The welcome returns of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine‘s Quark (Armin Shimerman) and his brother Rom (Max Grodénchik) in Star Trek: Lower Decks have made the absence of two members of their Ferengi family even more tragic. In Lower Decks season 4, episode 6, “Parth Ferengi’s Heart Place”, Star Trek gives fans a glimpse of the progressive changes introduced by Grand Nagus Rom and First Clerk Leeta (Chase Masterson) after DS9 ended. It’s interesting to ponder how Rom’s brother Quark would react to these big changes, especially as Lower Decks season 3 revealed that the Ferengi bartender was just as shifty as ever.
Hopefully a future episode of Star Trek: Lower Decks will update Star Trek: Deep Space Nine‘s Ferengi family dynamics with a Quark and Rom reunion. Of course, Quark’s Ferengi family in DS9 wasn’t just confined to his brother Rom, it also included his nephew Nog (Aron Eisenberg) and mother Ishka (Cecily Adams). Nog and Ishka made a huge impact on the Star Trek universe, with Nog’s entrance into Starfleet and Ishka’s push for gender equality laying the groundwork for Grand Nagus Rom’s progressive policies in Lower Decks. Sadly, real-life events mean that any future Ferengi family reunion will be limited to Quark, Rom, and Leeta.
2 Ferengi Can’t Return To Star Trek With Quark & His Family
Sadly, Aron Eisenberg passed away in 2019 at the age of 50, meaning that Nog can’t return to Star Trek alongside his Ferengi family. Star Trek: Discovery memorialized the actor with the Eisenberg-class starships, first introduced in season 3. Appropriately, the USS Nog was a ship of this class, proving that Starfleet’s first Ferengi was an inspiration long into the 32nd century. Given how much love Eisenberg still had for Star Trek before his death, it’s heartbreaking that he never got to reprise the role of Nog one last time.
Cecily Adams, who played Quark and Rom’s beloved Moogie, Ishka also passed away at a young age. Adams was 46 when she died of lung cancer in 2004, less than five years after her final appearance in Star Trek: Deep Space Nine. The progressive changes brought about by Ishka were honored by her son Rom when he ascended to the role of Grand Nagus. Star Trek: Lower Decks‘ trip to the new Ferenginar is therefore a fitting tribute to the legacy of Ishka as much as it is a historic moment for the relationship between the Ferengi and the Federation.
Why Quark, Rom & Leeta Have Only Returned In Star Trek: Lower Decks
Star Trek: Lower Decks creator Mike McMahan told Collider that he wrote “Parth Ferengi’s Heart Place” to repay Chase Masterson for letting him crash a party at Comic-Con. Where Leeta goes, her husband Rom isn’t too far behind, which is why he also appeared in Lower Decks‘ historic Ferengi episode. While live-action Star Trek has featured new Ferengi characters, fans have only seen Quark, Rom, and Leeta return in animated form.
As Star Trek: Lower Decks takes place in the years after Star Trek: Deep Space Nine‘s ending, it makes sense for the characters to still be active. To date, Star Trek: Picard is the only live-action sequel to a 1990s Trek show, which is another big reason why fans haven’t seen Star Trek: Deep Space Nine‘s Ferengi family return in live-action. As Armin Shimerman still has Quark’s prosthetic teeth, it’s hoped that fans may see an older, wiser Quark at some point in Star Trek‘s future.
Star Trek: Lower Decks season 4 streams Thursdays on Paramount+.
