“The Last Outpost”

It can be quite contrasting how slow and preachy TNG aactually was in the begining, compared to the high points from seasons 3 to 5. The Last outpost seems to consist of about 56 years just gawping at the big Ferengi ship on the viewscreen! The "Tashas drugs speech" in Symbiosis really has to be seen to be believed though.

The Chinese finger trap would have worked much better in an episode like Booby Trap (rather than its appearance in The Last Outpost).

Sigh...this ep had so much potential,, but unfortunately it got ruined by a bad ending.

The first few acts are, admittedly, very well done. The chase/get caught in tractor beam/other subsequent scenes work very well. The cast's acting still lacks energy and urgency, and feels a bit flat, but I could tell that it was improving. And, heck, I kinda liked the first Data finger trap scene. The early moments on the planet, just before the away team encountered the Ferengi, were really well done too. The ep was on its way to becoming a 3 star ep...

At which point the Ferengi showed up and completely derailed it. Klingons, they ain't. I'm glad they got replaced with the Borg later as the main villains for the TNG crew. I'll leave it at that.

And the actual ending with the Portal guy felt anticlimactic and muddled. It just fell completely flat. Too talky even by my standards, and this is a person who enjoyed some of TOS's more "talky" moments. I think the problem was the acting, again, to me at least, J. Frakes was not as dynamic as the scene needed him to be. But the scene was just badly written, too. Sigh...

I keep hoping this series will get better, and I can tell it is slowly getting onto the right track, but it's taking a bit too long for my tastes.

2 or 2.5 stars.

As NCC-1701-Z said, this ep had so much potential, totally ruined by Season 1's awful writing and odd plot-choices.

What do I mean by plot-choices, you say? Think about this. The first half of this ep builds tension between the Enterprise and the yet-to-be-known Ferengi ship, it works quite well, you're tense, anxious to see the real enemy and then...they appear on screen.

To say they are a total joke it's to put it mildly. Total waste of most of this ep's lenght here. If they knew the Ferengi were going to be so pathetic, they shouldn't have created any tense atmosphere to begin with.

The rest of the ep feels very rushed, and by the time "The Last Outpost" finally appears, there are only 10 minutes left. That's not enough time to develop an interesting character, and even less time to go from nothing to BFF with Riker (Quoting what the very Wil Wheaton had to say about this).

So, the oft- hinted at Ferengi finally make an appearance, and considering where the franchise would go with them (remember 'False Profits', 'Profit and Lace' or 'Acquisition' - or on second thoughts, don't) this episode has some curiosity value. It's also interesting to read the Production notes from Larry Nemecek's guide to the show for the backstory here. Obviously designed to replace the Klingons as a 'clear and present danger', they sadly end up sinking the episode.

It's a shame, as the concept is not without merit -I liked the genuinely Alien feel of the 'Portal' character, but have to agree with Rikko. The end of the episode felt like the writers, having wasted so much time with the Ferengi scenes, realised "hey guys, we only have ten minutes left - we need to wrap it up, " so the conclusion is wholly unsatisfactory. The early part of the episode is actually reasonable and the Ferengi commander's scenes across the view screen, although over acted are alright. The scenes on planet with the Ferengi are pour rire, unfortunately, leaving me agreeing with Jammer's 2 star rating as on the money....

It's hardly believable that these "gyrating antics" Ferengi could have developed warp technology... What a boring, alien race!

This episode is really goofy. Two favourite moments:

1) Picard's unlikely phrasing of his offer of surrender so that the Ferengi think that he is telling them to surrender;

2) the Ferengi on the landing party attacking the Enterprise crew so that they can steal their communicators (with gold in them!), apparently believing that the amount of gold in those communicators is a higher priority than protecting themselves against certain death if they don't get out of the planet's tractor beam thing.

The tension in the first half of the episode is fairly effective, but the second half alternates between flat-out silly and (as Jammer puts it) impenetrable. 1.5 stars from me.

Just watched this last night and searched for reviews to see if anyone else thought this first season was godawful and whether to expect better things and watch on, or quit.
Yeah first half quite watchable, second half horrible. Important episode though for introducing the Ferengi. Was that Armin Shimerman? So he was there from the start. On DS9 I thought he was magnificent. He pretty much played the role with his eyes and the tone of voice under all that makeup.

Didn't Quark later mention "worthless gold"? Yet here the Ferengi describe gold as a "valuable metal".

Gold was protrayed just about everywhere other than "Who Mourns For Morn?" as being valuable. That atrocious DS9 episode also is the only one that presents latinum as being some clear liquid. DS9's "Dogs of War" has Quark saying he'd replace gold pressed latinum fixtures with solid latinum ones, and other episodes mention it likewise, so latinum is some kind of valuable solid, not clear goo.

Probably best to discard "...Morn?" altogether. In just about every way.

Just saw this episode for the first time in several years. Didn't remember Picard using profanity before. Little risque for a family show.

Just notice how in each episode Troi's neckline is a little bit lower.

Also, the notion of women being 'less than' seems to be a universal one as it is presented by most of season one & two. Almost every single race sees females as a stereotypical weaker sex, or something to be viewed sexually. Really annoying. Seems the only true feminists on Trek so far are the Klingons. (Later there'd be the whole House of Duras inheritance that would wreck that :/).

This episode works if you see the first half as an action with a mystery story and the second as a comedy. It feels as if the director had a Jekyll and Hyde mental breakdown while working here.

The Ferengi literally act like monkeys in this episode. Not a good look.

Definitely a skip-able episode though it is not bad by any means. The Ferengi come across as worse than in the worst DS9 Ferengi episodes; which comes off as a bit ironic considering this is the source material of said species (yes I know they were spoken of in previous episodes, but this is the first encounter). The last few scenes on the planet, while very "Star Trek" in its search for the unknown, collapses under it's own weight of contrived dialogue and cringe-worthy Ferengi antics.

