[TNG] Season 4, Episode 15: First Contact
Rating: 3
As we’ve mentioned before, we love it when Picard gets to show a person from a less technologically advanced society how cool things are up on the Enterprise. My only complaint with this episode is that it would’ve been nice if the antagonist’s worldview or philosophy had a little more going for it than “we hate progress!”. Still, the writers and actors have fun with the ideas, and the dynamic between the scientist Yale, the leader Durken, and Picard make the episode really work.
Read more at Memory Alpha
Notes:
Some aliens find Riker’s foot
They’re on the verge of breaking the light speed barrier
Picard and Troi say hi
First they talk to a scientist because she seems cool. She tells Picard not to mention the Riker/spy stuff when meeting with the leader, but she’ll help find Riker
They pick up the leader and show him Data
This lady will only help Riker escape if he sleeps with her. The writers are gettin’ silly.
Riker doesn’t do a great job of escaping
This guy’s sick of all this progress in technology. It scares people, and is ruining their old-timey ways
By now everyone knows Riker is an alien so he makes it look like Riker shoots him, right before Riker was going to die from his wounds
But then Crusher shows up
The guy only had it on the stun setting. He doesn’t die, but his radical reaction convinces the leader to not pursue relations with the federation. They’re not ready for aliens
So he tells Picard to get lost
But this lady wants to stay on Enterprise and they let her! Seeya in the next episode, lady. Right?
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