And that’s before we get into the “none of this actually mattered because there were no actual consequences” ending.

To me, that doesn’t matter as much because the characters weren’t aware of that. Sure if it happened every other episode I’d be annoyed - it’s like the “it was all a dream” trope ending, in a way. But I don’t have issue with it if used sparingly.

I think it was also useful in terms of showing, early on, that Quark does care about people over profit, and signals to the viewer that he is very much a redeemable character, and will have character growth in the future.

Overall I view it as a silly but kinda enjoyable episode. I certainly understand why people wouldn’t like it, but I’ve never really understood why some hate it.