" The Last Outpost " is the fifth episode of the American science fiction television series Star Trek: The Next Generation , originally aired within the United States on October 19, 1987. The episode was written by Herbert Wright , based on a story by Richard Krzemien, and directed by Richard Colla . The guest cast included Armin Shimerman , Jake Dengel and Tracey Walter . Although this was Shimerman's first appearance as a Ferengi, he had previously filmed his first appearance in an uncredited role in " Haven ", but that was broadcast after "The Last Outpost". He would later gain the role of the Ferengi Quark in the main cast of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine .
57-629: Set in the 24th century, the series follows the adventures of the Starfleet crew of the Federation starship Enterprise-D . In this episode, the Enterprise pursue a Ferengi starship to the planet Gamma Tauri IV, where both ships are disabled by an unknown power drain. Away teams from each vessel beam down to the planet where they find an automated system left behind by the Tkon Empire. This episode marked
114-498: A science fiction author and television director and producer. He was born in Keokuk, Iowa. His most notable works were Star Trek: The Next Generation and War of the Worlds . He directed a few episodes of the latter series and wrote and directed the season finale "The Angel of Death," which guest-starred his second wife Elaine Giftos . Among Star Trek fans he is known as the "Father of
171-606: A Bajoran aboard the USS Enterprise -D ; her fellow Bajoran Kira Nerys , who was field-commissioned as a Starfleet commander so that she could aid the Cardassian resistance during the Dominion War ; and Ferengi Nog , who enters Starfleet Academy in season four of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine ; all were from non-member planets. In addition, Quinn and Icheb from Star Trek: Voyager both spoke of joining Starfleet. An example of
228-707: A JAG court-martial. Courts-martial were held following the loss of the USS Pegasus and USS Stargazer . In the Voyager episode " Parallax ", Tuvok states that the Captain has the authority to conduct a court-martial on the ship, given the circumstance of the ship being isolated from the Federation. Starfleet Medical is the medical branch of Starfleet. Gates McFadden , who played Dr. Beverly Crusher , left Star Trek: The Next Generation during its second season. The character
285-585: A grade of C. Mark A. Altman reviewed the episode for the 1998 book Trek Navigator stating it was "one big, inferior rip-off of " Arena "." James Hunt wrote about the episode in October 2012 for the website Den of Geek . He thought it worked "surprisingly well" and that the ending was " Star Trek at its best - big idea philosophical nonsense". He praised the plot twists and said that the Ferengi "while completely ridiculous, are genuinely hilarious". Zack Handlen watched
342-456: A new Federation member world's military is depicted when the Bajoran Militia is integrated into Starfleet upon Bajor's entry into the Federation. The Starfleet insignia have been inspired by the chevron , which is broadly used in aeronautics, and particularly by the insignia of NASA . Herbert Wright (producer) Herbert J. Wright (November 9, 1946 – August 24, 2005) was
399-520: A result of these successes, Starfleet engineers gained a reputation as the undisputed masters of technological adaptation and modification. As one minion of the Dominion in the Star Trek: Deep Space Nine episode, " Rocks and Shoals " notes, Starfleet engineers are reputed to be able to "Turn rocks into replicators." Additionally, Pocket Books has published a series of eBooks and novels in
456-407: A shipload of tribbles to a Klingon ship. Wil Wheaton later recalled that the cast was unhappy with the episode as they didn't like several aspects of it including the fingercuffs joke and the Ferengi in general. The episode also 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 onward
513-685: A shipyard named Utopia Planitia in Mars orbit. Utopia Planitia served as Starfleet's main ship yards throughout a large portion of Starfleet's existence. After the Enterprise-D encountered the Borg in the episode " Q Who " the size of the Utopia Planitia shipyards was doubled out of fear of a Borg strike. They were once again doubled after the Dominion threat became more evident. A devastating attack on these shipyards
570-419: A sort of guard-dog, but thought that the Ferengi turned the concept into "silliness". Director Richard Colla felt that the episode had problems which were only identified after shooting was completed. Riker's notion of sending Chinese finger traps to the Ferengi vessel at the end of the episode was a reference to The Original Series episode " The Trouble with Tribbles " where Chief Engineer Scott beams over
627-547: A suitable adversary and plans for their continued use in this role were dropped. Their role as major villains in The Next Generation was eventually taken by the Borg . By the time that they appeared in Deep Space Nine , they were used in a comedic fashion. The look of the Ferengi and their ship was created by Andrew Probert . The vessel was inspired by a Horseshoe crab and was built by Greg Jein . Michael Westmore
