Looking for par'Mach in All the Wrong Places
"Looking for par'Mach in All the Wrong Places" | |
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Star Trek: Deep Space Nine episode | |
Episode no. | Season 5 Episode 3 |
Directed by | Andrew J. Robinson |
Written by | Ronald D. Moore |
Featured music | David Bell |
Production code | 501 |
Original air date | October 14, 1996 |
Guest appearances | |
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"Looking for par'Mach in All the Wrong Places" is the third episode of the
Set in the 24th century, the series follows the adventures on
"Looking for par'Mach in All the Wrong Places" has been met with mixed critical reception.
Plot
Grilka (
Unskilled at combat, Quark stands to either lose Grilka or be killed. Worf helps him using a device that enables him to control Quark's body movements from an adjacent room to help Quark defend himself in the duel. Although the device temporarily malfunctions, he defeats the bodyguard. The scene concludes with Grilka and Quark alone and enamored with one another. Worf opines to Jadzia that Quark is unworthy of such a great Klingon woman and she counters that Worf's interest in Grilka is superficial, and there are better options awaiting him. Since Worf still fails to notice her hints, Dax initiates an aggressive romantic encounter. Worf is surprised but responds. In the final scene, both couples are in the infirmary; Doctor Julian Bashir (Alexander Siddig) deduces the source of their injuries. Dax and Worf decide to begin a relationship.
In a
Production and themes
![A man in a baseball cap, glasses and a grey T-shirt.](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/7/70/Michael_Dorn_by_Gage_Skidmore.jpg/170px-Michael_Dorn_by_Gage_Skidmore.jpg)
The episode boasts the longest title of the series and, as of 2015, the second-longest of all Star Trek television installments, behind "For the World Is Hollow and I Have Touched the Sky" of the 1960s series.[1] "Looking for par'Mach in All the Wrong Places" drew inspiration from the 1897 play Cyrano de Bergerac,[1] in which a brilliant Frenchman, resigned to the fact that the woman he adores will never be able to look past his distractingly large nose, helps another man win the lady's heart by dictating beautiful language from nearby.[2] The idea for a modern adaption of Cyrano de Bergerac was proposed by Michael Dorn.[1] "Looking for par'Mach in All the Wrong Places" was directed by Andrew Robinson, who plays the Cardassian Elim Garak on Star Trek: Deep Space Nine. This marked the first time that the actor of a recurring (but not main) Star Trek character had directed an episode in the franchise.[1] Having just received two Los Angeles Drama Critics Circle Awards for theatrical directing, Robinson personally asked executive producer Rick Berman to let him direct an episode of Deep Space Nine; Robinson was pleased to have been assigned this particular episode.[3][4]
Challenged with inventing an original way for Quark to survive the fight without directly paralleling prior material, writers devised a "holographic puppeteer" system.[5] Worf is seen wearing a headset which allows him to control the body movements of Quark, who is wearing a concealed receiver.[5] It is not made clear how the "virtual control device" works.[6] Indeed, Ronald D. Moore clarified: "I wasn't interested in explaining it to the viewers. We just buy the premise and move on."[5] However, science consultant André Bormanis agreed that the "web of sensors and actuators" was conceptually sound.[5] Dan Curry, who originally designed the bat'leth and helped developed Klingon fighting techniques, was instrumental in choreographing the combat scene between Quark and Thopok. Despite his character's apparent ineptitude at hand-to-hand combat, Shimerman practiced extensively with a bat'leth to make Worf's influence over Quark seem convincing. Shimerman also enlisted the help of a mime artist to improve his technique.[7]