Most of everything else this showing has to offer is pretty good by early TNG standards and still rather decent today. The first 75% of it includes some nice execution, pacing, and okay dialogue. Nothing stood out as hit or miss either way. The scene with Data and the finger-torture device was a little too cloying, but cute. I would also imagine he would have the strength to break it, but maybe he didn't want to?

Also the send-off to the episode of Riker wanting to beam over a gift to the Ferengi ship was one of those awesome little moments that I had completely forgotten about until I watched this again. Loved it.

All in all, this was the very definition of middle of the road. Just enough there to warrant a peek but not quite much beyond that.

2 stars.

This very first sight of the Ferengi - and supposedly the first sighting of Ferengi by anyone in the Federation, although that seems improbable . The Ferengi were mentioned in the very first ep, Farside, with a comment that maybe someone isn't "to the Ferengi's taste" -- which sort of hinted that the Ferengi were some sort of cannibals. Here they are sort of malevolent munchkins, with really nasty whips. The whips disappear permanently after this ep. Within a couple of seasons, Ferengi have learned to speak more clearly, stand staighter, and generally behave.

This is a prime example of a franchise reordering a recurring character or feature after its first appearance.

An interesting set-up, then drops the ball completely as the capering monkey antics of the Ferengi lead into a lightning and incomprehensible resolution that fails even as a philosophical statement.

Still, it's interesting to see the Ferengi (and Armin Shimmerman) in their earliest development. I enjoyed the Chinese finger trap scene, but it did come a bit out of left field in the overall context of the episode. For the first half, 2 stars.

I remember watching this with my friends when it came out. We were all excited to see the new alien race. We'd heard somewhere the Ferengi were to take over from the Klingons as the federations new menacing adversarial race. There'd been that ominous line from Picard in the first episode when Zorn threatens the station might ally with the Ferengi: "Fine, let's hope they find you as tasty as they did their past associates." Ohhhhhh, we didn't know what that meant, but the Ferengi sounded evil and dangerous.

So we were all worked up. And then we saw them. As my friend put it, "Mutant hobbit accountants from outer-space." Oh well. By the end of the season, it was established that the Romulans would take over from the Klingons as the new as the federation's new menacing adversarial race.

Even when watching it for the first time way back in 1987, I thought the following:

The federation is huge, these guys travel at WARP 9!. Humans have been space faring for 200 years; these Ferengi are in the same area of the quadrant and would have had contact with many of the same species the Federation deals with.

How on earth could they have never had contact, and not even know what one another look like! No one ever shared a photo? LIke didn't the Ferengi say "so, this 150+ world federation that is 7000 light years wide.... anyone know what those humans who run the thing look like? anyone think to try to trade with them?"

THen they make them so corny in this episode when they start begging the TKon guy for attention.... made them look pathetic. Strange way to write a species who were intended to be a serious villian.

Watching this episode, you're reminded of Quark's speech to Sisko in Jem'Hadar. "We're better than you". Ummm... highly debatable.

Watching this again years later I am struck by the following:
1. Brent Spiner is very good-this show really needs his humorous input.
2. Jonathan Frakes is truly dreadful. Riker is like a grotesque caricature of Kirk,throwing his weight around inappropriately shouting at Geordi and others.
3. Denise Crosby seems embarrassed by most of her lines as well she might be.
4. The Ferengi are a joke.
5. Oh no-still we have this superior utopian human evolution ( 'wack -a-doodle') concept of Rodenberry's as Riker condescendingly tells Portal that they ( the cartoon like Ferengi) are like we were several centuries ago. Is that why we shout at our colleagues ,Will?

Watching these early TNGs is tough going.

I wonder who's idea it was to have the Ferengi dance around like monkeys. I find it somewhat weird that a species with Trillions of individuals and probably thousands of planets collapses because they lose their home world. surly they would have ample time to move their government to a new world along with the population?

3 stars. Entertaining

I enjoyed this one. I enjoyed the Ferengi debut. I loved the ferengi vessel design. I enjoyed the standing between the two. I enjoyed the mysterious force holding the ships and the sense of jeopardy it created.
The stuff on the planet was fun. Data's Chinese finger puzzle was a hoot. Enjoyed the discussion about Yankee traders and old nation flags.

Not a whole lot positive to say on the episode, but I liked the Ferengi ship design too.

And the Ferengi get off on the wrong foot with this weak episode...Just caricature villains here albeit with an interesting trait of being mercantilistic traders of some kind. The nonsense on the planet with Riker being tested by a superior being didn't work out -- similar to "Encounter at Farpoint". Overall there were some potentially good ideas here but none of them were well executed.

TNG introduces a new race here that is meant to become something meaningful for the series. The Ferengi are equally technologically advanced and have a different value system but watching how they act is torturous. I suppose they truly are an alien humanoid species that is sufficiently different from Klingons/Romulans with heavier prosthetics, being much shorter. And they have an cool looking ship. Their whip-like phasers are also sufficiently different, which is good.

What's also interesting is Picard choosing not to fire on the Ferengi, who stole a Federation device and who fired on the Enterprise. He again offers to surrender. Very different tactically from say Kirk chasing after the Gorn in "Arena" (not a perfect comparison given the damage inflicted by the Gorn on the base). But Picard proves to be quite an adept negotiator convincing the Ferengi to trust him.

The encounter with the Tkon guardian started out interestingly enough. Interesting idea of a long-dead race having turned the planet into an energy collector and having a guardian. But then he ends up buddy-buddy with Riker... Just how the whole thing was written didn't make a lot of sense. Fine that the Ferengi would try to curry favor but then Riker admits to some of his races mistakes? And then answers a riddle about fear? Kind of silly.

