Why doesn’t it talk?” Quark explains, “Do you have any idea how much an interactive holoprojector costs? Besides, it’s a relief not to have to listen to him go on. You know Morn. He never shuts up.”

At the very end of the episode, Morn reveals that he faked his own death. Odo escorts him to the bar, and makes quite a show of letting Morn speak for himself. “Apparently, he faked his own death,” Odo explains, surprisingly nonplussed by the whole ordeal, perhaps because of the trouble that it caused Quark. Odo then pauses, “I’ll let him tell you all about it.” However, Quark is having none of it. “Well?” Quark demands. “No! I don’t want to hear it. Not one word.” Quark keeps interrupting Morn as he attempts to get a word in edgeways.

It's like he's not even there.

It’s like he’s not even there.

There were several points over the run of Deep Space Nine when it looked like Morn might finally get to speak, including in a nod to Our Man Bashir . Mark Allen Shepherd recalls the experience fondly :

One time I got a call to come in for a fitting for Morn. Now, it wasn’t a fitting for Mark, it was a fitting for Morn. I thought that was funny. So when I came in, they put my makeup on first and then sent me to the wardrobe department. I found a tailor waiting for Morn to fit Morn for a tuxedo. I don’t remember the name of the episode, but it was somehow based on Our Man Bashir, where Morn is wearing a tuxedo, comes out of the holosuite and walks down the spiral staircase. Quark is shaking a drink and Morn says “Shaken but not stirred.” Unfortunately, at the last minute it got cut.

There was some suggestion, particularly from Shepherd himself in the pages of Star Trek Monthly , that Morn would even get to speak the final lines of the series. Shepherd wasn’t too far off the mark, with the last lines of What You Leave Behind ultimately going to Morn’s frequent partner-in-crime, Quark.

The best patron ever, bar none.

The best patron ever, bar none.

Given that Morn never speaks, the idea of building an entire episode around the character seems ridiculous and gimmicky. Indeed, Who Mourns for Morn? only increases Morn’s mimetic quality, as the cast all reflect on how much the character means to them. Morn’s silence becomes a blank canvas, an empty space on to which the crew might project their own needs and wants. One suspects that even Gul Dukat has a good Morn story. Through his silence, the mute barfly could be all things to all people.

“Morn was an excellent sparring partner,” Worf confesses to Dax on their way to the memorial service. “I will miss our weekly combat in the holosuites.” However, Worf is not the only one who will miss Morn. “I used to have a little crush on him,” Dax admits. “It was before we met. Besides, he wasn’t interested.” Quark has come to see Morn as “a mascot. Everyone who comes in here expects to see him, and if they don’t, it doesn’t feel like home to them.” He explains, “The last time he went away, my sales dropped almost five percent.”

Where there's a will...

Where there’s a will…

Morn’s mimetic quality within the narrative is simply a reflection of his cult appeal outside the series. Even Shepherd was surprised by the attention that Morn garnered from both fans and media in coverage of the show :

I was so amazed that I had to collect at least one copy of every magazine that had Morn on the cover or featured somehow inside: covers of Entertainment Weekly, Starburst, MAD magazine, Fangoria, DS9 comic books, as well as Newsweek, TV Guide, Star Trek Magazine, Starlog, Deep Space Nine Magazine, etc. It was unbelievable when the studio started delivering me large manila envelopes filled with fan mail. That went on during the entire run of the show. I’m told that every piece of fan mail represents an estimated 15,000 fans and when I received 1,000 pieces of fan mail that means that some 15 million fans love Morn — a character that never said a word in the seven years that he was on the show. That’s how amazed I was. I was told by a publicist for the show “Did you know that we’ve been told by production to tone down your character a bit because we are starting to get more requests for pictures of Morn in print than some of the stars of the show.” In Germany, where I live now, there was a Star Trek 50th anniversary feature done in the local TV Guide & Movie magazine that had Morn listed number five in a top 10 list of the Most Curious Stories in Star Trek History. It’s just one of those things that has almost a magical quality to it and seems to take on a life of its own – and it’s something I’m very grateful for.

This is remarkable, given how slowly Morn developed and how little information the audience had about the character. The wonderfully alien design of Michael Westmore’s makeup undoubtedly explained some of the character’s appeal, but his unassailable silence and remoteness made him all the more appealing.

Odo is just projecting.

Odo is just projecting.

Who Mourns for Morn? plays with the idea of Morn as a blank slate, as a character who is still a mystery six seasons into a series that would only run seven season. Who Mourns for Morn? repeatedly teases out revelations about Morn’s personal life, about who he really was and how little the characters actually know about him. Ridiculous twist is heaped on top of ridiculous twist, challenging to audience to decide which absurd statements are true and which are false. Are they all true? Does it matter? Can Morn be whatever the audience wants him to be?

It is certainly an interesting hook into the episode, and that ambiguity seems the best way to approach Morn as a character. After all, Morn has been a blank character for so long that filling in those blanks seems almost self-defeating; it would be like meeting Maris Crane on Fraiser or Mister Wilson on Home Improvement , like discovering what happened to the Russian from  Pine Barrens on  The Sopranos . Any material revelation about the character would be underwhelming, so it’s best to keep it all vague.

Muddying the waters...

Muddying the waters…

Who Mourns for Morn? was a voyage of discovery, for Shepherd as well as the audience. The writers had teased Shepherd with the prospect of a Morn-centric episode, and the performer was very surprised at how much detail it actually contained :

Yes, the writers did, in fact, tell me bits and pieces about an upcoming episode where they said Morn was going to die. I thought my career on DS9 would be over. But every time they spoke to me it changed a little bit. Sometimes I thought they were just joking with me to get a reaction of some sort. And as the time came to see a rough draft of the script, I got a copy. Then I started collecting the changes that they made almost on a daily basis. I think there was even a part where Morn was going to say something, but that, like so many other times, got written out. I was deeply flattered and intrigued by the story. It really gave me an opportunity like no other episode to discover who Morn really was in the eyes of the writers. I learned Morn was a rascal in a nefarious sense who was involved with a group of almost sympathetic thieves that heisted 1000 bricks of gold-pressed latinum. Morn had extracted the liquid latinum from the gold-pressed latinum and kept it in his second stomach. (I also learned that) that Morn had hair almost 10 ten years earlier and that Morn was probably there during the end of the Cardassian occupation. These were all things I never imagined about the character, but things like that give the character depth in a way that sight gags alone never can. The writers had a way of keeping me wondering what they would do next. Coming back at the end of the show was somehow a proud moment.

It says a lot about how vague Morn’s back story is that “Morn had hair once” is considered a shocking character revelation. However, Who Mourns for Morn? does tease more substantial revelations about the Lurian, as his supposed death brings former associates out of the woodwork.

All the glitters...

All that glitters…

Larell claims to be Morn’s ex-wife. “Morn was married?” Quark asks. “To you?” Morn never mentioned Larell to Quark. Then again, Morn never mentioned anything to anybody, at least on screen. When Krit and Nahsk show up claiming to be Morn’s former “business associates” following up on a loan, that seems a little more plausible. However, then Hain shows up claiming that Morn is actually the “Crown Prince” of Luria. “He renounced the throne when he came of age,” Hain explains.

These are all slightly ridiculous plot points, but they do all contextualise Morn in the world of Deep Space Nine . The space station has long been home to the broken and the dispossessed, from Garak in exile as heir to the Obsidian Order to Quark as a failed businessman constantly scrambling to climb the ladder to Odo as the man searching for his people and then cut off from them. It is fun to imagine Morn as divorced and indebted abdicated royalty, drinking away his sorrows in a dive bar on the edge of known space.

The gold standard.

The gold standard.

In fact, it could be argued that the biggest problem with Who Mourns for Morn? is that it does eventually offer some concrete answers about who Morn is, instead of leaving it all ambiguous. There is something rather mundane and underwhelming in the revelation that Morn was simply involved in a daring heist and then screwed over his partners in crime. Sure, it’s an interesting juxtaposition to imagine the mute alcoholic as a scheming criminal, but no less interesting than it is to imagine him as a doting husband or former royalty.

To be fair, Who Mourns for Morn? at least puts the work in. René Echevarria’s script is careful to set up each of its revelations in such a way that none of its developments feel like a shock. Quark specifically mentions Morn’s second stomach at the memorial service, ensuring that the reveal that Morn has been hiding the latinum in his second stomach feels (literally) organic. There is a lot of attention to detail in Who Mourns for Morn? , perhaps more than the episode really requires.

Playing the hand he's dealt.

Playing the hand he’s dealt.

Even outside of those details around the finer points of Morn’s life, Who Mourns for Morn? does a lot of fun worldbuilding within the framework of a comedy episode. Particularly notable are the small details about Lurian funeral rites, in which the friends and relatives of the departed are expected to show up with offerings of food and drink. “It’s Lurian custom to bring gifts of food and drink for the deceased so they have something to sustain them in the afterlife,” Bashir explains. Odo very thoughtfully brings a bottle opener.

Broadly speaking, the relatively sophistication an alien culture on Star Trek can usually be assessed by looking at their funeral rights. Many of the species featured on Star Trek came into their own once the franchise bothered to explain what they did with their dead; the Klingons treated their dead as discarded husks in Heart of Glory , while the Ferengi sold “vacuum desiccated” discs of their remains in The Nagus , and the Borg simply absorbed their dead bodies as early as Q Who? Funeral rituals say a lot about a culture, even one as tangential as the Lurians.

Funeral for a friend.

Funeral for a friend.

As with a lot of Deep Space Nine , the episode pays a great deal of attention to existing continuity. Assisting Quark in taking position of Morn’s possessions, Odo makes not of the painting that the Lurian purchased at the auction in In the Cards . “That, I believe, is a matador,” Odo helpfully explains. It is nice to know that Morn appreciated his purchase. Even the small detail that Morn’s swindle took place on “Lissepian Mother’s Day” feels like a nice nod to Morn’s trouble with his own mother in Favour the Bold .

Who Mourns with Morn? is also notable for clearly explaining the concept of “gold-pressed latinum.” The currency has been a feature of the Star Trek universe since B’Etor first mentioned the currency in Past Prologue . It is unsurprising that Deep Space Nine should be the series to add latinum to the mythos; more than any other Star Trek series, Deep Space Nine has worked hard to explain how a post-scarcity economy must work, as demonstrated in episodes like In the Cards or Treachery, Faith and the Great River .

Bricking it.

Bricking it.

