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First Contact, Gallifrey Gals Get Warped! S4Ep15

🕑 Added 2021-08-24 17:00:09 +0000 UTC

Comments

Carrie Schwent

I feel your pain in the phobia department. I also feel that Arachnophobia, from which I suffer a SEVERE case of, is taken like a joke from the majorityofpeople. I tell someone about it AMF they then proceed to tell me about the time they saw one THIS big. It's not fun when you feel like you're being laughed at.

Darin A

I'm still hoping when TNG is finished they at least attempt DS9

Malcolm Wolf

Good point, I did not think of that

Raja

I actually could see it working if the genders were reversed. It really depends on the characters. While not all men are open to sex at every opportunity, not all women are averse to it either.

Raja

Agree. No one can be expected to spend their life just sitting on dreams they can't pursue.

Raja

Have you guys seen the sketch performance (I think it was the Emmy Awards) where Kate Mulgrew has the Frasier cast sit in for the Voyager bridge crew? Hilarious.

David Brown

And the last TNG movie shares a title with an episode of Voyager.

Timothy Hennon

'80s-90s writers' room: "We need to show that Riker is open to her advances otherwise the audience will assume that he is gay! And that would be terrible!"

Bluefox

This sort of argument never works. You can't angrily rail against people getting angry. You can't call someone "closed minded" while refusing to listen to their point of view, calling them triggered. You can't call someone intolerant while saying you can't tolerate what they have to say. I wrote the above before I got the recent Patreon email about Galaxy's Child. Now that I have more info about what you are talking about, let me add this: You can't go on about "an imaginary story" while being so upset about not being allowed to discuss something about said imaginary story. If you were with your friends, and one of them told you that, due to a traumatic experience, they didn't feel they could discuss a particular topic, would you really get this incensed? Would you really show so little compassion and make it all about you and how DARE they make a request of you? Sure, we're not exactly friends with Katrina (and Paula), but that's the atmosphere we have here--of friends chatting. If a topic will genuinely trigger someone, i.e. cause them to relive past trauma, there is absolutely no reason we have to be able to discuss it. Your desire to discuss a fictional TV show is not worth more than someone's mental health.

DarkAshtar

Ok, this probably shows my newbship with Star Trek, but as soon as I saw the title "First Contact" I immediately thought of the movie lol. Maybe cause I watched in the theaters with my mom before she passed but it always was special to me.

Daniel Plummer

I’d like to thank you both for helping me understand why certain aspects of the show (this week’s “comical” alien ‘make love to me and I’ll help you escape’) are more rapey than comical. Having grown up with the show and respecting much of what the characters stand for (Picard’s character), I was shaped by it and while I caught some unacceptable “let’s discuss why this point is unacceptable” points, I didn’t realize ALL the areas that needed it.

Mike

Yeah, imagine if a male nurse put Doctor Crusher in the same situation. Or Troi, actually with how Troi was handled they probably would have done that with her.

Pirateman

This competes with "The Offspring" for my favourite episode. Such a fantastic piece of fiction as a mirror to reality. And stellar acting throughout.

Pirateman

eh?

Brett Delbridge

Carolyn Seymour (Marista) also plays a Romulan Commander more than once. AND voices Dr. Chakawas in Mass effect!

David Brown

Just wait 'til next week! LOL

Chris Lane- Venturi 3D

Bebe Neuwirth plays the rapey lady. She is also well known for the infamous Lilith on Cheers and Frasier...playing Frasier's wife/ex-wife. I always loved her portrayal as Lilith.

Brett Delbridge

I’ve always thought this episode could use a follow up in a future series. When Yale returns home...

Matthew Zeidman

I’m a trypophobe myself. I’ve never been triggered by Trills’ spots, though. Is Katrina sporting a BMO shirt? I might have to up my tier if you all add Adventure Time to your repertoire.

