When I first heard that the Ferengi were going to appear on “Enterprise”, I got this feeling of complete dread in the pit of my stomach. Much like the knot of dread I feel at the thought of John Shiban coming to work on the series, but that’s neither here nor there. The simple fact of the matter is, I remember watching “The Last Outpost” waaay back at the beginning of TNG, and it was made quite clear at the time that there had never been a face-to-face meeting between humans and the Ferengi prior to the time depicted. Hence, their appearance on “Enterprise” felt wrong.
Now granted, they play an uneasy game here, making sure that the Ferengi never identify themselves by name, and the Ferengi vessel is of a much different (and possibly stolen design). Still, that kind of thinking doesn’t necessarily make sense, when one considers that humans are part of a larger Federation in the future. If any race in the Federation had heard of the Ferengi, like the Vulcans, then one could assume that the Vulcans would eventually provide the intelligence before the later part of the 24th century.
Be that as it may, I forced myself to take this episode as is, without too many considerations for the more broad issues of continuity. Taken in that manner, one would assume that any encounter with the Ferengi ought to work without any previous knowledge of the customs of the race that we might have learned in previous incarnations of the franchise. On that level, it is possible to watch the episode, but much of the enjoyment is lost in the process.
The plot is relatively thin. During an exploration of a moon, Trip discovers an artifact and brings it to the ship. While he is in the decontamination chamber, T’Pol opens the artifact and everyone on the ship is knocked unconscious by a gas hidden inside. Sure enough, before long, a small ship filled with four marauding Ferengi docks with the Enterprise. The Ferengi begin plundering the ship for all its worth.
Trip manages to get out of hiding, and wakes up Archer and eventually T’Pol. Archer is quickly captured by the Ferengi, and he uses a bluff regarding hidden gold latinum to lure the Ferengi into a constant state of confusion. One of the Ferengi, Krem, is assigned to guard Archer while the captain moves the loot into the transport. All the while, Archer tries to use what little he has discovered about the aliens against them, attempting to convince Krem to rebel against his leader and cousin, Ulis.
In the meantime, Trip (with T’Pol’s help) attempts to sabotage the Ferengi looting. It ends with Trip being captured. In a desperate gambit, Trip and Archer begin arguing over whether or not to reveal the location of the supposed latinum or allow the women to be sold into slavery. In the end, Trip “wins”, and leads the Ferengi into a trap while T’Pol manages to get Archer out of bondage. The Ferengi are sent packing, with Archer’s new buddy Krem in charge.
The episode has its moments, but in general, it just can’t seem to make up its mind. The real punch of this episode relies on the concept of the Ferengi, now long-time Trek fixtures, encountering a lower-tech version of humanity. All well and good, but when you can’t delve too deeply into that encounter, due to continuity problems, things become a little thin. Some scenes are played for action, others for comedy, and even others for some slight social commentary. None of which, I might add, truly required the Ferengi and all of the baggage that comes with them.
Taking what we see here, it’s very hard to see the Ferengi as any kind of credible threat, because they bumble about and fight amongst themselves constantly. In particular, I found it less and less credible for Archer to be held captive by Krem, when Krem didn’t seem capable of doing much more than a bad Rom impression. If the crew had actually been awake, the Ferengi would have been utterly outmatched, and that does not track with the supposedly formidable version of the Ferengi were introduced to more than 200 years into the future.
Unfortunately, all of this amounts to an episode that truly needs the benefit of nostalgia to work, but it simply cannot capitalize on it (forgive the pun). So the plot is mostly fluff, and there are no lasting consequences to the events in the episode. In fact, if the final scenes are to be believed, the Ferengi are only going to appear this once. The final feeling of the episode, then, is one of lost opportunities. Divorcing the episode from the Ferengi by using another unknown alien race would have allowed more exploration of the villains here, but at the same time, that would have resulted in a dull and predictable episode.
Which, unfortunately, is what we received anyway.
Some other thoughts:
- Once again, a trailer that is unbelievably short and lacking in any purpose whatsoever!
- I’ll admit that it was an interesting concept to have the entire first act dominated by the Ferengi plundering the Enterprise, with the crew unconscious, and therefore speaking in their own language. However, it wasted far too much time, especially when it amounted to very little in the end.
- Why would T’Pol make any assumptions about Trip being in his civvies, if she was aware that he had been in the decontamination chamber when she opened the artifact?
- Was it me, or did T’Pol look a little odd in this episode? I thought her anorexic look was more obvious this time around.
- For that matter, her comment about violent tendencies sounded way out of character, even if it was funny as hell!
- Wasn’t it suggested that the Vulcans had at least heard of the Ferengi in “Sleeping Dogs”?
- Would it be wrong for me to point out that T’Pol fits Archer’s description perfectly?
- There were at least five times in this episode where Archer could have easily disarmed Krem, rather than let himself be shackled to a wall!
- Speaking of Krem, it was only obvious a few times that good ol’ Jeffrey Combs was playing the role. At least he had a more significant role than Eric Peirpoint’s waste of a role last episode…
- Also, Ulis (the Ferengi “leader”) was played by Ethan Phillips, who of course was Neelix on “Voyager”.
- Given the continuity problems created by their presence in this episode, it was nice to see Ulis carrying (and eventually using) the whip that the Ferengi used back in the first season of TNG.
- It was also a nice touch to have the old Ferengi-style controls on the transport vessel.
- I think Trip needs to be attending the same target practice sessions as Hoshi…his aim needs work!
- It was good to see Porthos again, but man, did that scene fall completely flat!
- Speaking of Hoshi, I approve of Trip choosing her over T’Pol.
- Didn’t the Ferengi reaction to T’Pol seem rather familiar, when compared to some “Enterprise” fans?
- Why didn’t the Ferengi realize that the room Trip took them to wasn’t a vault until they had stepped all the way in?
- T’Pol was just a little more playful than I would have expected when she held up the keys to the manacles in front of Archer’s face.
- Speaking of which, could I re-enact that scene with Hoshi? Please?
Overall, this episode was largely forgettable. The complete waste of the teaser and first act was unforgivable, and it is more clear than ever that episodes featuring familiar aliens do not work very well…especially when there are continuity issues at play. Berman and Braga should take a step back and let some of the other writers work on the episodes.