In a future where the replicator can provide anything a person would desire, how does the economy work? Gold pressed latinum suggests an answer. Again, the existence of the currency represented the  Deep Space Nine writers pushing the boundaries of Roddenberry’s utopia. As Duncan and Michèle Barrett explain in The Human Frontier :

In the post-scarcity economy of Star Trek’s Federation, money had apparently been rendered unnecessary – but on the new space station, gambling in Quark’s bar required stakes. The writers invented a currency for the Ferengi people, and, by extension, for the population of Deep Space Nine: bars, strips and slips of (gold pressed) ‘latinum.’ Odd as it may seem to bracket money and religion, they both represent the collapse of Roddenberry’s rational, humanist, utopian vision. Behr comments: “Once we put money and finances back into the twenty-fourth century, it was just like a line of dominoes.”

Who Mourns for Morn? offers an explanation of what exactly “gold pressed latinum” is, suggesting that it is liquid latinum pressed within gold blocks. The implication is that the gold can be easily replicated, but the latinum cannot. It sets up one of the episode’s best gags, as Quark finds that Morn has siphoned off all that latinum from his one thousand bricks. “There’s nothing here but worthless gold,” Quark laments. “No! No! No!”

Ashes to ashes, gold dust to gold dust.

Ashes to ashes, gold dust to gold dust.

This reveal offers another demonstration of how meticulously Who Mourns for Morn? is structured, with René Echevarria very skilfully setting up the reveal much earlier in the episode. The franchise’s first substantial discussion concerning the nature of latinum comes during a game of tongo between Quark and Dax. “I wonder who came up with the idea of suspending liquid latinum inside worthless bits of gold?” Quark muses. Dax responds, “Probably somebody who got tired of making change with an eyedropper.”

As with Quark’s comment about Morn’s second stomach at the memorial service, this is a very effective piece of foreshadowing that ensures the audience is not caught entirely off-guard when it is revealed that Morn has extracted all the latinum from his gold and secreted it away inside his second stomach. For an episode that is written as a broad comedy, Who Mourns for Morn? is very carefully put together. The script plays entirely fair with the audience, which is very strange for a comedy episode based around a premise this ridiculous.

Morn is still liquid.

Morn is still liquid.

In some respects, Who Mourns for Morn? is a single joke stretched over forty minutes. More to the point, it is a set of small one-note jokes that play out over forty minutes. This is perhaps most notable in the weird dysfunctional gang of crooks that assemble in the wake of Morn’s death, which each of the four characters playing as a very obvious joke. Larell is a very attractive woman who claims to be Morn’s wife. Krit is a walking Jack Nicholson impression in alien makeup. Nahsk is dumb muscle. Hain is acting very hard.

Some of these characters work better than others. Krit is just absurd enough to support what little attention the script pays to him, with Brad Greenquist hamming it up in his handful of scenes. Greg Itzin makes a slightly stronger impression with Hain, offering a firm contrast between his self-assured behaviour towards Quark and his more anxious reactions when Quark cannot see him. Itzin rounds out Hain through a number of small touches, such as absent-mindedly scratching his face with his weapon while trying to improvise around unforeseen circumstances.

Scratch that.

Scratch that.

In some respects, Who Mourns for Morn? makes a comedic companion piece to A Simple Investigation . Both episodes are written by René Echevarria playing on the familiar tropes of film noir . In fact, the supporting cast in Who Mourns for Morn? are all Star Trek twists on familiar film noir archetypes. Larell is the beautiful and seductive woman working her own angle; Krit is the ominous mob boss posing as a legitimate businessman, with Nahsk as his muscle; Hain is the hustler. Even the climax evokes film noir , as the greedy criminals turn one another.

These characters and their dynamics are all drawn in the broadest possible terms. Who Mourns for Morn? is not a script with a lot of nuance or subtlety, which is a shame. The characters inhabiting Who Mourns for Morn? never feel as tangible as the Ferengi who made up the rescue mission in The Magnificent Ferengi , and their interactions are nowhere near as crisp. Even Quark himself seems very one-dimensional in Who Mourns for Morn? , his motivation seeming remarkably straightforward and his behaviour largely reactive.

Brothers grim.

Brothers grim.

Ironically, discussing the first draft with The Star Trek: Deep Space Nine Companion , René Echevarria identified this as an issue with Mark Gehred-O’Connell’s originally submission:

After Gehred-O’Connell turned in his script, the refinements began. “Mark did a good job,” René Echevarria says, “but the comedy was too broad. Ultimately, it wasn’t a Morn episode; it was a story about Quark. And the most common mistake people make in writing Quark is to make him transparently greedy. On paper, that’s veyr funny, but Armin [Shimerman] doesn’t play Quark that way. Armin plays it real.”

Unfortunately, Who Mourns for Morn? never quite manages to capitalise upon the nuance and sophistication that Shimerman brings to the role, even in the best comedic episodes. Stories like House of Quark and The Magnificent Ferengi afford Quark a perverse dignity. Who Mourns for Morn? is too broad.

This whole adventure was a bit of a wash.

This whole adventure was a bit of a wash.

Who Mourns for Morn? is not a bad episode. It is not a bad comedy episode. It is not the worst comedy episode of the sixth season of Deep Space Nine . It is not even the second worst comedy episode of the sixth season of Deep Space Nine . The biggest issue with the episode is that it arrives hot on the heals of two other light episodes in the middle of a season dominated by a war for humanity’s very survival. As the third comedy episode in a run of six episodes, Who Mourns for Morn? needs to be a truly spectacular piece of television.

Who Mourns for Morn? is merely enjoyable.

You might be interested in our reviews of the sixth season of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine :

  • A Time to Stand
  • Rocks and Shoals
  • Sons and Daughters
  • Behind the Lines
  • Favour the Bold
  • Sacrifice of Angels
  • You Are Cordially Invited…
  • Resurrection
  • Statistical Probabilities
  • The Magnificent Ferengi
  • Who Mourns for Morn?
  • Far Beyond the Stars
  • One Little Ship
  • Honour Among Thieves
  • Change of Heart
  • Wrongs Darker Than Death or Night
  • Inquisition
  • In the Pale Moonlight
  • The Reckoning
  • Profit and Lace
  • Time’s Orphan
  • The Sound of Her Voice
  • Tears of the Prophets

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Filed under: Deep Space Nine | Tagged: deep space nine , morn , Quark , review , star trek , star trek: deep space nine , who mourns for morn? |

18 Responses

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>Of course, this development is a wry joke on the part of the production team, but the audience still has a better grip his character than that of Harry Kim or Travis Mayweather.

Q: What’s the difference between a scene with Morn and a scene with Travis Mayweather?

A: The camera is focused on Morn.

But let’s get real; how disarming it is to think how Mark Allen Shepherd would greet each script with, “Wow, I can’t believe this new thing I learned about my character!” to Anthony Montgomery greeting: “Oh, another line reading about what the helm is doing.”

>Itzin rounds out Hain through a number of small touches, such as absent-mindedly scratching his face with his weapon while trying to improvise around unforeseen circumstances.

Can we just single that bit out as a terrific visual that tells you everything you need to know about the character? It instantly brings to mind the similarly-haphazard way the police detective in Plan 9 from Outer Space would gesture with his firearm.

Also notable is Shepherd’s cameo as the man who sits in Morn’s chair, which is a nice treat for people who wanted to know what the actor really looked like.

Like Shepherd, I too wanted Morn to have the final line of the series, which I imagined as:

Quark: “Another drink, Morn?” Morn: “Sure.”

I enjoy this episode just fine; it’s not essential viewing by any stretch but there are enough chuckles.

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Yeah, it’s not a bad episode. It’s just kinda strange coming on the heels of You Are Cordially Invited… and The Magnificent Ferengi, falling somewhere between them in terms of quality.

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Mourn is great makeup. I miss stuff like that

Mourn really is fantastic make-up.

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I feel like the episode works best in the context of syndication, where it’s one of the relatively few late-season episodes that can work without knowing the exact context of the Dominion War, etc. On the other hand, the episode is only funny if you have the contextual knowledge to know who Morn is.

My favorite part of the episode was the two ridiculous gangster brothers. They made me chuckle a few times.

Thanks for the background info on the actor and his almost-but-never-happened onscreen lines!

That’s a fair point about the episode’s syndication worth!

And thanks for the kind words. I do try to offer something interesting or vaguely insightful with each of the reviews, if only because there are so many Star Trek episodes out there, and because I enjoy context.

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I think what is particularly frustrating about this episode is that the fifth season had been so good when it came to lighter episodes. Trials and Tribbleations and In the Cards are both season highlights despite having a lighter tone, which is incredibly rare for Star Trek. Therefore, this episode feels like a step back in that regards.

Yep. I think it hits at what we were talking about with the sixth season as a whole. It is higher in places, but also much lower in others. It’s not just a consistency of quality, it also lacks consistency of vision or theme. I supposes it’s a trade-off for the ambition, but it’s still a little frustrating.

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I like this episode a lot, though I do kind of wish the Morn as prince storyline was the truth (or maybe ambigiously the truth.) It seems like such a perfect fit for the character.

I’d love to hear Gul Dukat’s Morn story! 🙂

“Morn once told me that I was right, that he truly understood my visionary plans for Bajor. A man of rare insight and true vision, that Morn.”

And, yeah, “Morn as a lost prince” really seems like Deep Space Nine’s “island of misfit toys” aspect followed to its logical extreme. I could definitely dig it.

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For such a grim season of Deep Space Nine, S6 does have a surprising run of comedic episodes. Who Mourns For Morn is not as successful as The Magnificent Ferengi but it’s certainly preferable to Profit and Lace (we’re getting closer…we’re getting closer!).

Who Mourns For Morn could easily have slotted into some of the earlier seasons, especially with the complete lack of a mention of the Dominion War throughout (an irritating flaw of S6 is how the war drops in and out of it).

Indeed, I’ve often wondered if Who Mourns For Morn was initially intended as a S4 or S5 episode but was shuffled forward to add a touch of levity to S6; no war; the Quark/Odo thing is in full swing (something that falls by the wayside this year); Quark is much greedier, etc.

But by the time of Profit and Lace, it was one touch of levity too many. We’re not quite there yet, but Who Mourns For Morn is showing signs of diminishing returns. It lacks the laugh-aloud plot twists of The Magnificent Ferengi, or even the sense of purpose of the similarly uneven You Are Cordially Invited…

Taking a leaf out of the Midnight Run rulebook, Quark inherits Morn’s estate, and finds a raft of competitors all trying to backstab one another to get to the loot first. It’s a plot that could have formed the backbone for an Ealing comedy, but fails to capture the tone of one.

Unlike a truly great comedic crime caper like The Ladykillers or A Fish Called Wanda, Who Mourns For Morn is allowed to become too broad and farcical. Although a model of restraint compared to Profit and Lace, you can see the beginnings of it here.