Data was a bit weird here. He should be able to figure out the finger puzzle and he again kept going on about the flag colors -- pissing off Picard again. Hasn't he learned yet? So I didn't find his humor here beneficial to the episode.

1.5 stars for "The Last Outpost" -- the "stalemate" between the Enterprise and Ferengi wasn't suspenseful and went on for too long for my liking. The Ferengi seem to be worthy adversaries but were hugely annoying. This one was tedious to get through and the gravity of the situation didn't resonate sufficiently with me. Tough start so far for TNG S1.

Every time they showed the Ferengi down on the planet I heard Yakety Sax playing in my head.

The level of incompetence in their portrayal is so epic it boggles the mind. A lot of people are involved in getting a show from idea to script to filmed.... Nobody at any point yelled out, “What the Hell are we doing here!?!” haha

Why was the background of the Ferengi ship white in the viewscreen? No budget left to construct a set? Why was the Ferengi’s head 9 feet tall and filled the entire viewscreen? Why were the Ferengi wearing fur?? haha

Oy vey... it is an ABSOLUTE MIRACLE that TNG ever got a season 2.

This empire had the power to literally move stars and yet was wiped out by a supernova?

@ Jason R.,

You're right, I don't think I can take this episode seriously any more.

"You're right, I don't think I can take this episode seriously any more"

And another thing - why were the Ferengi so offended about Starfleet officers wearing gold? Wouldn't a society based on personal wealth be cool with its ostentatious display? What would they have done with it, used it for electrical cabling?

@ Jason R.,

"Wouldn't a society based on personal wealth be cool with its ostentatious display?"

I think you've cracked this one wide open. You've convinced me to change my rating of the episode from "stupid" to "stoopid."

Terrible. Terrible. Episode. 45 minutes of my time I will never get back.

This is a meh episode.

As disappointing as the Ferengi themselves are their ship was actually a pretty cool design.

This episode works great on a meta-level. You have a 1980s uber-capitalist western audience watching a show about enlightened space commies making first contact with ultra-capitalist Ferengis via a dead, outmoded society which teaches both parties that, a la Sun Tzu, one must "know thy enemy" lest they "get stuck in Chinese finger traps" and "fail to move on".

So very philosophical/political on a Roddenberry level.

The episode itself divides cleanly into two halves, the first a tense bit of ship-board action in which Picard chews scenery as he tries to save his ship (watching Discovery concurrently with this old episode, one forgets the ways in which great acting elevates everything in ways the most expensive FX never will). It's here where we meet the Ferengis, who are so insecure that they communicate via enlarged viewscreen images of their bulbous heads. Watching this episode years ago, I considered this scene silly, but seeing it again in HD and it feels excellent. I love watching Picard try to remain tactful and politically correct when teaching to alien cultures he considers beneath him; this is the second episode in a row in which he's had to do this.

The second half of the episode is where things begin to fall apart, with silly action scenes and silly Ferrengi whips. Bad stuff. But then the episode goes full-TOS, with its Alien Gatekeepers and Super Beings who Test Our Heroes to Determine Their Worth. These are old tropes, but it's all done well here, and in ways that you don't find outside Trek, so they're tropes which manage to cling on to some originality.

My original memory of this episode was quite negative, but having now watched it again in HD, I quite like it (albeit because one now goes into TNG S1 with extremely low expectations).

I was enjoying this until the Ferengi gave their little speech on the planet`s surface. ...then it was just TOS earthlings proving themselves a worthy species to greater beings...ho hum.

And it is clear after these first few episodes, and I state the obvious, how sexist the writers, and others complicit, were. Seriously why the three main women can`t keep their hands off men?....here we have the Doctor touching "Jean"`s neck...surely not to take his pulse. ha ha! Ugh. Men (and women) keep an eye on your fantasies and don't confuse them with the real world. Women (and men) aren't here to fulfil them or fit your stereotypes...


I much prefer the DS9 portrayal of Ferengi although that was mainly down to Quark. Were these Ferengi representing the equivalent of dumb ensigns?

And why weren't they wearing toques and other warm clothes on the energy drained ship?

@ trent I love your reviews and I swear I am not reading them before writing my own. You seem to be watching these episodes a few days before me so I look forward to reading more of them (after writing my own) to see how close we jive.

The preachiness is real in this episode.

Ugh. Mediocre. I haven't watched one of these season 1 episodes in a while. It was so slooooooow, just drags along. The only character who seems to have any energy is Geordi. Picard seems really un-Picard like here and quite nasty and rude to Data, I'm surprised @LizzyDatalover hasn't complained...

I can’t disagree about any of the criticisms here, but think Trent nailed it about viewing this through a S1 perspective.

The zoomed-in Daimon on the viewscreen with the white background actually had a pretty neat appearance, especially when they shot Picard standing in front of it. I liked that better than if the Ferengi was sitting in a standard bridge set.

This episode really was boring wasn't it? I always hated the the Ferengi *until Quark came along* so the whole time I just so wanted Picard to turn off that dang view screen.

Also it is pretty ridiculous and somewhat disrespectful a joke to say that Data can't find his way out of a finger trap. Nonetheless it was a cute little moment but only because every other moment was pure agony. And my goodness has anyone else noticed just how red Brent Spiner's eyes were in S1?? They always looked a little irritated by the contacts, but they're bad here and worse in Justice.

Also official ratings for S1:

Encounter At Farpoint: 6or7/10 it wasn't a perfect pilot by any means but I thought it was cute.

The Naked Now: 4/10 I had no idea what kind if perverted thoughts plaqued the crews minds.

Code Of Honor: 1/10 bro I didn't even know where to begin.

The Last Outpost: 3/10 just narrowly beating out Naked because at least it was amusing to see them trying to keep from tripping over their own feet.

Where No One Has gone Before: 5/10 it had its moments.

