his empathic abilities to manipulate the opposing delegates in the negotiations. Ral deftly narrows the competition down to the Federation and his own employers, the Chrysalians. Just before Riker can obtain the wormhole rights, the Ferengi threaten to destroy the wormhole, claiming that an "informed source" has told them that the Federation has made a covert pact with the Barzan premier. Picard requests Riker's presence on the bridge to deal with the situation; in his absence, Ral takes the advantage, and builds his case on the Barzan leader's wishes for peace to win the claim to the wormhole for his group. When Troi realizes that Devinoni staged the entire altercation to sabotage the Federation, her sense of duty forces her to betray his trust and speak out publicly. But before the Barzan premier has a chance to cancel the bargain with Ral and the Chrysalians, the Enterprise shuttle emerges from the wormhole and hails the ship, announcing that it is worthless. Ral then says goodbye to Troi and returns to face his employers for purchasing worthless rights. Reception Keith R.A. DeCandido of Tor.com rated the episode 6 out of 10. In 2020, GameSpot noted this episode as containing one of the most bizarre moments of the series, the startlingly blatant sexual conversation in a workout chat between Troi and Crusher. Home media releases The episode was released with Star Trek: The Next Generation season three DVD box set, released in the United States on July 2, 2002. This had 26 episodes of Season 3 on seven discs, with a Dolby Digital 5.1 audio track. It was released in high-definition Blu-ray in the United States on April 30, 2013. On April 23, 1995, "The Price" and "The Enemy" were released on LaserDisc in the United States. This was released in Japan on LaserDisc on July 5, 1996, in the half season set Log. 5: Third Season Part.1 by CIC Video. This included episodes up to "A Matter of Perspective" on 12-inch double sided optical discs. The video was in NTSC format with both English and Japanese audio tracks. See also Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, a franchise series built around the premise of a stable wormhole located next to a Federation starbase. "False Profits", the Star Trek: Voyager sequel episode revealing the fate of the two Ferengi left in the Delta Quadrant. References External links "The Price" rewatch by Zack Handlen