These sorts of stories where thieves slowly come out the woodwork to claim the grand prize must slowly develop as the situation evolves. I love watching black comedy snowball into an avalanche of mishaps, but Morn’s partners in crime are not interesting enough. Larell is just a standard femme fatale with little colour or depth; Krit and Nahsk are just a couple of heavies, one oily and the other dumb; the only one that really stands out is Hain, played by the ever reliable Gregory Itzin (scratching his cheek with a disruptor pistol is a wonderfully random, unscripted moment).

But Who Mourns For Morn needed more than that. It’s highly predictable that they’d turn on one another in the last act, the loot turns out to be worthless, and that Morn faked his death, knowing that would bring them scurrying out into the open, so they would eliminate one another leaving Morn with the real fortune. It’s certainly far from the worst of the season, but I think Morn works much better as a peripheral character (even though he still barely appears). I prefer learning about him in small doses, rather than when the writers slowly devote a whole episode to him.

I think Morn was in 94 episodes; what trouble did Morn have with his mother in Favour the Bold (unless it was trouble picking out the perfect birthday gift); Quark and Dax are playing tongo, not tonga; it’s tropes, not troupes, and I prefer The Star Trek Fact Files’ joke to yours Darren when Morn produces the latinum…by literally coughing up the money!

The trouble that Morn had with his mother was in the line setting up the birthday gift reveal, where Quark and Morn are commiserating at the bar.

“Unbelievable. Amazing. What nerve. Morn, you do have a problem, but lucky for you the solution is simple. You’re a grown man. If you don’t want to attend your mother’s birthday party, you don’t have to. And if she keeps whining about it, just remind her there’s a war on and you have things to do.”

Of course, the conversation is one-sided, but it does suggest that Morn’s mother is somewhat overbearing and that he isn’t exactly eager to see her.

Thanks for clearing that up Darren.

No bother. Here to help!

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I really like this episode quite a lot. It is very “atmospheric”, it deepens the station’s life aside from the great politics, it is funny and very enjoyable. And I am not so sure the lack of the war context is a problem in this case. The Dominion seemed to respect boundaries with respect to “third parties”. If they interfered it was mostly through shady figures (Orion Syndicate). I did not mind the light tone of season 6 at all, especially since the Dominion had to regroup after the defeat in “Sacrifice of Angels”. Everybody seemd to have a little breathing time.

I think the issue isn’t so much the inclusion of comedic episodes – certainly seasons five and seven both also have lots of comedic episodes. I think it’s the concentration of them in this stretch of the season where it wears a little thin. It’s less of a concern when watching out of sequence, but when blitzing through the sixth season I always tend to notice it.

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Watching Season 6 always makes for one hell of a rollercoaster. Supremely brilliant high points and abysmal low points. Oh, and there’s plenty of middling filler like this thrown in there as well. Overall though, the highs definitely outweigh the lows, and this and Season 7 are some of my favorite seasons in the franchise. Seasons 4 and 5 are excellent as well, and probably more consistent but they don’t quite hit the peaks of the last two seasons in my opinion.

I’d put four and five (and seven) above six, even if the highs of six are much higher. There’s just a point where it seems like the writers run out of ideas and they’re like, “Where’s that Joe Menosky time travel kid script?”

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Generic

Morn is a male Lurian and long-time customer of Quark's Bar on Deep Space 9 .

  • 3 Missions involved
  • 5 External links

History [ | ]

Morn has been a frequent patron (complete with a customary seat informally reserved exclusively for him) of Quark's since before the Dominion War . Among the station denizens, he was known as a talkative womanizer. ( Star Trek: Deep Space Nine )

By 2409 , Morn can still be found at the bar. He can be approached and talked to. One option prompts a cut scene. One of the fleet starbase projects adds a holographic Morn to the bar of Fleet Starbases . In 2411 , he can be found in Shangdu's bar on Nimbus III and talked to, suggesting that he patronizes other bars in the galaxy.

Health [ | ]

Missions involved [ | ].

  • “Temporal Ambassador” : In an alternate timeline, Morn is a laborer working for the Tholian Assembly at a base in the Azure Nebula .
  • “Partisans” : Morn is present at the bar in Shangdu on Nimbus III while the player and Martok search for Adet'pa .

Gallery [ | ]

Morn in the alternate timeline.

Morn in the alternate timeline.

Having a drink.

Having a drink.

Having a drink in Shangdu on Nimbus III.

Having a drink in Shangdu on Nimbus III .

External links [ | ]

  • Morn at Memory Alpha , the Star Trek Wiki.
  • Morn at Memory Beta , the non-canon Star Trek Wiki.
  • 2 Delta Recruitment
  • 3 Playable starship
  • Show Spoilers
  • Night Vision
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http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Recap/StarTrekDeepSpaceNineS06E12WhoMournsForMorn

Recap / Star Trek: Deep Space Nine S06E12 "Who Mourns for Morn?"

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Odo arrives at Quark's to tell Morn that his shipment of Livanian beets is starting to spoil, but Quark reveals that Morn's image is actually a hologram he set up while the barfly is away on business so that customers don't miss him. When Dax and Sisko arrive, they're even more confused, because according to them, Morn just died in an ion storm. Quark holds a funeral for his favorite customer, though he seems to be mourning the loss of income more than the man. His spirits brighten considerably when he learns that the deceased left everything to him . Given how much he spends at the bar, he must be loaded!

Quark has a hard time tracking down Morn's wealth even after inspecting his accounts, his cargo and his quarters. But then a beautiful woman named Larell emerges from Morn's mud bed and claims to be his ex-wife. She's after Morn's fortune as well, stating that he won 1,000 bricks of gold-pressed latinum in a lottery. She threatens to tie Quark up in court unless he gives her a cut when he finds it, and he accepts. But then two alien brothers, Krit and Nahsk, surprise Quark in his quarters claiming that Morn owed them all the money. They bash Quark over the head with Morn's favorite painting to get their point across, which reveals a hidden message leading Quark to a storage box on the station. A clue!

As the creditors continue to hound him for their share, Quark takes possession of the box. It only contains one brick, but it's got a Bolian bank account number inscribed on it. Larell steals it from Quark after spending the night with him, but he's already memorized the number and he knows that the bank will only release the funds to him, since he's named as Morn's heir. As Quark is about to send for the money, he gets stuck up by a phaser-toting man named Hain, who claims to be an officer of Lurian security. He says that Morn was a devested Lurian prince whose fortune has defaulted to that planet's government upon his death. When Quark mentions Larell, Hain offers to give him a cut of the money if he'll help arrest her, since she's an infamous criminal. They agree to meet that night at Quark's quarters. Before the appointed meeting, both Larell and the alien brothers break into Quark's quarters and lie in wait for each other. When Hain arrives, all three parties confront each other .

The scoundrels all reveal themselves to actually be thieves who pulled off a bank robbery with Morn nine years earlier, but he double-crossed them and fled with the money. Now that the statute of limitations has expired, they've come to get their shares. Since only Quark can take possession of the money , they offer to spare his life and give him Morn's share. They all follow him to the cargo bay where Morn's fortune arrives. Just as Quark opens the lid, the greedy thieves turn on each other. Quark dives into the cargo container holding the bricks to avoid being caught in their crossfire, and is saved when Odo arrives to arrest them. Quark gleefully claims the shipment for himself, but discovers to his horror that all the latinum has been extracted from the bricks to leave only worthless gold.

Later, Odo arrives at Quark's bar with one more surprise: Morn, who is actually still alive. Bitter, Quark forbids the man from speaking and explains that he's already figured out that he faked his death when the statute of limitations expired to protect himself from his comrades. He then asks Morn where the real fortune has been stored. Morn regurgitates a small amount of liquid latinum from his second stomach, worth about 100 bricks, and offers it to Quark as a reward. Now back on friendly terms, Quark offers to partner with Morn on a future business venture.

Tropes in this episode:

