Acquisition

While the humans don't seem to have identified the Ferengi as a species until much later in time (during the time in which "Star Trek: The Next Generation" is set), here we see them nearly 200 years earlier. But they are never referred to as the Ferengi--which is nice for continuity sake.

The episode begins with nearly all the crew unconscious and several Ferengi wandering about the ship stealing everything. It seems they used some sort of knockout gas and put everyone into deep sleep, though Trip was spared because he was in a decontamination chamber. After a while, the Ferengi awaken Archer, as they assume the humans are greedy jerks just like they are. Their question for Archer is 'where do you keep your vault?'--because they naturally assume these new creatures have a hiding place for their valuables. Archer uses this to his advantage and begins sowing discord among these interlopers by using their greed against them.

Like previous Trek series, this one is meant as a humorous one and "Star Trek: Enterprise" so far has had precious little humor (aside from the episode where Trip got pregnant). So, it's a welcome relief to see the dopey Ferengi and watch Trip and Archer play them so well. Worth seeing and kind of fun--and very memorable.

This episode opens with the Ferengi, the businessmen of the universe, on board the Enterprise. Some gas has been released on board and the crew is unconscious. Tripp is the only one conscious because he was in a decontamination chamber. The Ferengi (who are not called that at this stage) begin to loot the ship. They take all kinds of random stuff and pile it up. They awaken Archer because they believe he knows where a huge supply of gold is. Meanwhile, Tripp moves around the ship trying to figure out how to help. This is a pretty delightful effort with lots of humor. The Ferengi are quite formidable, despite being so ridiculous. We won't meet them again until the Next Generation. The plot to reclaim the ship is fun to watch.

I enjoyed this episode. Fortunately for me, I understand that Star Trek is NOT real, it's all pretend for the sake of entertainment. It is not meant as an exercise in logic or a treatise on real space exploration. It's entertainment, designed to amuse, distract, and entertain. Instead of trying to pick out every little plot hole, discrepancy, unlikely scenario, or continuity failure, I like to put my brain in neutral and let it enjoy the audio/visual candy Star Trek spoon feeds it. When I return to work tomorrow and prepare for the surgeries that await my skills, THAT'S when I can reengage my brain and ensure all seriousness is at full peak. I enjoyed watching the actors have fun with their parts. That Jeffery Combs, what a hoot!

When T'Pol opens an alien object found in the surface of a planet by Trip, a gas is released and the entire crew of Enterprise faints. Four Ferengi pirates - Krem, Muk, Grish and Ulis – break in Enterprise to steal the supplies and belongings in the starship and they awake Captain Archer trying to find the location of the vault. Meanwhile, Trip was in the decontamination chamber and is not affected by the gas, and wakes T'Pol. Using the greed of the quartet, Archer and Trip lure them.

"Acquisition" introduces the greedy Ferengi merchants – actually four pirates of space. The story is funny, and I loved when the crushed Krem asks T'Pol to caress his ears. My vote is seven.

Title (Brazil): "Aquisição" ("Acquisition")

Enterprise is boarded by a group of Ferengi looking to steal everything they can fit into their own ship.

This is episode has a pretty ridiculous premise but is played out as a comedy. Whether or not you'll find it funny depends on your own sense of humour. It has a similar tone to the original series episode 'A Piece Of The Action' where the protagonist plays along with the antagonist in order to outsmart them and give opportunities for actors to do comical character traits that we never usual see them doing.

My favourite sequence is at the start when we see the Ferengi exploring the Enterprise before the universal translators kick in. There are no words spoken except in the Ferengi language and this allows for some decent visual storytelling to be used.

'A Piece Of The Action' was funny, but this one is less so in my opinion. The charade Archer, Tucker are T'Pol play gets tiresome pretty quickly and you feel like any one of them could swat the Ferengi aside and take back control of the Enterprise.

There are massive continuity issues with the franchise that can be forgiven if an episode is entertaining, which this is mildly, but I suspect the hardcore Trek fanbase probably hate this with a passion. Out of interest though, Vulcans playing along with deceitfulness isn't anything new as Spock sometimes did when Kirk tried to lie his way out of trouble (Example - The City On The Edge Of Forever "Perhaps the unfortunate accident I had as a child" to explain Spock's ears).

All performances are as good as they can be with the material given. It is fun to see Star Trek actors just playing it for laughs and I have to admit I was mildly amused seeing the Ethan Phillips, Jeffery Combs and Clint Howard as Ferengi. If the writing was a bit better this might have been hilarious but I found it moderately funny.