star trek tng first contact

• Show Spoilers
• Night Vision
• Sticky Header
• Highlight Links

Follow TV Tropes

http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Recap/StarTrekTheNextGenerationS4E15FirstContact

Recap / Star Trek: The Next Generation S4E15 "First Contact"

Edit locked.

Original air date: February 18, 1991

(No relation to the feature film Star Trek: First Contact )

On Malcor III, a team of Malcorian doctors receive a critically injured patient. As they prepare to save his life, we discover that this Malcorian is actually William Riker in disguise! The doctors quickly see through his surgical implants and realize that he's an alien. Malcor III is on the verge of achieving warp technology, but they still believe that they're the only sentient species in the universe. The doctors keep the information hush-hush to avoid a panic.

Picard and Troi beam down to the planet to introduce themselves to Science Minister Mirasta Yale and make first contact. While showing her around the Enterprise and giving her the standard spiel about the greater intergalactic society that awaits them, Picard admits that they have been studying the Malcorians for some time but had to accelerate their schedule when one of their officers went missing. Yale urges Picard not to tell Chancellor Durken when they meet him, as a faction within the government could react violently should word get out.

Meanwhile, Riker's attempts to maintain his disguise fail, and he's held prisoner at the hospital. A nurse volunteers to help him escape in return for making love to him, but this kinky plan ultimately fails, and Riker is beaten within an inch of his life. Security Minister Krola, a zealot, finds out and insists upon interrogating Riker before handing him back over, a move that could be fatal. Meanwhile, Durken confronts Picard with his deception and states that this development could seriously jeopardize Malcor III's relationship with the Federation.

Barely clinging to life, Riker insists that he's on a mission of peace, but Krola demonstrates that Riker's phaser is a weapon. He uses it to fake his own murder, making it look like Riker shot him, to throw public sentiment against the Federation. Crusher and a medical team arrive just in time to beam both Riker and Krola to sick bay. They save Riker's life and discover that Krola was merely stunned. The phaser is a weapon for self-defense, after all.

Tropes in this episode include:

• Ain't Too Proud to Beg : When Krola's plans are ruined, he drops all his antagonism and pleads fearfully to Durken to stay away from the Federation.
• Alien Among Us : Riker and the other scouts from the Federation, to the Malcorians.
• Alien Invasion : What many, including Minister of Security Krola, believe the crew of the Enterprise is there for.
• Alien Non-Interference Clause : Picard explains the Prime Directive to Chancellor Durken. At this stage in a planet's progress, the Directive calls for the Federation to guide the newly interstellar species into galactic society, but still avoid "interfering with their natural development" — which as Durken adroitly points out, means not sharing any of the Federation's still far more advanced technology (transporters and replicators, for example) with the Malcorians.
• Aliens Steal Cable : Picard explains to Yale that part of the First Contact procedure is to view some of the race's entertainment programs to get a sense of their culture. Yale is quite embarrassed at the idea, and he admits it provides an "incomplete" picture, which is why there are also missions like Riker's.
• The Bad Guy Wins : Though he fails to kill himself to ensure hostility between their peoples, Krola succeeds in convincing Durken that relations with the Federation are not possible (albeit not for the reasons he intended), to scrap their warp program, and to slow the pace of scientific advancement on Malcor III in general. It's not made clear whether he would even be punished for his actions due to the cover up, beyond Durken expecting that people like him would eventually be ridiculed. That said, it's indicated that his victory will likely only be in the short-to-medium term, and that Malcor will someday begin relations with the Federation — and if nothing else, he inadvertently ended up creating witnesses to the Enterprise crew beaming down and saving his life, meaning at least some Malcorians will come away with positive impressions of the Federation and spread that word.
• Big Fish in a Bigger Ocean : Chancellor Durken is the leader of the One World Order on Malcor III and used to think he was as high up as one could get. Then his First Contact with the crew of the Enterprise showed him that there were actually many other more advanced civilizations than his out there in the cosmos. He's a lot more humble about it than usual. Durken: I go home each night to a loving wife and two beautiful daughters. We eat the evening meal together as a family. I think that's important, and they always ask me if I've had a good day. Picard: And how will you answer them tonight, Chancellor? Durken: I will have to say: This morning, I was the leader of the universe as I know it. This afternoon, I'm only a voice in a chorus — but I think it was a good day.
• Bittersweet Ending : They get Riker back and part amicably with Chancellor Durken. However, Mirasta Yale leaves with them, because the Malcorians, who had been on the verge of becoming an interstellar civilization, are now going to suspend their warp drive program indefinitely. Given the strict dividing line that the Prime Directive creates between pre-warp and warp-capable civilizations, Riker's accident has relegated the Malcorians to the status of galactic have-not's.
• Bizarre Alien Biology : Humans to the Malcorians: among other things, the human heart is where a Malcorian's digestive tract would be.

• Boldly Coming : An uncommon variant where the human is the alien.
• Call a Rabbit a "Smeerp" : The Malcorian medical staff use more non-specific terms for anatomical parts: ribs are "costal struts," a kidney is a "renal organ," and a foot is a "terminus." One doctor is quite shocked to find "digits" (toes) on Riker's terminus.
• The Cameo : Frasier Crane's ex-wife plays a Boldly Coming alien nurse.
• Continuity Nod : Picard offers Durken a toast to their new friendship using a bottle of the Picard family wine — probably the very same bottle his brother Robert gave him in " Family ," advising him not to drink it alone.
• Krola's paranoia regarding an alien invasion and fomenting dissent is reminiscent of the Red Scare .
• After the Malcorians decline to join the Federation, they cover up the presence of aliens, similar to UFO conspiracy theories in the real world. Riker in the medical facility is also an apparent nod to the "alien autopsy" in Roswell.
• Double Standard Rape: Female on Male : Lanel essentially gives Riker an ultimatum: Have sex with her or be captured. While it's not a case of physical force, it's still rape-by-coercion; the episode doesn't really play it up as anything other than a humorous scenario, but it's unlikely that it would be taken the same way were it Troi or Crusher being pressured by a male alien. The writers probably figured they could get away with it due to Riker's reputation as someone who Really Gets Around .
• Did They or Didn't They? : We never find out if Riker actually fulfilled Lanel's fantasy.
• Evil Luddite : Krola is not just against trusting alien visitors, he mentions constantly that he hates any form of progress in Malcorian society: in everything from science to economy to social reforms — as a emblem of one of the worse extremes of Romanticism Versus Enlightenment . He is willing to die to keep the world as traditional as possible, and ultimately he admits that he might accept the Federation is peaceful, but still schemes to ruin their relations because it would change his way of life.
• Feeling Oppressed by Their Existence : Krola, when confronted by the existence of aliens, takes it badly, to the point where he nearly kills Riker and tries to martyr himself in a misguided attempt to preserve his world.
• First Contact : The only episode that shows how a normal, planned first contact procedure is intended to work.
• Forgotten Phlebotinum : The subcutaneous communicator shown in "Who Watches the Watchers" would have been very useful for Riker to have on this kind of undercover mission.
• Formula-Breaking Episode : A typical Trek story where the crew makes first contact with an alien race, the twist being that it's told from the perspective of the aliens themselves.
• Green-Skinned Space Babe : In an amusing inversion, Riker is this to Lanel, who finds the idea of having sex with an alien hot .
• Humanity Is Advanced : The Enterprise has technology far beyond that of the Malcorians.
• If I Wanted You Dead... : Invoked when Krola talks of the Federation ready to conquer them, Durken pointing out he's seen their technology and "if they chose to be hostile, I don't think we'd be standing here right now." Krola turns it around to say the Enterprise doesn't need to invade "if you're willing to lie down for them."
• The Federation seemingly has no contingency plan in place in case an undercover operative is injured. Riker is apparently working alone in his area of the planet, so he has no support when he winds up in the hospital. None of the implants they put into Riker includes a tracking device. Finally, Riker's cover story doesn't hold up to scrutiny, which it would have had he had support from other operatives acting as emergency contacts.
• Despite multiple references to specialist teams for first contact situations, Riker is on the planet pretending to be a species he probably hadn't heard of until a few weeks or months (at best) prior. Obviously without Riker the story is much different, but he's the first officer on the Federation's flagship and yet he was drafted to perform a duty one of the Federation's specialist xenoanthropologists should be doing.
• Krola is fortunate that the Federation is explicitly not as dangerous as he fears. Between his refusal to release Riker and his willingless to risk killing Riker for his interrogation, if the Federation were as hostile as he claims, his actions could have very easily resulted in a deadly, bloody war against an enemy his people couldn't possibly hope to survive.
• In Medias Res : The episode starts with an injured alien being brought into a hospital, with the doctors perplexed by the bizarre biology, then we see that the alien is, in fact, Riker.
• Left Hanging : Riker was caught up in a riot that required police intervention to break up. Why there was a riot was unimportant, it was just there to get Riker to the hospital.
• Manchild : When Krola's plans are ruined, all he can do is make a childish fearful plea to Durken to stay away from the Federation. Durken speaks soothingly and pats him on the head, further displaying the childish state Krola has fallen into.
• Never Trust a Trailer : Most of the episode's trailers made it out to be a story about Riker being stuck on an alien world, and needing to win over Lanel's heart in order to escape. In actual fact, the story is mostly about xenophobia, and Lanel's role in its outcome is extremely minimal; she was likely only featured as much in the promotions as she was because her actress, Bebe Neuwirth , had a recurring role on Cheers at the time.
• Nice: Mirasta, who quickly and eagerly makes friends with Picard and the Enterprise crew.
• Mean: Krola, The Paranoiac Commander Contrarian who is willing to martyr himself to end contact between his people and other species.
• In-between: Durken, who is affable and reasonable, but not quite as trusting as Mirasta.
• Perspective Flip : This episode recounts the Federation making first contact with a new species, only entirely seen from the perspective of said species. It can also be seen as a subtle Perspective Flip of the "government conspiring with aliens infiltrated among the population" plot , as the story goes through each stages of such a plot, only with the protagonists being Rubber-Forehead Aliens and the visiting "aliens" the human-looking main characters. The audience is also perfectly aware that the Federation's goals are benevolent, but it does not appear that obvious from the Malcorians' perspective.
• Phlebotinum Breakdown : The Enterprise's Everything Sensors are apparently unable to locate one of the only humans on a planet of alien humanoids. Nor can they find Riker's Starfleet-issue equipment, such as his phaser. If the sensors were up to their usual ability, the episode's plot would have been over with before it began.
• Planetary Nation : Durken is apparently the ruler of the entire planet.
• Poor Communication Kills : Two members of Durken's cabinet were aware of the existence of an alien and didn't fill him in.
• Properly Paranoid : Durken points out to Picard that many conquerors throughout history have come as friends. This and Krola's paranoia regarding an alien invasion suggests that the Malcorians have been conquered before, or that (as on Earth) various Malcorians have conquered each other.
• Chancellor Durken. It's hinted that his moderate nature is actually considered a con rather than a pro by a sizable faction of the Malcorian people. He also lets Mirasta join the Enterprise with no hesitation because he recognizes that remaining on Malcor III would be intolerable for her now that she knows of the galactic society.
• Doctor Berel. He hits back against Krola's xenophobic nature and refuses to revive a gravely injured Commander Riker. Krola has him fired as a result.
• Romanticism Versus Enlightenment : Malcor III is in a period of turmoil as they approach warp technology: making many leaps and bounds in sciences, social theory and innovation, but not as much in terms of understanding and acceptance, with many of the people unwilling to accept the new ideas being introduced — sometimes violently — in a clear reference to this period. It's implied to be because the government focused on innovation on their own, without also focusing on adequately educating or preparing their people, leaving them to believe their government is leaving them behind.
• Rubber-Forehead Aliens : That and the fact that the Malcorians do not have individual fingers and toes is the only outward physical difference between them and humans — though in a twist on the trope, it's the ability to turn a human into one of these that makes the planet so easy to infiltrate.
• Sexual Extortion : Want to get out of hospital before the secret police lock you up forever, Riker? You'd better give this alien chick what she wants, then. We can play this for grins because it's Riker and a girl; odds are low that we'd be yucking it up if it were Troi or Crusher being made to accommodate a nerdy boy-alien's advances.
• Stay with the Aliens : Mirasta Yale had been wanting to travel the stars since she was a child. When Chanellor Durken is going to indefinitely postpone their warp drive program, she asks to leave on the Enterprise -D, as she sees it as her only chance to follow her dream. Durken and Picard grant her request, though Picard does caution her that it's entirely possible Malcor III won't achieve true first contact status within her lifetime, meaning she'll never see any of her family or friends again. She considers this a fair bargain to get what she's always wanted.
• Stealth in Space : Implied. The Enterprise is shown to be in a fairly close orbit with the planet in question, and being over a half-kilometer long does not seem all that worried about being seen in orbit around a planet which is ready to try out warp technology — implying the planet has telescopes, amateur astronomers, satellites, etc.
• Stock Footage : The matte painting depicting Malcor III is a reuse of the matte painting from " Angel One ".
• Taught by Experience : Picard tells Durken that Starfleet and the Federation are this when it comes to first contact. They used secretive methods on Malcor III and refuse to share their advanced tech with the Malcorians who are in the know because of past first contacts where they didn't exercise such caution and brought about dire consequences — Picard specifically brings up their "disastrous" first contact with the Klingon Empire and the lengthy war that resulted.
• Thanatos Gambit : Krola tries to kill himself with Riker's phaser and pin it on Riker to show how threatening the humans are. It fails because he doesn't understand the "stun" setting , and makes no attempt to stop the badly weakened Riker from pressing a button on the phaser before he triggers it. The response from the other Malcorians to Krola's plan indicates that this sort of attempt at deception is as common in fiction on their world as it is on Earth.
• Trapped in Another World : Riker, when he is injured.
• Villain Ball : One would think that a Minister of Security would be very interested in testing just how deadly an alien weapon is, but Krola just seems to assume that the phaser will kill him with a single blast even though it only manages to tip over a flimsy-looking medical device. His misconception serves to heighten the tension in the final act.
• The World Is Not Ready : Chancellor Durken decides that the Malcorians are not ready to go through with first contact. He promises to devote resources to education and cultural development so that they have a better shot of accepting alien visitors when they get around to restarting their warp drive program.
• Star Trek: The Next Generation S4E14 "Clues"
• Recap/Star Trek: The Next Generation
• Star Trek: The Next Generation S4E16 "Galaxy's Child"

Important Links

• Action Adventure
• Commercials
• Crime & Punishment
• Professional Wrestling
• Speculative Fiction
• Sports Story
• Animation (Western)
• Music And Sound Effects
• Print Media
• Sequential Art
• Tabletop Games
• Applied Phlebotinum
• Characterization
• Characters As Device
• Narrative Devices
• British Telly
• The Contributors
• Creator Speak
• Derivative Works
• Laws And Formulas
• Show Business
• Split Personality
• Truth And Lies
• Truth In Television
• Fate And Prophecy
• Edit Reasons
• Isolated Pages
• Images List
• Recent Videos
• Crowner Activity
• Un-typed Pages
• Recent Page Type Changes
• Trope Entry
• Character Sheet
• Playing With
• Creating New Redirects
• Cross Wicking
• Tips for Editing
• Text Formatting Rules
• Handling Spoilers
• Administrivia
• Trope Repair Shop
• Image Pickin'

Advertisement:

Log in or sign up for Rotten Tomatoes

Trouble logging in?

