UNCUT - First Contact (TNG S4E15) | Star Trek Journey 196

I want to give this an A, but I downgrade to a B- for the depiction of sexual coercion that is basically presented as humor. Put Troi or Crusher in Riker's position and a male nurse insisting on sexual favors to assist her escape and this would have never made it past the censors even in the 90's. As a male victim of all kinds of sexual harassment and SA, this is the kind of media depictions that enable further abuse and make it shameful for men to speak up and ask for help.

Given how unprepared the Malkorians were for first contact, I don't know it would have been enough, but like in Who Watches the Watchers, this is another example where doing surveillance with drones designed to mimic local birds and insects would avoid a whole lot of trouble. Of course the episode needs to happen, but using such a method you could literally be a "fly on the wall". I find myself more in agreement with Josh on this one, it's an A bordering on a B. There is a lot of great stuff here, but I feel the aspects depicting fear of change and paranoia about alien life is very paint by numbers. Those things are stereotypes on Earth of course, but the common consensus among anyone who has any grasp of science is that if aliens could travel here, they could send an asteroid hurtling into Earth and wipe us all out with little effort. Therefore if they show up asking to talk, they're probably not all that hostile. Even if they do have ill intent of some sort, most military and political leaders would probably opt to try for peace given resistance would truly be futile. As for regular people, in my experience people have either completely dismissed the existence of alien life, or they think if aliens did show up they'd just be dismayed at how backward we were and run away. Some people joke that they want aliens to take over from whatever govt they currently have. Real talk there would probably be more Lanels than Krolas in the general population. Reminds me of a meme someone posted in the discord recently, where it says "NASA warns alien life may not be fuckable" Followed by a picture of Riker saying "not with that attitude". Plus I think a lot of people would just be downright excited to learn there is other life out there in the universe. Granted we might have been a tad less open minded about such things in 1991. This MIGHT be a very slight spoiler as I can't recall specifically if it's been shown up close yet, but the phaser has 1 big and 2 small buttons. The big one is the trigger, the other 2 adjust the power setting. The interesting thing is that almost everything is society is set up with things progressing from left to right. In English and most other languages, you read from left to right. The volume dial on a radio turns right to increase and left to decrease. The AC dial in the car is colder on the left, hotter on the right. But with the phaser, the right power button DECREASES power, somewhat counterintuitively. I figure that was done deliberately so people would tend to subconsciously default to the non lethal setting.

Oversimplified explanation: typically how the ST writer's room worked was they had a stack of story ideas, and they would "break the story," where they figured out what needed to happen in the episode on a big white board. Once that was done, it was turned over to one of the staff writers and they write the first draft. They'd then go over the draft and change anything that needed to change, and that was more or less it, the final draft would be written. --- Unlike other shows, ST accepted story ideas and whole scripts from amateurs/fans who mailed them in. Staffers would be assigned to sort through the stack every season. If they found one they wanted, they'd ask the submitter to write a draft. If it was good enough, they'd let that writer write the final draft. If it wasn't, the staff would take over and rewrite it, and the submitter would get a "Story by" credit. Those are usually the ones that had the "walls of writers," as you've called it, as sometimes the idea was so raw it needed a lot of work to hammer out.

They should have a safety on their phasers where only it’s owner can use it or just lock it on stun.

Babylon 5 actually had a similar incident where an alien wanted to have sex with a member of the main cast. The solution there was the cast member realized that the alien would have no idea what human sex was, so they just invented something stupid up on the fly, like a handshake, and said "There! We're done! Was it good for you too?" I wonder if that's what Riker ended up doing? I don't think he was really in a physical condition to go all the way even if he wanted to.

