Star Trek: The Next Generation (TV Series) First Contact (1991) User Reviews

Solid Episode

[M_Exchange · 8/10 · 8 May 2017]

The kinky scene between Bebe Neuwirth's alien character and Riker is humorous and enjoyable enough in itself to rate this show positively.

But I also loved the intellectual, deep moments of crisis with the alien civilization and its technological advances and journeys into space, which obviously parallel humanity's advances.

The Star Trek crew is informed a few times by an alien that her culture views its world as the center of the universe. Prior to the discoveries of Galileo, Tycho Brae and other legendary scientists, humanity had the same view.

I really enjoyed this one.

Fear of change

[Mr-Fusion · 8/10 · 26 March 2017]

'First Contact' is classic science fiction - a race of people facing the discovery of alien life - except the aliens in this case are Starfleet personnel; it's a clever twist on the exploration theme. And with Riker's life hanging in the balance, there's more suspense here than I'd expected.

But it's the little things here and there that really caught my interest. Like hearing about the reasons for instituting the Prime Directive in the first place (and how it could've avoided a centuries-long war with the Klingons, for example). It's nice to see some development of the theory rather than just wielding it as an excuse not to take action. And I got a "Star Trek VI" feeling with a certain faction of the Malcorians fearing relations with a new race and suddenly losing their place at the center of the universe. Even a "Star Trek IV" vibe with one of them staying on the Enterprise as the episode winds down.

I really liked this; nice execution.

8/10

Interesting Twist

[ad1965 · 7/10 · 4 August 2009]

This episode is essentially a look at how different elements of our own society would react if aliens were discovered to be living among us, a subject which has been covered in sci-fi since the days of the flying saucer and the Red Scare. This time, we are the aliens, and we have been living among a very human-like civilization which is just beginning the exploration of space. We see doctors treating the captured alien (Riker) just as they would one of their own, the scientist reacting with great interest and curiosity, the security person reacting with fear, and the politician deciding to cover everything up.

Overall, a pretty good episode, and a look at what would happen if the shoe were on the other foot. Yes, there are plot holes and unanswered questions, but look how many people are credited with having a hand in the writing of this episode: story by one person and teleplay by five others (two pairs and one individual). Good soup for so many cooks.

Fearing the unknown.

[russem31 · 23 April 2006]

ST:TNG:89 - "First Contact" (Stardate: Unknown) - this is the 15th episode of the 4th season of Star Trek: The Next Generation.

In the episode which bears the name of a future Star Trek feature film, the storyline is essentially the same - in terms of the First Contact theme. But instead of humans making first contact with alien beings for the first time, the role is reversed - the Enterprise does so with the inhabitants of Malcor III. Only they had to do so prematurely because Commander Riker (in disguise) was injured and taken to one of their hospitals. When he is exposed as an alien, a phobia begins which ultimately might lead to his death, out of fear.

Trivia note: Bebe Neuwirth makes a comical and overly funny appearance as Nurse Lanel, who always dreamed of making love to an alien (guess which one)! She becomes the second "Cheers" actor to make a Star Trek appearance - after Kirstie Alley as Saavik in Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan.

Also, Picard reveals the reason for the cautious First Contact procedures is because of the disastrous first contact with the Klingons centuries ago, which led to decades of war.

Best Stand Alone Episode in the Star Trek Universe.

[adamtaylor15 · 10/10 · 28 May 2016]

I watch this episode for the third time in a lifetime before writing this review because I felt that this was the best episode yet written about the Star Trek Universe. I tip my hat to the writers of this episode

The story can be summarized easily; Enterprise is coordinating first contact with a planet. Cmdr. Riker, in partial disguise, is injured and discovered in a hospital. First contact begins as an attempt to help find Riker and not ruin the hopeful friendship with a world.

The outcome of events force the leader of this species to make the decision that his people were not ready to learn that they are not the center of the universe. There was so much depth in the wisdom and disappointment of the actor who played the race's leader.

I gave it 10/10 stars because I thought it was a perfect mesh of great writing and excellent acting both from the cast and the guest stars.

If you are introducing someone who is new to the Star Trek Universe, I would suggest using this episode because it is the perfect introduction to the depth and beauty of the The Federation. A part of the universe, in a coalition, with the wisdom to respect the request to back off when asked. Knowing it was in the best interest of everyone to wait and let this species mature before introducing them to the rest of the universe.

Not a perfect episode

[UncleMouse · 8/10 · 10 September 2009]

...but a very good one. I like the way it mirrors several actual "alien mysteries" and that it shows reasonable reasons for not having had the "first contact" ourselves yet...

I'd like to refer to some of the "plot holes" ShogaNinja mentioned: "Secondly, if Riker was on the planet for months doing acculturation research where was the Enterprise during this time?" It was never said that Riker was there "for months". His mission was to contact the starfleet observers on the planet to get prepared for the first contact. And that certainly doesn't require "months".

