Acquisition (2)

DVD, Enterprise S1 (Acquisition) (2)

Ferengi, now there's a race you didn't expect to see on this series, and what a joy it was for me when it first came out. Ferengi episodes were a staple of 'DS9,' my favourite series, and I tended to enjoy them because my favourite Trek character of all time is Quark. 'TNG' began the race as The New Klingons - they were designed to take the place of the warriors of 'TOS' in the gap vacated by the bumpy-headed ones becoming allies of the Federation. The Ferengi might have worked, what with their stark appearance, fearsome sharp teeth and outlandish customs, except they were scuppered by someone, probably the Director, asking them to play the roles like demented monkeys, hissing and gesticulating so that they came across as ridiculous, far from the desired effect of a major new danger to our Starfleet friends. Though 'TNG' smoothed over the edges as time went on (in other words told them to stop jigging up and down and waving their arms around), they became mere minor comic foils for the (sometimes), stuffy 24th Century humans of the Enterprise-D to contend with, and so it was up to 'DS9' to rehabilitate them and turn them into a three-dimensional culture, as they did with the Bajorans, the Cardassians, and almost every other major race first seen in 'TOS' and 'TNG.' So it was with great sadness that that august series ended and it looked as if the Vault of Eternal Destitution had claimed the Ferengi's soul, never to be seen again.

Actually, I believe 'Acquisition' was one of two episodes that featured the lobed menaces post-'DS9,' 'Voyager' managing to find a use for them as villains in the final season's 'Inside Man,' but the Delta Quadrant setting obviously meant there wasn't going to be a lot of dealings with Alpha Quadrant species on the whole. That must be the latest Ferengi episode in canon as I very much doubt 'Picard' will be including them in any way, other than perhaps a tiny cameo, so we never got to see the effects of the new Grand Nagus' equality drive, changing their society forever. 'Enterprise' wasn't going to change that since it was set two hundred years before the momentous event, but for someone who thought they'd seen the last of an entertaining race I was very pleased when they made a surprise visit to the NX-01, quite literally, boarding the listing vessel having cunningly knocked out the crew. Some complained canon had been violated and that bringing in aliens known for being first encountered in the 24th Century was lazy writing and running out of ideas, but it was rather an attempt to show that though we'd left our favourite century behind - you know, the one where all the best episodes in Trek occurred (well, most of them, anyway) - it didn't mean they couldn't pull that type of story out of the bag once in a while. They'd already proved they could handle specifically 23rd Century races with the Andorians, so why not cut loose for a comedy hour of round, orange troll heads?

It was never a problem for continuity because no one ever found out who they were, it was a case of the audience being the ones in on the joke, but you have to respect how fast Captain Archer catches on to the kind of people he's dealing with. Dealing is exactly the right word for how to approach the Ferengi! As with the Tholians and the Borg in Season 2 (not so much the Romulans, but they had their time in the spotlight in Season 4, and it was worth the wait!), Berman and Braga demonstrated that they could deal with the familiar through the fresh eyes of 22nd Century characters, and following the events of this episode the Ferengi chose to keep their distance from Hew-mons and Vulcans for a long time. The fact they don't know either race proves how far out of Ferengi space this little band of marauders was, and I can believe that after their reports, Ferengi contact would have been extremely limited, so it doesn't bother me in the slightest that they predated 'The Last Outpost' by so long. I was just glad to see a 'DS9' episode masquerading as an 'Enterprise' instalment, and it gave further hopes that characters, races and planets we knew from the 'later' series' could be explored. This Trek wasn't turning its back on what had been established, but was willing to embrace it. It's still sad to me that this was the last Ferengi episode to date (still haven't seen 'Picard,' but how they deal with such races as these, the Klingons, or others, I await with anticipation, though also with a sense of reality since it's by the same people, for the most part, responsible for 'DSC' and all its shortcomings).

The inclusion of the Ferengi isn't the only joyous aspect of the episode, because they fulfil further fantasies by bringing in a selection of past Trek names to fill the bulbous-headed roles (and this time it works far better than the same tactic in 'Rogue Planet'), and things get much more interesting than if no-name actors had been used. Not only do they bring back a main cast member from a previous series in Ethan Phillips, excellent as the Talaxian of many talents on 'Voyager,' they also pay tribute to both 'TOS' and 'DS9' by having Clint Howard back in his third (but now not final!), role, and, gloriously, they had Jeffrey Combs return yet again! Nothing need be said about Phillips, he was a great actor in his own series, someone I always loved, and I'm sure they didn't need to sculpt new teeth or head for him since he'd already played a Ferengi on 'TNG' (not to mention impersonating the Grand Proxy on 'Voyager' in its only other Ferengi story, 'False Profits,' itself a sequel to 'TNG' episode 'The Price' - see how wonderfully Trek connects…). Clint Howard was best known as the child actor who played Balok (come, drink my tranya and let us talk of space matters - so you get Balok and Blalock (Jolene), in the same episode), later a homeless man on 2020s(!) Earth, and much, much later, a disgusting, druggie Orion in 'DSC,' unfortunately in one of its worst and stupidest episodes so far (though I'm sure there's plenty of time…), almost the only actor from past Trek to appear in that series.

