“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.”
No, not that First Contact. Of the many reasons that the feature film Star Trek: First Contact pisses me off (you’ll have to wait till this year’s Christmas special to read the rest of them), the first one was the most trivial: there was already an episode called that! And quite a good one, too. I’m very fond of “First Contact,” a classy, adventurous episode perfectly on-message for everything Star Trek: The Next Generation represents… and, appropriately enough, the exact midpoint of the show. This is episode number 88, of a series that ran a total of 176. Hey: I guess that means I’m halfway done Blogging the Next Generation, too.
The episode’s great conceit is that it’s told from the planet’s point of view, developing a wonderful ecosystem of guest characters and presenting the Enterprise crew as glittering, otherworldy “others.” The Malkorians are a race on the verge of warp flight, about to be first-contacted by Starfleet, when an undercover Riker is injured and discovered to be an offworlder, threatening to derail the whole thing. This nicely fits “First Contact” within any number of our “what if?” stories about aliens coming to Earth, except here, we’re the aliens. Riker’s initial attempts to pass his completely foreign physiology off as just a series of genetic irregularities is surprisingly well played given the outlandishness of it – in fact, all in all, this is one of Frakes’ best episodes as Riker overall. But really, the whole cast shines here, which is a must, given that the guest stars must carry so much of the show.
The ensemble is one of the largest for any single episode of Next Gen. George Coe brings wisdom and gravity as the Malkorian Chancellor. Michael Ensign is wonderfully dimensional as a xenophobic security minister. George Hearn really impresses me as the director of the hospital where Riker is being held. And one of my very favourite guest actors in all of Star Trek, Carolyn Seymour, is a heartwarming delight as the Malkorian science minister, who is overwhelmed with long-held joy when her belief in life beyond the stars is proved real, and shown to her up close – so much so that, at the episode’s conclusion, she asks to go with the Enterprise, to continue the journey. All of these featured guests, plus many supporting actors, create a rich, multi-faceted society for Picard and company to bump against.
Their “bumping” is largely an opportunity to wax philosophical about first contact and the Prime Directive, and in the latter case, it’s easily one of the nicest, least sanctimonious examples of the plot point ever put forth on Star Trek. Everything just tracks here, and even makes for compelling drama, largely because of the inversion of the narrative spine. Told from the Enterprise’s point of view, the episode couldn’t have been as effective.
Notably, we also have Bebe Neuwirth in a cameo appearance as a Malkorian hospital worker who wants nothing more in life than to have sex with an alien – and talks Riker into it fairly easily. Well, of course she does. But as a hilarious stand-in for all the Trekkies out there who fantasized about cosplay sex with their favourite Star Trek character (see my notes on Ensign McKnight in the previous episode), Neuwirth will be remembered for a long, long time.
Blogging The Next Generation runs every Tuesday as I work my way through every episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation on blu-ray. Season Four is in stores now.