By continuing, you agree to the Privacy Policy and the Terms and Policies , and to receive email from the Fandango Media Brands .

By creating an account, you agree to the Privacy Policy and the Terms and Policies , and to receive email from Rotten Tomatoes and to receive email from the Fandango Media Brands .

By creating an account, you agree to the Privacy Policy and the Terms and Policies , and to receive email from Rotten Tomatoes.

Email not verified

Let's keep in touch.

Sign up for the Rotten Tomatoes newsletter to get weekly updates on:

• Upcoming Movies and TV shows
• Trivia & Rotten Tomatoes Podcast
• Media News + More

By clicking "Sign Me Up," you are agreeing to receive occasional emails and communications from Fandango Media (Fandango, Vudu, and Rotten Tomatoes) and consenting to Fandango's Privacy Policy and Terms and Policies . Please allow 10 business days for your account to reflect your preferences.

OK, got it!

Movies / TV

No results found.

• What's the Tomatometer®?
• Login/signup

Movies in theaters

• Opening this week
• Top box office
• Coming soon to theaters
• Certified fresh movies

Movies at home

• Fandango at Home
• Netflix streaming
• Prime Video
• Most popular streaming movies
• What to Watch New

Certified fresh picks

• Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes Link to Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes
• The Fall Guy Link to The Fall Guy
• The Last Stop in Yuma County Link to The Last Stop in Yuma County

New TV Tonight

• Interview With the Vampire: Season 2
• After the Flood: Season 1
• Bridgerton: Season 3
• Outer Range: Season 2
• The Big Cigar: Season 1
• Harry Wild: Season 3
• The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon: Season 11.1
• RuPaul's Drag Race: All Stars: Season 9
• Spacey Unmasked: Season 1
• The Killing Kind: Season 1

Most Popular TV on RT

• Dark Matter: Season 1
• Bodkin: Season 1
• Baby Reindeer: Season 1
• A Man in Full: Season 1
• Fallout: Season 1
• Doctor Who: Season 1
• Sugar: Season 1
• The Sympathizer: Season 1
• Blood of Zeus: Season 2
• Them: Season 2
• Best TV Shows
• Most Popular TV
• TV & Streaming News

Certified fresh pick

• Doctor Who: Season 1 Link to Doctor Who: Season 1
• All-Time Lists
• Binge Guide
• Comics on TV
• Five Favorite Films
• Video Interviews
• Weekend Box Office
• Weekly Ketchup
• What to Watch

Spike Lee Movies and Series, Ranked by Tomatometer

Box Office 2024: Top 10 Movies of the Year

Asian-American Native Hawaiian Pacific Islander Heritage

What to Watch: In Theaters and On Streaming

Weekend Box Office Results: Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes Reigns Supreme

Movie Re-Release Calendar 2024: Your Guide to Movies Back In Theaters

• Trending on RT
• Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes
• The Last Stop in Yuma County
• Amazon Movies
• TV Premiere Dates

Star Trek: First Contact

Where to watch.

Watch Star Trek: First Contact with a subscription on Max, rent on Fandango at Home, Prime Video, or buy on Fandango at Home, Prime Video.

What to Know

While fans of the series will surely appreciate it, First Contact is exciting, engaging, and visually appealing enough to entertain Star Trek novices.

Critics Reviews

Audience reviews, cast & crew.

Jonathan Frakes

Patrick Stewart

Captain Jean-Luc Picard

Commander William Thomas Riker

Brent Spiner

Lieutenant Commander Data

LeVar Burton

Lieutenant Commander Geordi La Forge

Michael Dorn

Lieutenant Commander Worf

Movie Clips

More like this, movie news & guides, this movie is featured in the following articles..

• More to Explore
• Series & Movies

Published Nov 22, 2015

First Contact...19 Years Later

November 22, 1996. It's a date that remains as memorable as ever in the hearts and minds of Star Trek fans across the globe. Star Trek: First Contact opened on that day, meaning it's been 19 years since the second Star Trek: The Next Generation feature debuted in theaters and captured the imaginations of both Trek fans and mainstream moviegoers. Jonathan Frakes took his maiden voyage as a film director after previously having put his TNG co-stars and friends through their paces for several episodes of the series. The screenplay, by Brannon Braga and Ronald D. Moore, checked all the necessary boxes: great character interaction, time travel, a memorable villain, and every other detail -- from the terrific score to winning supporting performances by Alice Krige, James Cromwell and Alfre Woodard to top-notch visual effects -- complemented Frakes' lively direction.

Here are a few factoids about First Contact:

Can you name the pair of classic pop songs heard during the adventure? "Ooby Dooby" by Roy Orbison and "Magic Carpet Ride" by Steppenwolf.

First Contact beamed up $30.7 million its opening weekend in the U.S. and went on to gross $92 million domestically and another $54 million overseas.

Susanna Thompson later played the Borg Queen on Star Trek: Voyager , but Krige reprised the character in the Voyager series finale, "Endgame."

Michael Westmore, Scott Wheeler and Jake Garber were jointly nominated for an Academy Award for Best Makeup, but lost to Rick Baker and David LeRoy Anderson. Anderson later worked on Star Trek Into Darkness , which also featured a brief in-makeup appearance by his wife, Heather Langenkamp, best known for starring in several of the Nightmare on Elm Street horror films. Anderson and Langenkamp own AFX Studio, a makeup company that worked on Star Trek Into Darkness and devised many of the film's creatures.

The Cochrane role, pre-Cromwell, had been portrayed on The Original Series by Glenn Corbett. And, First Contact , Paramount Pictures offered the part to Tom Hanks, an avowed Trek fan, who passed because he was set to direct and co-star in That Thing You Do!

Cromwell was no stranger to Trek. He'd guest starred on other Trek series. And, likewise, the First Contact casting director, Frakes and producers called upon other familiar faces in old or new roles: Patti Yasutake as Nurse Ogawa, Dwight Schultz as Lt. Barclay, Robert Picardo as the EMH, and Ethan Phillips as the Holodeck Nightclub Maitre'd.

Jerry Goldsmith, the beloved and prolific composer, crafted the score for First Contact , with an assist from his son Joel Goldsmith. Sadly, Jerry died in 2004 and Joel passed away in 2012, the latter succumbing to cancer at the very young age of 54.

What do YOU recall most about seeing First Contact for the first time?

Get Updates By Email

First First Contact (episode)

• View history
• 1.2 Act One
• 1.3 Act Two
• 1.4 Act Three
• 2 Memorable quotes
• 3.2 Production
• 3.3 Cast and characters
• 3.4 Continuity
• 4.1 Starring
• 4.2 Special guest star
• 4.3 Guest cast
• 4.4 Background characters
• 4.5.1 Meta references
• 4.6 External links

Summary [ ]

Captain Sonya Gomez

Captain Carol Freeman is being briefed about the Laap system by Admiral Alonzo Freeman and Captain Gomez informs Freeman that the Cerritos will initially be positioned outside the system, as Gomez doesn't want to intimidate the Lapeerians with the sight of multiple ships. After first contact is made, the Cerritos can install subspace transponders and then will be free to join the Archimedes ' crew planetside for the celebration. At the end of the briefing, Admiral Freeman hands his wife a glass of champagne and proposes a congratulation toast in her name.

In the space station corridor, Ensign Beckett Mariner is carrying a box of contraband when she bumps into Ensign Jennifer Sh'reyan , causing the contents to spill out. Mariner begrudgingly asks her not to tell Commander Jack Ransom about it, and Sh'reyan just walks away, not caring about the incident. When Mariner finishes picking up her mess, Freeman and Gomez walk out from a nearby room and Mariner quickly ducks behind a corner. Mariner overhears Gomez telling the dismayed Freeman that as she will not be able to transfer her senior staff to her new ship as Starfleet Command likes to have consistency with California -class crews, so she may need to make some "tearful goodbyes."

Act One [ ]

In the repair bay , Ensigns Brad Boimler , D'Vana Tendi , and Sam Rutherford are working, when Rutherford's cybernetic implant obstructs his vision with an alert. Rutherford asks Boimler if he can cover his upcoming shift in Cetacean Ops while he gets his implant fixed, but Boimler is unable to do so as he is too busy preparing decorations for Captain Freeman Day . Mariner walks into the repair bay and tells them that she overheard that Freeman is getting a promotion. While others express excitement for the captain, Mariner is more hesitant. Boimler wonders if Ransom could move up Captain Freeman Day to better line up for Freeman's promotion, but Mariner says that Freeman hasn't told Ransom yet, and he'd likely be "super pissed" about it. This gives Mariner an idea to annoy her mother by telling Ransom about the captain's pending transfer, and she excitedly runs off to go find him to Boimler's dismay. Tendi then gets called by Dr. T'Ana to report to her office, and she can't help but wonder if T'Ana is mad at her. Rutherford assures her that she's overthinking it, and this reassures Tendi.

In the mess hall , Ransom is socializing with Andy Billups and Shaxs when Mariner sits at their booth. While Ransom tries to dismiss her, Mariner tells them that she has something that they will want to hear.

The Archimedes departs

The Cerritos and Archimedes disembark from the space station for the Laap system, and the Archimedes goes to warp first after exchanging some pleasantries. Freeman asks Ransom to take them out, but Ransom begrudgingly acknowledges her order. She asks Shaxs about the repairs to the phasers , and he angrily replies that if he had an update, he would tell her. Billups then emotionally says that "her ship" is ready for warp. Freeman wonders why everyone's mood seems to have soured. As the Cerritos goes to warp, she angrily tells her senior staff to report to her ready room .

Tendi is about to enter Dr. T'Ana's office when she sees Dr. T'Ana talking with Nurse Westlake about her. When Tendi overhears T'Ana commenting that she is not cut out to be in Starfleet Medical and deleting her profile from the medical roster, she runs off in panic. T'Ana senses Tendi is nearby by her scent.

In Freeman's ready room, Freeman angrily demands to know what's going on, and Mariner admits that she overheard that she will be getting a promotion and a new ship, and the senior staff voice their grievances. Freeman tries to say that she would take them with her if she could, but before she can say anything else, Mariner decides to toss some more fuel on the figurative fire and asks who the new captain will be. Ransom is confident that he will assume the role, before Freeman reluctantly says that the admiralty will be bringing on someone new, which causes further anger amidst the senior staff. Freeman shoots a glare at her daughter.

In the lower decks crew bunks, Tendi rushes up to Rutherford, and tells him that she's afraid she's going to be transferred off the ship, as she saw T'Ana delete her from the system. Rutherford looks up the medical roster, and confirms that her name is no longer there, and Tendi begins to cry, as she will miss the Cerritos greatly. Rutherford then gets an idea for them to visit all her favorite places on the ship one final time so that she can have a proper goodbye. Tendi is cheered up by the idea, and leads the way, as Rutherford's implant is still impeding on his vision.

In the Laap system, the Archimedes drops out of warp, and Gomez tells her helm to take them in nice and slow, hoping the Lapeerians will get a chance to notice their arrival and scan them. When an ensign trips on a step after leaving the operations console , Gomez immediately gets up to help her, but the ensign nervously declines and insists she's okay, clearly embarrassed it happened in front of the captain. Giving her a reassuring smile, Gomez assures her not to worry about it as she herself has done " way worse in front of much more intimidating captains ", putting the young officer at ease.

Tendi and Rutherford make their way around the Cerritos , narrowly avoiding T'Ana at the warp core , who is actively looking for Tendi. They find themselves in the exact spot in the Jefferies tubes where they watched the Trivoli pulsar together, and Tendi once more gets emotional, saying that while they are advised not to get too attached to your ship, it is incredibly hard not to. Rutherford then admits that he loves the Cerritos as well, and they embrace one another. Rutherford then says that he has an idea of an off-limits area they should go to next.

Back in Freeman's ready room, the senior staff are still angry about the situation, and Freeman tells them that their complaints are noted, and orders them back to their stations. Freeman then takes Mariner aside, and furiously tells her that she was going to tell them all at the right time. Mariner replies that as they're her friends, they should know, but Freeman says she can't allow her personal feelings about them to impede on this kind of decision. As they continue to argue, a red alert interrupts them, and they rush on to the bridge . Asking for a report, Boimler tells Freeman that the Lapeerian sun has just emitted an unexpected solar flare , which is heading straight for an unstable planetoid .

The flare envelops the planetoid, and destroys it, sending out a wave of magnetized ionic plasma and debris. The wave hits the Archimedes , overloading its systems, causing the ship to fall into a blackout and go adrift.

Act Two [ ]

The Archimedes ' crew recovers from the plasma wave impact but finds the ship disabled, with the warp core offline and backup power cells down: the first officer compares it to being hit with an EMP . However, they can see from the stars passing by through the transparent bridge dome that the momentum from the impact has kept the ship moving. Gomez realizes that the Archimedes has fallen into the gravity well of the Lapeerian homeworld, and the ship will crash into the planet if they cannot restore power. With their current problems outlined, she encourages the crew to start working on solutions.

The Cerritos ' bridge crew monitors the situation and estimates that the Archimedes is twenty hours away from crashing into the Lapeerian homeworld and causing catastrophic damage. Freeman wants to use the tractor beam on the Archimedes , but Billups informs her that the Cerritos can't get close enough due to the radiolytic isotopes within the planetoid debris which has been caught in orbit between the two ships. If any piece of the debris as small as a pomegranate was to hit the shields , Cerritos ' systems would be similarly disabled. Freeman asks about using the deflector to keep the debris away, but Boimler notes that projecting any energy field would draw in the ionic plasma. Kayshon proposes warping past the debris, but other officers berate the suggestion. Freeman asks if there is anything they can do to help, even breaking rules to do so, but Mariner is at a loss and replies that she does not know. Freeman then leaves the bridge in frustration.

Mariner follows Freeman to the captain's yacht , where Tendi and Rutherford have been secretly eating ice cream cones before running to hide. Freeman intends to take the yacht through the debris to get to the Archimedes , but Mariner counters that not only does the yacht have the same shield technology as the ship, as Freeman hasn't piloted anything in years, she is better suited to fly the yacht. As they argue, Tendi wonders if the yacht is off-limit because Mariner and Freeman often come here to fight, while Rutherford notes the ionic plasma within the debris. Mariner declares that she isn't going to let Freeman get herself killed, comparing herself to James T. Kirk . Freeman says that Mariner is not as confident as she once was and that she gets in too many fights; she instead needs to drop her defenses and make some allies. Inspired, Rutherford enters the yacht's cockpit and suggests that dropping defenses is how they can save the Archimedes . Freeman indicates that even if they lower their shields, the hull has magnetic shielding that they cannot discharge, and Rutherford proposes removing the hull. Confused, Mariner points out that the hull is needed to retain the ship's atmosphere, but Freeman realizes that he's referring to the removal of the outer hull, which is technically an extra layer of protection, while keeping the inner hull intact. Rutherford notes that the inner hull will still protect them from the vacuum of space, and since they will not be going to warp, the protection of the outer hull will not be needed. Freeman notes that the entire crew will have to help nonstop to strip the hull and then fly through dangerous debris with no protection, all in eleven hours. Grabbing Mariner and Tendi by the hand she leads them off the yacht, quickly saying that they have to hurry.

