The Last Outpost The beginning is a good place to start. As mentioned, the depiction of this new galactic antagonist may not have quite lived up to expectations, but this first encounter by the
Enterprise-D did lay a lot of groundwork for a culture and a value system that was strikingly different from our heroes'. Besides basing their entire existence on greed and the acquisition of material wealth, we learned that the Ferengi are chauvinistic in the extreme, not even allowing their females the honor of wearing clothes. They may have come across in this episode as annoying little trolls, but you have to admit that the first appearance of the giant Ferengi face on the
Enterprise viewscreen is one of the most memorable moments of
TNG's first season.
The Price
This third-season TNG episode signaled a shift in the way the Ferengi are depicted. From this point on, they are seen less as ruthless, violent marauders, and more as unscrupulous businessmen who are more petty and manipulative than anything else. (By this time, the "plasma whips" have long since been dropped.) Another reason this episode is pivotal is that it deposits two of those Ferengi, Dr. Arridor and Kol, into the Delta Quadrant via the unstable Barzan Wormhole, unable to return home. Hmm, whatever shall they do? Guess we'll never know ... or, will we?
Suspicions
Are all Ferengi loathsome moneygrubbers? Doesn't seem fair to make that assumption, given that they are an advanced spacefaring society. There are bound to be some scientists and thinkers among them who put as much value on acquiring knowledge as wealth. And whaddaya know, Beverly Crusher found one just like that at a scientific conference, but being a Ferengi Dr. Reyga had a distinct handicap — no one would take him seriously about his discoveries. So Beverly gave him a forum to demonstrate his metaphasic shield invention, and of course it all went bad, but this time the Ferengi was the victim and not the culprit. Just when you think you've got a people figured out, they surprise you with their diversity and complexity.
The Nagus
The first of many DS9 stories that would significantly expand on Ferengi culture played out as a not-so-subtle homage to Francis Ford Coppola's "The Godfather," right down to the dialog, the lighting, and Quark's mannerisms as he held court as temporary Nagus. Not only did this episode introduce Zek and establish "The Grand Nagus" as the leader of the Ferengi Alliance, it brought us the Ferengi Rules of Acquisition, the brainchild of executive producer Ira Steven Behr which provided an endless source of fun dialog throughout the series.
Rules of Acquisition
Ferengi society's deeply entrenched sexism as established in "The Last Outpost" was finally put under the microscope in this second-season DS9 episode about a Ferengi female who poses as a male so she can make money and wear clothes. Pel's crimes were heinous as far as her legal system was concerned, but since she so adeptly fooled both Quark and Zek, she was allowed to go free in exchange for her silence. Everything's a deal with the Ferengi. This episode was the first to establish the existence of the Dominion in the Gamma Quadrant, which, Armin Shimerman is proud to point out, was the discovery of the Ferengi.
The Jem'Hadar
As mentioned above in "Suspicions," we should be careful not to quickly judge or look down our noses at another people because we perceive them to be less enlightened than ourselves. In fact, who are we humans to throw stones? This point was brought home in dialog between Quark and Sisko while they were held prisoner by the Jem'Hadar, dialog which exposed our hypocrisies. "The way I see it, Hew-mons used to be a lot like Ferengi. Greedy, acquisitive, interested only in profit. We're a constant reminder of a part of your past you'd like to forget. But you're overlooking something ... slavery, concentration camps, interstellar wars — We have nothing in our past that approaches that kind of barbarism. You see, we're nothing like you. We're better." Touché, Quark, touché.
Prophet Motive
Forget how humans view the Ferengi for a moment — What right would a superbeing have to entirely change someone's nature because they don't agree with that nature? More specifically, what right did the wormhole aliens have to return Zek transformed and with an entirely rewritten set of rules for the society he leads? Who are they to judge how we "corporeal beings" run our lives? As Quark pointed out so eloquently, one thing we linear whatevers have in common is the need to improve ourselves — our ambition motivates everything we do. "Without ambition, without — dare I say it — greed, people would lie around all day, doing nothing. They wouldn't work, they wouldn't bathe, they wouldn't even eat." Of course, it wasn't his ethical argument that convinced the Prophets to restore the status quo; it was the deal he made that no Ferengi would ever bother them again.
Family Business
Despite Quark's and most Ferengi's attempts to uphold the conservative values of their culture, the winds of change were blowing, and it turns out that Quark's own mother was the primary force behind those winds that would "shake the very foundation of the Ferengi Alliance." This is the episode that first introduced Ishka (or "Moogie") and established her financial acumen — despite her unfortunate status as a female. This is also the first time we got to visit Ferenginar, experience their climate, negotiate their architecture, see how their stock tickers work, and glimpse many of their traditions and rituals. And though it played as a comic episode, the story was a serious study of family dynamics with universal themes.
