"Riker: When has justice ever been as simple as a rule book?"

Guvf cerggl zhpu fhzf hc rirel guvat jebat jvgu ubj gur Cevzr Qverpgvir vf unaqyrq va Iblntre naq Ragrecevfr. Rira va FGVQ.

I KNEW that unnamed Conn officer looked familiar! While I watched the episode I kept thinking: gung thl fher ybbxf yvxr Yg. Xreel sebz Iblntre!

Vg'f abj cneg bs zl urnq-pnaaba gung guvf vf vaqrrq Yg. Xreel nf na rafvta. Cbbe thl fubhyq'ir fgnlrq ba gur Ragrecevfr jurer ur qvqa'g unir gb jbeel nobhg gur Puvrs Ratvarre oernxvat uvf abfr nyy gur gvzr.

Ungh, definitely not a very good episode. Not as bad as the last one, but still bad. The idea behind the Ferengi is kinda neat and I think it could've worked, but unfortunately the concept was broken almost the instant it was introduced. I get that Gene wanted the Ferengi to represent all of the things he felt was wrong with modern American culture, like greed and misogyny. But he went way over the top on their portrayal. The Ferengi can't be taken as seriously as a threat because of how goofy and spastic they act. So in the moments where they get the better of the Enterprise crew, it just makes the Enterprise crew look like complete tools.

"Code of Honor" was outright racist in it's portrayal of the Ligonians. The way the Ferengi are portrayed in "The Last Outpost" almost seems like somebody wanted to be racist, but couldn't decide on any particular race to offend, so they decided just to offend the intelligence and patience of the audience instead.

"I will say that I liked the fact that all of Lutan’s scheming backfired on him and Yareena ended up with all the agency at the end of the episode. "

Too bad it only happened due to incompetent writing. I mean, how is it that Yareena's "death" automatically voids her marriage with Lutan, and yet doesn't cause all of her wealth to pass on to Lutan, which was the entire reason he wanted her to die in the first place?

Stupid writing.

It has always seemed to me that the Prime Directive is kind of a collection of two or three similar-but-different rules, rather than one single rule. One aspect of the PD is to not get involve in purely internal conflicts, like revolutions or civil wars. The other aspect is to avoid contact with pre-warp civilizations, not only to prevent cultural contamination, but to prevent their exploitation. I find it ironic that this episode completely side-steps a conversation about the PD when, for once, the PD actually applies to the situation.

Well, this is Corey "HE CONTROLS THE SKY!!!" Allen we're talking about here.

Lrnu, V whfg jnagrq gb jnea lbh gung rira gur flabcfvf lbh cebivqrq znxrf gur rcvfbqr fbhaq zhpu zber vagrerfgvat guna vg vf. "Pbqr bs Ubabe" vf onq orpnhfr vg'f enpvfg, frkvfg, naq qbjaevtug fghcvq. Ohg ng yrnfg vg unf n svtug va vg fb lbh pna ng yrnfg fnl gung fbzrguvat unccrarq. "Funqrf bs Tenl" vf pbafvqrerq gur jbefg orpnhfr bs ubj haoryvrinoyl obevat vg vf. Rira ol pyvc fubj fgnaqneqf, vg npuvrirf arj yriryf bs hariragshy yrgunetl. Vs gur irel pbaprcg bs 'grqvhz' jnf n tbq, gura "Funqrf bs Tenl" jbhyq or vgf Ningne. Lbh pna'g ynhtu ng vg'f vapbzcrgrapr, be entr ng vg'f varcgvghqr. Vg npgviryl nibvqf nalguvat gung zvtug cbffvoyl cebibxr nal xvaq bs rzbgvba va gur ivrjre. Gur bayl cbffvoyr rzbgvba guvf rcvfbqr zvtug vaibxr va lbh vf n fyvtug gjvatr bs qrcerffvba jura lbh ernyvmr lbh whfg ybfg 48 zvahgrf bs lbhe yvsr gung pbhyq'ir orra orggre fcrag cvpxvat yvag bhg bs lbhe oryyl ohggba.

I wouldn't get too excited if I were you.

"Funqrf bs Terl" vf ernyyl whfg n ohqtrg-fnivat pyvc fubj. Vg'f abg onq orpnhfr vg'f evqvphybhf, vg'f onq orpnhfr vg'f zvaq-ahzovatyl obevat naq cbvagyrff. Vg'f abguvat ohg n pbyyrpgvba bs pyvcf sebz cerivbhf rcvfbqrf jvgu nofbyhgryl ab gurzr be pbagrkg gb pbaarpg gurz gbtrgure.

Vs lbh'er ybbxvat sbe n 'JGS?!' fglyr bs onq rcvfbqr, lbh bayl unir gb tb nf sne nf Frnfba 1 Rcvfbqr 4, "Pbqr bs Ubabe". N pbzcyrgryl yhqvpebhf "onggyr gb gur qrngu sbe nofbyhgryl ab ernfba" rcvfbqr, fzbgurerq va urncvat cvyrf bs enpvfz naq frkvfz.

I'm looking forward to Mark's reaction to [spoilers] Gur Obet. Abg bayl gur obql ubeebe gevttref vaibyirq jvgu ploreargvp mbzovrf, ohg gur crefbany ivbyngvba bs jvcvat njnl n crefba'f vaqvivqhnyvgl naq sbepvat gurz va gb n pbyyrpgvir pbafpvbhfarff, nf jryy nf gurve fvatyr checbfr gb rkcybvg, pbafhzr, nccebcevngr, naq nffvzvyngr nyy phygherf gurl pbzr npebff. Gbccrq bs jvgu orvat fb nqinaprq nf gb or cenpgvpnyyl hafgbccnoyr.

"D Jub?" naq "Orfg bs Obgu Jbeyqf" vf tbvat gb znxr Znex fuvg n oevpx. Ohg va n tbbq jnl. ^_^

Man, it's been a LOOOONG time since I've watched this episode! It was certainly and interesting experience. But I can definitely see why I never felt the need to revisit it on my own. The ideas in the plot are awesome, but not explored quite thoroughly enough which makes for an awful lot of unnecessary padding. A lot of the character introductions come off like clunky exposition instead of natural human speech.

The performances aren't really blowing me away either. Not that I hold that against the episode too much, since most pilots tend to have this problem while the actors are trying to find their footing in their new roles. But this is exasperated due to the often clunky dialogue, and the fact that the story seems to intentionally give the impression that the characters themselves are new to each other and haven't developed a comfortable comradery yet. Which isn't a bad idea at all, but combined with the other stuff I mentioned it just makes almost every interaction stiff and awkward.

Honestly, I was surprised to see D.C. Fontana's name on this episode. She usually has a better grasp on pacing and dialogue than this. I can only assume most of the episode's problems were probably the result of Gene Roddenberry and Corey Allen.

Certainly not awful for a pilot episode, but the show is definitely a long way from finding it's footing yet.

PS: Anybody else find DeForest Kelley's performance to be a little odd? It's awesome seeing him in this cameo and all, but I feel like he plays it kind of "off". Between the thicker accent and his repeated use of "boy", he almost sounds more like an old timey plantation owner than the country sawbones we knew from TOS and the movies.