Freeman runs the plan by Billups in Engineering, who confirms that while the ship would take a beating, the plan could work. Freeman then calls all officers, regardless of their duties, to help strip the Cerritos of its outer hull. The crew begins a massive space walk and works tirelessly to strip the ship by releasing each plating maglock and cutting them with hand phasers when necessary, when Rutherford's implant once again impedes his vision. Billups takes a tricorder reading and informs him that his implant's storage has maxed out, and Rutherford explains that since he lost his memories of Tendi last year, he creates three backups of new memories with her in case he were to lose them again. Billups notes that it will only get worse if Rutherford doesn't free up space. Rutherford fears not having a backup if he forgets again, but Billups advises that if new memories with Tendi cannot be made, will it really matter either way?

Inside, Shaxs leads crewmembers in moving anything volatile deeper into the ship to keep them from inadvertently exploding. On the bridge, as no power would make the viewscreen useless anyway, its entire panel section is detached from the ship and exposes the bridge to space, as Ransom explains to Kayshon that he will have to pilot the ship by sight.

Back on the Archimedes , Gomez falls back onto her engineering background and is working tirelessly to try and get a shuttlecraft operational, hoping to use them to redirect the ship or at least evacuate some of her crew, but is unsuccessful. Her first officer is worried that she needs some rest, but Gomez refuses while the ship remains in its blackout: in seven hours, she grimly notes, she'll get to rest one way or another.

Freeman and Mariner enter the ship from their work on the hull, and while they seal off a hatch, Freeman tries to make light of the situation, in that at the very least when she's gone, Mariner won't have someone consistently angering her anymore. Mariner gets upset that Freeman is always trying to change her, and that she is glad that Freeman will be getting transferred off the ship as she never wants to work with her again. Freeman looks on sadly as Mariner stalks away.

On the underside of the saucer section, Billups saves a crewmember from floating off into space when the maglock for the last panel malfunctions and causes her boots to momentarily demagnetize. Discovering the maglock's access controls are fused, he alerts Freeman of one last panel that cannot be released outside, and that it needs to be released manually from inside the ship. Warned by Ransom that they're out of time, Freeman calls for red alert and orders the Cerritos towards the debris field, hoping the panel can be released during the transit. Ransom activates the manual steering column and takes the Cerritos forwards.

Cetacean Ops

"So, you guys doing anything for Captain Freeman Day?" " No. That's for calves. "

While Steve Stevens hurries the last of the crew on the hull back inside through the shuttlebay , Rutherford and Tendi are running through the Cerritos corridors. Rutherford's implant once more impedes his vision, and realizing he cannot keep ignoring the problem, he reluctantly purges his backup memories. However, as he does this, he inadvertently comes upon a memory he doesn't recognize, in which he sees two people in shadow giving him his implant. After he ponders it for a moment, he calls over Boimler and Mariner from down the corridor and they enter Cetacean Ops, where Rutherford calls two beluga whale lieutenant junior grades named Kimolu and Matt . Rutherford explains that while he and Tendi override the safety protocols, one of the other two needs to swim deep inside Cetacean Ops' hydrotube and release the mag clamps, as the control node for the manual access clamps is located there. As the belugas cannot release the panel themselves, Mariner volunteers, but complains that while she would save the day, her mother would get the credit for it. Boimler angrily tells Mariner to stop, and that she's just upset that her mother is leaving. Mariner admits this and tells them of their recent fight. While they try to tell her to go and reconcile with her mother, Mariner tells them that they don't understand her family, which causes Tendi to shout that they're her family, and that she will regret not reconciling with her mother if it's potentially their last moment together. Mariner relents and rushes to the bridge while thanking and apologizing to her friends.

Rutherford then shows Boimler on Cetacean Ops' diagram that the mag clamps are deep inside the filter nodule that he'll need to squeeze into, at the end of a tunnel at the bottom of Cetacean Ops' hydrotube, which is as long as the hydrotube is tall. Boimler starts to become nervous, but somewhat annoyed, Rutherford reminds him that he was the one that wanted to 'dive into the unknown', and now is his chance. While still nervous, he gets himself ready and dives into the water, towed to the bottom of the hydrotube by Kimolu and Matt. He asks the lieutenants if they're planning anything for Captain Freeman Day, but Kimolu replies that they're not, as it's for calves . Swimming through the tunnel and having to squeeze through a narrow section, he reaches the end and exposes the manual mag clamps controls, but when he tries to turn it, it won't budge.

As Ransom continues to navigate the Cerritos towards the debris field while looking for the best entry point, Mariner enters the bridge and hugs Freeman, apologizing. Freeman says that she was also being a bit of a "jerk" as well, and orders Mariner to help navigate where the viewscreen was. She takes a position on the opposite side of Sh'reyan, and Freeman orders to get ready to cut the power. Billups warns her that the panel is still on the hull, but Mariner says that Boimler is taking care of it.

Down in Cetacean Ops, Boimler is struggling with the clamps, but finally manages to disengage it and release the panel. However, he also doesn't notice the shoulder of his EV suit tearing when he does so. As the panel is freed, Freeman has the power cut, and the Cerritos enters the debris field. Boimler is happy he was successful, but it turns to alarm when he realizes that his suit has been compromised, and his helmet is quickly flooding with water. Taking one last available deep breath, he removes the helmet and leaving it behind, swims as fast as he can to get out of the tunnel. He reaches the narrow section and starts squeezing through, but his exertions have used up all his oxygen ; as he desperately reaches out for the hydrotube beyond the tunnel, he loses consciousness.

Act Three [ ]

Tendi and Rutherford are getting worried that Boimler hasn't come up yet, when Kimolu and Matt, having been able to get into the tunnel to rescue him, rush Boimler's unconscious body to the surface and toss him out of the water, reporting that he isn't breathing. Tendi realizes that Boimler is in cardiac arrest , and with no time to get to Sickbay, begins CPR . Tendi successfully resuscitates Boimler and he coughs up the water he swallowed. She has him speak to her: the first thing he asks is if he missed Captain Freeman Day, which she happily takes as a sign that he'll be okay. Kimolu excitedly invites them to go skinny dipping . A dazed Boimler mentions that he saw a koala , but Tendi suggests he keep that to himself.

With a heads-up display on his faceplate being his only available computer assistance, and Sh'reyan and Mariner reporting debris positions beyond the limited field of view from the first officer's chair, Ransom continues to pilot the Cerritos through the debris field on inertia and the ship's maneuvering RCS thrusters , but a massive piece of debris gets in their way. Unable to avoid it in time, he warns them to brace for impact: the debris collides with the Cerritos , dislodging Mariner from the floor and thrusting her out into space through the opening. Before Mariner drifts too far away, Sh'reyan makes her way onto the hull, and grabs her by the wrist. However, their joy is short-lived as more and larger debris comes upon Cerritos ' path.

The Cerritos rescues the Archimedes , just in time

The Archimedes is just minutes away from entering the planet's atmosphere. While Gomez tries to give her bridge crew the best chance of survival by ordering them to the back of the ship, they choose to stay with her. As Archimedes hits the atmosphere, its starboard warp nacelle is torn away due to atmospheric stress. The Lapeerians on the surface watch curiously, not knowing about the pending disaster. Before she can plummet further, the Archimedes and her stray nacelle are tractored into stable orbit by the battered Cerritos , having successfully navigated the debris field. Ransom reports that no lives were lost as Freeman sighs in relief.

Later, Freeman, Mariner, Ransom, Shaxs, and Stevens beam down to the planet to initiate the first contact , having been offered by Gomez that the Cerritos ' crew finish the mission instead. As they ready themselves to meet the Lapeerian leaders, Mariner commends her mother. Freeman approaches the Lapeerians, and begins the first contact greeting. The Lapperian leader interrupts the greeting with a friendly hug and invites them all for a drink.

In sickbay , Tendi is helping to treat the injured from both ships, and Dr. T'Ana calls her over. Tendi reluctantly approaches her, and sadly says that she knows she doesn't belong in sickbay. T'Ana agrees and says that the way Tendi masters anything she puts her mind to is unsettling. She surprises Tendi by saying that she's being limited by working in sickbay, and thus is moving her from medical to senior science officer training. Much to her growing delight, Tendi realizes that means she'll get to work on the bridge like Jadzia Dax did (or Spock as T'Ana interjects, not knowing who Dax is). T'Ana adds that it will mean a lot more experiments and going on away missions , and asks if she can handle that; Tendi hugs her tightly in appreciation while tearfully thanking her. Deciding that she's fine with the hug, T'Ana happily returns it and purrs .

The Cerritos and the Archimedes are joined in orbit by other Starfleet vessels, including a Parliament -class , an Oberth -class , a Nova -class docked with the Cerritos , and another California -class . As the crew celebrates their first first contact, Shaxs tells an intoxicated Freeman, having had a lot to drink with the Lapperians, that the repairs on the Archimedes are going well and Gomez is recovering nicely. Mariner also thanks Sh'reyan for saving her life, and Sh'reyan apologizes for how she's treated her throughout the year. As the two reconcile, they commend Brad for his actions in Cetacean Ops. Freeman then offers a toast to the Cerritos . As the crew cheers, an officer contacts Freeman that a team from Starfleet Command is requesting to come aboard. Freeman has them escorted to the senior conference room . The bridge crew and Mariner all express how happy they are for Freeman and wish her well on her new ship. However, Freeman surprises them and says she is turning down her transfer, saying that working so hard for her transfer blinded her to the fact that she's already happy where she is.

"You're under arrest for the destruction of Pakled Planet."

Ransom, Shaxs, and Mariner go with her to the conference room to tell the officers of her intention to remain on the Cerritos and are greeted by Commander Mandel and three other officers, all in operations gold . As Freeman begins to turn down her transfer, Mandel says that she doesn't have a choice. Freeman is then put in handcuffs , and arrested for the destruction of Pakled Planet to the shock of the others: the officers are with Starfleet Security . The bewildered Freeman asking what the charges are, Mandel informs them that they have proof that she collaborated with Klingon extremists to plant a Varuvian bomb in Big Strong City . On Freeman asking when it happened, she's told it had detonated at 0900 hours that day while the Cerritos was on her mission, with Mandel certain that it was conveniently " just as planned ". There will have to be a tribunal . While the others voice their objections, Freeman orders them to stand down and let the security officers do their jobs, confident that the Cerritos ' crew have the truth on their side. She also doesn't want the crew to know about her arrest until they learn more, but as they leave, the entire crew has already lined up, ready to cheer for her. Their joy quickly turns to shock as she is escorted out of the conference room in cuffs. They make way in silence for the officers and watch as Freeman is taken from the ship.

From the viewports , the Cerritos ' crew watches as the Nova -class starship to which Freeman was taken undocks from their ship, powers its engines, and goes to warp…

TO BE CONTINUED…

Memorable quotes [ ]

" Maybe everyone feels like they should know more about what's going on on the ship like need-to-know stuff that they don't know, you know? "

" You're lucky I'm so spiritually centered, or I'd snap! "

" Uh, I'm okay. Please don't, it's fine. " " Don't worry about it. I've done way worse in front of much more intimidating captains . "

" Attention all hands, report to your commanding officers. The Archimedes needs our help, so we have to remove our hull one panel at a time. I'm calling on every officer, no matter what your usual duties are. We have to work together. It'll be close, people; our lives will be on the line. But we are Starfleet, and we never back down from a challenge. Now, get to work. Cerritos strong! Oh, and the ballroom dancing competition will have to be postponed. "

" Last year, I lost all my memories of Tendi, so whenever I make a new one, I save three copies just in case it happens again. " " Well, it's only going to get worse until you free up some space. " " But what if I forget her again? " " Son, if you can't keep making new memories, does it matter? "

" You guys don't know anything about my family! " " WE ARE YOUR FAMILY! We will always be there for you and right now, we're heading right into a pile of crazy dangerous space debris! "

" So, you guys doing anything for Captain Freeman Day? " " No. That's for calves. "

" He's not breathing! " " His blowhole's broken! "

" Nothing like saving your friend, then going skinny dipping! "

" You shouldn't be treating phaser burns. I'm moving you into senior science officer training. " " Wait, like to work on the bridge? Like Jadzia Dax ? " " Who the *bleep* is that? I don't know who that is. No, like Spock . "

" You're under arrest for the destruction of Pakled Planet . "

Background information [ ]

• The title was announced in a ViacomCBS press release on 12 October 2021 . [1] as "First First Contact" but is listed on Paramount+ as just "First Contact" [2]
• This episode marks the third time that the phrase " first contact " is used in the title of a Star Trek installment, the first two being TNG : " First Contact " and Star Trek: First Contact .
• The title refers to first contact missions, prestigious assignments in which Starfleet engages an alien culture for the first time. Despite her mission profile usually focusing on second contacts , the USS Cerritos is assigned to support the USS Archimedes during first contact with the Lapeerians . After the Archimedes is disabled, Captain Gomez allows Captain Freeman to finish the assignment, marking the first such accomplishment for the captain and her crew.

Production [ ]

• This is the first Star Trek episode to feature the intertitle " To Be Continued... " since the Star Trek: Enterprise fourth season episode " Demons ".

