Rating Scale
A - Great episode, very rewatchable with excellent storytelling
B - Very good episode, rewatchable with few plot holes
C - Acceptable episode but nothing particularly outstanding - run of the mill
D - Poor episode - deficient in some way (characters acting abnormally, poor writing, etc.)
F - Unacceptable episode - Should be tossed into the bin and never dusted off again
+ or - grades of course are added to provide some further differentiation.
Star Trek: The Next Generation - Season 1, Episodes 5 - "The Last Outpost"
After the disaster that was "Code of Honor," Star Trek: TNG finally got of the ground with what I think is one of the better first season episodes - and one that has an important place in TNG lore as the episode that first showed us the Ferengi (although I believe there had been some earlier mentions in previous episodes). The show begins with the Enterprise chasing after a Ferengi vessel that stole a piece of equipment from a Federation relay station. The Ferengi were known to the Federation, but not more by reputation than anything else - there had been no official first contact and no one knew much about them other than that they were big fans of commerce. After the Enterprise tracks down the offending Ferengi vessel, they get caught in some kind of an energy-draining field and assume the Ferengi have far superior technology. With options quickly dwindling, Captain Picard reaches out to the Ferengi to discuss the possibility of a limited surrender ... only to discover that the Ferengi are in the same condition and believe the Enterprise is draining them of power, and are similarly willing to offer a limited surrender in order to be released to go on their way home. In the end, both sides realize that the planet below them is actually the cause of their troubles, and both sides send down an away team. There, they encounter what is effectively a border guard from a long-dead civilization that is still trying to protect the borders of its no longer existing empire. Riker ends up charming the border guard by not fighting and quoting Sun Tzu, and everyone goes home none the worse for wear.
Notes of Interest:
This isn't a great episode, but it's really very watchable and features some excellent moments. It's also quite funny at times. Compared to most of what came before it in this first season, it feels the most like a "Star Trek: TNG" episode from the more polished seasons. There was still a long way to go before they resolved some of the questions about characterization, but this show *looked* like TNG, felt like TNG, and was pretty fun to watch.
A - Great episode, very rewatchable with excellent storytelling
B - Very good episode, rewatchable with few plot holes
C - Acceptable episode but nothing particularly outstanding - run of the mill
D - Poor episode - deficient in some way (characters acting abnormally, poor writing, etc.)
F - Unacceptable episode - Should be tossed into the bin and never dusted off again
+ or - grades of course are added to provide some further differentiation.
Star Trek: The Next Generation - Season 1, Episodes 5 - "The Last Outpost"
After the disaster that was "Code of Honor," Star Trek: TNG finally got of the ground with what I think is one of the better first season episodes - and one that has an important place in TNG lore as the episode that first showed us the Ferengi (although I believe there had been some earlier mentions in previous episodes). The show begins with the Enterprise chasing after a Ferengi vessel that stole a piece of equipment from a Federation relay station. The Ferengi were known to the Federation, but not more by reputation than anything else - there had been no official first contact and no one knew much about them other than that they were big fans of commerce. After the Enterprise tracks down the offending Ferengi vessel, they get caught in some kind of an energy-draining field and assume the Ferengi have far superior technology. With options quickly dwindling, Captain Picard reaches out to the Ferengi to discuss the possibility of a limited surrender ... only to discover that the Ferengi are in the same condition and believe the Enterprise is draining them of power, and are similarly willing to offer a limited surrender in order to be released to go on their way home. In the end, both sides realize that the planet below them is actually the cause of their troubles, and both sides send down an away team. There, they encounter what is effectively a border guard from a long-dead civilization that is still trying to protect the borders of its no longer existing empire. Riker ends up charming the border guard by not fighting and quoting Sun Tzu, and everyone goes home none the worse for wear.
Notes of Interest:
- The Ferengi were actually introduced as the new "common enemy" to replace the Klingons for TNG. With Worf a part of the crew, the showrunners correctly felt that they couldn't be having the Klingons running around as the primary antagonists anymore, and rather than elevate a lesser-used enemy like the Romulans, they chose to create a new species to take that space. At first, they seemed to set that up effectively - the Ferengi were rude, dismissive, and with their focus on Commerce at the expense of everything else they were sufficiently morally problematic to make for interesting enemies. At the same time, the characterization of the Ferengi throughout the episode was downright comic at times ... and for better or worse no one especially took them seriously as major enemies of the Federation. While the Ferengi would still around for the long haul, appearing in a number of interesting Next Generation episodes and making it to the big time with the inclusion of Quark in the main cast of Deep Space Nine, they would primarily be a source of comic relief throughout the show (with a few notable - and intriguing - exceptions).
- Speaking of Quark - he was played by Armin Shimmerman, and he actually played one of the Ferengi appearing in this episode! Let's just assume it was a long lost cousin of Quark in the episode ... one with more of a "warrior" mentality (or at least more willing to go into space and expose himself to risk for economic advancement).
- The show was very much still finding its footing with Data at this point, and he was used as comic relief repeatedly in this episode, regularly making quips to the people around him and at one point getting his fingers caught in a Chinese Finger Trap ... which Captain Picard himself had to release him from. Data is at his best trying and failing to quip ... so when he makes jokes that make sense it kind of misses the mark. Thankfully, the writers made him *worse* at this over the years, as his quest to understand humor was particularly endearing and a major part of his journey through the show.
This isn't a great episode, but it's really very watchable and features some excellent moments. It's also quite funny at times. Compared to most of what came before it in this first season, it feels the most like a "Star Trek: TNG" episode from the more polished seasons. There was still a long way to go before they resolved some of the questions about characterization, but this show *looked* like TNG, felt like TNG, and was pretty fun to watch.