112. The Last OutpostFORMULA: Balance of Terror + Arena + ¼(The City on the Edge of Forever + The Trouble with Tribbles)
WHY WE LIKE IT: The Ferengi make a historical first appearance. It's fun to compare them to today's Ferengi.
WHY WE DON'T: Oh my, were they ever silly! (The crew as well.)
REVIEW: The Last Outpost introduces a new enemy for the Federation, but the Ferengi really don't have the same impact the Romulans and Klingons did. They don't let us see them for the first half of the episode, which I think works to their advantage. To that point, they're fairly impressive. Their ships look cool, they have an unusual weapon (strangely, it's not shown with an outside view), and their video communication style is dramatic and fearsome. And at this point, they are attributed various effects actually accomplished by the Tkon planet, but still, once you see them in the flesh... The expression that comes to mind is: "Eeeeeech."
The creators just went too far in trying to make them alien, I think. The energy whips are an interesting idea, and basing their culture on capitalism run rampant is certainly worthy, but the extreme pantomime gestures are ridiculous, and much of their attitude just makes them seem stupid. The fact they don't clothe their females is revealed here, again to make them different, but the idea has never worked for me. I don't mind that they have a sexist society so much as the idea that they would be surprised and repulsed at clothed females. Have they never conducted trade with ANY other species at this point? Humans are far from the only well-dressed species (actually, we dress *abominably* in the future).
Watching this with an eye toward marrying this portrayal with later, DS9-era material, there's no real contradiction, even if they are so different. At this point, the Ferengi have been avoiding the Federation as a moneyless, dangerous power. The list of crimes spouted off to the Portal at the end is entirely from a Ferengi perspective and is one of the few scenes with them that works. They make a show of force (talk about dishonor, say it's not their custom to communicate visually, etc.) because they still want to keep the Federation at bay. There's also the disparity between the businessmen seen on DS9 and the privateers seen on TNG. The Ferengi fleet has other methods, it seems, which explains a lot of the differences.
Anyway, back to the plot (for what it is). So we have a first half that has some tension, then the let-down of the Ferengi. I also don't much care for the Tkon stuff. The planet is sometimes impressive, sometimes on par with what was seen on the original series. The Portal has some of the worst make-up seen on the series, and his speeded-up battle moves are dreadfully silly. It all ends abruptly after unncessary grandstanding (if the Portal had read all the Enterprise's files, why did he need to test Riker?). One point to make is that at this point, the creators really see Riker as the hero of the series, keeping Picard more as a father figure for the crew.
There are a lot of character moments in The Last Outpost for the rest of the crew, almost all of them bad, apparently because all involved at still feeling their way. For example, Data's fascination with the chinese finger puzzle almost comes out of nowhere, even if it makes for an amusing finale. Geordi's jive talking is iffy at best, and here we see him in engineering, coming up with solutions, highlighting once again that a cast member really should be at that post. Beverly calls Picard, simply "Jean". Worf and Tasha are once again blood-thirsty and grating. Saving graces: Wesley is unseen, and Troi has a good showing, though it does seem to weaken Picard as a negotiator.
LESSON: Communism good, capitalism bad.
REWATCHABILITY - Medium: If it achieves Medium, it's because of the landmark appearance of the Ferengi. Otherwise, the script is a bit of a mess on multiple levels.
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