“Body Parts” ranks right up therewith “The House of Quark” as my favorite quark-centric episode. It has a combination of heart and dark humor that I find highly appealing. It is good enough that I can forgive the rather strange solution of hiding Nana Visitor’s real pregnancy by having the O’Brien baby transported into her.Quark receives a diagnosis from his doctor that he only has six days to live. He decides to sell pieces of himself on the commodities exchange in order to pay off his debts. At first, no one wants to buy them, but when an anonymous buyer purchases them all, he jumps at the chance.
The buyer turns out to be Brunt, who despises Quark because he considers him a non-Ferengi. Among Quark’s affronts areis mother’s business dealings and giving in to Rom’s union. Brunt also tells him he was misdiagnosed. He is not dying, but he is going to have to honor his contract like a good Ferengi. In other words, he is going to have to die so Brunt can have his body parts.
Quark may have a twisted moral code, but he does have oe. He hires Garak to kill him in order to honor the contract. Quark has a vision of the first Grand Nagus, the one who wrote the Rules of Acquisition, who tells him he wrote those as a marketing ploy. Quark should not take them seriously enough to give up his own life for them. The next day, quark refuses to honor the unconscionable contract, so Brunt revokes his business license.
Quark’s friends show up to restock his bar in order for him to remain in business.
I the B-story, Keiko is wounded on a trip to the Gamma Quadrant. In order to save her baby, Bashir beams the child into Kira’s womb. Kira will have to give birth to the bay because of the short Bajoran gestation period. The O’Briens invite kira to live with them for the duration. She is reluctant atfirst, but warms up to the idea of finally having a family.
“Body Parts” has an odd, macabre heart to it which makes it uniquely enjoyable. There is something about Quark the ex-patriot trying to prove he is still a Ferengi at heart even though he has bent the rules in the past in order to accommodate family that is charming.
Rating: **** (out of 5)