  • Affably Evil : Morn's former accomplices seem like a fairly friendly bunch when they aren't threatening someone. They even all share a drink together in Quark's while waiting for the bank to send the latinum.
  • Affectionate Pickpocket : Larell bumps into Quark in a corridor and absconds with a brick of latinum from his jacket with the account number for the rest of it engraved on the bottom.
  • Artistic License – Gun Safety : Hain repeatedly scratches his head with the barrel of his phaser while he's thinking — with his finger on the trigger . This turns out to be Foreshadowing that he's not actually a law enforcement agent.
  • As You Know : Quark explains to Dax that latinum is a liquid suspended in otherwise worthless gold, something that Dax would certainly already know. This helps the audience understand why the gold bricks are Worthless Yellow Rocks , while Morn's regurgitated fluid is the real latinum.
  • Battle Discretion Shot : We only hear the phaser battle between the four thieves.
  • Berserk Button : Nahsk turns on his brother for calling him slow.
  • Big "NO!" : Quark lets out an epic one when he discovers his fortune of gold-pressed latinum is missing the latinum.
  • Borrowed Biometric Bypass : Discussed. The brothers would like to cut Quark's thumb off to sign the PADD, but it's pointed out by Hain that it'd look a little suspicious if they tried to sign with a severed thumb.
  • Breather Episode : A comedic romp that could have taken place during any season, yet is stuck right in the middle of an intergalactic war (and is sandwiched between two of the most noteworthy and emotionally intense episodes of the entire series, to boot).
  • Caper Crew : Morn used to be part of one.
  • Call-Back : The matador painting that Morn hid the isolinear rod in was purchased by him in "In the Cards."
  • Can't Kill You, Still Need You : The thieves can't kill Quark because he's the only one who can withdraw Morn's fortune.
  • Casting Gag : The Bajoran who Quark takes aside to keep Morn's barstool warm is Morn's actor.
  • Closet Shuffle : Twice, in rapid succession, Quark has to hide unexpected visitors to his room from each other—first Larell, who has to duck down around the corner in the next room, and then the brothers who have to hide in the actual bedroom. Amusingly, the discovery of the hidden visitors ends up being All for Nothing because they already knew each other, and most certainly expected each other to show up in pursuit of the latinum at some point.
  • A Day in the Limelight : Played with. This is the Morn episode, but as usual he barely shows up. It plays as more of a standard "Quark gets in trouble" episode.
  • Due to the Dead : In addition to the memorial service, Quark declares that Morn's stool will never be empty. Later in the episode, we see O'Brien and Bashir taking their turns keeping it warm. Quark: Everyone. Thank you all for coming. It means a great deal to me to see so many people cared about Morn as much as I did. I'll never forget the first time he walked in here and sat down on that very stool. It must have been almost ten years ago. He still had his hair then. I thought he was just another customer passing through. Little Did I Know he'd become such an important figure in my life, in all our lives. Morn was always someone we could count on for a cheerful smile and an entertaining story. Some of you might be thinking this place won't be the same without him. And it won't. But this was his home. And wherever he is, I'm sure he'd want to know that his favorite bar still echoed with the laughter of his dear friends. This was his chair and I think the greatest tribute we could ever pay him would be to make sure that it's never empty. (guides a Bajoran played by Mark Allen Shepherd into the chair) Keep it warm for Morn.
  • Easily Forgiven : Despite Quark's legitimate anger at Morn for getting him caught up in this scheme, he does forgive him (though Morn's peace offering of a 100 bricks worth of latinum certainly helps goose things along).
  • Eat the Evidence : Old Morn knew his associates would be coming for him. So he hid the liquid latinum in the most secure place he could: his second stomach .
  • Empty Chair Memorial : Inverted — Quark declares that from now on, there will always be someone keeping Morn's bar stool warm. It's a transparent effort to exploit the mourners for more business, but only Odo seems to see the plot for what it is. Kira is almost moved to tears when Quark makes the announcement, while both Bashir and O'Brien honor the tradition.
  • Expansion Pack Past : Morn, to a certain extent.
  • Failed a Spot Check : Quark mocks Odo for not realizing Morn had been away from the Station for two weeks (or that he was trying to talk to a hologram). He outright says the Constable's slipping.
  • Faking the Dead : Morn faked his own death to draw out his old associates. He returns after the entire hoopla, having outwitted everyone and kept the entire latinum haul for himself.
  • Faux Affably Evil : The two brothers are creepily polite while threatening Quark.
  • Fingore : The brothers suggest just cutting off Quark's thumb to sign the PADD transferring the latinum (Quark naturally is not enthused by this idea ), but Hain points out that presenting a severed thumb to the bank representatives is a good way to blow the whole plan .
  • Hear Me the Money : Quark seemingly has a fortune to himself and decides to gloat in front of Odo by tapping two bricks together, expecting the sweet *clink* of gold-pressed latinum. What he gets instead is the decidedly less wonderful *clunk* of two bricks of latinum-less gold, a fact Odo wastes no time mocking him for.
  • Informed Ability : Played for Laughs when the crew talk on and on about Morn and his many talents, which naturally the viewer never gets to see. Worf passingly mentions that Morn was often his sparring partner. Probably the only one that has proof outside this episode is Morn being a ladies' man.
  • Kavorka Man : Dax admits to Worf that she crushed on Morn at one point - and he turned her down. The beautiful Larell also claims to be Morn's ex-wife, though this is just a ruse.
  • King Incognito : Hain tells Quark that Morn is a prince on his homeworld. Of course, it's BS.
  • Mascot : Morn is finally, canonically established as the unofficial mascot of Quark's Bar.
  • Mexican Standoff : As a Funny Background Event behind Quark's head. Until he stands up.
  • Pet the Dog : To make up for Quark nearly getting killed (again), Morn coughs up a little liquid latinum for him which Quark states is worth at least 10% of the original amount of bricks that Morn stole.
  • Prematurely Bald : Apparently, hiding the latinum in his second stomach caused Morn's hair to fall out.
  • Retcon : The whole Worthless Yellow Rocks gag, which flies in the face of several times in the franchise that the Ferengi have been interested in gold. Hand Waved by Quark saying that while gold is infinitely less valuable than latinum, a skilled merchant can still make money with it on less advanced planets.
  • Shout-Out : The title is a reference to the TOS episode "Who Mourns for Adonais?" .
  • Status Quo is God : Played straight and averted. Morn doesn't die, but he does give Quark 100 bricks' worth of latinum (a small fortune in Ferengi society) for his trouble in dealing with the rest of the bank robbers.
  • Statute of Limitations : A major plot point. This is why it's taken Morn's former associates nearly a decade to come after him and recover the stolen loot from the Lissepian Mother's Day Heist. They and Morn were all waiting for the Statue of Limitations to expire (which finally happens two weeks before the events of the episode). The expiration is also what prompts Mourn to fake his death and drag Quark into his scheme.
  • Throw the Dog a Bone : After all the nonsense Quark had to go through this episode, Morn is kind enough to give him a fair share of his riches-namely 100 bars worth of pure latinum. Considering half that was considered a fair wage to rescue the Grand Nagus' mistress (and finance advisor), this is quite the reward.
  • Ugly Guy, Hot Wife : Morn's ex-wife is smoking hot. Subverted in that she's not actually his wife, it was just her story to ingratiate herself with Quark.
  • Unexpected Inheritance : Quark is surprised to be named Morn's sole heir.
  • The Voiceless : Parodied with the Morn Hologram in the Teaser, which is intentionally mute. Quark justifies its silence by as a cost-saving measure (interactive holograms are expensive)... and it because it's a relief to have a quiet Morn given his flesh and blood 'brother' never shuts up.
  • What the Hell, Hero? : Well, hero may be stretching it. But Quark is legitimately pissed at Morn for endangering his life by getting him embroiled in this scheme. In spite of being the resident barfly, Quark also does consider Morn a friend and his hurt does feel genuine.
  • Worthless Yellow Rocks : Provides the page quote. Quark: Someone's extracted all the latinum ! There's nothing here but worthless gold! Odo: [completely savoring the schadenfreude] And it's all yours . Quark: No! Nooooo! NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!

Video Example(s):

Quark's worthless gold.

Quark obtains a great haul of latinum... but he's been double-crossed! All the latinum has been extracted, leaving him with nothing but a pile of worthless gold.

Example of: Worthless Yellow Rocks

  • Star Trek: Deep Space Nine S06E11 "Waltz"
  • Recap/Star Trek: Deep Space Nine
  • Star Trek: Deep Space Nine S06E13 "Far Beyond the Stars"

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morn star trek deep space nine

Star Trek: Deep Space Nine : "Waltz"/"Who Mourns For Morn?"

Related content.

“Waltz” (season 6, episode 11; originally aired 1/8/1998) In which Dukat and Sisko dance, but Dukat finds other partners…

(Available on Netflix , Hulu , and Amazon .)

How do you solve a problem like Gul Dukat? Former Gul Dukat, actually; I doubt he still retains his position post breakdown and capture. (Maybe he does. I’m not an expert on Cardassian bureaucracy/power structures.) But the point isn’t his title: the point is figuring out what to do with a character who’s had the most dramatic rises and falls of anyone on the series. Dukat has been a commandant, an officiant, a father bent on murder, a revolutionary, a dictator, and, lately, a man with a broken mind, tormented by the simultaneous loss of his daughter (who, let’s remember, he was once determined to kill) and his thorough beating at the hands of anti-Dominion forces. When we meet him at the start of “Waltz,” after a long introductory voice-over from Sisko explaining the current situation—Dukat’s been in therapy, and is now heading to the Federation for some preliminary legal proceedings—he seems well enough. But over the course of the hour, we learn that Dukat is a deeply damaged individual, fractured and tormented in ways that are very likely irreparable. After spending time with the Cardassian under unusual circumstances, Sisko draws certain conclusions, solving Dukat as neatly as Alexander solved a certain knot: the enemy is an evil man, and Sisko is determined to stop him.

While there’s no question Dukat has evil in him, I’m not sure I agree with Sisko’s line in the sand pronouncement. It makes sense from a character perspective; Sisko is a smart, determined fighter, but he’s always been more warrior than philosopher, and in situations where something he cares about is threatened, he’s not going to quibble too much about details. Sisko reacts to crises emotionally as much as intellectually, and that passion typically serves him well. His decision here, after seeing Dukat rant and rave for days before swearing to destroy all that Bajor is, is the sort of decision that DS9 handles better than any other Trek series before it: an in-character beat that is perfectly satisfying (if maybe a little over-the-top), but that doesn’t necessarily line up with our own view of the situation. Dukat doesn’t come across well in “Waltz,” and his final speech is a few screams shy of a Batman villain rant, but the fact that we get to see the demons he’s fighting against make him more complex than Sisko’s determination allows. The final shot of Dukat as he closes the shuttle’s rear door, with the trio of phantasms crowded behind him, is telling. He is a man haunted by his crimes, but incapable of understanding what’s haunting him. The only response left is to double down on villainy, and while it’s necessary to condemn such a choice, I find it hard not have some pity for the fool who makes it.

“Waltz” is a tricky episode, using a set-up that we’ve seen before—namely, characters alone together in less than ideal circumstances (it’s sort of what happened with Kira and Dukat in “Indiscretion” )—and a gimmick with a high chance of failure, ie “let’s visualize my madness through the power of imaginary people.” There are plenty of ways this could’ve gone wrong, and the crazed intensity of so much Marc Alaimo’s performance throughout regularly borders on camp, but it works. This is playing-at-the-edges stuff, trying to understand what drives Dukat without softening him or making that understanding too simplistic. Having phantom versions of Weyoun, Damar, and Kira appear at various times to allow Dukat’s inner turmoil external expression is a clever idea, but not an automatically effective one. At times, it threatens to make the various crises he’s struggling with too obvious. Weyoun appearing in a scene the first time we see Dukat alone is a heck of a shock, but once it’s clear that he’s just an imaginary friend (albeit one Dukat doesn’t realize is imaginary), his presence loses much of its impact. Weyoun and the others can’t effect events; they can only inform us of Dukat’s character, like how Dukat has doubts about whether or not he should keep Sisko alive, and how he also judges himself harshly for his failures. All of which is good information to have, but doesn’t in and of itself justify the gimmick.

What makes Dukat’s hallucinations work, I think, is how they build. Individually, Weyoun, Damar, and Kira are entertaining but unnecessary. Weyoun is Dukat’s loathing of his “weaker” self, while Damar is Dukat’s Cardassian pride speaking out; Kira is his complicated relationship with Bajor, manifesting both as a symbol of what he can never have, and proof that his enemy was always looking to misinterpret his actions to serve their own needs. They give the script a way to illuminate Dukat’s mind without resorting to simple monologues, but it’s such an obvious device that it’s a little distracting to watch. But once the figures start popping up while Dukat is arguing his case with Sisko, things get interesting. While the episode is often ostensibly through Dukat’s eyes (after all, we can see things that he sees, even when Sisko can’t), the primary tension comes from figuring out just why the Cardassian was willing to save his off-and-on nemesis, and what that decision means for Sisko’s immediate future. As Dukat’s desperation to win an ideological discussion with Sisko intensifies, the harbingers of his madness grow stronger; we’re privy to the interjections from Dukat’s psyche, but Sisko is not, which creates a fascinating, and unsettling, back and forth.

