So we’ve made it through Code of Honor, and we’re starting to see a bit of a bump in quality. Not a huge bump, mind you. The bulk of each of these episodes is still pretty rough, but there are glimmers of what’s coming down the road. I still don’t think, if I was watching this series for the first time, I’d decide this was something worthwhile. With that said, the quality is definitely trending upwards.
The opening of The Last Outpost is actually pretty promising. A mysterious race, known as the Ferengi, have stolen some space tech from a Federation outpost, and the Enterprise is in hot pursuit. Starfleet doesn’t know much about the Ferengi, but judging from Picard’s throwaway comment about them in Encounter at Farpoint indicating that they might be cannibalistic, they aren’t going to be fast friends. The Ferengi stop in orbit of a strange planet, flip 180 degrees, and suddenly the Enterprise is without power. Picard decides to surrender, but when he attempts to do so, the Ferengi captain misunderstands, and tries to surrender to Picard.
So far, this is actually pretty good. The look of the Ferengi is by far the show’s best makeup work so far, and the interplay between Picard and the Ferengi captain isn’t bad. The mystery of what’s holding both ships in place is intriguing, and it’s a nod to the type of captain that Picard’s going to be that he immediately offers to work with the Ferengi to solve both of their problems. Unfortunately, the Ferengi says yes, and we get treated to the second half of the episode, which takes place down on the planet’s surface.
The planet is the last remaining outpost of an ancient starfaring empire called the T’Kon. Apparently a supernova wiped them out (isn’t one of the points of interstellar colonization to avoid being wiped out by an event like that?), but their version of a home security system has pinned the ships in place. The away team is scattered when they try to beam down, and just as they come together, they’re ambushed by the Ferengi away team.
Remember all those positives I talked about? They unravel really quickly as soon as you meet the Ferengi on the planet. They brandish stubby whips that shoot purple (yes, it’s just as dumb as it sounds), get very excited when they realize that the combadges are made of gold, and are appalled that Tasha Yar is wearing clothing. They cavort and make strange cabaret-style poses for the camera, and quickly go from being a threat to a pathetic, unfunny joke. Meanwhile, the home security system manifests as an old dude with an axe that chats with Riker about Sun Tzu, offers to murder the Ferengi in cold blood, and then vanishes in a puff of bad storytelling.
There are a lot of complaints that you could level at Star Trek as a franchise, one of which is the “will they ever learn” trope. Humans visit a planet, the planet is backwards, cue inspiring speech about how humans used to be backwards, roll credits. Riker, in his discussion with the T’Kon security system, comments that if the Ferengi are killed, “They’ll never learn.” This is ridiculously dismissive of an entire species, but the show gets away with it because of how one-dimensionally that species is portrayed. TNG hit its best heights when it gave cultures like the Klingons, Romulans and others actual history and depth, and to see it create a caricature like this is really disappointing. Thankfully, the next episode is a step in the right direction.
The opening of The Last Outpost is actually pretty promising. A mysterious race, known as the Ferengi, have stolen some space tech from a Federation outpost, and the Enterprise is in hot pursuit. Starfleet doesn’t know much about the Ferengi, but judging from Picard’s throwaway comment about them in Encounter at Farpoint indicating that they might be cannibalistic, they aren’t going to be fast friends. The Ferengi stop in orbit of a strange planet, flip 180 degrees, and suddenly the Enterprise is without power. Picard decides to surrender, but when he attempts to do so, the Ferengi captain misunderstands, and tries to surrender to Picard.
So far, this is actually pretty good. The look of the Ferengi is by far the show’s best makeup work so far, and the interplay between Picard and the Ferengi captain isn’t bad. The mystery of what’s holding both ships in place is intriguing, and it’s a nod to the type of captain that Picard’s going to be that he immediately offers to work with the Ferengi to solve both of their problems. Unfortunately, the Ferengi says yes, and we get treated to the second half of the episode, which takes place down on the planet’s surface.
The planet is the last remaining outpost of an ancient starfaring empire called the T’Kon. Apparently a supernova wiped them out (isn’t one of the points of interstellar colonization to avoid being wiped out by an event like that?), but their version of a home security system has pinned the ships in place. The away team is scattered when they try to beam down, and just as they come together, they’re ambushed by the Ferengi away team.
Remember all those positives I talked about? They unravel really quickly as soon as you meet the Ferengi on the planet. They brandish stubby whips that shoot purple (yes, it’s just as dumb as it sounds), get very excited when they realize that the combadges are made of gold, and are appalled that Tasha Yar is wearing clothing. They cavort and make strange cabaret-style poses for the camera, and quickly go from being a threat to a pathetic, unfunny joke. Meanwhile, the home security system manifests as an old dude with an axe that chats with Riker about Sun Tzu, offers to murder the Ferengi in cold blood, and then vanishes in a puff of bad storytelling.
