A visiting delegation from the Gamma Quadrant turns four crew members into "pieces" for a bizarre game.
Summary
The Wadi, the first official delegation from the Gamma Quadrant, arrive on their ship. They're greeted by the senior staff, but seem only interested in visiting Quark's to play games.
Act 1
In Quark's bar, the Wadi delegates are eager to play a new game. However, Quark has to make sure they have something to gamble with for Dabo. Falow, the leader of the delegation, offers klon peags, or alpha-currant nectar as items of value, but Quark refuses them. Then, he proffers a bag of gems, which Quark accepts greedily.
After about 6 hours, the delegates are winning almost every spin. Commander Sisko leaves the bar, to go to bed. Quark heads over to the table, and pleads that the Dabo girl's hands are tired from all of those spins. Falow orders Quark to replace her. Quark gets Broik to replace her, and instructs him to begin fixing the table so the Wadi do not win.
Act 2
In Sisko's quarters, he finds Jake still awake late into the evening. Jakes tells his dad that he's been spending time with Nog. Benjamin tells him to go to bed, and promises to have a chat with him about Nog and girls in the morning.
Back in Quark's bar, Falow discovers Quark's deception, and transforms the Dabo table into a new game, which he proclaims is called Chula. He explains that the game involves 4 players, and their object is to "move along home". Quark decides to play the game, in hope that they will be lenient with his deceit.
Commander Sisko wakes up to find himself laying in the floor of an odd room. He has his tricorder with him, so he searches around, trying all the doors until he finds an unlocked one. Hearing faint cries for help, he finds Doctor Bashir, Major Kira and Lieutenant Dax.
Act 3
Jake Sisko informs Odo that his father is missing, which launches an investigation when Odo discovers that 3 other senior staff are also missing. Conferring with Lieutenant Primmin, Odo decides to visit the Wadi's ship, to see if they'd had anything to do with it. He beams over, and finds a room with an unusual energy signature. Stepping through the doors, he ends up in Quark's bar, to see Quark playing the game. Quark rolls the dice, and the result is Allamaraine, much to the bemusement and ignorance of either Quark or Odo.
The four players reach a door, which opens to reveal a girl playing an odd game of hop-scotch, and singing a rhyme:
- "Allamaraine, count to four,
- Allamaraine, then three more,
- Allamaraine, if you can see,
- Allamaraine, you'll come with me..."
The players move into the room, and are sealed in. Moving across the room, Kira stumbles into a force field, however, the girl moves right through it. The doctor decides its the pattern of her movements that allows her to pass though, but is also knocked backwards. Jadzia follows the girl precisely, including singing the rhyme and mimicking the hand actions, and successfully passes the force field. Soon, everyone is across. The girl proclaims:
- "Allamaraine! Third Shap."
Back on the station, the Wadi cheer "Allamaraine!", as Falow moves the four pieces down one level on the board.
Act 4
Moving through the corridors of the maze, the players find a room with Wadi in it, all drinking. Suddenly the doors close, and a gas fills the room, causing them all to start coughing. Julian notices that the Wadi remain unaffected, and decides to try some of the drink that is being offered around. He is relieved of the affliction, and everyone cheers. An image of Falow states that they'd progressed to Shap 4.
Odo and Quark are still puzzled by the game, but Falow then approaches Quark and asks him to decide whether he wants the difficult short route, with a chance of winning more prizes, or the long, easy route. Just before he decides, Odo stops him, and tells Quark that he believes that the players are actually the missing crew members. After quenching Quark's greed, he decides to follow the easy route, and rolls the dice. However, the result is not good, and Falow removes one of the pieces from the board.
In the game, an energy buildup is detected by their tricorders, and bright lights move towards them. It scans them all, and then focuses on Julian, who vanishes.
Back in the bar, Falow then tells Quark to choose which route to take. Odo cautions Quark, but Quark realizes that the players were only 1 level away from "home", and the short route would take them there in only one move. He decides to take the short route, but rolls a thialo.
Act 5
Falow explains that this means Quark has to sacrifice one player to save the other two. Odo is dismayed, and so is Quark: he can't decide which player to sacrifice. He pleads to not decide, and Falow accepts. He programs the computer to randomly select someone.
In the game, a door is open, and Jadzia heads into it. The others follow. Jadzia hears Julian's voice, but stumbles on loose rocks, and a large boulder lands on her leg. Fortunately, it was not broken, and they continue onwards. Moving round a narrow outcropping on a steep cliff, they all fall off, arriving suddenly back in the bar (with Julian).
The Wadi change the table back to a dabo table again, and are about to leave, when Commander Sisko demands to know what was going on. Falow explains that it was just a game with no actual risk, and that Quark had cheated them in Dabo.
Memorable Quotes
"Move along home!"
"That's not what you said when you were groveling on the floor."
"Oh, that's right... you were here for the groveling."
- - Odo and Quark
"Major, I gave you a direct order!"
"Court-martial me."
"I can't, you're not in Starfleet."
"If I were a superior officer, I'd court-martial both of you."
- - Sisko, Kira, and Dax
Background Information
- The working title of this episode was "Sore Losers".
- Wadi is an Eritrean word, meaning child or son.
- The Wadi ship was the first appearance of this type of vessel. It would later be seen as a Bajoran transport vessel seen frequently during the series, and a Trill transport.
- Colm Meaney (Miles O'Brien) does not appear in this episode.
- Avery Brooks has cited this as his least favorite episode.
- Director David Carson has described this episode as "disappointing." (Deep Space Nine Companion)
- This episode was ranked last in Entertainment Weekly's evaluation of the first two seasons of the show.
- This episode marks the final appearance of George Primmin (James Lashly) on the series.
- According to one of the writers, Jeanne Carrigan-Fauci, the name of the game, "Chula", comes from "Chutes and Ladders", as the maze game is a "three-dimensional form" of the game. (Deep Space Nine Companion)
- First versions of the episode were more complex, but history and scenographies were eventually simplified due to budget issues. (Deep Space Nine Companion)
- According to writer Frederick Rappaport "in an earlier version of the teleplay, our people win the game, but they discover that Bashir has not been returned to the station. So Falow strikes a deal - Quark must return all his winnings if they want Bashir back". (Deep Space Nine Companion)
- Michael Piller said that this episode was inspired also by the episode Checkmate of The Prisoner. In some first versions of the script, our characters were placed in a surreal village, similar to the village seen in the aforementioned The Prisoner. (Deep Space Nine Companion)
Awards
- This episode was nominated for an Emmy Award for Outstanding Individual Achievement in Hairstyling for a Series.
Video and DVD releases
- UK VHS release (two-episode tapes, CIC Video): Volume 5, 4 October 1993.
- As part of the DS9 Season 1 DVD collection.
Links and References
Guest Stars
Co-Star
Uncredited Co-Stars
References
Broik; Chula; first contact; ionic field; McCoullough; Wadi; Wadi starship
External links
- Template:NCwiki
- Move Along Home (episode) at Wikipedia
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