Guest star Joseph Ruskin played Tumek in "Looking for par'Mach in All the Wrong Places", and had previously appeared in the Star Trek: The Original Series episode "The Gamesters of Triskelion" as well as earlier in Deep Space Nine in "Improbable Cause". He went on to appear both in the film Star Trek: Insurrection and the Star Trek: Voyager episode "Gravity".[8]
Reception
"Looking for par'Mach in All the Wrong Places" was first broadcast on October 14, 1996 in
Several reviewers re-watched the episode after the end of the series. Zack Handlen reviewed the episode for The A.V. Club in April 2013. Handlen remarked on the episode's farcical title and content, noting that the script was largely without substance. He granted that the episode served as a welcome change of pace from the ongoing "agonies of war" in the series. He notes that the main plot involving Grilka was "wafer thin" but nonetheless effective in creating humor and introducing the relationship between Dax and Worf. Still, Handlen thought Worf's strong attraction to Grilka lacked sufficient justification, given Worf's long-standing desire to maintain solitude on the station. In addition, Handlen disliked the subplot concerning Miles O'Brien and Major Kira, suggesting that the romantic tension between the two was forced and inconsistent with their personalities.[10]
For the website
In 2017,
Home media
The first home media release of "Looking for par'Mach in All the Wrong Places" was part of a two-episode VHS cassette alongside "...Nor the Battle to the Strong" in the United Kingdom on October 1, 1999.[14] In the United States and Canada, this was followed by a single-episode release on July 10, 2001.[15] It was later released on DVD as part of the season 5 box set on October 7, 2003.[16]
Notes
- ^ a b c d e Keith DeCandido (May 2014). "Star Trek: Deep Space Nine Rewatch: "Looking for par'Mach in All the Wrong Places"". Tor.com. Archived from the original on April 9, 2015. Retrieved May 4, 2015.
- ^ "Cyrano de Bergerac". SparkNotes. Archived from the original on September 6, 2015. Retrieved May 4, 2015.
- ^ Erdmann & Block(2003): p. 375
- ^ "Trek Directors' School: Andrew Robinson". StarTrek.com. 27 August 2018. Retrieved 26 August 2020.
- ^ a b c d Erdmann & Block(2003): p. 376
- ^ Erdmann & Block(2003): p. 374
- ^ Erdmann & Block(2003): p. 377
- ^ Nemecek (2003): p. 343
- ^ "Star Trek: Deep Space Nine Season 5 Ratings". TrekNation. Archived from the original on June 22, 2001. Retrieved May 4, 2015.
- ^ Handlen, Zack (April 4, 2013). "Star Trek: Deep Space Nine: "Looking For Par'Mach In All The Wrong Places"/"...Nor The Battle To The Strong"". The A.V. Club. Archived from the original on May 4, 2015. Retrieved May 4, 2014.
- ^ Green, Michelle Erica (August 30, 2013). "Heart of Stone". TrekNation. Archived from the original on June 1, 2015. Retrieved May 4, 2015.
- Jammer's Reviews. Archived from the originalon September 15, 2015. Retrieved May 4, 2015.
- ^ Bastién, Angelica Jade (2017-09-25). "A Beginner's Guide to the Star Trek Universe". New York. Retrieved 2021-04-20.
- ^ "Star Trek : Deep Space Nine - Vol. 5.2 - Looking for Par'Mach In All the Wrong Places / Nor the Battle to the Strong [VHS]". Amazon.co.uk. Archived from the original on May 5, 2015. Retrieved May 4, 2015.
- ^ "Star Trek - Deep Space Nine, Episode 101: Looking for par'Mach in All the Wrong Places [VHS]". Amazon. 10 July 2001. Archived from the original on May 5, 2015. Retrieved May 4, 2015.
- ^ Ordway, Holly E. (October 9, 2003). "Star Trek Deep Space Nine - Season 3". DVD Talk. Archived from the original on May 5, 2015. Retrieved May 4, 2015.
References
- Erdmann, Terry J.; Block, Paula M. (2000). Star Trek: Deep Space Nine Companion. New York: Pocket Books. ISBN 978-0-671-50106-8.
- Nemecek, Larry (2003). Star Trek: The Next Generation Companion (3rd ed.). Pocket Books. ISBN 0-7434-5798-6.
External links
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/f/fa/Wikiquote-logo.svg/34px-Wikiquote-logo.svg.png)
- "Looking for par'Mach in All the Wrong Places" at IMDb
- "Looking for par'Mach in All the Wrong Places" at Wayback Machine (archived from the original at StarTrek.com)
- "Looking for par'Mach in All the Wrong Places" at Memory Alpha