Cast and characters [ ]

• Lycia Naff reprises her role of Sonya Gomez , now captain of the USS Archimedes . Gomez was introduced as an ensign in the Star Trek: The Next Generation episode " Q Who " and last seen in " Samaritan Snare ", the episode which introduced the Pakleds . In-universe, about 16 years have passed since these events while more than 32 years have passed since the first release of "Samaritan Snare". This likely marks the longest real-world timespan between two appearances of a character who is still portrayed by the same actor. Previously, Kor and Arne Darvin – portrayed by John Colicos and Charlie Brill , respectively – appeared on Star Trek: Deep Space Nine over 28 years after their last appearances on Star Trek: The Original Series .
• As solutions to save the Archimedes are discussed, Kayshon suggests warping around the debris field. Most characters hectically dismiss the idea and Shaxs can be heard yelling " Dr. Erin says we can't do that! " This is a reference to Dr. Erin Macdonald , the science consultant of Star Trek: Lower Decks . [3]

Continuity [ ]

The new Obena -class

• The Obena -class is introduced for the first time with the USS Archimedes . The ship combines design elements of the refit Excelsior -class , notably in its engineering hull and neck, with the style of the Sovereign -class , especially in the design of its nacelles, pylons, yellow deflector dish and elongated saucer. According to series creator Mike McMahan , the class is named for Lower Decks art designer Nollan Obena . McMahan also noted that the Obena -class is larger than the Excelsior -class and stated that this class is still in service. [4]
• When Mariner mentions that she doesn't want a new captain to be transferred to the USS Cerritos because the crew could potentially receive " some weirdo with a riding crop , " this is likely a reference to Captain Lawrence H. Styles and his swagger stick in Star Trek III: The Search for Spock .
• Once again, it is noted that California -class starships are not considered prestigious assignments. As Captain Freeman expects a promotion to another ship, she duly notes that she will not be allowed to take her senior officers with her, as Starfleet tends to keep crews of California -class starships together. Although Freeman tries to spin this positively in front of her senior staff, the officers, notably Billups , seem to be aware of and upset about the class's negative perception.
• When Captain Gomez helps a nervous ensign who trips, she explains how she's done way worse in front of much more intimidating captains. This is a reference to a memorable scene in TNG : " Q Who ", in which Gomez accidentally spills a cup of hot chocolate on Captain Picard 's uniform .
• Throughout the episode, Brad Boimler is making preparations for Captain Freeman Day , including a banner similar to the one seen for Captain Picard Day in TNG : " The Pegasus ". Several characters point out that the festivities are actually an arts and crafts day intended for children (or calves). Due to the accomplishments during this episode, Boimler later crudely changes the banner to read "Happy First Contact ".
• Tendi is excited at the prospect of going to the off-limits rubber ducky room , referencing the barely visible rubber ducks included as easter eggs by Michael Okuda in the master systems displays of the USS Enterprise -D and USS Cerritos .
• A captain's yacht is shown only for the second time in this episode, after its first appearance in Star Trek: Insurrection . Similar vessels have often been included in master systems displays and background information about various ship classes.
• As the implant of Sam Rutherford once again malfunctions, he quickly views several back-up memories of moments he has spent with D'Vana Tendi , most of which are taken from previous episodes. Notably, one previously unseen memory sees Rutherford and Tendi celebrating New Year's Eve in 2381 , while another sees the pair painting a nude Jack Ransom in an apparent art class.
• Rutherford also views and dismisses a memory in which he seemingly receives his implant for the first time. The unidentified shadowy figures indicate that Rutherford actually does not need the implant and imply that it may have nefarious uses, unbeknownst to him.
• Cetacean Ops is shown for the first time, after several mentions and references in previous episodes, starting with " Second Contact ". Its function is revealed to be associated with the ship's navigation . A similar facility was mentioned to exist aboard the USS Enterprise -D in TNG : " Yesterday's Enterprise " and TNG : " The Perfect Mate ". It has also been included as a piece of background lore in publications such as Star Trek: The Next Generation Technical Manual and Star Trek: The Next Generation USS Enterprise NCC-1701-D Blueprints .
• Matt and Kimolu , two beluga whales , are the first shown Starfleet officers from an Earth -based species other than Humans .
• Matt only learns about Mariner being Captain Freeman's daughter in this episode, a revelation that caused quite a stir with most of the Cerritos ' crew in " No Small Parts ".
• As Boimler regains consciousness from nearly drowning, he claims to have seen a vision of a koala . In " Moist Vessel ", Lieutenant O'Connor saw such a creature spanning the universe during his ascension .
• As Commander Ransom takes manual control of the Cerritos , he flies the ship with the help of the manual steering column , similar to the one used by William T. Riker in Star Trek: Insurrection . The ship is also seen firing reaction control thrusters while in the debris field, similar to the Enterprise -D navigating an asteroid field in TNG : " Booby Trap ".
• As the Cerritos comes to the rescue of the Archimedes at the last second, an ensign excitedly points at the ship and exclaims " It's the Cerritos ! ". This is reminiscent of the Season 1 finale, " No Small Parts ", in which an excited Boimler points to the view screen and exclaims " It's the Titan ! ", as the USS Titan unexpectedly swoops in and saves the Cerritos from a vicious Pakled assault.
• An Oberth -class vessel is seen at the end of the episode, tractoring the torn-off nacelle of the Archimedes . This marks the class's first on-screen appearance since it was seen in the background of the Battle of Sector 001 in Star Trek: First Contact . This also confirms the Oberth -class as one of the longest known serving Starfleet ship classes of the late 24th century, with its first appearance in Star Trek III: The Search for Spock set in 2285 , about 96 years before this episode. Not counting holographic depictions, only the Magee -class has seen a longer service, ranging for over 129 years from at least 2256 to 2385 .
• A Nova -class vessel was also seen at the end of the episode, first positioned near the Cerritos and then ferrying away Captain Freeman. The Nova -class was last seen on ENT : " Azati Prime ", during the Battle of Procyon V . However, the ship seen in this episode features differences from previous Nova -class vessels, notably a yellow deflector dish more reminiscent of the Archimedes .
• Tendi is finally dismissed from sickbay duty, something she feared throughout the season. However, her dismissal is actually a promotion , as Dr. T'Ana recommends her for senior science officer training, because she excels at every scientific task assigned to her.
• Tendi joyfully compares herself to Jadzia Dax at the prospect of becoming a senior science officer. T'Ana dismisses the notion, expressing that she has no idea who that is and compares her to the more famous Spock instead. This is a likely reference to the enduring cultural prominence of Star Trek: The Original Series and its characters over the various Star Trek spin-off series.
• After a long-standing feud throughout previous episodes, Beckett Mariner and Jennifer Sh'reyan become more friendly towards each other during the course of this episode and express their mutual respect. They also hint at a mutual attraction, which according to Mike McMahan will lead to the exploration of a romantic relationship: " So the themes in the second season about Mariner opening herself up and trusting people and not being afraid about abandonment and not pushing people away all the time, that actually fit into us seeing her in a relationship for the first time. Nothing felt more appropriate for Mariner than taking the person that she ostensibly dislikes the most on the Cerritos and finding out that, of course she's attracted to her because anything Mariner likes, she pushes away. " [5]
• As the Cerritos ' crew intends to congratulate Captain Freeman for her promotion and wishes to bid her farewell, several officers line up in a corridor, similar to the farewell ceremonies seen in TNG : " Redemption " and VOY : " Homestead ".
• The ongoing conflict with the Pakled takes a surprising turn at the end of this episode, as it is revealed that Pakled Planet was recently destroyed by a varuvian bomb . Such weapons were sold to the Pakled by Captain Dorg in the previous episode " wej Duj ". Based on the evidence presented by Starfleet Security , Captain Freeman is accused of collusion and is considered a suspect in the destruction of the world and taken into custody.

Links and references [ ]

Starring [ ].

• Beckett Mariner
• Archimedes cmd ens
• Jack Quaid as Brad Boimler
• Noël Wells as D'Vana Tendi
• Eugene Cordero as Sam Rutherford
• Dawnn Lewis as Carol Freeman
• Jerry O'Connell as Jack Ransom
• Fred Tatasciore as Shaxs
• Gillian Vigman as T'Ana

Special guest star [ ]

• Lycia Naff as "Capt. Sonya Gomez "

Guest cast [ ]

• Alonzo Freeman
• Archimedes first officer
• Lauren Lapkus as Jennifer Sh'reyan
• Jim Piddock as Mandel
• Ryan Ridley as Bajoran ops lt jg
• Paul Scheer as Andy Billups
• Carl Tart as Kayshon
• Cybernetic surgeon 1 (flashback)
• Cybernetic surgeon 2 (flashback)
• Lapeerian leader

Background characters [ ]

• Lapeerian bystanders
• Starfleet Security ensigns
• Rumdar (photo)
• Pakled leader (photo)
• Pakled rebels (photo)
• Human officers
• Tellarite officer
• Vulcan officer
• Jet Manhaver
• Sleepy Merp
• Steve Stevens
• Alien ops ens
• Alien waitress
• Andorian ops ens
• Antaran ops ens
• Bajoran ops lt
• Benzite cmd ens
• Haliian ops lt
• Human bar staff 2
• Human cmd ens 1
• Human cmd ens 7
• Human cmd lt jg 2
• Human cmd lt 2
• Human cmd lt 4
• Human cmd lt cmdr 3
• Human ops ens 1
• Human ops ens 2
• Human ops ens 9
• Human ops lt jg 1
• Human ops lt jg 2
• Human ops lt jg 3
• Human ops lt 1
• Human ops lt 3
• Human ops lt 4
• Human ops lt 6
• Human ops lt 8
• Human ops lt 10
• Human sci ens 3
• Human sci ens 6
• Human sci lt jg 1
• Human sci lt jg 3
• Human sci lt 1
• Human sci lt 3
• Human sci lt 7
• Human sci lt cmdr 1
• Napean ops lt
• Vulcan sci lt 1

References [ ]

2381 ; 24-hour clock ; access control ; admiral (aka admiralty ); Adonis ; Akira -class ; alert ; alien ; " all hands "; ally ; Andorian ; Antaran ; Archimedes , USS ; arrest ; asteroid ; atmosphere ; authority ; away missions ; baby ; Bajoran ; Ballroom dance ; banner ; bar ; beating ; beluga whale ; Benzite ; betrayal ; Big Strong City ; blowhole ; bod ; Bolian ; booth ; " brace for impact "; breathing ; bridge ; bridge crew ; bull *bleep* ; bush ; butt ; Caitian ; " Cali -class "; California -class ( unnamed ); calves ; captain (aka " cap ", " cap'n "); Captain Freeman Day ; captain's log ; captain's yacht ; cardiac arrest ; cardiopulmonary resuscitation ; celebration ; Cerritos , USS ; Cetacean Ops ; challenge ; charges ; children ; choice ; clamps ; clapping ; class J gas giant ; class M ; collusion ; combadge ; command ; commander ; commanding officers ; conflict ; congratulations ; consistency ; contraband ; control node ; coupling ; court martial ; crew ; crying ; culture ; cybernetic implant ; daughter ; Dax, Jadzia ; day ; debris ; decision ; decorations ; defenses ; deflector ; dinner ; Diplomath ; diving ; doctor ; Douglas Station ; " Dr. T "; drawing ; dream ; drinking ; drowning ; ego ; EMP ; energy field ; engines ; ensign ; environmental suit ; Erin ; experiments ; extremists ; fajitas ; family ; Federation starships at Starbase ; feelings ; fight ; file ; filter nodule ; first contact ; flare ; fleet ; flippers ; foot ; formality ; " free spirit "; friend ; *bleep* ; gig ; gravity well ; guy ; Haliian ; hallway ; handcuffs ; hangovers ; hate ; hell ; helm ; hero ; hiding ; home ; hostility ; hours ; hug ; hull ; hull plate ; hull plating ; hydroscoot ; hydrotube ; ice cream cone ; idea ; illusion ; information ; inner hull ; invasion ; Jefferies tube ; jerk ; job ; kid ; Kirk, James T. ; Klingon ; koala ; Kzinti ; Laap system ; Lapeeria ; Lapeerian ; Lapeerian sun ; lieutenant ; lieutenant commander ; lieutenant junior grade ; locals ; love ; mag clamp ; magnetic shield ; magnetized ionic plasma ; Maintenance hatch 788 ; manual access clamps ; master systems display ; Medical ; medical roster ; memory ; Merp's species ; Migleemo's species ; minutes ; mission ; mister ; mom ; momentum ; mood-altering plant ; Moxy's species ; " Mr. Humble Confidence "; nacelle ; Napean ; NCC ; New Year's Eve ; Nova -class ( unnamed ); nudity ; number one ; Obena -class ; Oberth -class ( unnamed ); office ; " okey-dokey "; " on the fly "; " open book, an "; orbit ; order ; Orion ; outer hull ; Pakled ; Pakled Clumpship ( unnamed ); Pakled Planet ; Parliament -class ( unnamed ); party ; pee ; people ; phaser ; planet ; planetoid ; pomegranate ; Pon Darra's species ; praise ; promotion ; proof ; protection ; purr ; radiolytic isotopes ; ready room ; record ; red alert ; rendezvous ; repairs ; rescue ; riding crop ; rubber ducky room ; safety protocols ; satisfaction ; senior conference room ; senior science officer training ; senior staff ; Sequoia ; shielding ; shields ; shoulders ; sickbay ; sir ; skinny dipping ; son ; space ; space walk ; Spacedock -type ; Spock ; spying ; " stand down "; stardate ; Starfleet ; Starfleet Academy ; Starfleet Command ; Starfleet insignia ; Starfleet Security ; Starfleet uniform (2370s-early 2380s) ; Starfleet uniform (early 2380s) ; stations ; storage ; stripping ; stuff ; subspace transponders ; suggestion ; sweaty ; swimming ; system ; t-shirt ; Tamarian ; Tanowski ; Teagarden ; Teague ; Tegtmeir ; Tehrani ; Te' Mpest ; Tellarite ; Tellman ; Tennyson ; Ter Haar ; Ter' Esi ; Teshime ; thing (aka " thingy "); toddlers ; tractor beam ; transfer ; tribunal ; tricorder ; Trill ; Trivoli pulsar ; truth ; type 2 phaser ; Type 6A captain's yacht ( unnamed ); Type 6A shuttlecraft ; United Federation of Planets ; vacuum ; vanity holiday ; Varuvian bomb ; viewscreen ; vision ; voice authorization ; volatiles ; Vulcan ; waitress ; warp ; warp core ; water ; week ; " weirdo "; woman ; work ; working ; year

Meta references [ ]

bleep ; cliffhanger ; intertitle ; subtitle

External links [ ]

• " First First Contact " at Memory Beta , the wiki for licensed Star Trek works
• " First First Contact " at the Internet Movie Database
• " "First First Contact" " at MissionLogPodcast.com , a Roddenberry Star Trek podcast

The Definitive Voice of Entertainment News

Subscribe for full access to The Hollywood Reporter

site categories

‘star trek’: the story of the ‘next generation’ crew’s greatest movie.

Jonathan Frakes, Brannon Braga, and more look back at 'Star Trek: First Contact' 20 years after the groundbreaking 1996 hit took 'Trek to new heights.

By Aaron Couch

Aaron Couch

pmc-editorial-manager

• Share this article on Facebook
• Share this article on Twitter
• Share this article on Flipboard
• Share this article on Email
• Show additional share options
• Share this article on Linkedin
• Share this article on Pinit
• Share this article on Reddit
• Share this article on Tumblr
• Share this article on Whatsapp
• Share this article on Print
• Share this article on Comment

In 1996, Star Trek was at its apex.

On the small screen, Deep Space Nine and Voyager were carrying the Trek  legacy — and on the big screen, the Next Generation crew was still in its prime, having delivered a hit movie with 1994’s Generations after ending a seven-season run at the height of its popularity.