Lonely Among Us: 4/10 Data as Sherlock Holmes. That's all.

Justice: 2/10 oh wow.

The Battle: 4/10 more Ferengi. And whatever else was happening.

Hide And Q: 7/10 finally a halfway decent episode. Man Q is HILARIOUS.

Haven: 5/10 Majel Barret is the most beautiful woman I have ever seen.

The Big Goodbye: 8/10 it started the endless parade of holodeck madness to come. But it was a darn good episode.

Datalore: 8/10 it introduced Lore. ^-^

Angel One: 2/10 okay I'm fed up now.

11001001: 6or7/10 it was Riker centric and a bit confusing but good compared to the rest of the season.

Too Short A Season: 2/10 someone kill me.

When The Bough Breaks: 3/10 ugh.

Home Soil: 6/10 decent.

Coming Of Age: 4/10 I dont understand the praise of this episode it's Wesley centric for Q's sake.

Heart Of Glory: 5/10 so this is where all the mighty Klingon episodes began. Worf is really good tho.

Arsenal Of Freedom: 6/10 I was honestly astonished.

Symbiosis: 3/10 after school special.

Skin of Evil: 6/10 I never liked Tasha but this seemed a bit much. Although the creepiness of it all was interesting.

We'll Always Have Paris: 5/10 it loses points because Data uses a contraction. Plus it's dull.

Conspiracy: 7/10 duuude total creep factor.

The Neautral Zone: 6/10 decent.

Over all I'd much rather watch S7. It's times like this I'm so glad I watched them out of order. Now off to season 2.

Watching and commenting

--Hmm. The introduction of the Ferenghi! A . . . momentous occasion? I don't have high hopes for this one because: Ferenghi. But we'll see.

--"The Last Outpost." Why is this ep name making a Quarky bell go off? Must research later.

--Merde! Lots of establishing Picard's Frenchiness.

--Picard insists on seeing the Ferenghi. He really, really wants a visual. Careful what you wish for there, Picard. Then he suddenly sees them on screen! He diplomatically disguises his revulsion. :)

--The Enterprise is stuck, the Ferenghi ship is stuck, Data's fingers are stuck in a Chinese Finger Trap. He has to stop struggling to get out. Maybe there's a clue there, for Picard.

--The Ferenghi. This stuff on the planet is very tedious. Is that . . . Shimerman? Ok, I'm so bored I googled this, and yes, it is Shimerman.

--I'm also so bored I googled the Quarky bell, and found that "Quark proclaimed that his bar would be the "last outpost" of what made Ferenginar great in "Dogs of War," as a deliberate homage.

--Very dull stuff.

--Lots of references to the Chinese in this ep, and nations+nationalism. Why? I do not care.

Ugh. This is quite the slog through these first few eps. But I persist. :)

“The Last Outpost”, like many first season TNG episodes, suffers from slow pacing. Much of that can be attributed to a lack of characterization scenes. Everything onscreen is focused on advancing the plot, or cheap nonsensical gags such as the Chinese finger trap. The Ferengi also aren’t very convincing as villains. When they finally do appear in person, they spent almost all their time mouth breathing obnoxiously and refuse to hold still, as though they suffer from collective ADHD.

There is merit in that Picard and Riker each are given opportunities to show that while they are willing to fight, they choose not to fight. There’s entertainment value but there’s not enough meat to the story.

🖖🖖🤟

Rough stuff. Hard to believe they really thought the Ferengi would be the big baddies for TNG. Although they did start off with more of their DS9-era characteristics than I remembered--the capitalist culture, the women staying at home and not wearing clothes, etc. (But whatever happened to the laser whips?)

Had to watch this with my mom and I gotta say, it was humiliating. I kept expecting (yet am so glad they didnt) them to start power-thrusting at Yar near the end. Also that old lady with the halberd at the end is just so poorly done. No sense of excitement, no drama, just a strange, male pattern baldness stricken "guardian" swinging a stick around and then sped up in post. Macabre

I believe the extreme close up of the Ferengi on the view screen was their attempt to intimidate. Doesn't Troi say something about the image being distorted? It is a surprise when we see that they are actually tiny little creatures.

Oh dear. It’s amazing how badly south this went in the second half.

The reason seems to be they wanted Riker and Data to provide a speechifying info dump on Federation backstory. There’s certainly no sense in them saying all these things to the Keeper.

The claim that the Ferengi were distorting their image in some way made little sense. It’s obviously zoomed tight on a Ferengi face.


One HUGE annoyance is at the very end, Picard gives Geordi orders that Geordi can’t do because his fingers are stuck in the finger trap. Uh, hello? He had seen Data with the puzzle and even laughed at him, so clearly he knows how it works.

Let me just recommend @Trent's excellent write up. At least, @Rahul, "The Last Outpost" was better than TOS' "Arena".

I can just imagine the writer's discussions - let's make something like "Arena" - great set up and chase, crappy ending, with some super-entity thrown in for good measure. Oh yeah, and "Arena" had Godzilla. So I guess "Outpost" should have King Kong. Make the Ferengi act likes monkeys. Done, bitches!

Gosh - did not realize how much Next Gen was channelling TOS in it's early days!
And definitely sci-fi for those who like a big old helping of ham.
Everyone is so shouty ! And thank god they did what they did with the Ferengi after this! Terrible use of Armin Shimerman.

I did not see Wesley at all so cannot comment on his jumper, hope for something good next episode to make up for this omission.

I very much liked the design and visual apperance of the Ferengi starship.

Yeah, I think their ship was pretty cool too.

This was the very first episode of TNG that I ever watched. I was 6 years old and I though the Ferengi were stupid. I had no problem with Ewoks, Orko, or even Snarf, but the damn Ferengi were just too much.