Little Green Men
So after all this time we finally learned who the aliens were that crashed at Roswell in 1947. Hey, compared to all the other theories, is it really that far-fetched? Not enough can be said about how fun and clever this classic DS9 episode was, but besides planting Ferengi amid mid-20th century Americana and playing off what naturally arises from that, this is also notable for being the first time we got to hear Ferengi speak in their native language. (At the same time it provided the first viable explanation for why aliens all over space are always speaking English — i.e., the Universal Translators planted in everyone's ears.)
Bar Association
Many of the Ferengi episodes in DS9 served to remind us not to judge other peoples and their value systems, and certainly not try to change them. But when the waves of reform come from within, it's a whole other deal. A group of Ferengi workers organizing a union? Unheard of. But when you stop to think about it, what took them so long? Well, change always comes from people who think differently, and Rom certainly fits that description. And the fact that he is the unlikeliest candidate to lead a revolution makes his influence all the more powerful. More about that later.
Body Parts
The Divine Treasury ... the first Grand Nagus, Gint ... a contract is a contract is a contract ... selling your remains before you die ... Oh, and did we mention that the "Rules of Acquisition" are really just "suggestions" — but they had to be mislabeled "rules" because who would buy a book called "Suggestions of Acquisition"? Of course, that was all just a dream, but if you're into Ferengi culture, this is an episode to lap up like snail juice.
False Profits
One species the U.S.S. Voyager never expected to run into in the Delta Quadrant was the Ferengi. There's no way, right? Not so fast ... remember that little incident with the Barzan Wormhole a few years back? Yep, Dr. Arridor and Kol found their way and used their wits to not only survive but flourish, in the best way Ferengi know how: by exploiting others ruthlessly. And there they were, taking advantage of a primitive society's prophecies and setting themselves up as gods, teaching their supplicants the mantra of "Greed is eternal" but only for their own benefit. They gave themselves away to the Federation starship only because of the energy signature of their Alpha Quadrant replicator. The resulting encounter stripped the Ferengi of their deified status, but it did lead to a trip home after seven years. (It always takes seven years, doesn't it?)
Ferengi Love Songs
As we said earlier, Quark's mother Ishka was a force of nature destined to have a profound impact on the Ferengi Alliance. And by falling in love with the Grand Nagus (or, getting him to fall in love with her, however you want to see it), and becoming the brains behind the aging and forgetful throne, she began to prove to those in power that females had something to offer in Ferengi society. Besides being a lighthearted, cartoonish romp through Ferengi-land, this episode had one of the funniest, most self-aware lines ever spoken in Star Trek: When Quark sees his Marauder Mo action figures, kept in storage all these years, he exclaims, "Do you have any idea how much these are worth?" Ishka's reply: "Not as much as if you'd kept them in the original packaging."
The Dogs of War
There are so many priceless Ferengi episodes in DS9 — including "The Magnificent Ferengi" and "Profit and Lace" — that we could be here all day talking about how much fun they were and what great stuff they added to the Ferengi universe ("Slug-o-Cola," gotta love it!). But we're gonna cut to the chase and hit upon the most significant event in modern Ferengi history, the passing of the scepter to a "kinder, gentler Nagus" to oversee the massive reforms already instituted by Zek under Ishka's counsel. As of the penultimate episode of Deep Space Nine, it was Quark's "idiot brother" Rom — with his "sensitivity" and "conscience" and blah blah blah — who became the ultimate ruler of Ferengi society, with his Bajoran wife Leeta at his side. This left Quark refusing to be part of the "new Ferenginar," instead resolving that his little bar in the far corner of the galaxy would be the last great bastion of what made Ferengi civilization great — the unrelenting lust for profit.
Acquisition
We can't conclude this discussion without mentioning the latest produced Ferengi escapade. If you're one of those who complain that this Enterprise episode breaks historical continuity, keep a couple of things in mind: First, the pirates who looted the NX-01 never identified themselves as "Ferengi," thus that species name was never logged by Starfleet. Second, this incident occurred more than 200 years prior to the Enterprise-D's first contact, and in that span of time any specific record of their characteristics would be deeply buried and virtually impossible to separate from the plethora of one-time-only alien encounters. So with that objection out of the way, we can just sit back and enjoy watching Captain Archer deal with these greedy, smarmy little knuckleheads, and draw from his experience as a human to use some reverse psychology to get his ship back. And thank God, his little dog too. It's also fun to see Ethan Phillips and Jeffrey Combs back in prosthetics, not to mention Clint Howard. And hooray for the Ferengi whip! We missed you.