About ambassadors not carrying weapons: I'm sure they DO have weapons - in case they have to defend themselves.

"Also why do humans always conduct First Contact, why not Vulcans or any of the vast myriad of alien races that belong to the Federation of Planets? More specifically why is it always the Enterprise initiating First Contact?" When or where is it said so?? I think we can assume that Starfleet is huge - and that we don't get to know each and every "first contact"! This series is focused on the adventures of the Enterprise. There might be thousand other stories to tell within the Starfleet universe.

But indeed, there ARE plot holes in this episode. Two of which I think haven't been mentioned before: 1) Since the Arkonians do not have fingers, we should see huge consoles, keyboards and buttons... 2) If the people of a planet regard themselves "the center of the universe", why would they call this planet Malcor THREE themselves...?

Where is Riker?

[bkoganbing · 8/10 · 11 November 2019]

The Enterprise is on a first contact mission with the Arkonians and as standard procedure they have had observers on the planet for some time now. Jonathan Frakes has been sent to gather up last minute intelligence and he's been surgically altered to pass for an Arkonian. But he was injured and at their hospital he's discovered not to be one of them.

When Captain Picard and Deanna Troi go down and contact the chancellor about first contact they mention Riker is missing and what he was doing.

The reactions of the various people to the news of the aliens among us runs the gamut. All the way from the minister to security who sees a threat to the Arkonian way of life and he's played by Michael Ensign. Then there's Bebe Neuwirth who wants to experience sex with an alien. Riker is on an intelligence gathering mission you know.

One of their best stories.

The first, first contact.

[thevacinstaller · 8/10 · 27 March 2021]

I dig this one.

I am a miserable SOB and I enjoy an unhappy ending from time to time.

The idea of performing reconnaissance before making first contact with an alien species makes perfect sense but this episode is about the complexities that could occur with such a policy.

I was thinking a lot about how technology can outpace social/intellectual/cultural evolution in society and what happens to a society that maintains an argent adherence to religion while exploring space.

I enjoyed the character of Durken and his big picture view points of how first contact could adversely effect the society of the Malcorians.

Riker having sex with Lillith from cheers did make me laugh a bit. Nice to see that aliens have some bizarre fetishes too.

This was a nice realistic portrayal of the complexities that first contact could potentially have on an alien society.

Solid episode.

One of my favourite episodes

[denniswik · 9/10 · 4 February 2021]

I wish they did atleast half a season on this subject. An earth like planet on the verge of warpdrive evolution. SciFi at its core. I would so like to see more takes on the ethics in high tech. Like, the guy with the horse and carriage showing up protesting NASAs vanity project (not my opinion) with traveling to the moon when people are starving on earth etc. Scientists could weigh in with: "This and that gene were found in unexpected organism X but got transfered to cornplants making them bigger and more resilient and saved people from starvation, lord knows what we´ll find on mars yada yada"

I'll call you the next time I pass through

[snoozejonc · 8/10 · 15 July 2021]

Enterprise attempts to make first contact with the inhabitants of a planet.

This is a strong episode that has some great themes written within a decent story and some memorable character moments.

It is the story of a world on the verge of first contact with the Federation, but within it are themes on social development and the readiness of inhabitants to be in contact with other worlds. I find it to be quite reflective of our present day world in many ways, but they feel somewhat ahead of us and I imagine any alien life forms watching us would maintain a very wide birth.

The Enterprise crew are almost like Klaatu from 'The Day The Earth Stood Still' as they observe the Malcorians. There are a number of great dialogues between Captain Picard and the guest characters. Commander Riker's contribution being somewhat of a plot MacGuffin who's situation helps bring a sense of urgency to everything. In doing so he has some cool moments of drama and humour.

All the guest characters are distinctive and written in a relatable way. My favourite moments are of Picard showing certain individuals what exists outside their world and of course the light relief of Riker's encounter with a Malcorian nurse.

All visuals are great, with strong set design, costuming, makeup and matte paintings.

Performances by everyone are memorable with standouts being Patrick Stewart, Jonathan Frakes, George Coe and Carolyn Seymour.

Politics at the Cosmic Level

[Hitchcoc · 7/10 · 26 August 2014]

This is a decent episode because it takes into account the realities of a culture facing a quantum leap into the future. Riker is the focus. He has been genetically altered to look like an inhabitant so he can keep track of a group of similar agents. Unfortunately, he is caught in the middle of a riot and badly injured. This planet has been selected for First Contact and his presence may compromise this. At the top of the planetary political system are doubter and zealots. They are seriously at odds. It is obvious that the people of the planet are reactionary and suspicious. Debate goes on. Picard beams down and meets a woman who is spearheading the use of Warp Drive. She is brought on board the ship. Meanwhile, the leader of the council must balance on a political tightrope, carefully watching what is going on with Riker. Things go from bad to worse. One of the opposition is frightened of the Federation taking over the planet and will do anything to stop the process. Picard must use all his diplomatic wiles to try to get the show on the road, but there are big obstacles. Still, this is really an episode about the realities of new human encounters. Good episode.

