seacow's Full Review: Star Trek: The Next Generation - Episode 7
The Ferengi have come a long way. Many who are familiar with the race are familiar with Quark of Deep Space Nine. However, early in The Next Generation, there was The Last Outpost, which was their first appearance.
The Ferengi had stolen some equipment and the Enterprise is sent after them. The Enterprise catches up with them near a planet, only to discover that much of their equipment has stopped working. They can’t leave orbit, but they soon discover that the Ferengi are having the same problem.
Both send landing parties to the planet, where they find all sorts of strange things, like large crystal formations. They eventually discover a guardian, who tests them and finds Commander Riker to be worthy. The guardian surprised to find out that the empire that the planet was part of is long gone; apparently, he had been asleep for many millennia. Power is restored to both ships and the Enterprise gets the equipment back.
So far as I can tell, the only purpose of this episode is to set up the Ferengi. Coincidentally, Armin Shimerman, who plays Quark on DS9, plays one of the Ferengi. However, the Ferengi in this episode are vastly different. The Ferengi were supposed to replace the Klingons as the main adversaries, but that didn’t work out too well. Here, they’re more goofy than threatening. They come across as ugly clowns gone bad. Supposedly, not much is known about the Ferengi at this point, despite the fact that both Picard and Captain Archer of Star Trek: Enterprise have had dealings with them.
I can’t see giving this episode more than two stars. The message is just a little obvious and the Ferengi are just plain ridiculous. Someone could easily skip this episode and not miss much. If you get the DVD set or happen to catch it on TV, I’d recommend watching it just to see how bad it is, but I can’t recommend investing hard-earned money on the VHS tape
Recommended:
No
Suitability For Children: Suitable for Children Age 13 and Older
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