There are a lot of complaints that you could level at Star Trek as a franchise, one of which is the “will they ever learn” trope. Humans visit a planet, the planet is backwards, cue inspiring speech about how humans used to be backwards, roll credits. Riker, in his discussion with the T’Kon security system, comments that if the Ferengi are killed, “They’ll never learn.” This is ridiculously dismissive of an entire species, but the show gets away with it because of how one-dimensionally that species is portrayed. TNG hit its best heights when it gave cultures like the Klingons, Romulans and others actual history and depth, and to see it create a caricature like this is really disappointing. Thankfully, the next episode is a step in the right direction.
Meet Kosinski. He’s a Starfleet officer (I think, anyways - he’s got a uniform, but no combadge) who can give warp drives a tune up like you wouldn’t believe. He’s already made two other starships super speedy, and he’s here to fix up the Enterprise. Unfortunately, he’s also kind of a douche. Riker thinks he’s full of shit, Chief Engineer Argyle (first MacDougal, now Argyle… I think Scotty’s lasting legacy is a belief in Starfleet that Scots are just better engineers) think’s Kosinski is full of shit, and Kosinski spends the bulk of his time talking down to people and bragging about how awesome he is. There’s even an assistant who Kosinski is dismissive of, who barely speaks, and surely couldn’t actually be the brains behind the entire operation, right?
Okay, so Where No One Has Gone Before is a bit predictable. Kind of. During the first test, the Traveler (the only identifier we get for Kosinski’s assistant) half-disappears in front of Wesley, something goes wrong, and the Enterprise winds up several galaxies away. Kosinski is revealed as a fraud when he tries to get them home, and they wind up in an area of space that looks like a lava lamp that’s even further away. The Traveler and Wesley work together, and they make it safely home. It’s all very tidy.
And yet, somehow, this is the first episode of the series that works for me. The characters are starting to click together. I enjoyed the debate between Riker and Picard at the beginning about whether Kosinski is full of it. I liked that Data really wanted to stick around the new galaxy to do some exploring, and that Picard chose the more practical route of making sure they weren’t trapped first. My favorite moment, though, was Riker stepping up and admitting fault when Picard started to dress down Wesley for not telling anyone about the Traveler going all Mr. Cellophane. Wesley did tell Riker, Riker chose not to listen, and seeing him own up to that mistake was one of the first strong character choices for the show. It’s a little thing, but it helps define who Riker is.
It doesn’t always work. Wesley isn’t terrible, but his mother’s constant mentioning of “my son” is annoying. The strange element of thoughts becoming reality in the bizarre space never worked at all. (Also, writing staff, if you could stop using the term ‘rape gang’ for shock value, that’d be great.) Finally, it introduced the Wesley Crusher as Chosen One plot thread that leads to some serious low points for the episode.
With all that, I enjoyed this episode. It’s intriguing sci-fi with some good character development. If we can keep heading in this direction, we’ll be in good shape. What’s next? Lonely Among Us and Justice?
Well, shit.
Some random thoughts:
Okay, so Where No One Has Gone Before is a bit predictable. Kind of. During the first test, the Traveler (the only identifier we get for Kosinski’s assistant) half-disappears in front of Wesley, something goes wrong, and the Enterprise winds up several galaxies away. Kosinski is revealed as a fraud when he tries to get them home, and they wind up in an area of space that looks like a lava lamp that’s even further away. The Traveler and Wesley work together, and they make it safely home. It’s all very tidy.
And yet, somehow, this is the first episode of the series that works for me. The characters are starting to click together. I enjoyed the debate between Riker and Picard at the beginning about whether Kosinski is full of it. I liked that Data really wanted to stick around the new galaxy to do some exploring, and that Picard chose the more practical route of making sure they weren’t trapped first. My favorite moment, though, was Riker stepping up and admitting fault when Picard started to dress down Wesley for not telling anyone about the Traveler going all Mr. Cellophane. Wesley did tell Riker, Riker chose not to listen, and seeing him own up to that mistake was one of the first strong character choices for the show. It’s a little thing, but it helps define who Riker is.
It doesn’t always work. Wesley isn’t terrible, but his mother’s constant mentioning of “my son” is annoying. The strange element of thoughts becoming reality in the bizarre space never worked at all. (Also, writing staff, if you could stop using the term ‘rape gang’ for shock value, that’d be great.) Finally, it introduced the Wesley Crusher as Chosen One plot thread that leads to some serious low points for the episode.
With all that, I enjoyed this episode. It’s intriguing sci-fi with some good character development. If we can keep heading in this direction, we’ll be in good shape. What’s next? Lonely Among Us and Justice?
Well, shit.
Some random thoughts:
- Kudos to whatever prop designer created the Klingon targ. It’s cheesy, but in the best possible way.
- Thank you to The Greatest Generation podcast for pointing out that the name of the actor portraying Chief Engineer Argyle is Biff Yeager. That’s a goddamn name, people.
- Hey, Armin Shimmerman, who went on to play Quark in Deep Space Nine, plays one of the Ferengi. Bet he leaves this episode off of the resume.
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