Enterprise pursues a Ferengi ship.
There is half a decent episode in 'The Last Outpost', but it's problems are what will probably be remembered.
The plot is good, with a number of decent concepts and themes. I love the idea of reflecting of human capitalism and nationalism by introducing the Ferengi species and in theory what transpires on the planet. Unfortunately, how it's portrayed on screen doesn't always work.
The early scenes, before the appearance of the Ferengi, are the strongest. I enjoyed the discussions on the bridge comparing the Ferengi to the worst aspects of the Earth capitalism and the historical reflections on when Earth was organised into nation states. The tactical discussions are a bit exposition heavy but still enjoyable. Seeing Picard working to avoid conflict as others advise fighting is always enjoyable, likewise his negotiations with the Ferengi. It's not perfect, such as Geordie going into an OTT nerdgasm and Data having some rather silly moments, but generally, there is an excellent set up for what happens on the planet surface.
It's when the story moves to the planet that everything starts to go downhill. As other reviewers have stated the Ferengi are hideously annoying in their verbal and physical performances. Likewise the scenes on board the Enterprise as life support starts to fail are pretty uninspired, with many bland dialogues involving Picard and Dr Crusher. How it's all resolved is morally very sound, but not particularly cinematic.
I enjoyed most of the visuals. The sets used for the planet have an old fashioned feel to them reminiscent of the original series. I like Data's map projection sequence. The Ferengi make-up design is excellent. The less said about the laser-whips and TNG era hand-phasers the better.
Performances are a mixed bag for me. Patrick Stewart is great as always, Jonathan Frakes cuts a fine heroic shape and the remaining cast, aside from the Ferengi actors, are mostly solid. Gates McFadden for me struggles with some poorly written dialogue and LeVar Burton strays dangerously close to the line of annoyance.
Overall, for me this episode has slightly more good than bad in it, so I rate it as a 5.5/10, but I round upwards.
There is half a decent episode in 'The Last Outpost', but it's problems are what will probably be remembered.
The plot is good, with a number of decent concepts and themes. I love the idea of reflecting of human capitalism and nationalism by introducing the Ferengi species and in theory what transpires on the planet. Unfortunately, how it's portrayed on screen doesn't always work.
The early scenes, before the appearance of the Ferengi, are the strongest. I enjoyed the discussions on the bridge comparing the Ferengi to the worst aspects of the Earth capitalism and the historical reflections on when Earth was organised into nation states. The tactical discussions are a bit exposition heavy but still enjoyable. Seeing Picard working to avoid conflict as others advise fighting is always enjoyable, likewise his negotiations with the Ferengi. It's not perfect, such as Geordie going into an OTT nerdgasm and Data having some rather silly moments, but generally, there is an excellent set up for what happens on the planet surface.
It's when the story moves to the planet that everything starts to go downhill. As other reviewers have stated the Ferengi are hideously annoying in their verbal and physical performances. Likewise the scenes on board the Enterprise as life support starts to fail are pretty uninspired, with many bland dialogues involving Picard and Dr Crusher. How it's all resolved is morally very sound, but not particularly cinematic.
I enjoyed most of the visuals. The sets used for the planet have an old fashioned feel to them reminiscent of the original series. I like Data's map projection sequence. The Ferengi make-up design is excellent. The less said about the laser-whips and TNG era hand-phasers the better.
Performances are a mixed bag for me. Patrick Stewart is great as always, Jonathan Frakes cuts a fine heroic shape and the remaining cast, aside from the Ferengi actors, are mostly solid. Gates McFadden for me struggles with some poorly written dialogue and LeVar Burton strays dangerously close to the line of annoyance.
Overall, for me this episode has slightly more good than bad in it, so I rate it as a 5.5/10, but I round upwards.