Artemis Zeidman

The scene was definitely a prime example of the toxic misconception that men always want sex and, thus, are incapable of being forced or coerced into a sexual act. You’re right on the money in that the writers wouldn’t have gotten away with playing the scene for laughs if the genders were reversed. That particular scene definitely hasn’t aged well.

Matthew Baur

That's next season.

Patrick47

It's an awesome bit of serendipity that Paula briefly misread `reconnaissance` as `renaissance`, since one of working titles for the movie Star Trek: First Contact was Star Trek: Renaissance, and it would've been set during that time period 🖖

Lloyd B

Snack attack donors take note - DO NOT send Kate any Aero chocolate bars! Yummy as they are, I’m sure they would trigger her trypophobia.

Charles Woolman

Oh how I have enjoyed this journey with the two of you. I so wanted to see it through till the end. Unfortunately, I will be cancelling my subscription. The purpose of this is to see your reaction, absolutely, but it is so painful when a critique of an imaginary story becomes so intertwined with trigger responses. IMO, you become what you rail against. The anger, the close minded intolerance of a different opinion. Just not my cup of tea.

JXTN

It wasn't meant to be romantic, it was meant to be wierd. The percieved rapeyness has definitely increased as time went by, though. That aside, what a fantastic episode.

EricH86

My head cannon says Riker made up so kind of telepathic sex that the crazy nurse was went along with cause she is that delusional.

MrEvers

About the implied sex scene. For all we know Riker could've poked her elbows a few times with his ears and told her that was "their way"

Andrew Pulrang

Dr. Crusher, out loud, after beaming into the hospital room: “I’m a doctor, don’t be frightened.” Worf, unspoken, beaming in with her: “And I’m a f*cking Klingon so don’t even THINK about interfering with Dr. Crusher.”

John

Trypophobia is actually very common. If you Google it, you will find many examples of images NEVER to show to Katrina. Some occur in nature, and some are photoshops people make because they want to see the world burn. I don't consider it a phobia of mine, but I do find some types of triggering images unsettling, but others like honeycomb don't bother me at all. It's weird. (I actually find honeycomb to be aesthetically pleasing.)

Graham Mills

Marmite. So many people get sent an entire jar with no forewarning about how much to use at a time. If on toast it should be used VERY sparingly, not like jelly/jam. And do NOT try to eat an entire teaspoon of the stuff from the jar. It's a byproduct of beer brewing - very salty, very much love it or hate it.

Andrew Hogan

I found that Enterprise and Orville did a better job of showing what would happen if you really did make a misstep in that situation. One of the few problems TNG had was actually having an oops moment, where you could make the excuse it’s their first time doing this. Just like Who Watches the Watchers, I feel like they were dumbed down in order to write the episode, but I give it the leeway knowing how these things work.

Andrew Hogan

Gotcha

Mike

All I can think about this episode is that scene with Riker and the nurse, just imagine if the genders were reversed and you realize how messed up it is.

Nolan

Katrina, how can you NOT fathom people like Krola, willing to die to preserve his way of life, in this day and age where people are willing to cough on others, avoid vaccines and drink bleach just so they can continue to be right? So, I dunno if either of you know, but it's a background part of the lore that when Earth went through First Contact, we'd just had our third world war and decimated our planet with nuclear weapons. We'd pretty much had all the fight taken out of us when the aliens rolled up and were actually willing to sit down and talk, more or less. I do like this episode, for the twist on the narrative where our main characters are the outsiders and not the focal point. Nice change of pace. As for the "Sex with an alien" scene... yes, it was the 90's. In universe I have to believe that Riker wasn't THAT put out, but out it, it's a sign of our own evolution and change.

R. Chang

I love the head of the medical facility in this episode. He’s like the platonic ideal of what a doctor should be.

Firefly24601

I do appreciate that the Krola character had actual thoughts and motivations, and his actions made sense given his mindset. And that he wasn't JUST the arch-villain of the week because evil.

Arek Schneyer

I don't watch it a ton. I prefer other episodes more, but it is REALLY interesting.