So why does Dukat save Sisko? He does it more than once, first saving his enemy when the ship they’re in is attacked, and then building Sisko a cast for his broken arm (Dukat claims he can’t use the bone regenerator device, which could very well be true; it could also be true that he wants to keep his edge). At the end of the episode, Sisko briefly gets an advantage over Dukat, only for the Cardassian to tackle him and beat him before fleeing in a shuttle. Dukat’s behavior in those final moments is, if anything, even stranger; before there was a sense that he was trying, in his fundamentally broken way, to justify himself, but his final speech is a declaration of war and he still lets Sisko live. (He even contacts the Defiant to let them know where the captain is.) Admittedly, Sisko has to live; between the two, Dukat is the only potentially expendable one, and it seems the writers still have stories they want to tell about him. But there’s also a decent in-story reason for why Sisko doesn’t die, and it’s something that works to keep this more complicated than a simple bad-guy-takes-good-guy-hostage scenario.

Ostensibly the conflict of the episode comes from Sisko’s attempts to contact a rescue ship, attempts which are first stymied by Dukat sabotaging the emergency beacon (I love the fake out when we think the Defiant finally got the signal; I also love how visibly disappointed everyone is when they beam two survivors aboard who aren’t Sisko), and then by Dukat’s decision to vaporize the beacon entirely. But while this conflict makes for solid suspense, it’s not really the heart of “Waltz.” The heart is Dukat’s increasingly deranged attempts to convince Sisko of his righteousness, attempts which ultimately only serve to push the two characters even further apart. These attempts fit in well with what we know of Dukat from the past, a man who once told Weyoun that the most important victory was in beating your enemies so thoroughly that they are forced to admit your inherent superiority. Something in him can’t just be satisfied with winning, the way, say, Damar would be satisfied. He needs to be acknowledged.

This is an odd quirk to have, although (credit to the writers and Marc Alaimo, who is never short of excellent) it’s one that always makes sense even if it’s difficult to grasp where it’s coming from. If Dukat really is a psychopath through and through, it’s curious that he would so desperately need the reassurance of others that he wasn’t. It’s especially curious that the people he turns to for that assurance—Sisko in this episode, Kira in the past (yes, he’s romantically interested in her, but a large part of the attraction comes from how much she loathes him; seducing her would be just another way of proving his point)—are the people least likely to accept his overtures.

This may be what turns Sisko so sharply against his enemy in the end: not just Dukat’s big villain speech (which is spectacular, although we’ll see how it plays out), but the manic determination with which Dukat demands his behavior be accepted as just. Because if Dukat can go this crazy in wanting his enemies to accept him, surely there’s some part of him that realizes what he’s done is wrong. He states repeatedly that the Bajorans are inferior to Cardassians, and yet it’s Bajorans—and a representative of Bajoran culture—whom he turns to to reassure him that he’s right. Which implies that deep down, in some small miserable part of himself, he must he recognize his error, and that recognition is what drives him mad. Sisko’s decision to turn on Dukat, to make their contest a him-or-me scenario, is probably the only choice he could make under the circumstances. But for us watching on the outside, it’s still possible to feel some kind of pity. Dukat is doomed by circumstance, culture, and his own brutal ambition. He’s a monster, but what made him?

Stray observations:

  • While I understand the need to show the rest of the ensemble doing their best to track Sisko down, the conflict of the Defiant having a strict deadline for their search is pretty forced. Yes, it’s a time of war, which means that resources are limited, but Kira’s insistence that “You only have 52 hours!” is really just there to create false tension. If Sisko had ended the episode unrescued, that would’ve been something, but as is, every scene off planet if kind of a waste of time. (Did you know that Worf values his honor? I did not. Also, Bashir does not care for Worf’s honor when Sisko is in danger. Gasp!)
  • “From the moment we arrived on Bajor, it was clear that we were the superior race.” The conversation isn’t in a courtroom, but that line is basically Dukat’s version of Col. Jessup’s “You’re goddamn right I did!” from A Few Good Men .
  • “I should have killed them all.” “And that is why you’re not an evil man.” Sisko, being sarcastic and knocking a dude out.

“Who Mourns For Morn?” (season 6, episode 12; originally aired 2/4/1998) …

What can you say about Morn? He’s a fine bit of effects work and a decent running gag. I’m not sure any of the jokes about him—he doesn’t talk, but everyone complains how he never shuts up, and Dax had a thing for him—have ever made me laugh, but they’re amusing enough. The jokes feel less like determined attempts at humor, and more like the writers intentionally winking at the audience; yeah, we know you’ve noticed this guy, let’s have some fun with him, hm? There’s something charming about the whole idea. “Fan service” doesn’t exactly apply (unless there is a very specific fetish out there for giant mute toadstool dudes), but there’s a definite meta vibe to the concept, in a way that seldom touches the rest of the show’s world. Deep Space Nine never pretends it’s a documentary, but it also doesn’t go out of its way to remind us that what we’re watching is staged. But Morn jokes do. It’s cute, and the sort of thing which could easily be over-played; so far, at least, the writers have avoided that trap.

“Who Mourns For Morn?” sounds like it could be a very bad idea. Morn dies! Quark has to deal with the aftermath! Delving into the secret past of a one-note character is a tricky proposition, especially if that past is supposed to have any weight at all; thankfully, Morn’s does not. Strip away the name, and what you have here is a familiar template for the show: Quark gets in over his head. This time, it’s not through any real fault of his own. He tries to make some profit off of Morn’s death, in his Quark-ish way (this pays off later when we learn that both O’Brien and Bashir are invested in keeping Morn’s seat warm), and then discovers, much to his delight, that the old barfly named Quark as the sole beneficiary of his will. Quicker than you can say “I saw this coming,” Quark soon learns that Morn left behind 1000 bars of gold-pressed latinum, as well as a group of rogues determined to get their share of the latinum by any means necessary.

It’s time for Quark to play increasingly annoyed straight (well, maybe slightly bent) man to a bunch of greedy, lying sociopaths. Which is fun—reminds me a bit of the first season episode “The Nagus,” in that someone fakes a death (spoiler!) and Quark has to deal with the fall out. Everyone keeps lying to everyone else for various reasons: there’s the seductive “ex-wife” Larell (Bridget White), who claims a share of the inheritance and keeps rubbing Quark’s ears to get what she wants; there are the brothers Krit (Brad Greenquist) and Nahsk (Cyril O’Reilly), creepy lizard-like dudes who insist Morn owes them money from a previous business arrangement; and then there’s Hain (Gregory Itzin, aka President Charles Logan from 24 ), ostensibly a member of law enforcement determined to return the bars of latinum to the Royal Family of Luria, who bequeathed the bars to Morn after he stepped down as Crown Prince. All of which is more or less bullshit. Turns out Morn got up to some shenanigans in his past, and when he did, this was the crew he used; together, they plotted and executed the Lissepian Mother’s Day heist, and have spent the last decade or so waiting for the statute of limitations to pass so they could claim their prize. With Morn “dead,” each member of the group targets Quark as their ticket to a bigger slice of the latinum, only to ultimately turn on each other when the money arrives and it’s just stacks of worthless gold.

It’s all pretty delightful, if somewhat limited. The attempts to fill in Morn’s character don’t have much value, because Morn is a prop, not a character; with all due respect to Mark Allen Shepherd (who, out of costume, was the first person Quark asked to fill Morn’s seat), the fact that Morn can speak but isn’t allowed to speak on camera means there’s only so much the writers can do with him. It would be different if Morn was mute, or incapable of communicating through language, but as it is, every scene with him has to be short and a little awkward. Hain lies about Morn being a member of the Royal Family, but the lie is neither more nor less convincing than the “truth” that he’s a criminal mastermind. The fact that Morn pulled off this whole scheme to screw over his former associates and make sure he ended up with the lion’s share of the loot makes sense, and it’s nice to know that we’ll be seeing him in the background of the bar in episode’s to come. Anything more in-depth than that is an impossibility, which is, to its credit, something that writer Mark Gehred-O’Connell seems to realize.

The real focus of “Who Mourns For Morn?” is Quark, and while it’s curious to see him get another focus episode so soon after the last, he’s really the only one who could’ve pulled this off. I mean, maybe Bashir, but as the only person on DS9 with even mildly shady ethics (apart from Garak, but if it’d been Garak, the rest of the crew would’ve never have stood a chance too obviously), Quark’s greed and fundamental likability means that it’s possible for him to get involved with some questionable figures without immediately calling in Odo; it also means we root for him to get some return on his investment, even while knowing that there’s no way in hell he’ll get the full 1000 bricks. In the end, Quark doesn’t learn a whole lot, except that clever people in his life have a tendency to exploit him for their own ends, which is something I would’ve hoped Quark would’ve realized a long time ago. He does end up with some latinum (regurgitated from Morn’s second stomach), and the bad guys are sent to jail, even though none of them seem all that much worse than Morn, who makes out fine. Still, it’s a happy ending all around, and to pick this one apart any further would be to ruin the fun.

  • Quark hits a level of minor irritation early on and just sticks with it throughout the hour. It sets the tone for the episode quite nicely.
  • The title, “Who Mourns For Morn,” is a play on “Who Mourns For Adonais?”, a title of an episode from the original Star Trek’s second season. (Which was, in turn, a reference to a Percy Bysshe Shelley poem, but my learning only goes so far.)
  • We get it: gold isn’t valuable in the future. No need to rub it in.

Next week : By popular request, we’re going to give “Far Beyond The Stars” its own slot.

morn star trek deep space nine

The Best Moment in Deep Space Nine's Greatest Episode Is a Punch Left Unthrown

T wenty-six years ago today, Deep Space Nine delivered the knife under its cloaked examination of Star Trek’s morals in wartime with all the delicate precision of a sewing needle: the incredible “In the Pale Moonlight,” not just one of DS9 or Star Trek’s finest hours , but one of the all time greatest episodes of TV ever made. But the finest moment in an already immaculate piece of television is all about the ways to enact violence without lifting a single finger.

“In the Pale Moonlight,” framed around a maudlin Captain Sisko recounting recent events in his personal log after a long, long day, is about the increasing moral compromises he is willing to make as one of Starfleet’s vanguards in the increasingly dire war against the Dominion. Seeing an opportunity to bring one of the Federation’s coldest enemies, the secretive Romulans, into a war they’ve stayed neutral in, Sisko finds himself drawn into the charismatic orbit of the simple tailor and occasionally master of all sorts of spycraft, Garak the Cardassian clothier , as the two plot to artificially construct evidence of a Dominion plot to invade the Romulan Star Empire, and pass it along to a Romulan senator.