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#1732855844670684-589: Is Deep Space Nine , a station near a wormhole commanded by Benjamin Sisko after its transfer from the Cardassian Empire . Starfleet has been shown to handle scientific , defense , and diplomatic missions, although its primary mandate seems to be peaceful exploration in the search for sentient life, as seen in the mission statements of different incarnations of the USS Enterprise . The flagship of Starfleet
741-537: Is a branch of Starfleet first introduced in the original Star Trek . Main characters in subsequent series have been security officers. Starfleet Tactical is a rarely mentioned department in Starfleet that is responsible for planning defensive strategies, as well as engaging in weapons research and development. Although Humans are the most-often-seen crew members onscreen, Starfleet is shown to be composed of individuals from over 150 species, with Vulcans perhaps being
798-620: Is a major plot point in Star Trek: Picard . In the 2009 film , the Enterprise is shown under construction near James T. Kirk 's home in Iowa. In the 2013 sequel , Montgomery "Scotty" Scott discovers a covert Starfleet facility, near Jupiter, that has built a much larger Federation warship, USS Vengeance . The Starfleet Engineering Corps (also called the Starfleet Corps of Engineers )
855-812: Is a sequel to this episode, with Frakes reprising his role of Riker and Mark Rolston voicing Portal 63. The first home media release of "The Last Outpost" was on VHS cassette was on April 1, 1992, in the United States and Canada. The episode was later included on the Star Trek: The Next Generation season one DVD box set, released in March 2002, and was released as part of the season one Blu-ray set on July 24, 2012. Episodes from "Encounter at Farpoint" to "Datalore" were released in Japan on LaserDisc on June 10, 1995, as part of First Season Part.1 . This included
912-477: Is barbaric. Riker responds, "Fear is the true enemy, the only enemy," while not flinching as the attack comes. Portal 63 accepts this and stands down from the challenge, satisfied that the Federation is civilized, and allows the Enterprise to go free. It further offers Riker the opportunity to destroy the Ferengi vessel, but he declines on the grounds that the Ferengi would learn nothing from such an action. Both away teams return to their ships with power restored, and
969-456: Is described during this season, and after her return, as having been assigned to Starfleet Medical. Numerous star ship dedication plaques identify other personnel associated with Starfleet Operations . Rear Admiral James T. Kirk served 18 months as Starfleet's Chief of Operations. Starfleet Security is an agency of Starfleet referred to in several episodes of Star Trek: The Next Generation and Star Trek: Deep Space Nine . Security
1026-792: Is mentioned in several episodes in conjunction with projects such as hollowing out the underground laboratory complex inside the Regula I asteroid in Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan , the design of the Yellowstone -class Runabout in the alternate timeline in the Star Trek: Voyager episode " Non Sequitur ", and devising a defense against the Breen energy-dampening weapon in the Star Trek: Deep Space Nine episode " When It Rains... " As
1083-550: Is not a necessary pre-condition for joining Starfleet. T'Pol of Vulcan is shown to be the first non-human Starfleet officer, receiving a commission as a commander following the Xindi mission and her resignation from the Vulcan High Command. Even after the Federation's formation citizenship was not required; several officers are from planets that are not part of the Federation. For example, Star Trek: TNG ' s Ensign Ro Laren ,
1140-408: Is often considered to be the starship USS Enterprise . Starfleet has many components, including: As early as the original Star Trek , characters refer to attending Starfleet Academy . Later series establish it as an officer training facility with a four-year educational program. The main campus is located near Starfleet Headquarters in what is now Fort Baker , California. Starfleet Command
1197-560: Is said to have evolved into the NX Program, which led to Starfleet launching its first Warp 5–capable starship, Enterprise (NX-01) , in 2151, followed by Columbia (NX-02), in 2155, as well as other vessels. Starfleet acts under the Prime Directive , a policy of non-interference with pre-warp worlds, such as interference in their internal politics. This is said not to be a human construct, but stems from policies originally implemented by
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#17328558446701254-403: Is the branch charged with overseeing legal matters within Starfleet. Several episodes revolve around or involve JAG officers and procedures: Dialog in "Court Martial" reveals that a court-martial may be convened in the absence of any JAG officers by three presiding command-level officers. Additionally, dialog in "The Measure of a Man" indicates that the loss of a starship automatically leads to