In the first episode, Picard surrendered. In the third, he ridiculously capitulated to the Ligonians to the point of boot licking. Now he surrenders again. This probably wasn't intentional, but the writers were doing a fine job promoting a stereotype about French people in these early episodes.

Not to mention their refusal to fire on the Ferengi because "they only did so because we were chasing them." Yeah, after they STOLE from you. How wussified are these people. If you chased a guy after he raped your daughter and he turned around to shoot you, would you say "Oh I was chasing him, so he was in the right."

The Ferengi...*sigh*...not much to say about them. Something that was supposed to be a menacing enemy was quickly reduced to a complete joke and they never really recovered from it. The way they were behaving down on the planet, it would have been less demeaning if they literally started to throw shit at each other.

Again, I seem to be out of step with the reviewers - I did enjoy this episode . However, I do agree that the first half was superior to the second; the way the Ferengi capered about was presumably to make a solid "this is an alien race who can't be expected to act like humans" effort, but it just didn't come off. I would much preferred if the Ferengi on the planet had at least made an attempt to activate a 'Rule of Acquisition'; yes I know this hadn't been written yet, but an attempt to be commercial with the gatekeeper rather than just jump about, would have been more logically consistent.

I do like that Troi is still being used more extensively than in later series, also that Data is still convincingly android, rather than the absurdly conscious-like-a-human being he "evolves" into.

I didn't think the dialogue between Riker and the gatekeeper was at all silly, but was quite philosophical though rather brief given the length constraints of a Trek episode .

I'd award it more than 2.5 stars but not quite 3.

First episode of TNG that I saw...consequently I feel nostalgic about it. Liked the vanished empire idea with the forgotten sentinel figure (like Losira).

While it's nearly impossible to be frightened by the Ferengi (@Tidd "capering about" captures it perfectly), it pretty much gets the idea across that they're just out for their own good. Not a huge amount of friendly cooperation can be expected there. 'Yankee trader' sobriquet is really off; bigots of stinginess is more like it, and the antisociality of the group stays with them for a while, until broken up by more complex characters like Quark, Nog and yes, even Rom.

I like the part where Dr. Crusher thinks about going Magda Goebbels on Wesley.

After watching DS9 recently, it was strange to see how the Ferengi behave in this episode. Like strange monkeys. Very weird. I do not remember back when TNG came out. So far these season one episodes are truly dreadful.

I finally found an episode where Data uses a contraction. It was this episode in the opening scene. When the Enterprise loses control as they come face to face with a Ferengi ship, Data says "captain, this shouldn't be."

The series Bible stated that Data “usually avoids” contractions. It’s a while before they seem to take that as meaning that he literally cannot use them.

I really cannot get past this outlandish error:

DATA: As requested, Captain, library computer information on this planet.
[...]
The centre of a huge space federation, a population of trillions.
PICARD: Trillions? I've never heard the word Tkon before.
DATA: Understandable. It has been extinct six hundred thousand of our (his forefingers are stuck in the puzzle) of our years. These planets were once outposts of that empire.
[...]
PICARD: Continue, Commander.
DATA: Intriguing. It describes the Empire as being highly advanced and powerful, and capable of actually moving stars.
RIKER: Stars whose planets are their defence system?
DATA: Correct, sir. Outposts. The planet below was possibly one of them.

Stars, plural. Planets, many of them. One supernova: ended their empire. And this planet, "the centre of a huge space federation." Centre, as in, what, geometric center? Whatever.

While there's some merit to the first section of the episode with an unknown new race, the balloon deflates, then spins around, then slaps us in the face, when we meet the Ferengi. Those scenes on the surface...actors can't be that bad by accident If you leave them to their own devices they might be boring, or lack nuance, but they wouldn't do any of those things. Check out Tarr's buddies scooting around behind him in various scenes, crouching and then jumping up, making Thriller hands at Tasha, and doing what generally appears to be deliberate choreography. Someone must have instructed them on all these movements, even designed it, so that it looked like this. The mayhem is too orchestrated to have been totally random, with Mordoc popping up at just the right time and in the right place to say his lines. This was designed, and rehearsed! This is exactly what they wanted. My God.

But hey, here's a curious observation I made while watching. First I heard this exchange:

PICARD: Will? I haven't had your assessment.
RIKER: I believe we've covered every available alternatives, Captain. Are there other options that you want to analyse?
PICARD: The only one remaining is the one that needs no conversation. The only one we must avoid.
RIKER: Sir?
PICARD: The one that leads to total annihilation.

This immediately triggered my sound memory, and summoned Dune's Bene Gesserit litany against fear, which has a very memorable line for any Dune fans out there:

I must not fear. Fear is the mind-killer. Fear is the little-death that brings total obliteration.

Granted, Picard says "annihilation" rather than "obliteration", but the phrase sounds almost identical. And listen closely as Picard says the line: it's a direct musical quote from Toto's score to David Lynch's Dune, made 3 years prior to this. In case you didn't hear it the first time, the theme repeats. I paused the episode to tell my wife my suspicion, since I've long since been a Dune fanatic, but left it at that. But then we get this ending:

(Portal whirls his staff, bringing it to a sudden stop by Riker's right ear. He doesn't flinch)
PORTAL: Ahhh. You are facing fate with composure. But what is the answer to my challenge?
RIKER: Fear is the true enemy, the only enemy.

So there's no way the earlier line, musical cue, or this final lesson are an accident: they're borrowing from Dune for sure. Even Riker failing to flinch is a riff on Reverend Mother Mohiam testing Paul with the box and the gom jabbar. Check it out, this little Easter egg eluded me for many years.

I just checked and there's no choreography credit given. I'm just picturing McFadden choreographing the Ferengi, trying to show them jazz dance movements and getting this. In fact this is my head canon now.

@Peter, good catch on the Dune-isms. Stewart playing Halleck might have factored into the references too.