The episode layers on its tension through each circle of hell Sisko is willing to put his soul through. Even the first step of simply working with Garak on such a plan is already heinous enough for the high and mighty values of Starfleet’s officer class, but bit by bit, Sisko begins to see the proverbial river of blood he must wade into to come out of the other side with even a chance of Romulus entering the Dominion War. Using criminals to fake evidence, crafting the perfect deception, planting it in Senator Vreenak’s hands, all this would be tantamount to the gravest of moral costs our hero could pay... and then it all blows up in his face when Vreenak calls Sisko out on his bluff, realizing the data rod he’s been handed showcasing the Dominion’s supposed plans is counterfeit.

It’d be here that any other Star Trek show would plant its flag as the lowest moment one of its heroes could sink to: they played dirty, and now must face the consequences of taking the low road. But Deep Space Nine is not any other Star Trek show , and so it prepares to thrust its knife. The next day, as senior staff monitor casualty lists and Sisko braces for his fall, a Starfleet Intelligence report comes through confirming the death of a Romulan Senator in a shuttlecraft explosion the Star Empire is laying at the hands of Dominion subterfuge. It’s Vreenak: he’s dead, the secret of Sisko’s moral cost with him, and Sisko knows exactly who’s to blame for the explosion.

As Sisko storms down to Garak’s shop, we get it: the finest moment in all of Deep Space Nine . Time and time again in the show, in ways small and large, we’ve seen up to this point that Benjamin Sisko is not a man who pulls punches, metaphorically or otherwise. From laying out Q the moment he tries to cast the then-Commander as another Picard, to his dogged determination to root out the anti-Cardassian guerrillas of the Maquis, Sisko has always acted as he does here: to come in swinging. He decks Garak, sending him clean across the room. He yells his accusations at Garak—he killed Vreenak, he killed the criminal they used to forge that data rod; all along, he’s knowingly brought the Romulans into the deadliest war the Alpha Quadrant has seen in generations on a falsehood. Even without the punch, this isn’t Sisko passionate or dogged or determined. He is furious, something we have seen simmering in him before, but now fully unleashed.

But Garak never fights back. He takes Sisko’s punch, and all the rage, goes to block the second swing, but he doesn’t match Sisko’s braggadocio. He waits. And then in cold, calculating form, he turns Sisko on himself—laying out all the evidence that the Romulans will now have, from a dead senator to an imperfect, damaged rod containing even the faintest traces of evidence of a Dominion plot, and guides Sisko along the way to a conclusion that was there from the beginning of the episode. Sisko would see what Garak predicts the Romulans will see, and would enter the war against the Dominion , just as they will. Garak doesn’t even have to say it, he just lets Sisko work through it out loud himself, not even having to push him... because for all his posture, for all the fists swinging, they think exactly the same. And if anything, Sisko is even dirtier than that, because he already knew that in going to Garak he would get someone who willing to dirty their own hands on his behalf, and leave him with the victory he wanted—at any cost, no matter what he’d claim otherwise.

And so, with Sisko at the lowest depths of hell at last, he and Garak are locked as kindred spirits in this game of spycraft and moral theater. It’s a remarkable moment, one that has rightly stuck with Star Trek for the two and a half decades since it first broadcast, because of the way it skewers the franchise’s legacy of purported enlightenment in such an elegantly compelling way . For years before this, Starfleet and its officers have been depicted as above this kind of underhanded manipulation—that our heroes talk their ways out of fights, that they maintain the moral high ground, and that even when they falter, when they play a little dirty, it’s with a roguish charm, and in the manner of a hero, the small, innocent prices paid, for a greater good that is always worth it. It’s never meant to stain their soul, because in the end, it always works out in the hero’s favor—and their righteous view of the universe.

Sisko’s greater good is hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of beings slaughtered to prevent the complete destruction of the Alpha Quadrant powers as we know them, predicated on a lie. In the end, he got it, not in the noblest of manners as the heroes before him might have, but through cloak and dagger deception and knives in the dark. Because, back against the wall, he was always willing to throw that punch—and because Garak knew it too, he himself never had to.

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Star Trek: Deep Space Nine (TV Series)

Who mourns for morn (1998), full cast & crew.

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The Best Moment in Deep Space Nine 's Greatest Episode Is a Punch Left Unthrown

And all it took was the life of one romulan senator, one criminal, and the self-respect of one starfleet officer..

Image for article titled The Best Moment in Deep Space Nine's Greatest Episode Is a Punch Left Unthrown

Twenty-six years ago today, Deep Space Nine delivered the knife under its cloaked examination of Star Trek ’s morals in wartime with all the delicate precision of a sewing needle: the incredible “In the Pale Moonlight,” not just one of DS9 or Star Trek ’s finest hours , but one of the all time greatest episodes of TV ever made. But the finest moment in an already immaculate piece of television is all about the ways to enact violence without lifting a single finger.

Related Content

“In the Pale Moonlight,” framed around a maudlin Captain Sisko recounting recent events in his personal log after a long, long day, is about the increasing moral compromises he is willing to make as one of Starfleet’s vanguards in the increasingly dire war against the Dominion. Seeing an opportunity to bring one of the Federation’s coldest enemies, the secretive Romulans, into a war they’ve stayed neutral in, Sisko finds himself drawn into the charismatic orbit of the simple tailor and occasionally master of all sorts of spycraft, Garak the Cardassian clothier , as the two plot to artificially construct evidence of a Dominion plot to invade the Romulan Star Empire, and pass it along to a Romulan senator.

Image for article titled The Best Moment in Deep Space Nine's Greatest Episode Is a Punch Left Unthrown

The episode layers on its tension through each circle of hell Sisko is willing to put his soul through. Even the first step of simply working with Garak on such a plan is already heinous enough for the high and mighty values of Starfleet’s officer class, but bit by bit, Sisko begins to see the proverbial river of blood he must wade into to come out of the other side with even a chance of Romulus entering the Dominion War. Using criminals to fake evidence, crafting the perfect deception, planting it in Senator Vreenak’s hands, all this would be tantamount to the gravest of moral costs our hero could pay... and then it all blows up in his face when Vreenak calls Sisko out on his bluff, realizing the data rod he’s been handed showcasing the Dominion’s supposed plans is counterfeit.

It’d be here that any other Star Trek show would plant its flag as the lowest moment one of its heroes could sink to: they played dirty, and now must face the consequences of taking the low road. But Deep Space Nine is not any other Star Trek show , and so it prepares to thrust its knife. The next day, as senior staff monitor casualty lists and Sisko braces for his fall, a Starfleet Intelligence report comes through confirming the death of a Romulan Senator in a shuttlecraft explosion the Star Empire is laying at the hands of Dominion subterfuge. It’s Vreenak: he’s dead, the secret of Sisko’s moral cost with him, and Sisko knows exactly who’s to blame for the explosion.

As Sisko storms down to Garak’s shop, we get it: the finest moment in all of Deep Space Nine . Time and time again in the show, in ways small and large, we’ve seen up to this point that Benjamin Sisko is not a man who pulls punches, metaphorically or otherwise. From laying out Q the moment he tries to cast the then-Commander as another Picard, to his dogged determination to root out the anti-Cardassian guerrillas of the Maquis, Sisko has always acted as he does here: to come in swinging. He decks Garak, sending him clean across the room. He yells his accusations at Garak—he killed Vreenak, he killed the criminal they used to forge that data rod; all along, he’s knowingly brought the Romulans into the deadliest war the Alpha Quadrant has seen in generations on a falsehood. Even without the punch, this isn’t Sisko passionate or dogged or determined. He is furious , something we have seen simmering in him before, but now fully unleashed.

But Garak never fights back. He takes Sisko’s punch, and all the rage, goes to block the second swing, but he doesn’t match Sisko’s braggadocio. He waits. And then in cold, calculating form, he turns Sisko on himself—laying out all the evidence that the Romulans will now have, from a dead senator to an imperfect, damaged rod containing even the faintest traces of evidence of a Dominion plot, and guides Sisko along the way to a conclusion that was there from the beginning of the episode. Sisko would see what Garak predicts the Romulans will see, and would enter the war against the Dominion , just as they will. Garak doesn’t even have to say it, he just lets Sisko work through it out loud himself, not even having to push him... because for all his posture, for all the fists swinging, they think exactly the same. And if anything, Sisko is even dirtier than that, because he already knew that in going to Garak he would get someone who willing to dirty their own hands on his behalf, and leave him with the victory he wanted—at any cost, no matter what he’d claim otherwise.

And so, with Sisko at the lowest depths of hell at last, he and Garak are locked as kindred spirits in this game of spycraft and moral theater. It’s a remarkable moment, one that has rightly stuck with Star Trek for the two and a half decades since it first broadcast, because of the way it skewers the franchise’s legacy of purported enlightenment in such an elegantly compelling way . For years before this, Starfleet and its officers have been depicted as above this kind of underhanded manipulation—that our heroes talk their ways out of fights, that they maintain the moral high ground, and that even when they falter, when they play a little dirty, it’s with a roguish charm, and in the manner of a hero, the small, innocent prices paid, for a greater good that is always worth it. It’s never meant to stain their soul, because in the end, it always works out in the hero’s favor—and their righteous view of the universe.

Sisko’s greater good is hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of beings slaughtered to prevent the complete destruction of the Alpha Quadrant powers as we know them, predicated on a lie. In the end, he got it, not in the noblest of manners as the heroes before him might have, but through cloak and dagger deception and knives in the dark. Because, back against the wall, he was always willing to throw that punch—and because Garak knew it too, he himself never had to.

Want more io9 news? Check out when to expect the latest Marvel , Star Wars , and Star Trek releases, what’s next for the DC Universe on film and TV , and everything you need to know about the future of Doctor Who .

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It doesn't take the wisdom of a Jedi to see that Disney needs to take a page out of Star Trek's book to put Star Wars back on top.

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Hayden Christensen as Anakin Skywalker in Star Wars: Ahsoka

Way back in 2002, the excitement for Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones diminished somewhat. Late Night with Conan O’Brien sent Triumph the Insult Comic Dog to mock the fans lined up for the premiere, resulting in a segment in which comedian/puppeteer Robert Smigel launched nerd jokes at the assembly.

Most of the jokes were pretty obvious, including the last bit, in which a man cosplaying as Mr. Spock gained the knack for cursing and walked up and down the line with his middle finger extended. But while the perceived Star Wars vs. Star Trek rivalry has become an old toxic cliché at this point, the fact is that the two franchises don’t actually overlap very much in terms of their core missions. Trek favors optimistic philosophical inquiry and Wars emphasizes fantasy and adventure.

