"The Last Outpost" (TNG)
The first appearance of the Ferengi, but not the first mention. Their first mention was in "Encounter at Farpoint" when Picard told Groppler Zorn he hoped the Ferengi didn't find him as tasty as their past associates. This makes the Ferengi sound deadly, dangerous, vicious.
Then the Enterprise counters a Ferengi vessel in "The Last Outpost". Data says their technology is evenly matched. Picard holds a conference in the Briefing Room. He wants all the senior officers' input. He hopes to avoid war with the Ferengi. He wants to avoid "total annihilation." They'd been talked up.
Way up. So far, the episode also borrows from TOS's "Balance of Terror" and "Arena".
If this is 1987, and I'm watching this, and I've never seen the Ferengi before, then right up to the last moment before they make visual contact, I have this fearsome image of the Ferengi in my mind. "These are the Bad Guys taking the place of the Romulans and Klingons!"
Picard: "Captain's Log, Stardate 41386.5: It is with a heavy heart that I have offered to meet whatever reasonable and necessary terms are demanded by the Ferengi. I fear for my people and my vessel in the event the unknown Ferengi ask the unreasonable. How can I oppose even unreasonable demands?"
That's the reaction I bet Sisko would have if he read
that log entry!
The Ferengi misunderstand and think Picard is asking for surrender. They say, "We will die to the last one of us before such dishonor!" These are supposed to be Ferengi...
right? 
Anyway, Picard realizes that the Ferengi have been seized as well, just like the Enterprise. That's the end of us ever thinking of the Ferengi as a fearsome threat ever again. Continuing on.
Then we see the Ferengi on-screen. Two thoughts about that: 1) The distorted voice still makes them sound threatening. 2) The total white behind the Ferengi makes it look like he's in a late-'70s/early-'80s music video.
Don't believe me or don't remember? Check this out.
Those are some fun songs. Back to the episode!
The Enterprise and the Ferengi are both being seized by a planet which was part of the Tkon Empire. Picard tries to reach out to the Ferengi, but they misunderstand each other right from Day One. The Ferengi Daimon asks, "Are you calling us uncivilized? Are you calling us thieves?" This is
starting to sound more like the Ferengi on DS9. "Amusing, Hew-mon. Trust each other?!" Riker says, "I'm not usually one for distrust at first sight, but this may been an exception." That basically sets the tone for how the Enterprise-D crew will approach the Ferengi for the rest of the series.
But we're still going with the idea the Ferengi are a threat. When the Enterprise and the Ferengi ship agree to send parties down onto the planet's surface, Riker asks Picard, "I'd like some additional help in case we run into trouble. Can you spare Worf?" Picard says, "Take him!" Have to show how big of a "threat" the Ferengi are. We need the Klingon! Because this episode was made in 1987, and I'm an '80s kid, I'm thinking of
The A-Team. It's like Picard's Hannibal, Riker's Face, and he's asking if he can bring Mr. T!
To be totally fair, they might also be worried because this is a former Tkon world, and they want to be extra cautious. But still, they'd never seen the Ferengi before this, so they don't know about them either.
By the way, now
I have to say: given how much of an established presence the Ferengi are later on, I have a
very hard time believing Starfleet
never saw the Ferengi before this! There's just
NO WAY that works, and I personally just ignore it. But anyway...
The planet's surface looks interesting. It's what I think a TOS planet would've looked like if they had a bigger budget. The crystals are a nice touch. Thunder and lightning too, to make the planet seem dangerous.
And then there we have it! We get to see the Ferengi with their fur uniforms, the blue whips, and they're moving around like monkeys! If I were watching this for the first time in 1987, I'd be thinking, "These are supposed be who take the Klingons' place?
Come on!" I do like when they use the whip, though. That actually
is a cool weapon.
30 minutes into the 45-minute episode, we
finally hear Armin Shimmerman's Ferengi speak. In an undistorted voice anyway. I'll call him "Not-Quark". He's still hunched over. He grabbed Riker's badge. "Looks like gold, tastes like gold... " I can see why Armin Shimmerman would've been embarrassed about this. Then the Ferengi start fighting the away team. Worf calls them, "Filthy cretins!" And they look pretty ridiculous.
Then they see Yar. "Is this a female?" And then Not-Quark says, "It's true. You work with your females, arm them, and force them to wear clothing!" While they're all still hunched over and have silly expressions on their faces. "Sickening!" This attitude sure doesn't change on DS9, but it's toned down by exactly half. On DS9, the Ferengi don't care if women of other races wear clothing, they only care if Ferengi women do.
I'm not going to go into talking about the Tkon Guardian. He's not the Metron from "Arena", that's for sure.
The Ferengi try to tell the Guardian that the Federation's way is deception. This is like Trump calling any news outlet he doesn't like "fake news". (I'm surprised I held out
this long before comparing the Ferengi to him!) The Ferengi offer to destroy the Enterprise if the Guardian will give power back to their ship. Half-way there. They're negotiating, as DS9 Ferengi would... but they mess up by saying they'll destroy the Enterprise.
Oh God! The Ferengi go up to Yar and say having women dressed tempts people to undress them! Yeah, it's safe to say Gene Roddenberry had a hand in the re-writes for
this one! At least Yar says, "Paws off, Ferengi!" This idiot Ferengi, who isn't Not-Quark, tells Yar to "Submit!" Then Yar gives the best line of the episode, "Just try it, shorty!"
Speaking of height. They didn't cast tall actors for the Ferengi to begin with. Having them hunched over makes it even worse. They look tiny, especially compared to how tall Riker is. Who's going to be intimidated by them?
At the end of the episode, when the Tkon Gaurdian sides with Riker, the Ferengi start jumping around and shouting more nonsense before screaming. Riker says the Ferengi remind him of how Humans were centuries ago.
Okay. The Ferengi's first appearance. Way to undercut themselves. The raw, unfiltered concept of the Ferengi. I'm guessing that Gene Roddenberry wanted the Ferengi to represent the worst of Humanity while he wanted the Humans to represent the best of Humanity. But I think it works on another level too: Gene Roddenberry wanted to use the Federation as a mouthpiece for his ideals, while he wanted to use the Ferengi as a mouthpiece for his vices.
I liked the Ferengi whips, their ship designs, and that's it. The Ferengi here are like cartoon characters. In DS9, at least they try to make them seem like actual characters with differing points of view. It might sound as if I don't like the episode, but it isn't true. It's just crazy to look at how the Ferengi started out. That's all.
