First Contact by: Dennis Russell Bailey, David Bischoff, Joe Menosky, Ronald D. Moore, and Michael Piller from a story by: Marc Scott Zicree and directed by: Cliff Bole

 

“First Contact” is written by: Dennis Russell Bailey, David Bischoff, Joe Menosky, Ronald D. Moore, and Michael Piller, from a story by: Marc Scott Zicree, and is directed by: Cliff Bole.  It was produced under production code 189, was the 15^th episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation Season 4, the 89^th episode overall, and was broadcast on February 18, 1991.

 

The opening of “First Contact” plays out not like an episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation but as a medical drama.  The pre-credits sequence builds to the reveal that the patient is William Riker, and the alien doctors are surprised at his anatomy.  This does exactly what it says on the tin, exploring a society’s first contact with aliens except instead of humanity, it is the citizens of Malcor III being exposed to the Federation for the first time.  The setup of the episode is that first contact is happening too early, but not early enough to be a violation of the Prime Directive, this episode does not even mention that as a possibility.  While not made explicit as to what caused the riots that injured Riker, it is inferred that it is in response to warp experiments that are going too well with Riker in disguise as one of their own.  The doctors treating him immediately suspect he is an alien and the B-plot of the episode is keeping him at the hospital stable, while trying to stop the news of an alien arriving on the planet from getting out.  The A-plot of the episode is Captain Picard and Deanna Troi revealing themselves to the planet’s government authorities to arrange first contact and find Riker.  The trick to the episode is in the opening, by keeping the perspective of the episode on the alien characters this becomes a unique exploration of what the established Star Trek first contact scenario would be.

 

“First Contact” was initially a pitch by Marc Scott Zicree for the third season that took the interest of new showrunner Michael Piller.  While the story concept was purchased for development in the fourth season, to get to the finished episode the idea underwent several drafts.  Zicree only receiving story credit indicates that he did not contribute to the finished script.  There are five writers credited; however it is very likely Piller is the one writing the final script as he is credited last and alone.  Based on the groupings of the names it’s likely Dennis Russell Bailey and David Bischoff took one crack at the script while Joe Menosky and Ronald D. Moore took another before Piller finished the broadcast script.  There is little indication in the episode as to what each writing team contributed, so for all intents and purposes it is a Michael Piller script combining the work of the original story pitch and these two other draft versions.  While this review will be referring largely to Piller as the writer it should not discredit the contributions of the others to making this episode work as well as it does.  The trick behind the episode is the fact that the perspective is not on the Enterprise crew, instead putting the episode on the shoulders of the guest cast to show the perspectives on this planet.  Importantly, the ending of the episode where first contact is not made official is integral in how the episode works.  “First Contact” becomes an exploration of how tradition can create fear to hold a society back from progress.  Star Trek as a franchise likes to examine a society’s maturity in terms of accepting these ideas, Gene Roddenberry’s perspective being that humanity will eventually ascend away from its own prejudices.  The society of Malcor III is prejudiced towards outsiders and to technological progress, the mention of riots at the warp experiments and the initial fear that the Federation are wolves in sheep’s clothing so to speak.  There are exceptions, people who can see the progress and their representative in the episode is allowed to make her own personal first contact and leave with the Enterprise crew.

 

British character actress Carolyn Seymour plays the closest thing “First Contact” has to a central protagonist as Science Minister Mirasta Yale, a woman on the cutting edge of technology and immediately enraptured with the Enterprise and Federation.  Seymour plays the role as complex, excited to take the steps into the future of technology but still taken aback by the appearance of the strange anatomy of human beings.  Piller’s script is intentional in Yale’s agency as a representative of government, withholding information from the authorities on her judgment when learning of the Federation’s multiyear observations.  It also avoids giving Yale romantic subplots, allowing her to exist as a competent scientist and woman who does not need the definition of a man that likely would have happened were this an episode of the original series.  The opposite side of traditionalism and fear is represented by Krola, played by Michael Ensign, who descends into his own type of madness when he is told about the aliens.  He is the episode’s antagonist, outright becoming violent and setting himself up for martyrdom to turn the public against the alien menace that the Federation might pose.  As mediator is George Coe as Avel Durken, the planet’s chancellor who genuinely does care for the well-being of his people and moving them forward.  Piller positions Durken not as sympathetic to people like Krola, but as understanding of the need for the right rhetoric to get people on their side.  He is the one who makes the final decision that the planet is not ready for first contact but will be working to prepare his own people with the knowledge that the universe is far bigger than their traditions allow at this point.  The B-plot of an injured Riker is almost entirely in service of the A-plot, though it does contain the one thing that holds the episode back.  There is an extended cameo from Bebe Neuwirth as a woman immediately attracted to Riker and the episode does contribute to portraying the sexual coercion of a man as a joke.  Don’t get me wrong, Neuwirth’s performance is quite funny and her chemistry with Jonathan Frakes is there, it is however a poorly devised sequence and in the end filler so the B-plot can fill in some of the episode.

 

Overall, outside of exactly one plot point that has made “First Contact” age quite poorly, it is a brilliant episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation.  It works so well because of the divergence in perspective of the typical format allows for proper exploration of what first contact implies for a society.  Like the best science fiction there is a mirror being held up to humanity, even if the mirror is towards a generic issue with humanity’s tendency to accept change and the promises of something better because it would be an expansion of their horizons.  9/10.