TNG - "The Last Outpost"

Here we first meet the Ferengi. It's been said many times that the Ferengi were meant to be the new great threat of the TNG era, but they're really just odd here. They're kind of a threat, but they're also somewhat comedic, like stupid 80s cartoon villains.

If there's one redeeming quality to the Ferengi's stupidity, it's that the show is very aware of it. The fight scene with the Ferengi is so hilariously awkward that it's enjoyable. Even the actors (and the characters) seem to be having fun with it. Still, though, it's not that great.

Every character seems, well, out of character. When the Enterprise is fired upon and then disabled, the crew's reaction is way too calm. They simply sit there and calmly talk about the situation. Heck, talking is all they do for a good 80% of the episode. We're told a lot about what's going on, but shown very little.

The acting is just odd, and some of the characters don't even seem to be acting normal in the slightest. Geordi gives the weirdest and most unnerving "WOO-EEE!" I've ever heard. Oh well. At least Riker is a badass.

The climax of the story, in which the big sci-fi plot is finally revealed, comes off like a preachy message about societal evils. Heck, it is a preachy message about societal evils. The Ferengi are said to quite literally represent the greatest evils of capitalism, while the Federation has "moved beyond" such greed and closed-mindedness. But the problem here is that, as with many episodes this season, the message comes at the expense of story logic, realism, character depth, and every other good quality you'd want from the show.