In fact, in their decades-long history, Star Wars and Star Trek haven’t actually directly clashed all that often (although the early ’80s of Wrath of Khan followed by The Empire Strikes Back was undoubtedly a golden age for sci-fi movie nerds), and the two franchises rarely enjoy success at the same time, with the Star Wars movies usually debuting during a dry point for Star Trek , and Trek dominating television while Wars flounders.

Except for now. In the past few years, both Star Wars and Star Trek entries have hit theaters and televisions on a regular basis. And while the two franchises have had their respective highs and lows, Trek has hit a stride with Strange New Worlds , Lower Decks , and Picard ‘s third season while Wars has mostly been on a downward spiral in popularity and quality (except for Andor , of course) following the first two seasons of The Mandalorian .

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Of course, history shows the scales could tip the other way at any moment, but for those of us who want both franchises to do well (full disclosure: this author is far more of a Trekkie than a Wars fan), there are a few lessons that Wars could take from Trek ‘s recent success to bring the galaxy far, far away back to its former glory.

Serve More Than One Kind of Audience

Okay, before getting angry and going straight to the comments, there are absolutely examples of recent Star Wars entries that aren’t entirely focused on one kind of fan. Andor eschews much of the core fantasy element of the franchise for a more adult spy drama, while Young Jedi Adventures is aimed squarely at a new generation of fans. Meanwhile, the anthology series Visions lives up to its name by presenting radically different takes on the universe from fresh perspectives.

However, it’s also true that the majority of recent Star Wars output – Mando season 3, Ahsoka , Obi-Wan Kenobi , parts of Boba Fett , both Tales animated series, The Bad Batch , etc. – is pitched directly at a specific kind of fan with love for and extensive knowledge of the Prequels and The Clone Wars animated series. Those fans tend to be millennials of a certain age who grew up with those films and, unfortunately, almost nobody else. So while some viewers cheer when Bo-Katan becomes the lead of The Mandalorian because they know her history with the Darksaber and Mandalore, others despair that the Western/ronin motifs faded away for The Clone Wars lore. It’s not just that the latter fans have no attachment to these characters. It’s that The Mandalorian and its spinoffs don’t really work to ingratiate The Clone Wars characters to those unfamiliar with them, instead aiming the storytelling directly at those nostalgic for The Clone Wars days.

To be sure, Star Trek has its own arcane references, as the opening shot of Picard ‘s premiere shows or the name “ Sybok ” coming up on Strange New Worlds . However, the most recent crop of Star Trek shows work because they aim for a wide range of audiences.

Prodigy is a kid’s show that picks up on plot threads from Voyager but primarily deals with a group of young aliens from different cultures learning to work together. Discovery is all big adventure and operatic emotion for fans whose introduction to the franchise was the J.J. Abrams movies. Strange New Worlds features classic characters from The Original Series and a return to philosophical conundrums, while Lower Decks makes in-jokes for long-time fans.

With the announcement of a Rey movie , Star Wars is taking steps in the right direction by making something for younger fans who grew up with the Sequel Trilogy , while The Mandalorian & Grogu is positioned to bring back to the big screen the Western aesthetic Original Trilogy fans loved so much from the first two seasons of the show. However those movies turn out (if they come out at all), the franchise would do well to remember its audience doesn’t consist of just one type of fan.

Star Trek TV creative head Alex Kurtzman said it best when talking about that universe’s approach to catering to different types of fans: “Our biggest thing has honestly been we don’t ever want our  Star Trek  shows to feel repetitive. We don’t want you to think that by watching  Discovery , you shouldn’t watch any of the other shows because you’re getting everything from that one show. Each show is different,” Kurtzman continues. “So for us, it’s not about doing one show that pleases everybody because that’s the surefire way to please nobody. It’s more about doing a bunch of different shows that speak to specific sections of the demographic.”

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Be Careful With Nostalgia

However, while Star Wars would do well to build on the worlds of all three trilogies, it should not simply focus on nostalgia. Yes, that does sound like a laughable suggestion from a Trek perspective, given the third season of Picard . However, Picard worked because it used nostalgia in exactly the same way that Star Wars fans rejected. When Luke Skywalker tosses the lightsaber at the start of The Last Jedi , he appalled many older fans of the Original Trilogy.

And yet, that’s very similar to how Star Trek treated Jean-Luc Picard in the widely-acclaimed final year of his solo series. While the first two seasons leaned too hard into tearing down the one-time paragon, the third season found the perfect balance. On the USS Titan, Picard showed signs of the leadership and wisdom that made him great on The Next Generation , but he also showed maturity and a willingness to learn. Throughout the third season, characters such as Geordi and Ro Laren aired reasonable grievances with Picard. And by hearing them and admitting his faults, faults that once made TNG audiences cheer, Picard grows into a more interesting character.

It was a pitch-perfect send-off that also gave way to the potential future of the franchise, with a new Enterprise christened and ready to set off on a new voyage. And it did what the Sequel Trilogy hoped to do: effectively passed on the torch to a new generation of Starfleet officers.

Contrast that treatment of Picard to one of the least controversial callbacks in recent Star Wars history. When Rey and Finn board the Millennium Falcon in The Force Awakens , they’re greeted by Han and Chewie, back to being the scoundrel smugglers they were in Episode IV , zero growth or change on display besides their age. Sure, Han will later briefly apologize to Kylo Ren for his failures as a father, but that’s never expressed visually on screen. And as nice as it is to see Harrison Ford call up the charisma that makes him great, his older Han is a cypher, just one more callback to the original Star Wars in a movie that plays like a cover song.

If Star Wars intends to build out its universe on the bones of the Skywalker Saga, then it needs to acknowledge that its popular characters have to grow and change over time. Rian Johnson had the right approach with Luke in The Last Jedi , whether certain fans warmed to the character’s new status quo or not. Of course Luke had to change, grow, and embrace new lessons, that’s how characters work, especially when the mission was clearly to pass the torch to the next trio of heroes. It’s too bad The Rise of Skywalker went back to playing the hits and embedding its next generation of heroes in a Star Wars story that had already been told countless times before.

Don’t Be Precious

For as much as it’s important to respect the growth of legacy characters over time, it’s also important to remember that these franchise are fundamentally fun and silly. Sure, we all have deep feelings about the interior lives of Morn from Deep Space Nine and Dexter Jettster from Attack of the Clones , but, you know, one is a Cheers nod and the other is a classic hash-slinger. So lighten up a bit.

Star Wars has certainly poked fun at itself with the Family Guy Blue Harvest episodes and Lego Star Wars specials. But the unaired Star Wars Detours still stands as a missed opportunity to indulge in the nerdy stuff while showing the funnier side of all that lore. If that’s a name you haven’t heard for a long time, Detours was a collaboration between Lucasfilm and the Robot Chicken team, resulting in the same irreverent but knowing humor of the latter show. Although the team completed 39 episodes, the series was “paused” in 2013 with none making it to air.

Many Star Wars fans consider Detours a lost grail, a feeling only increased by the success of Star Trek: Lower Decks , which makes fun of every single part of Trek lore, from the franchise’s tendency to set episodes in nondescript caves to the strange relationship between the reboot movies and the rest of the show. Absurd things that Star Trek would rather forget, including dumb merchandise and reusing actors for major roles, appear in Lower Decks .

Lower Decks has a great voice cast and strong storytelling beyond its gags, but it also works because the humor rewards people obsessed with Star Trek . There’s a communal aspect to getting a joke about Kzinti posture or cheering whenever Kurtwood Smith or J.G. Hertzler make a vocal appearance. It turns what could be one of the most toxic parts of fandom into something celebratory.

It could definitely be argued that certain Star Wars fans are perhaps a little too hung up on taking “the canon” seriously. Wouldn’t it be nice if we could also have a laugh about it every once in a while? Lower Decks shows that making fun of its universe is just another form of love.

Do a Musical

Quick, what’s the best Star Wars song? It’s probably “Yoda” by Weird Al Yankovic , maybe “The Saga Begins,” right? Something by Nerf Herder? The Yoda “Seagulls” song?

Now, what’s the best official Star Wars song? If we’re not counting the legendary John Williams scores, the possibilities get slim right away. I’m sure there are some real “jizz” music fans out there, but it doesn’t have the wider appeal of, say, a musical.

Look at the critical acclaim Star Trek received with its musical episode “ Subspace Rhapsody ” from the second season of Strange New Worlds . In that episode, an alien transmission forces the crew to sing out all of their thoughts, resulting in unlikely musical numbers, including Klingons doing their best BTS impression.

Even those who didn’t love “Subspace Rhapsody” (this writer, for example) have to admit that the episode did a lot to push the franchise into new territory with a completely different flavor of storytelling, all while highlighting a cast that includes Tony-nominated and Grammy-winner Celia Rose Gooding. “Subspace Rhapsody” further proves that Trek can handle a wide range of genres.

As a space opera, Star Wars lends itself to the over-the-top emoting that makes for a great musical. And while horrid entries, such as “Jedi Rocks” from the special edition of Return of the Jedi and “I’m Han Solo” from Kinect Star Wars Dancing , still haunt the nightmares of fans, it’d be nice to see the galaxy far, far away pull off something this bold in the future.

Return of the Good Sci-Fi

While it’s true we’ve largely favored Trek over Wars here, the fact of the matter is that the success of and shortcomings of the other are only temporary. Wars seems poised to right the ship by putting a Mandalorian movie in theaters, hopefully returning the focuse on breakouts Din Djarin and Baby Yoda. Moreover, Paramount seems to have nothing but terrible ideas in store for the future of Star Trek , including canceling Lower Decks , learning too heavily on the Section 31 corner of the universe, and making a wrongheaded origin film .

To be clear: neither franchise is inherently better than the other, and both have to deal with boardrooms whose pursuit of money can lead to terrible storytelling decisions. But some of the best entries in either franchise have come when one universe learns from the other, as demonstrated by the adventure-heavy Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan and the philosophically-rich Andor .

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So as the fortunes of each franchise continue to change, we can only hope that the creatives behind our favorite stories will learn from each other. That’s the only way we’ll get more great art, whether we have to boldly go to find it or search a long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away.

Joe George

Joe George | @jageorgeii

Joe George’s writing has appeared at Slate, Polygon, Tor.com, and elsewhere!