1311-726: Is the headquarters/command center of Starfleet. The term "Starfleet Command" is first used in TOS episode " Court Martial ". Its headquarters are depicted as being in Fort Baker, across the Golden Gate from San Francisco, in Star Trek: The Motion Picture and Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home . Overlooking the Command from the other side of the Golden Gate is the permanent site of the Council of
1368-448: The Flipper revival series. He also worked on (off television) Mars and Beyond , which featured Giftos and was distributed on his Cyber Sci-Fi Network. Wright had a strong friendship with Gene Roddenberry . The two met while Roddenberry was making The Questor Tapes . He showed a great interest in the story, and was going to contribute to the series that was planned to follow. However,
1425-498: The Ferengi ". Wright graduated from Yale with honors in 1969. After which he moved to Hollywood and working in the filmmaking industry . He also studied in Japan as an AFS/American Field Service exchange student, during which he met with director Akira Kurosawa , and began his lifelong study of martial arts. Wright's works include Rod Serling's Night Gallery , Cadillacs and Dinosaurs , Stingray , Hunter , McCloud , and
1482-479: The Starfleet Corps of Engineers series. Starfleet Intelligence is an intelligence agency of the United Federation of Planets . It is entrusted with foreign and domestic espionage, counter-espionage, and state security. In the non-canon Star Trek: New Frontier novels the series main character Mackenzie Calhoun was once a Starfleet Intelligence operative. The Starfleet Judge Advocate General (or JAG )
1539-449: The Vulcans , who regarded an alien civilization's attainment of warp speed as the reason for making first contact with them. This was to avoid any unfortunate incidences during space travel, as well as avoiding interfering in the natural development of a civilization. The Prime Directive and Starfleet's first-contact policies are at the center of several episodes in each Star Trek series and
1596-437: The "bible" produced before the start of the show stated categorically "No stories about warfare with Klingons or Romulans ". The Ferengi were designed by Roddenberry and Herbert Wright to fill this gap. They were mentioned in the episodes running up to "The Last Outpost", which marked their first appearance on screen. After they re-appeared later in the first season in " The Battle ", the producers thought that they didn't make
1653-414: The Federation, having originally been an Earth organization, as shown by the television series Star Trek: Enterprise ). While most of Starfleet's members are human and it has been headquartered on Earth, hundreds of other species are also represented. Most of the franchise's protagonists are Starfleet commissioned officers . During production of early episodes of the original series , several details of
1710-481: The Ferengi return the stolen energy converter. As a means of ironic thanks, Riker suggests sending the Ferengi a box of Chinese finger traps , a toy that fascinated Data when he became stuck in one earlier in the mission. The creator of Star Trek , Gene Roddenberry , decided early on that he did not want to repeat the adversaries from Star Trek: The Original Series in The Next Generation . To this extent,
1767-431: The Ferengi, who believe the Enterprise crew was planning an ambush of their own. The away team break free, and begin to exchange weapon fire, but the energy expelled is absorbed by a nearby crystalline structure. Data investigates the tree and awakens an entity that displays itself as a humanoid and calls itself Portal 63 (Darryl Henriques), "a guardian of the Tkon Empire." Portal 63 asks the two groups if they seek to enter
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1824-468: The Tkon Empire, and does not comprehend when it is told that the Tkon have long since disappeared. The Ferengi accuse the Enterprise away team of being a hostile force; Commander William Riker ( Jonathan Frakes ) admits that they are hostile to the Ferengi, inadvertently confirming humanity to be indeed hostile in the eyes of Portal 63, who steps forward, apparently ready to attack Riker, and claims his species
1881-780: The United Federation of Planets in what is now the Presidio of San Francisco . Throughout the Star Trek franchise, the main characters' isolation from Starfleet Command compels them to make and act upon decisions without Starfleet Command's orders or information, particularly in Voyager when the main protagonists have no means of contacting Earth for several years. StarTrek.com notes that many of Starfleet's ships are built on Mare Island near San Francisco. It states: The Enterprise-D and USS Voyager are depicted to have been constructed at
1938-515: The character became the Chief Engineer. The guest stars in this episode re-appeared in different roles later in the series. Both Tracey Walter and Mike Gomez re-appeared as other Ferengi in the sixth season episode " Rascals ". This was the second recorded performance of Armin Shimerman in a TNG episode, although the first to be broadcast. He has gone uncredited in a previously filmed role as
