“Profit And Loss” is, ultimately, an episode about love. But much of its portrayals about love are so ham-handed and cliché that it’s difficult to take the story, much less its final musings on the matter of love, seriously. There’s also a rather convoluted plot about Cardassian political refugees that ends up being horribly executed from a narrative standpoint. The episode is most successful when touching on character elements, but in the end, it’s an overwrought affair that skews toward melodrama and pulp – with the kind of cringeworthy results one might expect from such a concoction.

Much of the episode is centered on Quark’s attempts to rekindle the relationship he had with Natima, a Cardassian woman who had been on DS9 years before, during the Cardassian occupation of Bajor. Natima arrives at DS9 seeking refuge for herself and two of her “students” who are outspoken against the military control of Cardassian government.

Tucked within the grating and annoying melodrama is an interesting idea about redemption, about trying to fix the mistakes of the past – particularly with respect to your one, true love. This element of the episode is thoroughly captivating, due in large part to the seeming sincerity with which Quark pursues Natima. But it’s undone thanks to scenes which are overly long and littered with just about every dialogue cliché in the book.

The political-intrigue story lurches from one development to the next. In short order, the refugees arrive, they seek asylum, a Cardassian warship arrives, Sisko tosses the refugees into the brig, and Odo releases them “in the name of justice.” The plausibility of these events is severely stretched (if not broken) and the only real value is the focus on Garak. Once again, his nebulous past and his rather cryptic conversations are an asset (particularly the scene in which he speaks to Quark in the Tailor Shop). We learn that Garak is, indeed, an exile and, in a thematic connection to Quark’s story, that his one true love is Cardassia.

But Garak’s moments on screen aren’t enough to offset some truly preposterous developments. Would the Bajoran government *really* turn over Cardassians who want to change Cardassia for the better, simply in exchange for some prisoners of war? Would Sisko that readily toss them in the brig? Would Odo really spring the political prisoners just because he believes it’s the right thing to do? How does Garak get away with murdering a Gul? How did the Gul get on the station anyway?

Questions. Questions. Too many questions. It’s a sign of an episode that needed too many contrivances to resolve its central conflicts. It’s unfortunate because there really are some important and interesting ideas tucked into the episode. The real problem seems to be overambition. Trying to wedge too many different ideas into one story, and not really making any of them particularly well-crafted is the real reason why the episode just doesn’t work.

“Profit and Loss” is an episode that features some strong performances (Garak) that are nearly lost within a narrative that just isn’t capable of conveying the deeper, more meaningful thematic and character ideas. As a result, the episode is less-than-average.

Filed under: Deep Space Nine