But the Trek creative team longed for more. Longtime writers Ronald D. Moore and Brannon Braga weren’t completely satisfied with Generations — a film they wrote but that was saddled with mandates that saw Picard (Patrick Stewart) share top billing with original series captain James T. Kirk (William Shatner ). For their next project, the pair were determined to do right by the Next Generation crew, pitting them against their greatest nemesis , The Borg — a collective consciousness bent on assimilating all life in the galaxy — and creating of a time-travel narrative that examined the origins of Star Trek itself. 

Jonathan Frakes (Commander Riker ) had proven himself to be a top-notch director on Next Generation , and was tapped to lead the crew of the Enterprise behind the camera for his debut feature. It proved to be a wise choice, with Frakes commanding respect and affection from the cast and crew and utilizing his TV director’s ability to make the budget look much bigger than it was.

When  Star Trek: First Contact hit theaters 20 years ago on Nov. 22, 1996, it went on to earn $146 million worldwide against a $45 million budget — making it at the time the second-highest-grossing Trek film ever. It also would be considered a high point in Trek lore, with many fans arguing only Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan can top it.

“WE WANTED TO REDEEM OURSELVES”

1994’s Star Trek: Generations is still in theaters and screenwriters Ronald D. Moore and Brannon Braga are approached by producer Rick Berman about crafting a follow-up. The pair immediately agree — eager to get right what they feel they got wrong with the previous film.

Brannon Braga , screenwriter : When Generations came out, Kirk and Picard were on the cover of Time magazine and it’s like, “OK, how much bigger does it get?” But at the same time, Ron and I felt that we had made some missteps with Generations and we wanted to redeem ourselves and make a really great movie.

Ronald D. Moore, screenwriter : The big difference between First Contact and Generations was right at the start, there really wasn’t a list of things to do. There was no mandate. When we did  Generations , there was literally a list of things that the movie had to accomplish. It had to be a transition from one cast to the other. You could only have the original series cast in the first 10 minutes. It had to have the Klingons in it, it had to have a big villain, it had to have time travel in it. It was all this stuff. With First Contact , it was really just, “OK, what do you want to do?” So the three of us worked on the story together, and I think Rick was interested in doing time travel and Brannon was interested in doing the Borg.

Braga : The first draft had Riker fighting the Borg on the ship and Picard down on the planet and everything was just backwards. Patrick Stewart, who had read that first draft, said, “Why am I not on the ship? I’m the one who got raped by this species.” We were like, “OK. Obviously he is correct.” 

Moore : There were a lot of budgetary constraints. Even though the budget was obviously much bigger than your average episode was, it was still astonishing how quickly that got chewed up by visual effects budgets of the day. Paramount didn’t really spend a lot on those movies. We were reusing the sets and reusing old stuff. At the beginning, when the Enterprise comes in and the Borg are attacking Earth and there’s a huge fleet battle, that got way cut back. Likewise, a lot of the action that took place on board the Enterprise, you’ll note that we are still down to counting phaser bolts, which was such a pain in the ass, where we’re budgeting, “Well how many shots can the security guys take?” “Oh, it’s $10,000 a shot” and you’re negotiating with the production people.   

Braga : There were a few “aha” moments. Definitely when we conceptualized the Borg Queen, because at an early stage we were realizing the Borg are zombies but they don’t talk and we wanted some depth. We wanted these villains to want to be understood. And the other “aha” moment for me was the idea that the hero to all of the people on the Enterprise, Zefram Cochrane, was a drunk asshole who is creating warp drive for all the wrong reasons and him realizing why he needs to do it because it’s going to change the world and I thought, if you could go back in time and meet one of your great heroes from history and they’re a jerk, it’s very shocking.

Jonathan Frakes , director and Commander Riker : Sherry Lansing, who ran Paramount at the time, said to Rick Berman, “I’ll leave this in your hands because you know this franchise.” First Contact was Star Trek 8 . Ridley Scott was not going to direct this movie. Spielberg was not going to direct this movie. The big action guys certainly were not interested in doing the eighth version of a Star Trek movie. So I threw my hat in the ring with the rest of them and I was blessed to get arguably the best job of my life.

“ GODMOMMY , I’M GOING TO DIRECT FIRST CONTACT “

The crew of the Enterprise welcomes three new additions — Alice Krige as the Borg Queen; James Cromwell as warp drive inventor Zefram Cochrane; and Alfre Woodard as Lily Sloan, Cochrane’s assistant — who would challenge Picard in ways no other character ever did.

Alfre Woodard, Lily Sloane:  We are the same age, but I’m Jonathan Frakes ‘ godmommy . We were all young actors to Hollywood. We are like 22, and we would sit around and pool our money for chicken and beer and other things. It was a big gang of us and we would just crash at each other’s apartments. Besides silly and bawdy conversations with Jonathan, we also had poignant conversations, and I was talking about what my godmother meant to me. His eyes were moist and he said, “I don’t have a godmother.” I said, “Are you kidding?” Then he looked at me and said, “Will you be my godmommy ?”  

Frakes : I think she’s one of our finest actresses, and Rick shares that feeling. When he found out I had a relationship with her, we just offered her the part. We had met with a number of movie stars and then it became clear that casting Alfre in that part, not only is she a great actor, she isn’t who you think of in an action-adventure-horror movie. She added a gravitas and she also could go head-to-head with Patrick. At the core of what makes the movie work is that wonderful scene in the conference room where she says, “You broke your little ships.” It’s brilliant.

Woodard : I got a call, and it might have been Jonathan saying “ Godmommy , I’m going to direct First Contact. ” I said, “Yes!” My godson was going to direct me. “Hell yeah.” Then I thought, I don’t know anything about this. I remember that first day on set, Jonathan said, “You’re from a different time anyway, so you won’t even know half the things — it will work, it will work.” That first day, I had to come through a Jefferies tube and I said, “Jonathan, who’s Jeffrey?” And he looked at me and he said, “Oh my god, what have I done?”

Frakes : Cromwell was also unlikely casting. That was the year he was up for Babe [for an Oscar nomination]. He was an actor that Rick and I had discussed because we thought it was quirky, interesting. He was appealing, he was absurd and he seemed intelligent. He felt like he could be a mad scientist.

Alice Krige , the Borg Queen : I just got sent three scenes by my agent and I said, “I’ll go in on this, but I need to see the script if they want to meet me.” She said, “No, you don’t understand. No one sees the script.” I had never seen an episode of Star Trek . So I ran over to a friend’s house, who had a whole lot of Star Trek episodes on tape. And I watched the Borg episodes. I did the audition for Jonathan and Rick and [casting director] Junie Lowry. In the course of doing those scenes for them, I suddenly kind of got her. I suddenly experienced the Borg Queen. I came out and I thought I had completely blown it. So I ran off the lot and found a payphone at a gas station and I called my agent and said, “I really, really messed that up. But I really, really want to do it. Would you ask them if I could come in again?” She phoned them and we didn’t hear anything for three weeks. I thought, “Oh well. Another one bites the dust.” And three weeks later they called and said, “Would you come in again please?” I went in and met the three of them again and, as I remember, as I left they made the offer.   

Scott Wheeler, makeup artist : That character would not have worked without Alice playing the role. They were talking about Cher playing the role. And no offense to Cher, she’s had some great moments, but it would have been so gimmicky and I doubt she would have been willing to sit through the 4 1/2-hour makeup we were putting on Alice.

“THE BORG QUEEN WAS BORN”

The painstaking work of hundreds of movie artisans brings the film to life in an era when practical effects still ruled and CG was just coming on the scene. The Borg Queen is among the film’s crowning achievements under a team led by legendary makeup artist Michael Westmore .

Wheeler:  Jake Garber and I basically redesigned the original TV version of the Borg. I always thought of them as this metaphor for technology destroying humanity, like Communism over free will, the collective being prioritized over the individual. It started to represent technology almost raping humanity and biology. The whole basis of the actual paint scheme was based on cadavers to represent death.

Frakes :  All the Borg were on a different clock. There was an entirely different crew that showed up at 2:30 in the morning, their own set of ADs , their own set of and makeup artists, and Alice was part of that. So by the time we showed up at 6 or 6:30, they had already been there for four hours getting Borgified .

Jacob Garber, special makeup effects artist: We were the first ones there and the last ones gone. I don’t recall anything less than a 14-hour day. I ended up sneaking in a bunch of hidden messages in the Borg head pieces. I think I got about every makeup artist’s name in there somewhere. I snuck one in there that was Westmore’s House of Barbeque, I put me and a girl I was dating at the time in there. 

Scott G.G. Haller , sound effects editor:  It was a fun moment to be walking to lunch on the Paramount lot and seeing an extra in full Borg costume sitting on a chair outside of a sound stage, smoking a cigarette and reading a newspaper.

Wheeler: With the Borg Queen, the script had one simple description: hauntingly beautiful. I thought, “OK, why is she hauntingly beautiful?” Maybe the Borg needs a certain appeal. Maybe she’s hauntingly beautiful, because she’s sort of the seductress of the ideals that the Borg are supposed to represent. There was this beautiful face that is basically stretched over a biomechanical form. In the very front is a façade of beauty, and as you go further back and look at her, more and more you see the horror and the rot and the decay.

Krige :  By the time it was all on and all done, quite simply, I felt like the Borg Queen. It was as if I had gone through a type of time warp or portal. By the time they put in the lenses, it was not me anymore. That was phenomenally helpful. And I always think of it as a collaborative performance, because you can’t think of the character separate from what she looked like.

Related Stories

'star trek': 100 greatest episodes.

Wheeler: We did some tests and the film dailies came back without them being properly timed. They were way too contrasty and too saturated. Rick didn’t really quite understand that was the situation. Rick felt it was way too dark and he asked me to lighten it up. His first note was just make it off white. “Don’t have any of the discolorations or the rotting.” I said, “No, I’m not going to make her into a giant egg head.” I wanted to keep the paint scheme the same. I said, “Let me lighten it up and I’ll show you.” So what I actually did was I painted another head exactly the same way I painted the first one, and then I took the original and I darkened it. I took those up to him and said, “Here’s the original, the one you don’t like that’s too dark, and here’s the new painted version, are you OK with it?” He goes, “Yeah, yeah, that’s much better.” So I got to keep the paint scheme the way I wanted it.

Todd Masters, designing supervisor, the Borg : We actually made a special suit for Alice that we didn’t put on the budget, because she was so awesome that we really wanted her performance to work. We initially made a suit that was a little too dense, a little too hard, and she was having trouble with it, so over the weekend, we made her a new one, which was not easy to do. The all-nighters were definitely a fact.

Wheeler :   We did the initial makeup test, and it was one of those things where we didn’t know how these elements were going to come together. We put her in the costume and we were in this special trailer just for her to do her makeup and wardrobe. Frakes was there, Mike Westmore was there and Rick Berman was just walking in while the lens technician was putting in the metallic contact lenses. When the lenses went in, Alice looked in the mirror and you could see how the look all of a sudden informed her about the character. She changed her posture and her presence. She turned around — and when she turned around, I kid you not, everyone gasped and stepped back. It was that moment when we went, “OK. It works.” The Borg Queen was born.

Masters : The whole part of the Queen coming down from the rafters when the head and shoulders are plugged into her body — that was unexpected at that time, the manner we approached it. Practical effects were still the rock star of the set, but CG was coming in. And we were one of the first groups to start integrating the two. So the whole thing with Alice coming down from the rafters and plugging in — most of the production didn’t believe we could pull it off.

Tracee Lee Cocco , the Borg Queen’s stand-in : They had me go up in a hoist on a flat kind of board and they turned the mechanism to make me turn over. And I’m so high and I’m afraid of heights anyway. Stand-ins have to do exactly what the actors do in every scene to get the lighting right.

Masters:  I didn’t think it would have worked as well if it was shot in two different parts, if we shot Data in month one and three months later we’re shooting Alice on a blue screen. I really argued for shooting it all on one stage and no one knew what the hell I was talking about it. It was like, “Well how do we do that?” She doesn’t have a body. We came up with this whole, bizarre system of old technology meets new — and it worked beautifully and ILM composited this thing together like gangbusters. And it’s still shocking today. I have visual effects supervisors coming to me today asking how we did that shot.

A NEW ENTERPRISE

After saying goodbye to the Enterprise-D in Generations , a new ship needs to be constructed. To add to the pressure at Industrial Light & Magic, a key piece of equipment broke just before they began work on the Enterprise-E, which would end up being the final model Enterprise used for a film or television show. It takes around 35 people months to complete.

John Eaves, illustrator:  The Enterprise-D in Next Generation was a much shorter Enterprise from what you had previously seen. They wanted to be able to show a ship that would fit on TV screens all at once as opposed to being way far away to show the whole ship. For the Enterprise-E, I went back to the old, original Matt Jefferies Enterprise, which was longer and used an Excelsior that Bill George at ILM created. It was a mix of the two and being able to make that length again added a nice balance to the whole ship.

John Goodson , model project supervisor : The model was 10 feet long. They really wanted to be able to look in the windows and see into the rooms. In the past, all those types of models, you wouldn’t see anything inside the room, you’d just see a light. We tried a bunch of different solutions and we just couldn’t get it to work. Eventually we cut little 16th  of an inch window frames for each window on the ship out of plexiglass . We put a piece of 32-inch plexiglass in the window frame and in the back of it we mounted a piece of plexiglass that was a quarter of an inch thick. We took photographs from a technical manual that’d been done on CD-ROM for Next Generation and we photographed a bunch of the rooms, just taking a camera and shooting it off the monitor. We put the slides in the windows. Later we had to change the dish, because halfway through the show, they added the whole thing where they fight the Borg on the dish and they built a live-action set.

Frakes :  [Production designer] Herman Zimmerman built the saucer on half of one of the sound stages. We storyboarded that sequence so we could tell the story that they were upside-down but shoot them right-side-up. I wasn’t as thrilled with that scene in retrospect when I watch the movie again. That scene in one of J.J.’s [Abrams] budgets would have been visually more amazing. I think we would have seen more shots of them in medium-wide shots where you would feel like they were actually doing this in space. There were a lot of close-ups in ours. There were practical close-ups of the boots on the set and the people against a blue screen and there weren’t a lot of medium- wides where you saw the whole dish and you felt it. But I look back at what we did for what we had and I’m very, very proud.  

“WE KEPT THAT LILY AND PICARD RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN TAKES”

Alfre Woodard’s character Lily is at the heart of the film. Lily and Picard share a special chemistry, which culminates with a now-classic scene in which she challenges him to admit that he has embarked on an Ahab-like quest against the Borg.   

Woodard: That one and the luscious day I spent in Picard’s quarters with Patrick — that’s one of those days you don’t want to end. You have them occasionally with an actor and this is what we do. We’re in the middle of the music right now.

Frakes : I remember like it was yesterday, sitting under the camera and looking up at these two heavyweights duking it out and just getting a couple of different sizes and let the acting tell the story.