1995-456: The chase passes the planet Delphi Ardu IV, both ships suffer power drains causing them to come to a halt. Each crew initially believe the power drain is caused by the other vessel, but Captain Jean-Luc Picard ( Patrick Stewart ) realizes that the Ferengi are as confused as they are, and orders the crew to investigate the planet. Operations Officer Lt. Cdr. Data ( Brent Spiner ) reports that
2052-636: The episode for The A.V. Club in April 2010. He described the Ferengi as "really, really terrible", and said that Portal was a lazy device reminiscent of such god-like beings in The Original Series . He gave the episode a grade of C−. In 2017, Screen Rant ranked this episode the 13th worst episode of the Star Trek franchise. In 2020, GameSpot noted this episode was one of the most bizarre episodes of series. The 2023 video game Star Trek: Resurgence
2109-401: The episode for AOL TV in October 2006. He thought that the episode saw some character growth but felt that the Ferengi "were a total joke" until they were later partially redeemed by Shimerman as Quark in Deep Space Nine . He thought that the episode didn't show a great deal of improvement after " The Naked Now " and " Code of Honor " and may have resulted in the show losing viewers. He gave it
2166-491: The episode for Tor.com in May 2011, and praised Mike Gomez as the first Ferengi seen in Star Trek , but thought that they were "far too comical to be taken in any way seriously as the threat the script desperately wanted them to be". He said that apart from the first appearance of the Ferengi and Armin Shimerman that the episode wasn't "anything to write home about". He gave it a score of three out of ten. Cast member Wil Wheaton watched
2223-459: The face of a Betazoid gift box in " Haven ". He made a further appearance as a different Ferengi in " Peak Performance " before gaining the main cast role of the Ferengi Quark in Star Trek: Deep Space Nine . In that role he would also shoot a scene for the movie Star Trek: Insurrection , but it was cut from the final version of the film. He said of his performance in "The Last Outpost", "I
2280-495: The film Star Trek: First Contact . Starfleet Headquarters is shown to be located on Earth , northeast of the Golden Gate Bridge in the present-day Fort Baker area. Starfleet Academy is located in the same general area. Additionally, various episodes show Starfleet operating a series of starbases throughout Federation territory, as ground facilities, or as space stations in planetary orbit or in deep space. One example
2337-479: The first on-screen appearance of the Ferengi, who had been mentioned earlier in the series. They were intended to replace the antagonist roles that Klingons and Romulans played in Star Trek: The Original Series in the new series, but this idea was dropped after their first couple of appearances. Their look was created by Andrew Probert with modifications by Michael Westmore . The tattoo design
The Last Outpost (Star Trek: The Next Generation) - Misplaced Pages Continue
2394-523: The first season episode "The Last Outpost", and the set has a total runtime of 638 minutes across multiple 12-inch optical video discs. Starfleet Starfleet is a fictional organization in the Star Trek media franchise. Within this fictional universe , Starfleet is a uniformed space force maintained by the United Federation of Planets ("the Federation") as the principal means for conducting deep space exploration, research, defense , peacekeeping , and diplomacy (although Starfleet predates
2451-404: The make-up. Other elements which were changed at the make-up stage included modifications to the nose to increase the volume of wrinkles and dropping the idea of an extended chin as Westmore thought it would save time in applying the make-up. A set of false upper teeth were also created, which were added to a single head piece and a nose piece which comprised the prosthetics for the Ferengi. Westmore
2508-474: The makeup of the Star Trek universe had yet to be worked out, including the operating authority for the USS Enterprise . The terms Star Service (" The Conscience of the King "), Spacefleet Command (" The Squire of Gothos "), United Earth Space Probe Agency (" Charlie X " and " Tomorrow Is Yesterday "), and Space Central (" Miri ") were all used to refer to the Enterprise ' s operating authority, before
2565-652: The most common aliens seen. Already in TOS , the USS Enterprise and other ships have a mixed-species crew, although this does not appear to be an absolute rule; for instance, the episode " The Immunity Syndrome " refers to the USS Intrepid as having an all-Vulcan crew. The Star Trek: Deep Space Nine episode " Take Me Out to the Holosuite " also features such a crew, serving aboard the USS T'Kumbra . In keeping with this idea, Star Trek: Enterprise , in its first two seasons,
2622-495: The planet seems to have once been a remote outpost of the "Tkon Empire" that became extinct 600,000 years ago (during the Middle Pleistocene ). Picard contacts the Ferengi and gets them to agree to mutually explore the planet below to try to find the source of the energy drain. On the planet, the away team is momentarily separated due to effects of the energy field on the transporters. They regroup but are attacked and bound by
