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Old 10-19-2017, 12:02 PM
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October 19th, 1987, "The Last Outpost"

No fiver
Memory Alpha
Transcript

The Episode

DATA: A comparison modern scholars have drawn from Earth history likens the Ferengi to the ocean-going Yankee traders of eighteenth and nineteenth century America, sir.
RIKER: From the history of my forebears. Yankee traders.
DATA: Who in this case sail the galaxy in search of mercantile and territorial opportunity.
RIKER: And are those scholars saying the Ferengi may not unlike us?
DATA: Hardly, sir. I believe this analogy refers to the worst quality of capitalists. The Ferengi are believed to conduct their affairs of commerce on the ancient principle caveat emptor. Let the buyer beware.

I know that Gene was anti-money at this time, but this desperately needed a rewrite. As SF Debris has pointed out several times, having a currency system is not inherently evil, abusing it is. Besides, the Ferengi are hardly the most anti-Federation government we've ever seen. I'd argue that the Orions and Sheliak fit that title better.

WORF: I say fight, sir. There's nothing shameful in falling before a superior enemy.

The Ferengi a "superior enemy"? I'm glad I wasn't drinking anything when I read that. And I thought that it was established earlier that the two ships were roughly the same, the balance tipping one way or the other for specific technologies, but not overall.

RIKER: Matthew! Pola! You know this area is off limits. Come on, come on. (they scurry out as Picard enters) Boys will be boys, Captain.

Why were kids allowed in the observation lounge in the first place? I thought that the turbolifts were programmed not to let unauthorized civilians up here!

PICARD: Trillions? I've never heard the word Tkon before.
DATA: Understandable.

Oh, couldn't they have had Geordi or Tasha be the one ignorant of the Tkon? Picard is the history buff; he should know about all previous galactic powers!

TARR [on viewscreen]: We seek only what is equitable. What do you seek? Why did you begin by attacking us?
PICARD: We did not attack you. We gave chase in order to recover a Federation-owned energy device which
TARR [on viewscreen]: Which we know is ours. Your barbarous Federation placed it on one of our planets!

Let's be generous and say that Gamma Tauri Four had no evidence of Ferengi technology on it when the Federation expanded in that direction. I'm confused as to why the Federation didn't ask the Ferengi "where do you think the boundary between our governments is" and work from there. I know that the implication is supposed to be that the Federation is relatively new to this area of space, but they've had some reports about the Ferengi by this point. This is a sign to send a factfinding mission to track down Ferenginar and talk directly to the government, right?

LAFORGE: I'm resting, sir. My foot's stuck. Up there. I materialized upside down above the planet surface.

Ugh. Okay, so we've got energy surges between crystals down here. That should mean that if the transporter beam was reflected and refracted, Geordi should've materialized in a puddle like Lori Ciana and Commander Sonak back in STTMP.

TROI: It's getting much, much colder, sir. How far down is it likely to go?
PICARD: A lot. Even in orbital space it'll get below minus two hundred degrees.

I'll try not to harp about this in episodes to come, but I need one rant. The Enterprise-D is a big ship. Cluster everyone in large rooms far away from the hull and turn off life support everywhere else! They should be using the Battle Bridge by now!

LETEK: It looks like gold. Tastes like gold.
RIKER: It is gold.

Ah, the inconsistencies of galactic currencies and the worth of gold in early TNG. Gold is worthless, remember when Quark was trapped in a storage pod full of it? The weird thing is, I still ask why the commbadges have gold in them even in a society without money: it could be put to better use in industrial processes.

Memory Alpha

* The first appearance of the Main Engineering "pool table", but it still hasn't assumed its final form yet.
* The last chronological main Ferengi episode "The Dogs of War" features the words "the last outpost" in reference to this episode.

Nitpicker's Guide

* Phil points out the inconsistencies to come regarding whether telepaths can read Ferengi minds. It's a shame that more couldn't have been done with this. A cool plot device that I think would've been cool is that Ferengi aren't inherently telepath-proof, but that it's a skill that they can learn and that must be achieved before a Ferengi can be named Daimon (or the nonmilitary equivalent). Have Deanna be able to read the junior officers but get confused because none of them have the complete story.



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