Woodard:  All three of us are from the theater, so we knew what the scene was. We worked the same way. We know about finding your intention and all that. The words will come. The words are the writers’ direction to get you to the plot, but the real activity happens between what is said. What is said is not as important as what you mean, what you’re not saying. Jonathan said, “Where would you be moving naturally?” And then one of us would say, “OK I think by this point …” and he said, “This is all I need you to do — be over here by the ships.”

Frakes :  Sometimes you tell the story with the camera, but this was just capturing and letting the actors tell the story.

Woodard : One of the things I was nervous about was the candy glass. When those kinds of things are set up, Patrick has got to hit exactly where it is, but you don’t want to be thinking about it. Patrick I were great friends, but for that whole morning and afternoon, we kept that Lily and Picard relationship in between takes. You know you have a partner. But even though you focus and you are in your character and you are seeing from your character’s reality, there is somewhere in the back of you, where you know that you are an Olympian running with a teammate passing that baton back and forth.

Moore: The relationship between Patrick and Alfre’s character was really strong. It was more of a romance in the earlier drafts and I think there was more to the kiss [at the end of the movie] and it was shot to have a more romantic element to it. I think what happened was, it wasn’t quite playing as well on screen and that got kind of cut back through post and through the editing process. It wasn’t an overt romance, it was never scripted that he falls in love with her, but there was definitely more of a chemistry between the two of them. The chemistry onscreen between the two of them was interesting, but it was a little more adversarial and they were challenging to each other on an intellectual level. It wasn’t sort of sparking off romantic sparks the way we thought it would initially.

Krige : The day I got cast, they went off to the Angeles Forest for the Zefram Cochrane scenes, so it was more or less [Data actor] Brent [ Spiner ] and me back in L.A. So I spent some time with him on the lot and he was incredibly helpful. I was under the impression that it was all about the Borg Queen and Picard. Brent kind of put me right. He said, “No, no, no. It’s all about the Borg Queen and Data.” And of course he was right. She’d been there, done that in respect of Picard.

Moore : Once we were dealing with Data having an emotion chip, then you really started to have to face the question, “What would he do with the chip? How human could he be? What would he be seduced by emotionally?” For a while, we weren’t quite sure what to do with Data. I think it was more of a comedic line for a little while, and then once we were developing the Borg Queen, I remember us early on saying, “Well you know, Data is an android. She’s a cybernetic being, perhaps she can find a way to seduce him in a way that no one else really can, because she sort of understands his side of the equation as well.”

Krige : In Data she meets her match. Whoever trumped the Borg Queen? But he manages to. I don’t know where the sensuality or sexuality or visceral physicality came from, but it’s kind of who she was, because she kind of does a similar thing with Seven of Nine with  Voyager . It’s just part of who she is. It’s one of the things she does to draw people in. She uses it with Data, but she kind of gets hoisted on her own petard.  

James MacKinnon , prosthetics makeup artist: Michael Westmore asked me to work on Data’s arm. It’s a little flap of skin. We’re gluing wires from one side to the other and I’m squeezing the bottle of two ounces of super glue and it’s not coming out. All of a sudden I squeeze hard and the whole bottle explodes on my arm. The super glue sets quick. My arm is attached to my chest. It’s kind of smoking because it makes super glue go faster. Now my arm’s burning. I finished my makeup with one hand and it takes me two hours to get out of the super glue.  

Masters : The back office didn’t like what we were doing, because we didn’t have a budget. We kind of kept going until they told us to stop. Things like the Locutus suit. They told us to stop. They said, “We don’t have the budget for the Locutus suit! We’re going to use the Locutus suit from the television show.” I put my foot down and I said, “There’s a big difference between what we’re doing here and what was done from the TV show.” That was black long Johns with Battleship parts. It had phone cords wrapped around. No disrespect to the people who made that stuff, but it was made for a small screen. Our stuff had to be projected on these huge, 300-foot wide screens. I finally convinced the producer to bring in Picard’s double, so we put the television suit on the double to prove to them. Still, they said, “We don’t have the budget.” My team somehow cobbled together a suit for Locutus out of Borg parts. So we didn’t use the TV suit. We actually made it. I think the top is part of the Queen’s suit and part of one the male Borg suits. It actually didn’t close in the back, so you never see Locutus from the back.

“HEY, THAT WAS A REAL SUPERSONIC MISSILE”

First Contact was the rare Trek outing for the Next Generation cast away from the studio lot. They shot the Earth scenes in Angeles National Forrest and the Titan Missile Museum, south of Tucson, Ariz. The old missile silo doubled for Cochrane’s lab and featured an actual (unarmed) Titan II missile.

Dennis Tracy, Picard’s longtime stand-in: The Titan Missile Silo was closed down in the early ’80s and officers who had been stationed there resigned their commissions and they got permission after many years from Washington, D.C., to keep it as a museum of missiles. They had to go through a lot of red tape. I remember one night we were shooting late and I wasn’t needed, and I left the silo and I’m walking around in the desert with 50 trucks, motor homes, all this stuff in the middle of the desert, just humming, making this marvelous movie in the middle of the desert and the rest of the world is sound asleep and here is this little creative community at 11 at night, just humming in this missile silo, of all places.

Doug Drexler, designer/scenic artist: Star Trek fans can be picky. I had one guy come at me about the missile that was in the silo, that it was supposed to be a supersonic, but it had rivets on it. How could we make such a foolish mistake? I got to say, “Hey! That was a real supersonic missile. We just put a nose cone on it.”

Frakes : It wasn’t glamorous, but it was nice to get out of the studio. We were shooting at night in the woods. I think it was a couple weeks of nights. A lot of us ended up staying in hotels up there close to the Angeles Crest so we could sleep during the day and just roll into work.

Eaves : For Zefram’s ship, the script read beautifully: They had built it out of a missile. They were using crude materials. We went back to the Apollo style of the big thruster cones and all of that. But we figured only the capsule came back to Earth. We hadn’t read that in the script, and we’re watching the movie and they are on this missile silo looking at it and Picard goes “Yeah, I’ve seen this in the Smithsonian many times,” and I’m going, “What?! The whole thing comes back!” It was never designed to do that.

David Takemura, visual effects supervisor : For the Vulcan ship, the actual landing was a computer graphic model. The art department built the landing foot, which was one of the landing legs on the ship, and the Vulcan ambassadors walk out of that. That was an actual set piece they walked out of. Then we had some additional shots where we blended the computer graphic Vulcan ship you see in some of the wider shots in back of the landing leg.

Braga: I think the most important plot aspect of the movie and what gave it its title was that Vulcan encounter at the end. This is what Star Trek is and this is where it all began. And you want it to happen. It’s what’s at stake —  Star Trek itself — and that to me gives the movie such a strong core.

POST-PRODUCTION BEGINS

The film was perfect balance between practical effects and CG. After shooting wraps, there’s more work to be done.

Takemura: We did Geordi’s eyeball. There’s a little gag where you see his now-bionic eyes. His bionic pupils rotating. In this high-tech, visual effects world that we live in, that was decidedly low-tech. It was actually a crystal faucet shower handle that I found at Home Depot. I just took some still photographs of it and I worked with one of the compositing artists at Pacific Ocean Post. It was just rotating that crystal shower faucet handle and doing some expansions of his iris to make it look mechanical.  

Adam Howard, visual effects supervisor: I had one shot that I worked on where Patrick Stewart is in a night club and he pulls out a Tommy gun and fires it. There were two takes, apparently — and one of them had him reacting fully with the gun and the second take had him reacting much less. They chose the second take for us to work on to put the Tommy gun muzzle flashes into, but then they realized there wasn’t enough kick in his arms or a real reaction in his body from the power of the gun. I literally cut his body apart digitally and I adjusted the kickback in his arms and added a very slight jiggle to the skin in his face and we put very slight blinks in his eyes so there were reactions to muzzle flashes going off in front of him. 

Haller : I also was tasked with cutting a little buzz every time a light blinked on a Borg costume — and there were a lot. I ended up crafting Borg-ified tribbles with blinking LEDs as gifts to my supervisors.

IT’S A HIT

The film opens on Nov. 22, 1996, to acclaim from critics and fans. It’s the biggest smash in Star Trek history at the time, only trailing the beloved 1986 film Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home.

Moore: Opening weekend, we rented a limo and Brannon and I, we drove around and went theater to theater, stood in the back, watched various crowds watching the different sections of the movie, then we’d drive off to the next theater. It was really fun and it was just a great night. You could just feel the energy in the house, when you were there and they were watching the sequences. Cheers and laughter and gasps and you just knew it was working.

Braga : When First Contact was released and did as well as it did, both critically and financially, I really felt — at least from my personal perspective — I never reached that height again. I would have great experiences on Voyager and became showrunner for it and all that stuff, but there was just something about going out on Friday night to go pop into audiences and see that theaters were packed and people were cheering. It was a fun time.

Frakes : Opening weekend, my wife and I went to stay with friends in Berkshires in Western Massachusetts and we stayed in a barn and I put my head down and one of my fondest memories from the entire weekend was I got a phone call from [original series star] Deforest Kelley, who I had only met briefly at Rick Berman’s house. He was a neighbor of Rick’s. And I guess he had seen the movie and he contacted Rick and asked Rick how to get in touch with me. And he called to congratulate me on how wonderful the movie is and on the success. And I carry that with me to this day.

Moore:  It was still in theaters, and again, Rick said, “Hey, this comes from Sherry Lansing. They want to start working on the next one.” Brannon and I — this time we didn’t jump at it. This time, we said, “Let’s think about this. Do we really want to do it?” There was a sense of get out on a high note. We just had a gut instinct that we didn’t want to now risk it. We had just achieved what we wanted to achieve, we had bettered Generations . We felt like we had scored that. This was a big movie. Everyone liked it. Let’s not push our luck. Rick was disappointed and Paramount was disappointed. Rick really pressed us for a while, because I think he was disappointed, but he understood ultimately and we just bowed out. We just walked off stage. This was it.

'Star Trek': The Story of the Most Daring Cliffhanger in 'Next Generation' History

Thr newsletters.

Sign up for THR news straight to your inbox every day

More from The Hollywood Reporter

Cannes: acclaimed chinese indie film ‘a new old play’ sells to france, japan, se asia (exclusive), edgar wright in talks to direct sydney sweeney’s ‘barbarella’, the summer popcorn wars: how movie theaters prep for the busy season, doug belgrad joins netflix as vice president of film, ‘outrageous fortune’ re-imagining in the works from ‘theatre camp’ director molly gordon, ‘eight is enough’ actor willie aames, natalie grace topline ‘armageddon road’ dark comedy (exclusive).

Follow Polygon online:

• Follow Polygon on Facebook
• Follow Polygon on Youtube
• Follow Polygon on Instagram

Site search

• Manor Lords
• Dragon’s Dogma 2
• FF7 Rebirth
• Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom
• Baldur’s Gate 3
• GTA 5 cheats
• PlayStation
• Dungeons & Dragons
• Magic: The Gathering
• Board Games
• All Tabletop
• All Entertainment
• What to Watch
• What to Play
• Buyer’s Guides
• Really Bad Chess
• All Puzzles

Filed under:

• Galaxy Brains

Star Trek: First Contact is a meta movie about the creation of the Trek franchise

John Hodgman joins the Galaxy Brains podcast to explain

If you buy something from a Polygon link, Vox Media may earn a commission. See our ethics statement .

Share this story

• Share this on Facebook
• Share this on Reddit
• Share All sharing options

Share All sharing options for: Star Trek: First Contact is a meta movie about the creation of the Trek franchise

The 25th anniversary of Star Trek: First Contact , easily the best Next Generation movie of them all, has prompted many articles, essays, and podcast episodes about why this particular movie worked, and the other Picard-led films were varying levels of bad. Was it the Borg? The time travel element? The humor? Jonathan Frakes’ direction?

The easiest, most likely answer is that it was the only one with a truly excellent script. The ingenious idea of splitting up the crew, the breathless pacing, and the clever action set pieces set it apart not just from the other TNG movies, but from many of the other Star Trek films too.

But what has always piqued my interest most is the performance of Academy Award nominee James Cromwell as Zefram Cochrane, the irascible, alcoholic inventor of warp drive that is sort of the MacGuffin of the entire film. The story revolves around whether or not he can get it together and go on his historic warp flight. I’ve always thought of Cochrane as a stand-in for Star Trek’s own inventor, Gene Roddenberry, and that First Contact is really a movie about the creation of Star Trek itself — a kind of futuristic roman a clef about a deeply flawed man who changed the world.

A far-out theory? Welcome to Galaxy Brains , guys. C’mon.

On this week’s show, Jonah Ray and I are joined by comedian, author and long-time Star Trek fan John Hodgman to discuss whether or not Star Trek: First Contact is a sneaky Gene Roddenberry biopic.

As always, this conversation has been edited to sound less weird.

Dave: I think a lot about Gene Roddenberry as the creator of Star Trek when I watch this movie. Zefram Cochrane in the context of the meta movie that we are watching is the creator of Star Trek. He says the words “Star Trek” in the movie. He invents warp drive. He meets a Vulcan for the first time. He’s this volatile human being with a lot of flaws, who meets his very logical person, and they have a moment of understanding. I always have thought of Zefram Cochran as basically just a stand-in for Gene Roddenberry. Gene Roddenberry has been said by many people, including his assistant Susan Sackett, in her book , and a lot of other people who’ve worked with him that he was kind of a volatile, difficult man. And that’s kind of what Zefram Cochrane’s arc is. He starts off as this guy who’s just trying to make money and make a buck. Star Trek was a means to an end for Gene Roddenberry. But then it becomes this cultural phenomenon, and he changes the world in a lot of ways. Do you see any of this parallel or am I completely off base? John Hodgman: To continue your sports metaphor, you are on base. You are safe. Dave: I know you love baseball, John. John Hodgman: I love you, love baseball, and I love it. You just threw a home base. I mean, you did a good job. Touchdown, indeed. Yeah. I’m not completely familiar with the behind the scenes true life of Gene Roddenberry, but I’m certainly familiar with his deification, you know, and the shadow as a creator that he cast and whether certain storylines would be considered “Gene enough” or “not Gene enough.” Yeah, there’s definitely I mean, whether it’s acknowledged or not, there’s definitely a feeling of, you know, don’t meet your heroes. They’re flawed people. They’re human beings. That’s not even subtext in the movie. Jonah: It’s text. More than 10 years prior to this was, I think, the big cultural shift in the culture of Star Trek, which was the Saturday Night Live sketch, with William Shatner yelling at the fans to get a life . It did remind me of that thing of just these all the nerds coming up to Cochrane and, you know, being excited and him going like, What’s wrong with you? Dave: He’s a statue, and he’s so horrified to get the statue at some point since he doesn’t see himself as that important. And I think that’s probably true of most people that we deify. John Hodgman: I mean, Gene Roddenberry created a calm, egalitarian socialist utopia of tolerance, probably because that didn’t exist in his own mind. That was a projection of something that he wished for, that he didn’t have peace of mind. Jonah: Something that Dave and I talked about earlier is maybe money did fucking make him an irritable drunk. Maybe he really thought, like if only money didn’t exist , I wouldn’t have to worry about this stuff all the time . There is something to that, like getting rid of money. John Hodgman: Yeah, right? I was just going to say it’s part of our cultural moment now. It’s like, well, after we shut down the economy for a year and people don’t feel like going back to work at those shitty jobs, we’re all of a sudden thinking, like, is there another way to do this? Dave: And Gene Roddenberry also created a world where sex was completely different than how we perceive it now, and the idea of sexuality is more just like, yeah, we have sex and we can have sex with lots of different people or aliens or whatever. It was more chill in that respect. And that was something that he was projecting in the real world, too. John Hodgman: Yeah, he wanted to have sex with everybody. He wanted everybody to have green skin. He wanted to have sex with them.

