The Last Outpost
- Episode aired Oct 17, 1987
- TV-PG
- 45m
IMDb RATING
6.3/10
4.4K
YOUR RATING
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.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.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.
Wil Wheaton
- Wesley Crusher
- (credit only)
James G. Becker
- Youngblood
- (uncredited)
Darrell Burris
- Operations Officer
- (uncredited)
Jeffrey Deacon
- Command Division Officer
- (uncredited)
Tim McCormack
- Ensign Bennett
- (uncredited)
- Director
- Writers
- All cast & crew
- Production, box office & more at IMDbPro
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaThe episode featured the first occasion that Geordi La Forge gave a report to the bridge from the engineering section. The producers liked this image so much that from season two onwards the character became the Chief Engineer.
- GoofsDuring the initial tactical briefing in the conference room, Data gets his fingers stuck in a Chinese finger trap. Picard is irritated but Geordi laughs, "My Hero," and Picard assists Data out of the trap. During the subsequent close-up shot of Data's fingers, the tips of his two fingers that were stuck in the trap are clearly flesh tone, pink, as the make-up has clearly been removed by the inside of the finger trap.
- Quotes
Lieutenant Worf: Uncle who?
- ConnectionsFeatured in Star Trek: The Next Generation: Shades of Gray (1989)
- SoundtracksStar Trek: The Next Generation Main Title
Composed by Jerry Goldsmith and Alexander Courage
Featured review
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.
- snoozejonc
- May 13, 2021
- Permalink
Details
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- See more company credits at IMDbPro
- Runtime45 minutes
- Color
- Sound mix
- Aspect ratio
- 1.33 : 1
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