Arek Schneyer

I love this episode, because no matter how wrong I think Krola is, I think the writers did a good job of making him sympathetic, even despite the horrible things he did. The episode avoids simple fixes to complex social problems.

Jonathan Emery

I'm glad Minister Yale was able to leave. She wouldn't have been able to do anything with her society being so closed minded

Michael Bauer

One of my favorite episodes ... and kinda underrated IMO. It presents a nice variation on the First Contact theme with the different factions ... fear & mistrust vs curiosity and empathy... the different interests and ideologies... - and an interesting, "nonstandard" conclusion. We see the first-contact protocol, and we see how the Federation does everything in its power not to coerce other peoples... Good world-building. The screenwriting and acting (and directing, camera etc) for Picard and the Chancellor is amazing - how carefully he communicates. Always explaining - and asking permission before doing anything. Picard even asks permission to demonstrate to Mirasta that they are alien. And what a great leader Melokor III has - don't you wish politicians were more like Picard and the Chancellor? And you can even understand the other side a bit - not to the extent of Krola of course, but in general. There have been many instances where people coming and introducing their way of life, which was perhaps technologically superior, meant the end of lots of aspects of culture... which some people fear, because those aspects (often of course including tribalistic, closed-minded patterns of thought and behavior, but not exclusively) were/are their whole life and how they think their society should be. We (I) would say to the conservative who rants about the evils of pluralism, diversity, science and technology that societies change - and while they naturally bring their own problems, all of those things are in general good - they make the lives of people better. Then again, depending on where you're coming from, it may be really hard - perhaps impossible - to accurately judge the intentions of others and the consequences of introducing changes to the way of life of a people. We need only think of Native Americans to have an infamously horrible example of what technologically superior others coming "as friends" can do - and that if no room is left for societal and cultural self-determination, it can eradicate entire ways of life, cultures, ecosystems, peoples... I'm no conservative at all - and will defend the values of humanism, openness and scientific curiosity... but I recognize that others may have experiences that (sometimes rightfully) predispose them to be far more cautious. Black communities in the US for example have more fear and mistrust towards medical science... for good reason, when you take a quick look at history. As usual, the bad guys represent tribalism, fear, xenophobia - but the episode includes positions all along the spectrum of openness, is careful to lay out the dangers and difficulties... and we don't get an easy win in the end. I love how Star Trek manages to entertain with such ... discourses on societal values, ethics in dealing with others from a position of power, on progress, fear, caution and tribalism. Also... as a huge Cheers and Frasier fan... Bebe Neuwirth is just fantastic here, even if her character does some pretty iffy stuff.

Jeff Seely

I haven't heard anything about Paula starting Voyager. I can't speak for the Gals, but I get the sense that they would probably watch Voyager for the first time together.

Henchman Twenty1

When Bebe's character says, "I've always wanted to make love with an alien", you kinda get the feeling it's not too far off the mark with her own sentiments, and she is a huge sci-fi fan.

Jeff Seely

Paula might be interested to know that Carolyn Seymour -- the actress playing Mirasta Yale (the scientist) -- was also the voice of Dr. Chakwas in the Mass Effect trilogy. Also, the character in that uncomfortable scene where she propositioned Riker was played by Bebe Neuwirth. She also played the iconic Dr. Lilith Sternin on Cheers and its spinoff series Frasier.

Matt O'Keefe

Like Kelsey Grammar did last season I believe. Maybe TNG is the mirror universe for Fraiser.

Kirk Deighton

Always fun to see the Cheers crew turning up when they wandered across the lot.

fcast17

I'll be so excited when those two words in the title show up again on here. :D

fcast17

Agreed. This is definitely one of those "Not my taste but actually excited to see another's reaction to it" episodes. :)

Andrew Hogan

Not really a fan of this episode. I don’t dislike it, but I don’t love it either. It has its moments, and it’s always nice to see Bebe Neuwirth doing a scene, but overall I just can’t get into this episode. Also, does anybody know if Paula started watching Voyager, now that’s she’s finished DS9?