I think so too.

@ Mike

The first time I watched DS9, I was surprised that they managed to do something that seemed almost impossible; portray the Ferengi as a somewhat believable people and in a mostly dignified manner (although they maintained some of their goofiness)

It's a pretty shocking contrast to how we were introduced to them.

this episode feels like two ideas (pursuing the ferengi, strange planet with forcefield mystery) mashed together cause they alone weren't very good... unfortunately the combination doesn't help either very much...

Jammer, 2 stars? This is one of the worst episodes in all of Trek.

Story and acting are weak. Ferengi are cartoonish. Their dancing around Portal and Riker on the planet is as bad as it gets.

Somewhat off topic, early Worf is almost difficult to watch. Fortunately his look and acting became much better with time.

This is an episode that would have been decent if it had been produced a season or two later. If the actors had been in season 3 or 4 mode, and the Ferengi were replaced with the Romulans or Cardassians (or a herd of tribbles in a raincoat) this could have been an entertaining 45 minutes.

@ John B

"Ferengi are cartoonish"

With now they behaved in this episode, it would have been no less degrading if they started flinging turds at each other.

Two stars is far too forgiving for this awful, dog of an episode.

A tale of two episodes. Or at least two halves. The first half manages to communicate a nice tension and mystery. You can feel the enterprise crew’s confusion and frustration, faced with a little known enemy and apparently caught in their grips. This phase of the episode gets even better when it becomes clear that the Ferengi are in the same boat, and rather than being at their mercy, Picard has to negotiate a cooperative detente. But it’s here that things begin to wobble. We finally get our first glance at the Ferengi in the form of an oversized, zoomed in headshot. It doesn’t quite land the way the episode was going for. They’re ugly, yes, but not so ugly as to justify visible revulsion from anyone on board the Enterprise, I mean, have you SEEN Worf? The Ferengi are also evidently very insecure, as they try to use their blown up image to intimidate, which I think was meant to stand in contrast to their planet-side face to face reveal. But it doesn’t quite work.

Then the wheels fall off.

As a supposed main bad guy successor to the Klingons, the Ferengi implode on themselves. Not only are their mincing, capering gesticulations tough to watch, but thematically the episode trips over its own shoelaces, bumbling all over itself. For example, as I winced through the Ferengi contortions I began thinking about how, perhaps, these gestures and posturings were possibly meant to be what the Ferengi view as politeness or signs of supplication, an example of the differences one might encounter when meeting an alien culture. At that point, a glimmer of a theme began to form, built around misunderstanding and the challenges of communication. But then all that was undone as Riker and the guardian guy took deep, hearty draughts from the well of smug, self-satisfied, condescension, talking about the Ferengi, and casually passing judgment on them, while they were literally standing right there! The episode, at that point, firmly claimed that the Ferengi were indeed inferior, or at least not as “advanced” as our heroes, completely closing off any possible avenue of interesting discussion. No longer can we contemplate the possibility of mutual understanding between differing alien perspectives, but rather it seems, the Ferengi just need to grow up. This declaration from the episode completely fumbles what appeared to be an effort to build the Ferengi into a long term threat. A good antagonist needs dignity, think Khan, Kor, or Hans Gruber, the audience needs to respect them on some level, even while hating them. This episode saps every ounce of legitimacy out of the Ferengi, directly telling us through Riker and the guardian’s stroll down pomposity lane that the Ferengi straight up suck and ought to be viewed as the clowns they appear to be. Not a strong strategy if you want them to serve as reoccurring story elements.

There’s some positive signs of better things to come, but ultimately this episode spills its coffee all over its own lap in the end.

TOS inspiration: a sprinkle of Arena, a squirt of The Corbomite Maneuver, and the slightest spritz of City on the Edge of Forever.

1.5/4 largely forgotten laser whips.

Some notes:
-Data’s finger trap bit was fun, but was that meant as a thematic clue? Because if so, I don’t quite get it.
-the Ferengi ship design is pretty well done.
-Armin Shimerman begins his long relationship with the makeup department.
-as a curio about the early conceptions of the Ferengi, this episode is kinda interesting.
-Riker’s shorts are too tight or something in these early episodes. Dude, you don’t have to bark bro, everyone takes orders professionally here.
-yankee traders? Weird reference.
-I’m a little confused as to how a single supernova could derail an entire super advanced empire, did the Tkon scatter to the wind or what?

"yankee traders? Weird reference"


It's like that scene in Code of Honor where Picard tells the black guys that they remind them of a culture they all admire - Chinese.

"-Data’s finger trap bit was fun, but was that meant as a thematic clue? Because if so, I don’t quite get it."

The Chinese finger trap prefigures Riker's solution to Portal, explicitly connected to Chinese philosophy via Sun Tzu:

PORTAL: You have a single chance for life. One only. What is the answer to my challenge? I offer a thought. He will triumph who knows when to fight and when not to fight. You are being tested, Riker! What is the answer?
RIKER: How do you know my name?
(Portal whirls his staff, bringing it to a sudden stop by Riker's right ear. He doesn't flinch)
PORTAL: Ahhh. You are facing fate with composure. But what is the answer to my challenge?
RIKER: Fear is the true enemy, the only enemy.
(Portal lowers his staff, and becomes friendly and chatty)
PORTAL: Unlike these little ones who close their minds, your mind holds interesting thoughts. Know your enemy and know yourself, and you will always be victorious. Why that thought? And who is this Sun Tzu you revere?
RIKER: An old Chinese philosopher from ancient Earth history.

The finger trap comes down to: the more you fight, the more you're trapped. The more the Enterprise and Ferengi ship struggle the worse their outcomes. Riker escapes only by recognizing that you should stop struggling, ala the finger trap.

Sun Tzu - famous author of The Art of Exploration. No wonder Riker admires him so much.

