Weekend Trek “First Contact”

Hey, it’s Halloween!  What spooky sort of episode did Jimmy and Tom comment on this time?

Um, well, the episode does feature Riker putting on a disguise, I suppose.  But that didn’t stop Jimmy and Tom from talking up “First Contact”.

“First Contact”

An alien race makes First Contact with the Enterprise, but there’s a small problem in one of their hospitals…

jimmy:  Leave it to Riker to get “rescued” by one of the only females on the planet not afraid of the “alien”…and that also wants to have sex with him.

tomk:  I dunno. Early 90s Bebe Neuwirth isn’t exactly someone a virile he-man like Riker could say no to.

jimmy:  No doubt.  Still funny though.  And I never would have pictured her in that role.

tomk:  That makes it even better.

jimmy:  Pre-Frasier, but definitely post Cheers appearances.

tomk:  And that’s not even getting into the original SNL cast member.

jimmy:  Bill Murray?

tomk:  He was not an original cast member.

jimmy:  …Chevy Chase?

tomk:  No.  George Coe.

jimmy:  Who?

tomk:  OK, when SNL was new, the cast was made up entirely of young, inexperienced comedians.  So, for the first year, they hired an older, more experienced actor to help out.  That was George Coe.  He was the oldest member of the cast in the show’s history until Leslie Jones came onboard.

jimmy:  Which guy was he on this show?

tomk:  Um, the older guy.

He did supporting roles and the like, no particular character, and he left after season one if I remember right.

jimmy:  The chancellor guy?

tomk:  Oh, in the episode.  Yes.

I misunderstood.  I blame Watson.

jimmy:  As you should.  But no, I wasn’t familiar at all with former SNL guy.

tomk:  It’s understandable. He died a couple years ago, and one of his last reoccurring roles got a tribute done by the show’s producers.

https://youtu.be/HQWBDVAoTeg

jimmy:  From a show I’ve never watched.

tomk:  You do miss a lot.

jimmy:  There’s only so many hours in the day.

tomk:  True. Have a consolation brownie.

jimmy:  Does it have nuts?

tomk:  Do you like nuts in brownies?

jimmy:  I don’t not like them.

tomk:  Then yes.

jimmy:  I’ll save it for desert.

tomk:  I am guessing the main course is not first contact with an alien race.

jimmy:  No.

So, why even make contact with them at that point?  Especially if you are going to show them all the tech you have that you won’t help them invent.

tomk:  Mostly to make sure things go smoothly so they make more friends and not new enemies like with the Klingons.

jimmy:  I suppose. But it sure seems like acting superior.

tomk:  Picard?  Acting in a superior manner?  That seems unlikely.

jimmy:

tomk:  The Prime Directive has that effect on people.

jimmy:  And they probably wouldn’t have revealed themselves so soon, except for Klutzy Riker.

tomk:  He and his five fingered ways were bound to gel caught.

jimmy:  I can understand not rearranging his internal organs, but the best they could do to disguise his hands were mittens?

tomk:  To be fair, it was cold outside.

jimmy:  It just seemed clumsy. I know, they weren’t expecting Riker to end up in the hospital and be discovered, but seems like they should have done more.

Also, doesn’t this job seem beneath Riker?  He’s second in command of the flagship, and he is going undercover to do surveillance on some random planet?

tomk:  I don’t know if the job is “beneath” him, but it sure isn’t something he seems qualified for.

jimmy:  I would argue overqualified.

tomk:  Well, if the job is just to go down and check on who is down there…yes, overqualified.  If the job is to do some of the work the agents are doing on his own, he probably isn’t really trained for that, so…underqualfied.

If his job is to bone a Cheers actress between scenes…that’s the sweet spot.

jimmy:  Lol

Not to mention I’m sure the Enterprise should have better things to do.

tomk:  Their mission is to explore strange new worlds and stuff like that.  Diplomacy is part of that.  Picard as the captain of the fleet’s flagship has to deal with all kinds of things.  Be glad he doesn’t have second contact duties.

jimmy:  Must be a slow week in the universe.

tomk:  Captain Jake was on leave at a space station.  And that meant this happened:

https://youtu.be/vwrhOd9Do2A

jimmy:  How come movies never have theme songs anymore?

tomk:  Just hum something to yourself when you get to see The Suicide Squad.

And don’t pay too much attention to No Time to Die.

jimmy:  I also find it a little humorous how shocking the…I can’t remember the species name now…the newcomers find the appearance of Picard et al. Except for the fused digits and cranial ridge, they look human and speak English.