Next Up In Star Trek

The next level of puzzles.

Take a break from your day by playing a puzzle or two! We’ve got SpellTower, Typeshift, crosswords, and more.

Sign up for the newsletter Patch Notes

A weekly roundup of the best things from Polygon

Just one more thing!

Please check your email to find a confirmation email, and follow the steps to confirm your humanity.

Oops. Something went wrong. Please enter a valid email and try again.

Super Mario 64 fans finally open the game’s ‘unopenable’ door, 28 years later

Netflix’s Bridgerton season 3A, X-Men ’97’s finale, and more new TV this week

You are cordially invited to ruin our esports career

Mark Hamill’s back as the Joker in MultiVersus

Square Enix is going ‘aggressively’ multiplatform after string of PS5 exclusives

Mercedes Varnado picks which Sailor Scout would make the best professional wrestler

• May 13, 2024 | Preview ‘Star Trek: Discovery’ Episode 508 With New Images And Clip From “Labyrinths”
• May 11, 2024 | Interview: Elias Toufexis On Making Star Trek History Playing L’ak And Nerding Out In ‘Discovery’
• May 10, 2024 | ‘Star Trek: Discovery’ Debuts On Nielsen Streaming Top 10
• May 10, 2024 | Podcast: All Access Breens Out On “Erigah” With Commentary From Elias Toufexis Of ‘Star Trek: Discovery’
• May 9, 2024 | Star Trek Franchise Wins Peabody Award

5 Things We Learned About ‘Star Trek: First Contact’ On Its 25th Anniversary Year

| April 6, 2021 | By: Kayla Iacovino 20 comments so far

Yesterday’s virtual First Contact Day event put on by CBS has come after over a year of virtual “conventions” that haven’t been able to hold a candle to their normally in-person counterparts. But, with a year of learning and planning, CBS showed that this virtual event thing can actually work. During the “Remembering First Contact” panel, host Wil Wheaton asked insightful questions of Star Trek vets Jonathan Frakes, Patrick Stewart, Brent Spiner, and Alice Krige, getting them to spill a few stories I for one had never heard before about Star Trek: First Contact, which is celebrating its 25th anniversary this year.

Here are a few of my favorite takeaway tidbits that were new to me. For those of you walking Star Trek history encyclopedias, please feel free to expound on these stories in the comments!

Renaissance-era setting nixed for budgetary reasons… and the absurdity

During the “Revisiting First Contact” panel celebrating 25 years since the release of the beloved TNG film, Jonathan Frakes spoke about the genesis of the story of First Contact , saying:

“All three of the writers wanted a time travel story. So, the objective was to find a way to marry those big concepts [Borg and time travel]. Originally it was going to take place in Renaissance Italy, perhaps, and we were going to fight the Borg with swords? Thankfully that idea was taken away for financial reasons and logical reasons and absurd reasons, I’m sure. And, we were blessed with this, arguably the best of the Star Trek movie scripts certainly.”

We had to wait until Star Trek: Picard to get those sword fights.

Patrick Stewart had to OK Frakes as director, over Reuben sandwiches

After Jonathan Frakes was asked how he got the job as director, he told the story of the most memorable Reuben sandwich in his life.

“I believe, if the urban myth is true, the movie was offered to Ridley Scott, John McTiernan [who weren’t interested]. As I understand it Sherry Lansing, who was the head of Paramount at the time, told Rick Berman, who was the keeper of the reigns: ‘Why don’t you hire who you like?’ So, there was one caveat. The director that they hired had to be approved by now Sir Patrick Stewart. So, Rick said, ‘I’d really like you to do the movie, but Patrick’s going to have to approve you.’ So, Patrick and I had lunch at Jerry’s Deli in Studio City. And, he said, ‘I’m okay with you directing the movie. I was told that I had to make it official with you. And, that… it kind of changed my life. I believe we both had Reuben sandwiches.”

The group shares a laugh over Jonathan’s memory of his favorite reuben sandwich.

Alice Krige asked for a second audition because she thought she blew it (she didn’t)

Before her audition for the role of the Borg Queen, Alice Krige had no real knowledge of what Star Trek was all about. It took doing the audition for her to find the character, and in doing so, she was convinced she had totally biffed the audition. Of course, she hadn’t.

“My agent called me one day, and she said, ‘here are some sides for the next Star Trek movie.’ Now, I have a confession to make that I had never seen an episode of Star Trek. I said okay, but where’s the script? I can’t go in without a script. She said, ‘No, you don’t understand. NO ONE sees a script.’ I had a friend who wrote for Star Trek. I ran over to his house, and I watched all of the Borg episodes that he had on tape. I learned my lines, and I went into Paramount. And, there was Jonathan, and I did the three scenes. And, as I was doing them, I actually started to understand [the role] – it was the act of doing it – it was not intellectual. It was like a channel opened up. They thanked me politely, and I left. I ran to my car, and I drove to find the first pay phone I could find. I called my agent, and I said ‘I screwed it up. Please tell them that I can do better. And, I really want to do it again.’ Well, we didn’t hear from them for three weeks, and I thought ‘another one bites the dust’. And, then I got another call! I went in, and I did the same thing again, and I was offered the Borg Queen.”

Alice Krige as the Borg Queen.

Alice Krige needed 8 Borg wranglers to work in the Borg Queen costume

Alice Krige – who absolutely slayed in her role as the Borg Queen – spoke about how she got the role and what it was like playing the iconic character. One amusing tidbit was her mention of around eight “Borg wranglers” that were needed during her scenes.

“All the Borg wranglers. Because I must have had eight maybe? Someone who looked after my battery packs, someone who had a big pot of glue and glued the cracks. Someone looked after my feet, my hands, my head. Someone had a huge tube of – what was it? – KY jelly and a sponge. Every one of them helped make [the Borg Queen]. This was the apotheosis of collaboration for me, this role.”

Krige on the Borg Queen rig with director Jonathan Frakes during the filming of Star Trek: First Contact.

Brent Spiner was terrified of doing the missile silo jump stunt

While Brent Spiner had high praise for the film’s director, script, and co-stars, there was one aspect of making the film that wasn’t to his liking.

“We were standing alongside the missile on a platform that was very high in the air. Patrick [Stewart] knows that I am terrified of heights, so he would be bouncing on the platform to terrify me – which it did. [In the film] Data jumps off the platform and sail to the ground, and nothing happens to him. Initially, it was my stunt double, Brian Williams. He did that jump, and Jonathan [Frakes] shot him coming down from the missile silo, and then Jonathan cut to me. They printed all of that, then Jonathan came to me and said, you can tell that it’s not you. You’re going to have to do it. They took me to a soundstage, put me in a harness. And I was terrified. I hated it. They brought me up 3 feet and dropped me, and I hated it, then they took me all the way to the top, and they were to drop me, and a few feet before I hit the ground, a hydraulic slowed me down. I had to be Data, and I was able to do it, and look confident, and I landed, and the crew applauded, and I was so glad it was over. And then ‘Two-Takes Frakes’ came to me and said, ‘can we do that again?'”

That first step is a doozy.

Watch the full 25th-anniversary panel

Paramount+ has uploaded the entire Star Trek: First Contact anniversary panel to Youtube.

Find more articles on Star Trek history at TrekMovie.com .

Related Articles

Feature Films (TMP-NEM) , Great Links , Music , Viral Video/Mashup/Images

NATO Explains Why The Theme For ‘Star Trek: First Contact’ Was Played At Sweden’s Induction Ceremony

Strange New Worlds

New Character Posters Revealed For ‘Star Trek: Strange New Worlds’ Season 2

DVD/Blu-ray/Streaming , Feature Films (TMP-NEM) , TNG

Review: ‘Star Trek: The Next Generation 4-Movie Collection’ 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray Is An Engaging Upgrade

DVD/Blu-ray/Streaming , Feature Films (TMP-NEM)

‘Star Trek: The Next Generation’ Movie Collection On 4K Blu-ray Coming In April

Alice Krige wax the only logical choice to play the Borg queen. While Susanna Thompson was good on Voyager, Alice nailed it and I’m glad she also came back to the roll.

the 1st time Star Trek was a ‘cool’ movie to go see at the cinema

What about The Voyage Home?

yes but that was more of a comedy like Crocodile Dundee/BTTF in space, not so much an Aliens/Terminator type ‘cool’ pg13 scifi action movie that kids teens non fans could rave about in the playground, water cooler, pub etc

The first Trek movie I got to see in the theater…I was 4. I still remember gagging in my seat when Data made out with the BQ. Also I love this cast so much, I wish I was around to get pranked.

This panel was great! And yes even after 25 years and endless conventions it’s always nice to hear new stories and anecdotes which this had a lot of. Spiner’s story about being afraid of heights and doing the jumping scene in the movie was hilarious!

FC definitely had an amazing script and felt the most cinematic out of all the movies not counting TMP or the Kelvin movies. The premise worked so well and a great way to tie into the 30th anniversary sort of how well TUC and its premise tied into the 25th.

While I liked Beyond that was one of its biggest missed opportunities and not having a bigger hook that tied into the 50th anniversary more. It’s a story that could be told in any episode. But I digress.

Anyway great panel!

50th anniversary movie was there for the taking (Orci/Shatner/battle for the timelines) and could’ve been as pleasing as VI and FC, but,like a poor marksman, they missed the target..

I was on set standing in Picard’s Ready Room doorway they filmed all the takes of the “interplexing beacon” dialog scene where Alfre Woodard and Picard come up through the floor. I was so stunned that I was on set watch the new film being made. I remember touching the embroidered delta shield insignia on the back of the seats on the bridge. Jonathan Frakes made the cast do one more take of a shot and said “ok, once more with grace and alacrity” and Patrick Stewart started into a whole Shakespeare joke about the epic love story of Grace and Alacrity, acting it out while the cast and crew laughed as the lights were moved. It was all very funny and surreal. I also got to sit in the Phoenix cockpit and walk (only on the very edge) of the deflector dish. I can’t believe that was 25 years ago. Yikes. I’m old. Oh and I also interviewed Alice Krige in her house in Malibu about playing the Borg Queen. She fed me salt and vinegar potato chips and her little black dog kept licking the crumbs off my fingers. 25 years?? Where does time go???!!!!

That’s a lovely story!

Yes that is a great story. But I thought the interplexing beacon scene was on the bridge? But I love that whole bit. It had some great lines:

“The reports of my assimilation have been greatly exaggerated” “I am a Klingon” “I think’s it time we take a little stroll”

And the gag with Worf scared of zero-G. Love it. Why can’t all Star Trek films be more like this?

Wow. 25 years. I saw this movie in the theaters when I was in college. Dang I feel old now. But I just watched it again yesterday for FC Day and it still holds up very well. I love this movie.

I did hear the Renaissance story before. But it was actually someone wanted to do the time travel to the Renaissance story and someone else wanted to do the Borg. I’m glad they dropped the Renaissance bit and went with the Zephram Cochrane and First Contact story instead.

My regret is that Tom Hanks was initially cast as Zephram Cochrane, which I think would have made for a better and more popular movie. He couldn’t do it since he was directing another movie, but he did want to since he was a big Star Trek fan. James Cromwell was ok, but Hanks would have brought a big name to Trek.

Didn’t Tony Pascale do a DVD commentary for it with Damon Lindelof?

I don’t agree. Hanks was too famous. Too big. I would have watched all the Cochrane scenes and just thought “that’s Tom Hanks talking to Will, Deanna, and Geordi”. Same with the abandoned Eddie Murphy role in Star Trek IV. I’m glad they didn’t happen.

Now, if they want Hanks to cameo as Captain April on SNW, I can be down with that.

But the fact he was so famous could’ve been an added bonus for the character as Cohrene was this huge mythical figure that the TNG guys were in awe of

Tom Hanks is a fantastic actor and I think his performance would have quickly allowed the audience to believe he was Zethran Cochrane in the movie.

Big name actors appear all the time in Star Wars, just check the names.

Cromwell was great as Cochrane (and even more prestigious when you take into account he was in the classic LA Confidential the following year) but yeah Hanks in FC would’ve been a huge deal for a Trek movie in the mid 90s when Hanks was pretty much the biggest movie star on the planet at that time (along with Mel Gibson & Tom Cruise), and maybe brought in another 50 even 100m in box office worldwide

I prefer Cromwell, much more believable as a drunk, also he’s a fantastic guy and an activist I’ve marched alongside. Meeting him was a big deal for me, I never thought I’d be meeting the man who invented warp drive!

Cromwell was also coming off of an Academy Award nomination that year, so he leant a nice little nugget of prestige in his own way.

i still cringe when everyone, including the Vulcans, have their little dance party, twisting the night away to Roy Orbison’s Ooby Dooby. Not Trek’s finest moment!

The end shot was also very similar to Trek V

I remember during the live watch of First Contact with Jonathan Frakes some months back, he also related how Patrick had to approve him directing. He didn’t mention the sandwich thing though at that time. Also, the tone I got from the live watch was that Frakes was never in any danger since he and Patrick are good friends and Patrick rubber stamping Frakes’ directorship was basically a formality.

Star Trek: The Next Generation : "Clues"/"First Contact"

"Clues"

Or The One Where We'd Tell You What Happened, But Then We'd Have To Kill You

I love mysteries. More to the point, I love mysteries that have definitive solutions, which is the sort of thing you only ever really find in fiction. Mysteries in the real world rarely, if ever, have clear answers, because in the real world, we don't ever know the whole picture. Murder is often inscrutably mundane, the end result of a series of choices and social pressures that only the gods themselves could reconstruct with any degree of certainty. And smaller puzzles are just as tricky. I'm exaggerating a little. The Mystery Of Who Drank The Last Beer isn't, y'know, one for the ages or anything. But mysteries in fiction, even of the most experimental, realistic sort, are always neater than their reality-based counterparts. In fiction, it's a puzzle with a solution that at least one person knows. In life, it's often as not just a culmination of coincidence.

Star Trek: First Contact

Streaming in:

We checked for updates on 246 streaming services on May 13, 2024 at 7:31:32 PM. Something wrong? Let us know!

Star Trek: First Contact streaming: where to watch online?

