"Acquisition" is the nineteenth episode (production #119) of the first season of the American science fiction television series Star Trek: Enterprise that originally aired on March 27, 2002, on UPN. The episode was developed into a teleplay by Maria and Andre Jacquemetton from a story by Rick Berman and Brannon Braga, and was directed by James Whitmore, Jr. Set in the 22nd century, the series follows the adventures of the first Starfleet starship, Enterprise, registration NX-01. In this episode, a group of interstellar alien thieves knock out the Enterprise crew and begin looting the ship. Commander Charles "Trip" Tucker III (Connor Trinneer) is the only one left to stop them.
The Ferengi first appeared in the Star Trek: The Next Generation episode "The Last Outpost", and first contact with the race was described in "The Battle", which meant that "Acquisition" attempted to not alter that. In addition, a Ferengi language was developed by the writers which was based on French. The episode also had a number of guest stars who had previously appeared in Star Trek; Clint Howard, Ethan Phillips and Jeffrey Combs. It was poorly received by critics, but according to the Nielsen ratings, it received a 5.2/6% audience share during broadcast.
Plot
As Enterprise drifts in space, the crew is unconscious. An alien cruiser scans the ship, then docks with it. Two Ferengi, Muk and Grish, board wearing breathing filters. They deactivate a gas-emitting device that the Starfleet crew brought up from the surface of a nearby moon. Unknown to the intruders, Commander Tucker is still conscious and makes his way to Engineering and uses the ship's sensors to monitor the aliens as they plunder the ship.
The Ferengi awaken Captain Archer and demand to know where he keeps his valuables. The Captain refuses to help and tells the Ferengi they have no money or latinum on board, so he is confined to a cargo bay. The aliens are unconvinced that Enterprise carries no valuable materials. They set off to find the vault themselves, leaving Krem and Archer to transfer the loot. Archer sees Tucker and sends him to the launch-bay to retrieve the Ferengi's hypospray. Doing so, Tucker revives Sub-Commander T'Pol. She deduces that the gas device was intentionally left as a 'Trojan Horse'. In Sickbay, three of the four Ferengi search for the non-existent vault, and T'Pol uses a PADD to distract and then start an argument between them.
In Engineering, Archer tries to negotiate with Krem, who is tempted when Archer says that he will throw in T'Pol. Muk goes to the launch-bay and finds Tucker, who escapes, but Ulis subdues him with his electro-whip. The Ferengi, Archer and Trip meet in the launch-bay where Archer plays along with Tucker's deception about "the vault". T'Pol assists in subduing the intruders, and the crew oversee the return of the stolen goods. Archer tells the Ferengi not to go within a light year of a human or Vulcan vessel ever again (and they indeed do not reappear until some 200 years later in the episode The Last Outpost).
Production
The writers of "Acquisition", Maria and Andre Jacquemetton, developed a spoken language for the alien race known as the Ferengi. Although they had been seen before on screen in previous incarnations of Star Trek, including throughout Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, a spoken language had not been developed. The pair wrote the dialogue initially in English, before translating it into French and then breaking it down into syllables. They described it as "fun to write". The pair had intended for the Ferengi throughout the episode to speak their new language, but this was reduced to only the first act. This was the third episode written by the duo, after "Breaking the Ice" and "Dear Doctor".
Story editor André Bormanis explained in a web chat just before the airing of the episode that they had sought to ensure that Jean-Luc Picard was Captain who made first contact with the Ferengi officially; Bormanis commented that he thought the episode was funny. The Ferengi made their first appearance in the Star Trek: The Next Generation episode "The Last Outpost", having been developed by franchise creator Gene Roddenberry and producer Herbert Wright. The events of the episode "The Battle" established that it was Picard on board the USS Stargazer at the Battle of Maxia that made the official first contact with the race on behalf of the Federation. Mike Sussman said it was "one of the more controversial choices, but I think we structured the show in a way that preserves Picard's first contact with them". He also joked that (chronologically) first contact with the Ferengi really occurred at Roswell in 1947 (in the Deep Space Nine episode "Little Green Men").