2679-583: The process imagined by the writers is given when the character Nog attempts to apply to the Academy. He is told that since he is from a non-member world (Ferenginar), he requires a letter of recommendation from a command-level officer before his application can be considered, with the implication that this is the standard procedure for all non-Federation applicants to Starfleet. In the Star Trek Expanded Universe, an example of what typically becomes of
2736-412: The production of Star Trek: Enterprise , some larger Starfleet insignia designs included the name "United Earth Space Probe Agency". Multiple Star Trek: Enterprise episodes refer to Starfleet having started operation some time between 2112 and 2136, when it funded research begun by Zefram Cochrane and Henry Archer, which led to the first successful flight of Warp-3 vessels in the 2140s. This research
2793-471: The project fell apart due to Roddenberry's conflicts with the studio. Though Roddenberry considered the series to be dead, the concept stuck with Wright, who had hopes that it could be revived. When the rights finally fell back to the Roddenberry family in the 2000s, Wright secured the option to the property and set out to produce the series, updating it while still staying true to Roddenberry's vision. Wright
2850-415: The right part of each Ferengi forehead. The symbol means "Dog eat dog" and was painted green as that is the color of American dollar bills. Each bar (referred to by the production crew as a "rocker") to the side of the symbol designated a rank, with more bars meaning a higher rank. In Richard Krzemien 's original draft, Portal was referred to as Dilo. Executive producer Maurice Hurley saw Portal as being
2907-736: The term "Starfleet" became widespread from the episode " Court Martial " onwards. However, references to the United Earth Space Probe Agency, and its abbreviation UESPA, are to be found in episodes of later series. For example, the Friendship One probe (launched, on the fictional timeline, in 2067) is marked with the letters UESPA-1 in the Star Trek: Voyager episode " Friendship One ". Other background props included additional UESPA references, such as Captain Jean-Luc Picard 's family album in Star Trek Generations . During
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#17328558446702964-403: The week commencing October 17, 1987. It received Nielsen ratings of 8.9, reflecting the percentage of all households watching the episode during its timeslot. This was the lowest ratings received by any episode during the first season. There was initial criticism regarding the Ferengi from reviewers. Several reviewers re-watched the episode after the end of the series. Keith DeCandido reviewed
3021-406: Was created by Mike Okuda , while Probert was also responsible for the design of their starship. The Enterprise is in pursuit of a Ferengi vessel which has stolen an energy converter from an unmanned Federation outpost. While the Ferengi were known to the Federation, this is the first contact with the species, and the Ferengi are thought to be at a similar technology level as themselves. As
3078-442: Was not pleased when a shot of an actor in costume was leaked without the teeth, he said "I was annoyed about that photo because the make-up was incomplete. After all the work that went into it, we would have wanted our design in proper form. The photo was like a pirated version of our make-up, because none of us would ever approved it under those circumstances." Michael Okuda designed a rank designation tattoo which Westmore applied to
3135-429: Was pretty much playing over-the-top villain – that turned out to be very comical. I thought I was being serious, but obviously, it was not serious. It's because there was no subtlety to the performance, there was no attempt to try to give them some real cojones ... It was bad acting. It was just bad acting. They liked it, god bless them, Star Trek liked it." "The Last Outpost" aired in broadcast syndication during
3192-405: Was responsible for taking Probert's designs for the Ferengi and creating the make-up for the actors to meet that design. In Probert's original concept, the Ferengi had ears which were pointed like a bat. There were concerns from the producers that these would appear simply to be larger versions of the already known Vulcan ears, and so Westmore was told to round off the ears when it came to producing
3249-612: Was the only show to have an entirely human crew, as it was set before the formation of the Federation , although the vessel did carry Phlox , a Denobulan serving in a medical exchange program, and T'Pol , then serving as an observer from the Vulcan High Command. Star Trek: The Next Generation saw the introduction of Starfleet's first Klingon officer. Other races—such as Bolians, Betazoids, and Trill—were seen, and given more central roles, in later series; some of these, notably Klingons, had been shown as enemies in earlier episodes. Various episodes show that Earth /Federation citizenship
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