This episode IS what Sci-Fi is. It's not just about the setting like a B-movie on the Sci-Fi channel, and Sci-Fi doesn't mean it's just full of technobable like Booby Trap. Technobable is just a tool/trope that Sci-Fi sometimes uses to make it's world feel more real. If the technobable is based on our own science, then that makes it even better, but technobable itself is not necessary. I wrote this out in the Devil's Due video too, but what makes something Sci-Fi is it is about something. It is exploring an interesting idea using a Sci-Fi setting. This episode clearly does, as did Devil's Due. Sci-Fi is all about what is being said behind all of the technobable, aliens, and space. It's giving us a fun lens through which to examine ourselves and ask questions. I'll paraphrase a quote I heard somewhere that I think sums this up perfectly: "with Sci-Fi, you are open to possibilities that you had never considered. THAT is the exploration that awaits you. Not mapping stars and studying nebulae, but charting the unknown possibilities of existence."

My only issue with this episode is it's premise is too on the nose which cuts both ways. On the one hand we have totally unrealistic exposition for our benefit- example the defense minister saying "some think things have gone too far" or whatever, that isn't realistic dialogue, it's simple theater dialogue. The Chancellor would be very aware of that minister's views and vice a versa. On the other, you have things which just seem silly since this isn't an earth clone- an exact version of the hippocratic oath, the "nightly fictions." I mean, I can fanwank by saying it's how this culture is different. By the way, I didn't take them saying they were the center of the universe as a literal view but more trying to describe how world shaking this news would be given the culture and the current situation. It would be maybe analagous to us thinking the interent and ai has gone too far, and then suddenly we learn there are entire organizations of aliens- too much social transformation it would be harmful. So why the premise is brilliant and the episode is easy to watch- it's all sort of stock character types that play in semi-predictable ways. The enlightend scientist, the careful leader riding a balancing pole and seemingly winning at the time, the militant "dont trust them guy" the principled doctor, the unprincipled doctor- it was easy to watch and fun, but it all played out pretty much paint by numbers. The exception, you noted, felt to me more of a "they ran out of time/didn't know how to end it" feel then a clever subversion of the trope. It was just like, ok- the epilogue so to speak was nice. And I liked this episode overall. I think I'm saying why I would give it more of a B rating (which is still "Banger")

Have either Alex or Josh seen "Cheers" or "Frasier". If so, they didn't seem to recognise Lilith when she was taking advantage of Riker.

This is my all-time favorite TNG episode. Seeing Starfleet & the Federation from the aliens’ perspective with a first contact situation is great. This is Star Trek in its purest form.

Like the band Soul Coughing said “It was a weather balloon”

Alex, jokes about private healthcare "because it's like Earth, right?" My Canadian, socially medically insured ass: Yeah, Earth, not America. =P

oh snap they read my comment ... yeah the screen name is a pun quote from Forest Gump ... You ain't got no legs Lt Dan...

What makes this episode is that first contact fails. Really the first time we saw an "official" first contact and it doesn't work out. It could be argued the Riker incident is what sinks it, but interesting whatever the reason. Also great that Krola may seem like a jerk, but he's a true believer and not shown to just be a paranoid coward as some might make that character.

Love Bebe Neuwirth, love TNG, love most of this episode, but they basically wrote a sexual assault scene and played it off for laughs bc Riker is a guy and is portrayed as a lothario

Every aspect of our society teaches us from birth that valuing tradition is backward, foolish, and bigoted. This is extremely rare, and promptly will lead to cultural suicide. Even so, as you grow old your views of the value of tradition may change.

This episode is more timely today than when it was made

I've been waiting all season for you guys to see that lady beg for Riker's sweet alien love.

Yes. This is sci-fi. Techno-babble and big space battles are more of a cinematic invention. This type of story is more indicative of classic sci-fi. Heinlein, Anderson, Smith, Anthony...more story less flash

Who else thinks Alex isn't kidding about not being here forever?

By the way, the “fictional broadcasts” were not referring to fake news, which really wasn’t a concept in 1991. The writers were making a joke about the Malkorians watching their own version of Star Trek.

Marc Zicree, author of "The Twilight Zone Companion", wrote this episode. This is his youtube channel https://www.youtube.com/@MrSciFi check it out.

