To be fair Zek’s hearing had gotten bad. He mistook Quark for Rom.
Never get involved in a trade war in Ferenginar
You should also never mess with a grand nagus when death is on the line
Inconceivable!
YOU FOOL! You’ve fallen victim to one of the classic rules of acquisition!
I saw an interview with Wallace Shawn where he claimed that while he understood that Vizzini was supposed to be a funny character, that he didn’t personally understand that sort of humor. So, since they’re similar characters, he likely didn’t get Zek’s humor, either.
Armin as Quark really elevated the Ferengi, as did Jeffrey Combs.
Wallace Shawn brought them back down to their silly origins. It was not good. He was basically a silly goblin.
He was basically a silly goblin.
And it was glorious. Not as glorious as Brunt, obviously. But still.
Yet, despite how silly Zek seemed, and how insane it seemed that he’d be respected by other Ferengi back when DS9 was airing, it now seems strangely prophetic. Some political leaders and billionaires today have similarly pathetic personalities to Zek, but they’re also not even good at business. The main reason they get more money is that people respect them, despite their silly personalities and also despite their lack of business acumen.
Zek wasn’t good at business either, at least not by the time we saw him.
Let me be clear: I don’t think Zek was particularly badly written. I think his plotlines and motivation and mental state were written in ways that made sense for that series. I think that Wallace straight up did a bad job in bringing him to life and the character and episodes suffered as a result.
“… so I can clearly not drink the blood wine in front of you.”
Had no idea!