Relatedly there is some sort of Eastern vs. Western approach here, with the China/Zen references and the "Yankee trader" Ferengi. The Chinese Finger Traps get sent over to the Ferengi ship like the Tribbles to the Klingons, and Riker's Zen composure contrasts with the hyper-reactive Ferengi. Given Roddenberry's views it may have been a deliberate "East is better than West" message, but I wonder if the intent is more nuanced.
Maybe worth noting that Riker is (North) American, and perhaps shares with the Ferengi ambition and lasciviousness (though the latter hasn't shown up yet), and says outright that he recognizes himself in the Ferengi. Riker is still definitely a Westerner, but one who has incorporated aspects of Eastern worldview, and in so doing gets past the Ferengi stage in his development and becomes this episode's symbol of a future united Earth. Maybe. Like many s1 episodes, it's very disjointed and awkward, and so hard to make sense of.

"Sun Tzu - famous author of The Art of Exploration. No wonder Riker admires him so much."

I included the East/West coda separately because, yeah, that The Art of War is used to influence Riker to remain still in the face of an enemy hurling his staff at him is an...odd choice. I'm trying to model what it is Roddenberry thinks he is saying (GR's fingerprints all over this one) but it's very hard for a number of reasons.

I agree with your take about the finger traps, and that the episode is muddled. Quoting from the Art of War is an odd choice if you are trying to make a point about a 24th century Utopian society taking cues from Eastern philosophy.

The only thing that could have saved this episode is if the kids had left a whoopee cushion behind instead of that finger trap.

Man, I type slow. I need to start refreshing the page before posting so I don't end up repeating something that someone else has posted while my slow ass is hunting and pecking.

It is funny we both settled on "odd choice." Anyway yeah agreed. I used to actively hate this one but now I think it's interesting to think about, as long as I don't have to see it again for a long, long time.

It's also an 'odd choice' to have Riker receive a philosophy lecture from an AI recording made by a dead race.

I understand where you’re coming from, I guess my problem is that the central conflict of the episode is between the Ferengi and the Enterprise, this conflict isn’t resolved by one side ceasing to resist, and letting go of their fear, rather the story is concluded by a third part entering the picture and declaring openly that he agrees with one side’s philosophical quoting, so story over. Thus as a theme the finger trap as philosophical symbolic stand in is incidental to the plot, so not much of a theme.

I don't think it's incidental. The trap is only a trap if the fingers work against each other. The Enterprise understands that their best hope of escape is working with the Ferengi, and the Ferengi pretend to have learned that lesson as well. Portal was going to destroy both sides until he (mistakenly) sees them working together. After realizing that only one side is being honest, he is again ready to destroy the Ferengi, but Riker convinces him not to because there is hope that they might learn and change. The finger traps are beamed over as a way to teach the lesson of cooperation.


As I and others have said, there are a lot of good ideas in TNG season 1, but the execution is abysmal. The same can be said for a lot of TOS, too, imo. Even the worst episodes have the kernel of a good idea or some interesting elements.

Eh, kinda. But this idea is muddled by what’s going on in the final scene. The two sides are firing phasers/laser whips at one another which get absorbed by the energy absorbing crystals on the planet, at which point the guardian emerges and presents his challenge. He appears to read Riker’s mind and is interested in the philosophical parallels between sun tzu and the Tkon, but there isn’t much actual application of this philosophy, rather the portal guy digs Riker’s style and is impressed by his composure. When the guardian steps in the Ferengi and the Enterprise are very much not working together, and are instead engaging in the same antagonistic behavior that lead them to this trap in the first place. So Riker doesn’t really do anything that would indicate his understanding of fear as the only true enemy, but rather just makes that statement and is fortunate in that the guardian finds it compelling. At that point the Ferengi and all their arguments are simply dismissed out of hand, even as they continue to try to make a case of sorts for themselves. For the finger trap idea to really work it requires an ironic application of an idea, doing the opposite of what one would expect in order to extricate oneself from a situation, which in this case would mean letting go of one’s fear in order to find the courage to take the first step. It’s hard to see that when the last thing both sides do prior to the portal waking up is shoot at one another.

I wrote a bunch of stuff and deleted it. What's the point? Shitty episode in any case.

Rewatched this one a few days ago, as I'm going back through all of TNG. Whoever conceived of the Ferengi (I'm assuming it was Gene) was really not thinking clearly. I get it, though, as Gene was very anti-capitalism and wanted to demonstrate that through the creation of the MOST obnoxious alien race in Star Trek history... The pilot should have featured the Romulans, instead of saving them for the final episode of the season, and a bad episode it was.

@TJ to be fair, anti corporations was all the rage in the 80s, especially in sci-fi (alien, robocop, bladerunner), and had they portrayed the ferengi as these respectful, sophisticated corporate baddies, they could have worked. instead they decided to portray them as goblins who crouched and hissed etc, who's dumb idea was that?????

There’s a great scene in “The Last Outpost” where Picard hauls the others into a conference room and goes from person to person seeking advice. Yar and Worf want to badly kick some ass, La Forge says nothing and sulks in a corner because his bright idea didn’t work, Troi points out that negotiation starts with telling the other side something they want to hear, and Riker stays behind to have a follow-up chat. It’s a look into how these characters approach adversity, and how Picard functions as a leader of them. This captain ultimately is capable of making decisions, but he tries to involve as many underlings as possible to make their opinions feel valued.

Everything else in “The Last Outpost” was dull, starting with the first few acts of lifeless procedural and technical scenes, not to mention dialogue about Sun Tzu and primary-colored flags that really tried my patience.