The Lore with a complete spoiler. Lol.

1:15:02 The verb you're looking for is PORKED !

1:07:00 I "like" how the first Patron Take is a spoiler. 🤦

55:46 I just am not sure if you've seen that film. I think you have but I'm not sure... T.L.!

Ah thanks guys for taking on the task of reading my book-length comment! I’ll try to be more succinct next time! Sometimes I just got a lot to say about the episodes! 😂

50:10 Yup. Malkorian society is modeled as a mirror of contemporary human society, a few years on.

"Did he pull out his dick??" Thanks guys...because of that I spewed coffee all over my computer monitor and had to pause for a few minutes because I haven't laughed that hard in weeks. I'm glad I'm not the only sick bitch here. Great reaction to one of my favorite episodes. It's full of plot holes but still give it an S.

41:34 You can tell the strength of the phaser blasts by the sound.

This episode has lived in my mind since I first saw it.

For the record, Season 5 is my favorite, and not just because it includes my favorite TNG episode.

28:48 A simple test of his blood would very quickly prove he's an alien. Big plot hole in this one.

Great episode

If Alex is such a big fan of "downer endings," then DS9 will certainly be up his alley.

Glad y'all liked this episode.

Guys! Make sure you do NOT go through the comments yourself when this goes on YouTube. You would be spoilered to oblivion.

The trim looks great, Alex! 👍🐻🧔

Damn, my man Alex lookin' clean af with the new cut. Also, I'm a big fan of Frasier and there is a lot of cross pollination between these two shows when it comes to actors. Obviously Bebe Neuwirth, but there is an episode where Bebe's character is on a plain with a very nervous passenger played by Brent Spiner. She makes a comment that he looks extremely pale, to which he responds that he always looks like that.

I'm so happy to say: Yes, there really is a LOT more good Star Trek ahead for you guys, and I'm excited to see you get to it. 90's Star Trek is overall so fucking good!

Here is everyone's fav, well just the wierdos like me, The sex scoreboard Riker 9 new +1 Troi 3 Data 1 Picard 1 Worf 1 Geordi 1 & 1 i Broccoli 2 i Chief 1 Keiko 1 extras: Now THAT is the Riker being Kirk. It is time to shag the alien in order to .... um... walk out the door. Okay good enough reason.

Scifi isn't technobabble. It doesn't need to be about complex technology or whatever. Its about IDEAS. Scifi is SPECULATIVE FICTION. Its speculation about a scenario that is made possible by a future series of events and developments. Scifi is often set in the future as that creates room for the speculation based on the gulf between now and that future. How contact with a new society/species might go in the future with an eye towards drawing parallels with our own history is the very essence of what defines speculative fiction. This is one of Trek MOST science fiction heavy episodes. Honestly, in terms of narrative, it could be a short story by someone like Heinlein or Asimov. This episode entirely driven by the concepts, the actual technology and such are just props.

Fantastic episode looking at first contact from the ground instead of from orbit. One thing that niggles me, without his communicator how was riker even talking to them? Either he learnt their language or they speak English lol. Minor niggle though, for tv purposes it had to be this way I guess lol.

Pretty sure Bebe Neuwirth was begging for a role on TNG, and so they wrote her alien sex scene into this episode late.

You want a writing credit? You gotta have a good agent/manager to advocate for you. Or a generous producer.

Compare/contrast Mirasta Yale (alien with lower technology) with Gillian from Star Trek IV (human from past)

This was one of the top 5 episodes for me. Encapsulates everything that Star Trek is about, discovering new civilizations, allegories for real world earth right now, wonderment of technology and exploration, dash of humour and adventure, diplomacy, guest appearance by a famous actor.

Holy cow, I’m surprised at your ratings! I thought maybe B

It's a great episode. Krola is so painfully backwards and you can absolutely see the societal parallels the episode may or may not be throwing towards the viewers at the time - socially regressive, 'traditional' groups afraid of change because change.