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IMAGES

  1. Who Mourns for Morn? (1998)

    morn star trek deep space nine

  2. Mark Allen Shepherd, born January 7, 1961, played Morn on Star Trek

    morn star trek deep space nine

  3. "Star Trek: Deep Space Nine" Who Mourns for Morn? (TV Episode 1998)

    morn star trek deep space nine

  4. "Star Trek: Deep Space Nine" Who Mourns for Morn? (TV Episode 1998

    morn star trek deep space nine

  5. Morn from Star Trek Deep Space Nine on Star Trek: the Cruise III

    morn star trek deep space nine

  6. Star Trek: Deep Space Nine (1993)

    morn star trek deep space nine

VIDEO

  1. Picard Explains: "Morn!"😃🤐

  2. Favorite Quark Scream Moment

  3. Star Trek Online: Encountering Morn in Quark's Bar on DS9

  4. Morn's Voles (DS9: Through the Looking Glass)

  5. Quark's Inheritance (DS9: Who Mourns for Morn)

  6. Keep it warm for Morn (DS9: Who Mourns for Morn)

COMMENTS

  1. Morn

    In the video game Star Trek: Deep Space Nine - The Fallen, Morn makes several appearances on the Promenade between missions. In Star Trek Online, Morn can still be found in Quark's bar. True to form, he has no spoken dialogue: in fact, anytime an opportunity arises for him to speak with the player, the screen cuts to black, and it is only in ...

  2. The Undeniable and Inescapable Charm of Morn

    Of all the Star Trek series, Star Trek: Deep Space Nine was undeniably the darkest. While light moments were woven in throughout the show's run, the levity that The Next Generation and Voyager exhibited was forgone in favor of a realistically depressing view of the devastation of war.. The comic relief of Quark the bartender is generally thought of as the one who brought some semblance of ...

  3. Mark Allen Shepherd

    California Institute of the Arts. Occupation (s) Actor, artist. Notable work. Star Trek: Deep Space Nine. Mark Allen Shepherd (born January 7, 1961) is an actor, best known for his role as Morn on Star Trek: Deep Space Nine. He also appeared as Morn (uncredited) in one episode each of Star Trek: The Next Generation and Star Trek: Voyager .

  4. Morn Facts

    Mark Allen Shepherd plays Morn, a humanoid alien from the Ionite Nebula that frequents the space station at Deep Space Nine. He's found to be quite the regular at Quark's bar. Morn is a ladies man, even Dax has commented that she finds the few hairs on the top of Morn's head attractive. Quark knows that when Morn leaves the bar he might ...

  5. Who Mourns for Morn?

    "Who Mourns for Morn?" is the 136th episode of the television series Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, and the 12th episode of the sixth season. Set in the 24th century, the series follows the adventures on the space station Deep Space Nine near the planet Bajor.This episode is centered on the character Quark, who manages a bar on Deep Space Nine, and the unexpected death of Morn, one of his regular ...

  6. Mark Allen Shepherd

    Mark Allen Shepherd (born 7 January 1961; age 63) is a background performer, an actor and artist from Rockville Centre, New York who is best known for his portrayal of Morn in Star Trek: Deep Space Nine. Throughout the seven year run of Deep Space Nine, Shepherd never received official credit and appeared in other background roles as well. He also portrayed Morn in episodes of Star Trek: The ...

  7. Mark Allen Shepherd Was Born to be Morn

    Mark Allen Shepherd's story is one of Star Trek's coolest, quirkiest and most unusual tales. For the entire seven-year run of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, Shepherd played Morn, the alien barfly who frequented Quark's, apparently was the life of the party, but never uttered a word - at least not on camera.Beyond portraying Morn, who was a Lurian, Shepherd appeared on DS9 as a Starfleet ...

  8. "Star Trek: Deep Space Nine" Who Mourns for Morn? (TV Episode 1998)

    Who Mourns for Morn?: Directed by Victor Lobl. With Avery Brooks, Rene Auberjonois, Michael Dorn, Terry Farrell. A former patron of Quark's bequeaths everything to him.

  9. Star Trek's Dax Thought Morn Was Cute & 9 Other DS9 Reveals

    In the whole of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, Morn is only ever heard laughing, and even that is rare.However, there is a bizarre exception in the German language edit of the season 2 finale, "The Jem'Hadar." In a scene at Quark's Bar, Morn is about to explain to Quark (Armin Shimerman) what was bothering him, but the Ferengi bartender walked away before he could speak.

  10. Star Trek: Deep Space Nine

    Star Trek: Deep Space Nine (DS9) is an American science fiction television series created by Rick Berman and Michael Piller.The fourth series in the Star Trek media franchise, it originally aired in syndication from January 3, 1993, to June 2, 1999, spanning 176 episodes over seven seasons. Set in the 24th century, when Earth is part of a United Federation of Planets, its narrative is centered ...

  11. Who Mourns for Morn? (episode)

    Ultimately, it wasn't a Morn episode; it was a story about Quark. And the most common mistake people make in writing Quark is to make him transparently greedy. On paper, that's very funny, but Armin doesn't play Quark that way. Armin plays it real". (Star Trek: Deep Space Nine Companion (p. 524))

  12. 17 Years Later... "Who Mourns for Morn?"

    By StarTrek.com Staff. Today, February 4, marks the 17th anniversary of "Who Mourns for Morn?", the popular Deep Space Nine episode that centered on the apparent death of Morn (Mark Allen Shepherd), the super-talkative—though never doing so on screen—barfly at Quark's. The hour is funny and heartfelt, with plenty of inside jokes for the ...

  13. Star Trek: Deep Space Nine (TV Series 1993-1999)

    Star Trek: Deep Space Nine: Created by Rick Berman, Michael Piller. With Avery Brooks, Rene Auberjonois, Cirroc Lofton, Alexander Siddig. In the vicinity of the liberated planet of Bajor, the Federation space station Deep Space Nine guards the opening of a stable wormhole to the far side of the galaxy.

  14. Star Trek: Deep Space Nine

    Morning on Deep Space Nine. Morn is a fascinating character. He has been a fixture of Deep Space Nine since the show's pilot, one of the more distinctive background extras of Michael Westmore's menagerie. He would appear in ninety-three of the series' one-hundred-and-seventy-three episodes. Not bad for a character intended for a single ...

  15. Morn

    Morn is a male Lurian and long-time customer of Quark's Bar on Deep Space 9. Morn has been a frequent patron (complete with a customary seat informally reserved exclusively for him) of Quark's since before the Dominion War. Among the station denizens, he was known as a talkative womanizer. (Star Trek: Deep Space Nine) By 2409, Morn can still be found at the bar. He can be approached and talked ...

  16. Recap / Star Trek: Deep Space Nine S06E12 "Who Mourns for Morn?"

    Quark has a hard time tracking down Morn's wealth even after inspecting his accounts, his cargo and his quarters. But then a beautiful woman named Larell emerges from Morn's mud bed and claims to be his ex-wife. She's after Morn's fortune as well, stating that he won 1,000 bricks of gold-pressed latinum in a lottery.

  17. Star Trek: Deep Space Nine: "Waltz"/"Who Mourns For Morn?"

    Dukat has been a commandant, an officiant, a father bent on murder, a revolutionary, a dictator, and, lately, a man with a broken mind, tormented by the simultaneous loss of his daughter (who, let ...

  18. Watch Star Trek: Deep Space Nine Season 6 Episode 12: Who Mourns For

    It is announced that Morn has died and has left his entire estate to Quark. But claiming his inheritance lands him in a web of lies and deceit over the nature of Morn's wealth.

  19. The Best Moment in Deep Space Nine's Greatest Episode Is a Punch ...

    T wenty-six years ago today, Deep Space Nine delivered the knife under its cloaked examination of Star Trek's morals in wartime with all the delicate precision of a sewing needle: the incredible ...

  20. EXCLUSIVE: Morn Talks!

    Star Trek: Deep Space Nine. Published Mar 31, 2014. ... has taken great pleasure in presenting interviews with the best that Star Trek has to offer: William Shatner, Leonard Nimoy, Patrick Stewart, Kate ... of few words and Quark´s favorite customer: Morn. Yes, Morn agreed to speak with us quite candidly in what has got to be one of the few ...

  21. "Star Trek: Deep Space Nine" Who Mourns for Morn? (TV Episode 1998

    "Star Trek: Deep Space Nine" Who Mourns for Morn? (TV Episode 1998) cast and crew credits, including actors, actresses, directors, writers and more. Menu. ... Star Trek: Deep Space Nine (Season 6) a list of 26 titles created 20 Jun 2016 TV1990 a list of 656 titles ...

  22. List of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine characters

    This is a list of characters from the science fiction television series Star Trek: Deep Space Nine.Only characters who played a significant major role in the series are listed. Star Trek: Deep Space Nine was a science fiction television show of the Star Trek franchise that aired between 1993 and 1999. Many of the characters appear in other programs and films comprising the wider Star Trek ...

  23. TV Rewind: Deep Space Nine Is One of Star Trek's Best Outings

    Star Trek: Deep Space Nine is perhaps the most famous case of a Trek series that was (at least initially) stuck in another entry's shadow. Premiering six years into The Next Generation's seven ...

  24. Star Trek: Deep Space Nine: Season 6

    Bar Patron in Morn's Chair David B. Levinson. Broik Cathy DeBuono. M'Pella Crew 7. Camera. Jonathan West. Director of Photography Crew. Dennis Madalone. Stunt Coordinator George B. Colucci Jr. Stunt Double Brian Simpson. Stunts Directing. Victor Lobl. Director ...

  25. The Best Moment in Deep Space Nine 's Greatest Episode Is a ...

    Twenty-six years ago today, Deep Space Nine delivered the knife under its cloaked examination of Star Trek's morals in wartime with all the delicate precision of a sewing needle: the incredible ...

  26. What Modern Star Wars Needs to Learn From Star Trek

    Sure, we all have deep feelings about the interior lives of Morn from Deep Space Nine and Dexter Jettster from Attack of the Clones, but, you know, one is a Cheers nod and the other is a classic ...

  27. Star Trek: Deep Space Nine

    STAR TREK: DEEP SPACE NINE takes place in the mid-24th century and chronicles the adventures of a team of Starfleet officers who take command of a remote alien space station on the edge of a new frontier. Watch Now. Stream Star Trek: Deep Space Nine free and on-demand with Pluto TV.

  28. Star Trek: Deep Space Nine

    Star Trek: Deep Space Nine chronicles the adventures of Captain Benjamin Sisko and a team of Starfleet officers who take command of a remote space station on the edge of a frontier and a critical crossroads of galactic events. 7 seasons • 176 episodes • 1993-1999.

  29. Professor Spacetime

    37 likes, 1 comments - spacetimebrickstudioJanuary 8, 2023 on : "Morn Star Trek Deep Space Nine 1993-2023 30th Anniversary #StarTrek #DeepSpaceNine #StarTrekDS9 #LEGO ...