The show really shits the bed once we meet the Ferengi face to face, especially down on the planet. (Best Yar line: “Just try it, shorty!”) Sam Peckinpah quotes aside, the Ferengi are lackluster, uninteresting buffoons. Worf has a perfect name for them: “Pygmy cretins.” They have asses for heads, like Ben Affleck in *South Park.* Har-har. They find women being allowed to wear clothes a revolting social development. Har-har. They’re greedy and like to make money. Har-har. They hiss, growl, gyrate like monkeys and squeal like little pigs. Har-har. I saw right through this shit stew. I mean, how could you not? The Gene Roddenberry holier-than-thou preaching lays it on especially thick here, with the haughty, stilted way that Picard, Riker and Data talk about these backward “Yankee traders.”

Speaking of stilted preaching and buffoons, I hated every minute of the scenes with the planetary “Portal” nutcase overplayed by Darryl Henriques. I can only speak for myself here, but if someone comes at me swinging a large sword near my throat, I’m not going to “meet fate with composure.” I’m going to shoot them. What was that, anyway? Was that more Eastern-philosophy fatalism that Roddenberry should have shoved up his ass?

Riker and the Portal Creature then stroll around like their shit doesn’t stink, pontificating like two wasted street bums and slamming the inferior Ferengi as beneath them. Inevitably, there’s even more talk about Sun Tzu. Sun Tzu. Sun Tzu is the go-to pop culture philosopher that mediocre writers pull out of their rear ends to make people believe that they’re learned, thoughtful intellectuals. It’s SparkNotes-deep philosophy in “The Last Outpost” here, with a heaping cloud of smugness rolling in on the set. It is nothing but Gene Roddenberry drunkenly lecturing the audience from a beat-up old pulpit in some sorry, musty fellowship hall.

Better to *show* and not tell--especially in a space-opera adventure series.



EXCUSE HIS FRENCH (Picard’s idiosyncratic vocabulary, hereafter known as Picarbulary):

Merde (excl) - a French word for “shit,” used as a mild, generally humorous exclamation in English

[Fun fact: Patrick Stewart ad-libbed this line, and Gene Roddenberry almost fired him as a result. Merde, Roddenberry had no fucking sense of humor.]



Speak Candidly:

Riker -- “Can we do it, Geordi?”
La Forge -- “Ask me after it’s done, sir.”


My Grade: D-

It occurs to me that the titular "last outpost" may actually refer to the Ferengi, the last outpost of the old capitalist regimes. And the word outpost itself, while potentially having a military connotation, could also have a trading outpost connotation. So it's sort of like having a look at what humanity was like, from a 24th century perspective, which comes off as even more annoying that it already does. Talk about preachy: 20th century humans were greedy, sniveling losers who think so little of women they don't want them to ever have clothes on.

@ Peter G.

Hi Peter! It definitely has multiple meanings I think, just like there were two "codes of honor" in the last episode -- Starfleet's and Ligon's. I think they also got this title from the movie The Last Outpost (1951) with Ronald Reagan, a film that interestingly also deals with traps and ruses.



"Talk about preachy: 20th century humans were greedy, sniveling losers who think so little of women they don't want them to ever have clothes on."

This is definitely an episode trapped in 1960's Star Trek, just like "Code of Honor" was. Many people were already moving far beyond the caricature-like depiction of 20th century humans here.

Good to hear your thoughts as always!

"This is definitely an episode trapped in 1960's Star Trek, just like "Code of Honor" was."

Oh, I think this one is a regression far beyond TOS. In TOS you had Kirk representing the "work hard and reject the easy path" ethos, denouncing everything from drugs, to hedonism, to turning your mind over to a computer. The message wasn't anti-capitalist, and to the extent that TOS had a Cold War arc that recurred occasionally, the Federation was a future-looking sanitized version of the U.S., which kept its competitive and innovative side, but had moved beyond its pettiness and obsession with accumulating things. But I think early TNG, in suggesting that 20th century Earth is "bad" (which I think this episode and EaF both do, to an extent) isn't really doing the same thing TOS did, which was to say that there are some good elements to modern society that can be turned into something even better when we grow up a little. TOS never displayed smug superiority, and in fact the typical annoyance Kirk had to deal with was the smug superiority of some race who thought they had all the answers but were really taking a shortcut and refusing to grow up (like in A Taste of Armageddon). But here in TLO the Riker/Guardian exchange smells of "well isn't it nice to be so grown-up and superior, compared to this regressive race which is a stand-in for 20th century humanity."

Not that I think Picard or Riker are smug, even in this episode, but it's the writing and direction at fault here. Patting oneself on the back is really not enjoyable to watch.

You know an episode has some problems when the protagonists are so overtly condescending that it makes the audience want to chime in on behalf of the antagonists.

I definitely agree with Peter here. It’s a testament to the scripting and acting in TOS that the show was able to present an aspirational futurist landscape without coming across as finger wagging about how everyone in the present needs to stop being so inferior. Rather, the show made you want to be part of that future vision without feeling like you were the reason it hadn’t happened yet. TLO gives a much different vibe, looking down its nose at the Ferengi, which can easily be taken as looking down on us as lowly, primitive imperfects.

@Peter G.: "Not that I think Picard or Riker are smug, even in this episode, but it's the writing and direction at fault here. Patting oneself on the back is really not enjoyable to watch."

I think that nails it! It's not that they're "advanced humans" who have grown up through struggle, as Kirk indeed hints about (and thank you for reminding me about that clarification--that's a great point). It's the self-aggrandizement and smug superiority.

It's like what *South Park* once said about hybrid cars... drive hybrids, yes, but just don't be conceited about it.

It's a miracle that TNG wasn't cancelled after the first season, it was that bad.

Yeah, it was mostly crap, but you have to remember that 80s television was garbage. Probably the worst decade in television history. In that environment TNG didn't look that bad.

It was a ratings success from day one. All of the series after it have had lower ratings in part, imo, because television writing overall improved which lead to more competition.