It’s not like those Green Slime guys beamed down to chat.

tomk:  The Green Slime guys come with a theme song, but that’s all.

jimmy:  Which is now stuck in my head.

tomk:  My work here is done.

jimmy:  I guess next episode we’ll find out what happens to the new crew member of the Enterprise and how losing their top scientist sets back the civilizations race to warp drive.

tomk:  Uh…sure.

jimmy:  Perfect. I’m really interested in what happens to them.

tomk:  Oh sure.  In fact, um, she gets Tasha’s job.

jimmy:  But what about Worf?

tomk:  Tasha’s other job.  Least detailed backstory.

jimmy:  Hopefully she doesn’t take Tasha’s current job: being dead.

tomk:  That was what the job the guy in the glasses was applying for.  He’ll have to settle for running that hotel in Ghostbusters.

jimmy:  Hey!  I just watched that!

tomk:  Good for you.  Have a Western omelet.

jimmy:  No onions?

tomk:  Do you like onions in your Western omelets?

jimmy:  I certainly do not.

tomk:  Then no onions.

Just a delicious omelet with a side of breakfast sausages, a big glass of orange juice, and a gadget with a button that shocks your worst enemy in the genitals whenever you press it.

jimmy:  I call it the Watson Squealer.

tomk:  Probably a good thing he’s already had kids then.

jimmy:  No doubt.

tomk:  However, I will say that one thing I really liked about this episode is that the Enterprise crew, aside from Riker, are really just supporting characters here.  It’s all about the aliens,.

Worf and Crusher only seemed to get short cameos at that.

jimmy:  Not quite at the level, but could almost be viewed as a back door pilot.

tomk:  Yes, the Adventures of Chancellor Woodhouse and Four-Eyes, the Symbolically Nearsighted Man With No Vision.

jimmy:  I didn’t say it would be a good back door pilot…

tomk:  Especially since the actress playing the scientist was a Romulan in an earlier episode.

jimmy:  Those Romulans and their spies!

tomk:  Yeah, she was really deep cover that time.

jimmy:  I’m sure I’ve said this before, but must be weird working on a show like this as a regular and you get the script and you have one line in one scene.

tomk:  Probably depends on how many prosthetics you have to put on.

jimmy:  Hmm. That is a good point.

tomk:  Gates McFadden?  Standard make-up and a red wig.  Michael Dorn?  Oh boy…

jimmy:  He couldn’t have minded it too much. I think Dorn has more episodic Trek appearances than anyone else.

tomk:  He does, but he said if he’s asked to come back for Picard, he wants it to be for something really meaty.  He doesn’t want to show up, put on all the make-up, and then just growl a couple lines.

Probably related to his age.

jimmy:  I would imagine. And that’s not happening in season two by the looks of the trailer.

tomk:  You’ll change your tune when you find out the world is really being run by Worf behind the scenes.

jimmy:  He earned it with all those MVP awards.

tomk:  Just like you got to be his Number One with all those gold stars.

jimmy:

tomk:  That’s why the rebel group is made up of this episode’s scientist lady, Vash, the Moose, Cousin Minka, and the Dancing Garcia Clan.

jimmy:  Gonna be a different season.

tomk:  It’s why they are changing the show’s title to Picard: Mission Impossible.

jimmy:  Well, this is getting silly. Anything else about our new alien friends who are pumping the brakes on warp drive development and who we’ll likely never see again?

tomk:  I think it works as an episode by exploring what it’s like to actually meet someone for the first time, the extreme caution Starfleet takes, and how it may not always work out for the best.  Also, how long was Picard in the Chancellor’s waiting room before their first meeting?

jimmy:  Let’s say, not long. He was monitoring the Chancellor’s whereabouts from the Enterprise. Yeah, that’s the ticket.

tomk:  Well, we don’t know how his receptionist was brutally murdered to keep silent once Picard left.

jimmy:  Probably best if we don’t.

tomk:  Now you got it.  Besides, the next episode might be all about how things may be for the best when people don’t know.

jimmy:  Sounds scandalous.

tomk:  More like…cringeworthy.  Remember Geordi’s holographic girlfriend?

jimmy:  The engineer who designed the Enterprise engines?

tomk:  Uh huh.

jimmy:  She’s back?

tomk:  The real thing this time.

jimmy:  Awkward.

tomk:  Oh yes. Ready?

jimmy:  Set.

tomk:  You asked for it…

Next:  “Galaxy’s Child”