Jeffrey Combs, though, he's the best. Mirroring his time on 'DS9' where he played two terrific recurring roles in the Vorta, Weyoun, and the Ferengi, Brunt, having already begun his latest (and sadly last, unless current Trek sees sense and gets him involved), recurring role as the Andorian, Shran, adds another great character to his then-expanding roster. Krem is the real star of the show, a completely different Ferengi to Brunt, almost an opposite in that he lacks confidence and assertiveness, but isn't the coward he seems to be, taking charge by the end in a pleasing turn of events, and getting an arc in what is a very slight story that was really only an excuse to show the Ferengi. Sure, Archer plays him from the start, sowing seeds of discontent at always being given the menial tasks, but Combs plays him so sympathetically that you really feel happy for the guy at the end when he gets to go off in charge of his own ship, his companions in custody. How I'd have loved to see a sequel to this episode to find out if Ulis and the others managed to trick him out of his newfound self-belief. I think Combs was hoping for it, too, as I remember reading an interview in the magazine about the potential to reprise the character. But I expect too many people complained about fiddling with the canon so they were a little more cautious about who they introduced, though I'm sure it was nothing like the outcry you see now on every subject thanks to the 'engagement' of the internet - not that that's always a bad thing as it did at least give us a couple of Klingons that looked like they should instead of the cone-headed orcs in 'DSC,' rassle…frassle…rassle… moan, moan, grind teeth…grrr.

Giving us the greedy race also gave the insiders the fun of spotting all the in-jokes and connections that made watching old Trek even more of a pleasure than it already was. Perhaps they should have concentrated more on making a better story, but it was fun all the same. But that is the weakness of the episode and has meant, though it's aged well, it doesn't have the same draw as it did when the series was still being produced. Back then it was a statement that you could expect any kind of Trek story that had been done on other series', despite being set in the 22nd Century, a reassuring notion to those of us that would have preferred a continuation of the 24th, and all the characters and races therein. But it is sad how underused most of the cast are - I don't believe Reed appears, Travis may have been at his piloting console on the Bridge (try scraping him off that seat!), when one of the marauders removes someone from that position to steal the chair, and Hoshi and Phlox only show up asleep. I know they wanted the series to get back to the feel of 'TOS' where they had a triumvirate of main characters, but that was also a flaw of that series, and exactly how Uhura, Sulu, Chekov and Scotty were treated is what happened to the rest of the cast here.

That's probably why the episode has gone down incrementally in my estimation, but I did spot plenty of things to cheer me. From tiny details such as noticing the transparent panel at the back of the Turbolift featured the same pattern later used for the brig set, to adding further texture to an established item (Trip pulls off the square panel on the wall Communicator to reveal a door release in decon - we'd seen those panels ever since 'TOS,' so how cool was that!), such tiny attention to details always makes me happy. It's also great fun spotting the differences in Ferengi of this time: they only have one hundred and seventy-three Rules of Acquisition, they still prize gold, which by Quark's time is considered worthless, other than as a container for valuable Latinum, and one of the Ferengi mentions knowing a Bolian, the blue-skinned race that I don't think we ever saw on 'Enterprise.' Best of all, finally, after all those years since the beginning of 'TNG,' the ridiculous laser whip was made cool! Ulis slashes a weapon out of Trip's hand, then knocks him to the deck, and that really was a great moment when you think back to the monkey gestures and the comedy rubber snakes that the whips appeared to be before! Trip may have been bested by the whip, but he gets his teeth into a fight with Muk earlier in the story when they go at it in the Mess Hall. If you asked who you thought would bite who in a fight between Trip and a Ferengi you'd think it would be the Ferengi, but no, in desperation Trip digs his teeth into his opponent's rubbery brow in highly amusing manner!

One of the best additions to the Ferengi in this episode is how, for a chunk of time at the beginning, we hear them talk their native language. Not since the malfunctioning Universal Translator in 'Little Green Men' on 'DS9' had we heard their funny speech, so it was great fun to hear more of their readily identifiable chatter. It was only a shame it was done without subtitles, but then we're supposed to be seeing them as alien as it gets from the Starfleet perspective. I suppose they could have continued with that and made it so the UT couldn't cope, especially with Hoshi out cold, but then Archer wouldn't have been able to talk Krem round. Other enjoyment came from a little 'Enterprise' continuity itself when Muk shows they do know some of the aliens we've encountered on the series as he asks if he looks like a Menk, implying his companion thought he was stupid - they were the less advanced race from 'Dear Doctor.' Seeing the bowels of the ship, where the passageways (or possibly even Jefferies Tubes), got lower and lower until you get to this tiny door almost fit for Borrowers, like a magical entry into Narnia or some secret cave, was lovely - any extension of the ship is ideal for me. And I believe this is the first time we see T'Pol perform a Vulcan Nerve Pinch when knocking out Krem - for some reason I had the feeling this was just as taboo as the mind meld since we see it so rarely, but obviously not. I did find myself wondering throughout the episode why Archer or Trip didn't simply overpower the invaders one by one, but they didn't know exactly what they were facing, so it wasn't a big problem.

And that's about all there is to say on the matter. It's a bit of knockabout fun, definitely there for people like me who know their Ferenginar from their Pon Farr, but with little else going on between the lobes. It looked good, the Enterprise slowly drifting in space, the Ferengi and their breathing masks that clip over the ears, and the inside of the little alien ship. I'm glad it exists and I just wish the promise of the series, reinforced by episodes like this that we could still have our tube grubs and eat them, too, had been lived up. Instead, too many past flaws (stars, instead of an ensemble cast; generic aliens of the week; not getting into politics and cultures enough), became evident so the series had to change into something different after Season 2 almost sunk it. The Ferengi represent a more optimistic time in the series' life when they had all before them and the space and time to experiment and have fun, and that's primarily what this episode is about.

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