Customer Reviews

Star Trek - Deep Space Nine, Episode 27: Rules of Acquisition [VHS]

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This is the episode where a Ferengi woman named Pel disguises herself as a man in order to enter the totally male-dominated Ferengi world of space travel, commerce, and profit. Yes, it does appear to be a knock-off of the Barbara Streisand movie "Yentl," where a 19th-century Jewish woman disguises herself as a man in order to attend an all-male rabbinical school. Because of this similarity in plot, which I had heard about before viewing the DS9 episode, I expected to hate this video, because I can't stand "Yentl." But surprisingly, I really LIKED this Trek episode!

Although the two stories are superficially similar, there is one really big difference: The stereotyped Hasidic Jews portrayed in "Yentl" are not like that in real life, so the Streisand movie comes across as mere buffoonery. But the Ferengi truly are the greedy little sexists that this episode portrays them to be -- and proud of it, too! So "Rules of Aquisition" is about real Ferengi culture as it is, not a satire. Yes, there are moments of hilarious humor, but there is also a genuine tenderness about Pel's quandry when she falls in love with Quark and decides to reveal her true gender to him. One gets the feeling that Quark really likes her, too, and that he admires her skills in business -- but both of them know it would never work out. Still, Quark does give Pel a gift of latinum to help her start a new life in some other part of the galaxy.

All in all, this video that I expected to hate has turned out to be one of my favorite DS9 episodes. It's one you will enjoy watching over and over, too.