The Last Outpost 

The Enterprise makes a confrontational first contact with the piratical Ferengi race as their two ships are ensnared by a presumed dead planet ready to judge them.

Director:

Richard A. Colla (as Richard Colla)

Writers:

Gene Roddenberry (created by), Herbert Wright (teleplay by)

Stars:

Patrick Stewart, Jonathan Frakes, LeVar Burton

Cast

Episode complete credited cast:
Patrick Stewart	...	Capt. Jean-Luc Picard
Jonathan Frakes	...	Cmdr. William Riker
LeVar Burton	...	Lt. Geordi La Forge
Denise Crosby	...	Lt. Tasha Yar
Michael Dorn	...	Lt. Worf
Gates McFadden	...	Dr. Beverly Crusher
Marina Sirtis	...	Counselor Deanna Troi
Brent Spiner	...	Lt. Cmdr. Data
Wil Wheaton	...	Wesley Crusher (credit only)
Armin Shimerman	...	Letek
Jake Dengel	...	Mordoc
Tracey Walter	...	Kayron
Darryl Henriques	...	Portal
Mike Gomez	...	Daimon Tarr

Storyline

The Enterprise makes a confrontational first contact with the piratical Ferengi race as their two ships are ensnared by a presumed dead planet ready to judge them.

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Plot Keywords:

pursuit | blinding light | three word episode title | reference to uncle sam | reference to the united states | 

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Genres:

Action | Adventure | Mystery | Sci-Fi

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Certificate:

TV-PG

Did You Know?

Trivia

The logo of the Tkon Empire, seen during the observation lounge briefing, later reappears in the shape of the halberd that Portal 63 wields. The weapon later makes several more appearances, including in Star Trek: The Next Generation: Too Short a Season (1988) and Star Trek: The Next Generation: Sins of the Father (1990).

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Goofs

Geordi begins giving orders in engineering as if he were the chief engineer. He has not yet been promoted into this position. It is possible that the ship doesn't currently have a qualified chief engineer and Geordi's attitude seems to indicate he was already training for this upcoming promotion.

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Quotes

Portal: [referring to the Ferengi] What of them? Shall I destroy them?
Commander William T. Riker: Then they would learn nothing.
Portal: A most interesting conclusion, but... what if they never learn, Riker?
Commander William T. Riker: Is this a test also?
Portal: Hm. In life, one is always tested.

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Connections

Referenced in The Toys That Made Us: Star Trek (2018)

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Soundtracks

Star Trek: The Next Generation Main Title
Composed by Jerry Goldsmith and Alexander Courage

User Reviews

The First Ferengi

This is the first ever episode of Star Trek to introduce the Ferengi, a race of greed-ruled creatures, who at this point in the series, were shaping up to be the lead villains of Next Gen. It would be all to easy to hate the Ferengi, but I always enjoyed their appearances, and this is no exception. Making an appearance is Armin Shimmerman, the actor who would go on to brilliantly play Quark in Deep Space Nine. This is a unique appearance for the Ferengi, as they are more threatening here than their usual mild annoyance, this is shown by the fact they have purple whip things which prove rather hazardous with the Enterprise crew. Seeing a Ferengi vessel is always a treat as well. The overall episode is so-so, there is a nice bit where Riker and Portal 63 have a pleasant chat once the Ferengi are dealt with, but the novelty of this episode lies with those big eared orange dwarfs themselves.

Details

Official Sites:

Official site

Country:

USA

Language:

English French

Release Date:

17 October 1987 (USA)

Filming Locations:

Paramount Studios - 5555 Melrose Avenue, Hollywood, Los Angeles, California, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

Paramount Television

Technical Specs

Runtime:

45 min

Sound Mix:

Stereo

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1