Currently you are able to watch "Star Trek: First Contact" streaming on Max, Max Amazon Channel. It is also possible to buy "Star Trek: First Contact" on Apple TV, Amazon Video, Google Play Movies, YouTube, Vudu, Microsoft Store, AMC on Demand as download or rent it on Microsoft Store, Apple TV, Amazon Video, Google Play Movies, YouTube, Vudu, Spectrum On Demand online.

Where does Star Trek: First Contact rank today? The JustWatch Daily Streaming Charts are calculated by user activity within the last 24 hours. This includes clicking on a streaming offer, adding a title to a watchlist, and marking a title as 'seen'. This includes data from ~1.3 million movie & TV show fans per day.

Streaming charts last updated: 5:17:18 PM, 05/13/2024

Star Trek: First Contact is 2147 on the JustWatch Daily Streaming Charts today. The movie has moved up the charts by 717 places since yesterday. In the United States, it is currently more popular than Red Dawn but less popular than As Good as Dead.

The Borg, a relentless race of cyborgs, are on a direct course for Earth. Violating orders to stay away from the battle, Captain Picard and the crew of the newly-commissioned USS Enterprise E pursue the Borg back in time to prevent the invaders from changing Federation history and assimilating the galaxy.

Videos: Trailers, Teasers, Featurettes

Streaming Charts The JustWatch Daily Streaming Charts are calculated by user activity within the last 24 hours. This includes clicking on a streaming offer, adding a title to a watchlist, and marking a title as 'seen'. This includes data from ~1.3 million movie & TV show fans per day.

Production country

Bundle offers, people who liked star trek: first contact also liked.

Popular movies coming soon

Upcoming Science-Fiction movies

Similar Movies you can watch for free

Screen Rant

Star trek's biggest year what discovery's callback to 2371 in tng's era means.

Your changes have been saved

Email Is sent

Please verify your email address.

You’ve reached your account maximum for followed topics.

Star Trek: Discovery Season 5 Returning Cast & New Character Guide

Star trek: discovery's commander rayner tragedy echoes strange new worlds' la'an, 5 star trek: discovery characters progenitors' treasure could resurrect.

Warning: SPOILERS for Star Trek: Discovery Season 5, Episode 7 - "Erigah"

• Star Trek: Discovery season 5, Episode 7, "Erigah," references the monumental year 2371 of the Star Trek universe.
• The year 2371 featured significant expansions in the Star Trek franchise with multiple TV series and a movie.
• References to Star Trek: The Next Generation, Deep Space Nine, and Voyager enrich the storytelling in Discovery season 5.

Star Trek: Discovery season 5, episode 7, "Erigah" calls back to the year 2371, which is one of the most monumental time periods of Star Trek: The Next Generation 's 24th century era. Written by M. Raven Metzner and directed by Jon Dudkowski, "Erigah" sees Commander Paul Stamets (Anthony Rapp), Lt. Sylvia Tilly (Mary Wiseman), Ensign Adira Tal (Blu del Barrio), and Cleveland Booker (David Ajala) team up to determine the location of the fifth and final clue to the Progenitors' ancient treasure: a novel titled "Labyrinths of the Mind" written by Betazoid scientist Dr. Marina Derex in 2371.

2371 is a milestone year that marked a major expansion of the Star Trek franchise. In the real world, the events of 2371 in Star Trek equate to the years 1994 and 1995, which saw Star Trek Generations , the first Star Trek: The Next Generation movie, arrive in theaters in November 1994. At the same time, Star Trek: Deep Space Nine was in its third season, while Star Trek: Voyager launched in January 1995. For the first time, two Star Trek TV series were on the air while there was a Star Trek movie in theaters. Star Trek 's year 2371 encompasses 50 combined episodes of DS9 and Voyager as well as Star Trek Generations . And now, Star Trek: Discovery 's final clue to the Progenitors' treasure points to a book written during that fateful year of 2371.

Star Trek: Discovery season 5 is a sequel to Star Trek: The Next Generation 's season 6 episode, "The Chase," and contains more references to Star Trek: Deep Space Nine and Star Trek: Voyager than ever before.

As Burnham seeks the universe's greatest treasure in Star Trek: Discovery season 5, she'll need help from a host of new and returning characters.

What Happened In Star Trek Generations In 2371

The first star trek: the next generation movie saw captain kirk meet captain picard.

Star Trek Generations is set in 2371, months after the end of Star Trek: The Next Generation . In Star Trek Generations, Captain Jean-Luc Picard (Patrick Stewart) discovered Captain James T. Kirk (William Shatner), who was believed to have died in 2293, was alive in the interdimensional reality called the Nexus. Kirk joined Picard in returning to 2371 to stop Dr. Tolian Soran (Malcolm McDowell) from destroying the Veridian sun. Tragically, Kirk died in the effort to stop Soran and was buried by Picard on Veridan III.

Captain Kirk's remains were moved into storage at Section 31's black site, Daystrom Station, as seen in Star Trek: Picard season 3.

Another significant event in Star Trek Generations was the destruction of the USS Enterprise-D. The Galaxy Class flagship of the United Federation of Planets saw its stardrive section destroyed by a Klingon attack, and its separated saucer section crash-landed on Veridian III. In addition, Worf (Michael Dorn) was promoted to Lieutenant Commander while Data (Brent Spiner) activated his emotion chip and struggled with his rampant feelings. Captain Picard also learned his family in La Barre, France, died in a house fire.

The USS Enterprise-D was restored by Commodore Geordi La Forge (LeVar Burton) and saved the galaxy one last time in Star Trek: Picard season 3.

What Happened On Star Trek: Deep Space Nine In 2371

The seeds of the dominion war were planted on ds9.

Star Trek: Deep Space Nine season 3 took place in 2371, and it set the stage for the Dominion War that would alter the fate of the galaxy as the Federation becomes aware of the authoritarian threat coming from the Gamma Quadrant. Commander Benjamin Sisko (Avery Brooks) and members of Deep Space Nine's crew time-travel to the 21st century where Sisko took the place of Gabriel Bell in the infamous San Francisco Bell Riots. Lt. Thomas Riker (Jonathan Frakes), joined the Maquis and posed as Commander William Riker to steal the USS Defiant, which led to his imprisonment on Cardassia.

The Federation learns that the Dominion's shapeshifting Founders have infiltrated the Alpha Quadrant.

Later in 2371, Benjamin Sisko is promoted to Captain, and he and his son, Jake (Cirroc Lofton), sail to Cardassia on a solar ship like ancient Bajorans did. The Bajoran-Cardassia Peace Treaty is signed as Shakaar Edon (Duncan Regehr) becomes First Minister of Bajor. The female Changeling (Salome Jens) sets a trap to force Constable Odo (Rene Auberjonois) admit his love for Major Kira Nerys (Nana Visitor). By the end of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine season 3 , the Federation learns that the Dominion's shapeshifting Founders have infiltrated the Alpha Quadrant, and the Cardassian Obsidian Order and Romulan Tal Shiar are severely crippled after a failed attack on the Dominion.

What Happened On Star Trek: Voyager In 2371

Year one of the uss voyager's journey home from the delta quadrant.

Star Trek: Voyager season 1 and the first episode of season 2, "The 37s" (which was originally intended as Voyager season 1's finale) take place in 2371. Captain Kathryn Janeway (Kate Mulgrew) assembles the crew of the USS Voyager to find the Maquis ship Val Jean in the Badlands, but both starships are transported 75,000 lightyears into the Delta Quadrant by the Caretaker. Joined by the Talaxian Neelix (Ethan Phillips) and the Ocampan Kes (Jennifer Lien), the USS Voyager absorbs the Maquis into its Starfleet crew as a measure of survival, and the Intrepid Class starship begins a long journey home to Earth.

The USS Voyager's first year in the Delta Quadrant saw them encounter the villainous Kazon. Ensign Seska (Martha Hackett) reveals herself as a Cardassian spy and joins the Kazon, while Ensign Samantha Wildman (Nancy Hower) learns she is pregnant with her daughter, Naomi Wildman (Scarlett Pomers). To kick off Star Trek: Voyager season 2, the USS Voyager discovers the missing 20th century pilot Amelia Earhart (Sharon Lawrence), who was abducted and brought to the Delta Quadrant by the Briori. But while all that and more happened in Star Trek in 2371, Dr. Marina Derex published "Labyrinths of the Mind" , and she would hide her clue to the Progenitors' treasure in her original manuscript stored in the Eternal Gallery and Archive for Star Trek: Discovery to find.

New episodes of Star Trek: Discovery season 5 stream Thursdays on Paramount+

Star Trek: Deep Space Nine and Star Trek: Voyager are streaming on Paramount+

Star Trek Generations is streaming on Max

• Star Trek: Generations

Star Trek: 5 Worst Things Done By The Borg

Your changes have been saved

Email Is sent

Please verify your email address.

You’ve reached your account maximum for followed topics.

Star Trek: 5 Important Moments In The Borg's History

Star trek: a tale of two borg, 6 coolest weapons from star trek: the next generation, ranked.

• Starfleet encountered the Borg in various regions of the universe, leading to significant confrontations and dangerous encounters spanning different Star Trek series.
• The Borg's destructive capabilities were highlighted by events such as the loss of outposts, colony destruction, and the unfortunate fate of the El-Aurian star system.
• The Borg's interference in Earth's history in First Contact showcases a pivotal moment where humanity had to prevent assimilation and protect the future of the galaxy.

Exploring the universe in Star Trek was always a dangerous endeavor. Even with the efforts of Starfleet and the Federation to explore and map every corner, the relative peace of the 24th century was shattered by the appearance of the Borg.

The Borg is a frightening alien race from Star Trek, and these are just a few of the most important moments in their history

Captain Janeway and Voyager encountered the Borg closer to their own territory in the Delta Quadrant, and the crew of the Enterprise in The Next Generation met the Borg as they drew closer to our galaxy. Even Captain Archer and his pre-Federation Enterprise had some contact with this dangerous species. Given that the Borg's whole philosophy is to either destroy or recruit every sentient race they meet, there's an entire list of horrible events that have defined their existence.

5 The Loss Of Several Neutral Zone Outposts

A veritable trail of destruction.

• Appeared In : Star Trek: The Next Generation, S1E26 "The Neutral Zone."

Before the Federation even saw or made contact with any Borg ships or outposts, the Borg destroyed several of their outposts and space stations along the Neutral Zone. The Romulans also lost several on their side, and it was unclear what had happened until the Enterprise started investigating the destruction of human colonies on Jouret 4.

The discovery of this debris path indicated that a new power was in the quadrant, something more dangerous than the Romulans and Federation combined. Thankfully, by the time the Federation did confront the Borg, they had some rudimentary knowledge of how to defend themselves because of the investigations into this event.

4 The Destruction Of The New Providence Colony

Starfleet finally engages the borg.

• Appeared In : Star Trek: The Next Generation , S3E26, "The Best Of Both Worlds."

This episode begins with the Enterprise investigating the planet of Jouret 4 where the New Providence Colony was located. Starfleet has lost contact with the colony, and when the Enterprise arrives, their worst fears are realized. The colony had been destroyed and the settlers assimilated.

Star Trek: Picard season 2 set up a brilliant story and season 3 established the existence of two types of Borg.

A brief investigation revealed that the weapon and energy readings were the same as the ones that had destroyed the Neutral Zone outposts. It wasn't the first time that Captain Picard had confronted the Borg, but this was the first time he planned to engage and attack, with Starfleet now determined to confront the Borg as an enemy.

3 The Abduction Of Jean-Luc Picard

To add his biological and technological distinctiveness to their own.

• Appeared In : Star Trek: The Next Generation, S3E26, "The Best Of Both Worlds."

During the pursuit of the Borg cube that had destroyed New Providence, Picard is abducted by Borg agents and brought to the Cube . He refuses to cooperate with the Borg's demands, but the Collective want him to act as their envoy to the Federation.

It's unclear exactly why the Borg decided that Jean-Luc Picard would make an ideal Locutus. The name means "one who speaks" and perhaps because any previous encounters would have been less suspicious and more diplomatic, they already knew he was a good communicator.

On the other hand, the Borg doesn't negotiate , so any skills Picard has in this regard are useless. Picard's knowledge of Starfleet's defensive plan, along with his more personal knowledge of his ship and crew, might have been the real motivation behind his abduction.

2 The End Of The El-Aurian Star System

Which resulted in a generational saga.

• Appeared In : Star Trek: Generations (1994)

Although the Borg were directly involved in the plot of Star Trek: Generations , it was one of their assimilation and conquest missions that sets the story in motion. When the Borg attacked and destroyed most of the El-Aurian star system, they displaced and tore apart many families, and Soren's wife and children were among them.

Star Trek: The Next Generation introduced plenty of sci-fi weapons that kept audiences fascinated and kept the action high.

Soren, who first encountered the Enterprise when it took him on as a refugee, was a scientist who wanted to return to a place called the Nexus. This mysterious energy ribbon stretched across the whole galaxy and the rules of time and space didn't apply to any living beings inside of it, so if Soren could return to it, he could also reach his lost family.

If the Borg hadn't taken his family from him in the first place, Soren would have lived his life in peace on El-Aluria instead of stealing a missile and using it to destroy a whole star system.

1 Interfering With First Contact

A future that was almost lost.

• Appeared In : Star Trek: First Contact (1996)

This is one time that the Borg did manage to find and assimilate Earth. A Borg cube had infiltrated the galaxy's defense systems and was threatening Earth. Before they could be destroyed, they went back in time and assimilated Earth before humanity could have evolved far enough technologically to defend itself.

The USS Enterprise was able to follow the Borg back in time and prevent the changes they had made to history by helping Zefram Cochrane finish constructing a warp drive - the first of its kind - and launch its first test flight. Star Trek: First Contact isn't just the story of humans discovering warp speed and meeting the Vulcans, but also of how easily the Prime Directive went out the window when humanity had to undo one of the worst things the Borg had ever done.

• Movies & TV

Star Trek: First Contact (1996)

Full cast & crew.

Directed by 

Writing credits ( wga )  , cast (in credits order) verified as complete  , produced by , music by , cinematography by , editing by , casting by , production design by , art direction by , set decoration by , costume design by , makeup department , production management , second unit director or assistant director , art department , sound department , special effects by , visual effects by , stunts , camera and electrical department , casting department , costume and wardrobe department , editorial department , location management , music department , script and continuity department , transportation department , additional crew , thanks .

Release Dates | Official Sites | Company Credits | Filming & Production | Technical Specs

Contribute to This Page

• Full Cast and Crew
• Release Dates
• Official Sites
• Company Credits
• Filming & Production
• Technical Specs
• Plot Summary
• Plot Keywords
• Parents Guide

Did You Know?

• Crazy Credits
• Alternate Versions
• Connections
• Soundtracks

Photo & Video

• Photo Gallery
• Trailers and Videos
• User Reviews
• User Ratings
• External Reviews
• Metacritic Reviews

Related Items

• External Sites

Related lists from IMDb users

Recently Viewed