Liked the episode overall, was good to see Rom and Leeta again and I like to continued progress we see among the Ferengi. However, there is absolutely no way I will be able to conceive of the Ferengi joining the Federation, at least at this point in the timeline. The Federation has notoriously strict rules for who they allow to join. As we see in the episode, in spite of the progress made under Grand Nagus Rom the Feregi still have a culture that revolves around exploitation. We see people enslaved in mines for lying about being a couple to get a discount at a restaurant! An alliance would make much more sense then an application to join.
We know that by 2400 there are Ferengi cadets graduating from Starfleet Academy and by the 32nd Century there’s even a Ferengi Captain, among other Ferengi officers.
While not being a Federation member doesn’t preclude you from serving in Starfleet, there’s that to consider.
Correct, but that wasn’t what I was addressing - it was whether there was any further indication that Ferenginar did successfully join the Federation, so I was pointing to possible post-2381 indicators.
It’s not clear. They did send a delegation to the Ten-C summit, but so did Earth who wasn’t a member at the time. There’s a background star map in an earlier episode that shows “Ferengi Territory” as opposed to it being part of the Federation, but it’s barely visible.
We see people enslaved in mines for lying about being a couple to get a discount at a restaurant!
I do wonder if that was actually an arranged bit of entertainment, with the (alleged) punishment trumped up for the sake of it. Ferengi do like to put on a show.
Expanding on this, I’ve convinced myself that the whole couples dinner thing exists primarily to entertain the other diners. The way it’s set up an an obnoxious and increasingly grotesque public spectacle which I suspect the vast majority of couples would find highly uncomfortable supports this, as does the remarkable timing of the (presumed fake) removal of the fraudulent couple and Tendi/Rutherford being allowed to leave on a flimsy pretense after putting on a pretty good show of their own.