One of the better episodes of STNG

[machrf · 9/10 · 22 June 2020]

Considering they have about a week to write most scripts this was very well written and thought out. It uses all the modern day stereotypes to make a very good storyline. It is great. The only thing I did not like was in the goof section regarding those that stated that Picard would have given Mirasta a combadge to track her to Riker and their ability to use everyday items. Any Trekkie would know they would never give advanced technology to someone from a new world. It would be too great a risk to contaminate their society. Also, that the three fingered hand could not use door knobs, telephones, etc. Anyone who has used a mitten knows that is not true. But they do have a point with some of the fine detailed medical equipment. Those large fingers would make it a bit difficult to press a small button. Had those fingers come to more of a point I could disagree.

We come in peace...

[planktonrules · 7/10 · 19 November 2014]

Commander Riker is observing the Arkonians. However, to do so and remain unobserved, he's had cosmetic surgeries, as the society does not yet realize that there are any other beings out there in space. But, this society soon will have warp drives and will be able to learn for themselves about the Federation and other worlds. So, in anticipation of this, Riker is observing. Unfortunately, he's badly injured...and the Arkonian doctors are astonished to see that he's not one of them! This forces the Federation to speed up first contact, and so Picard lands and meets with one of their top scientists and then their leader. But, amazingly, the leader is NOT that excited about first contact. It seems that his society is very ego-centric and the notion that anyone else could exist in the universe is something many will not accept. So, he is torn--between publicly acknowledging that aliens indeed do exist or remaining willingly ignorant of the outside worlds.

So much of this episode has parallels to Earth since the late 1940s when stories of UFOs first began circulating. This, and the odd reaction to aliens of the people make this one well worth seeing.

A Senior Trekker writes.................

[celineduchain · 5/10 · 26 January 2022]

Season 4 contains the 80th episode of The Next Generation, at which point it surpassed the output of the Original Series. A number of extended themes played out during this season delving into both the political backdrop and the personal lives of the crew. These continuing storylines proved extremely popular, however they did not detract from the use of Science Fiction to tell interesting stories. Senior Trekker continues to score every episode with a 5.

This is an excellent piece of classic Science Fiction and a brave concept for Star Trek to tell the story from the alien point of view. Apparently it had to be fought for by the writers and nothing like it was ever done on TNG again. Although it feels very much as if it was influenced by the X Files, this episode was actually made before that extremely popular television series began. Great care went into creating an alternative world with sets, costumes and prosthetics which suggested a race who had undergone parallel evolution without any former contact with the Federation.

Of course, this was a weekly television show whose production values could not possibly keep up with the demands of its writers' imaginations; something which is immediately apparent as soon as you wonder how anyone could perform sophisticated surgery with those peculiar mitten-hands. Or, indeed, how could a member of a race with such a different set of internal organs possibly enjoy a glass of Chateau Picard?

This is entirely excusable within the confines of the medium, of course, but Riker's casual sexual encounter with the alien, Doctor Lanel, was tasteless in the extreme. As I've mentioned before, some things just don't stand the test of time. Also anomalous, although rather more sincere, was the depiction of an alien race who were going through an insular and parochial phase but were fully expected to develop more open-mindedness in the future. This future was to be achieved by the influence of benign and enlightened leaders. Unfortunately, such an optimistic allegory is extremely hard to take seriously in 2022.

Carolyn Seymour is usually remembered for her more acerbic portrayal of Romulan characters, so it was lovely to see her charming smile when, as the Malcorian character Mirasta Yale, she contemplates her unexpected future among the stars. Several well-known guest actors who are not normally known for Science Fiction handled their latex-encased persona very well and gave added layers of quality to the episode.

REVIEW 2022

[iamirwar · 9/10 · 8 September 2022]

Riker... what are you?

Disguised as an alien, Riker's life is in danger when he is caught up in a riot on the planet of Malcoria.

I knew from the off that this would be a first rate episode. This one is like something Rod Serling would dream up.

New ideas, new technologies and now space travel. "There are still many people who value are traditional way of life."

Imagine if the people of Galileo's time came face-to-face with the crew of the Enterprise. Where would that put their theory of the Earth being at the centre of the Universe?

A tantalising story and presented in such a way that you could appreciate both sides of the argument. There have been some very good episodes during season four, even the weakest stories are only bottom of the pile by default of them being trumped. This one is definitely up near the top of the pile.

Dangers......

[gritfrombray-1 · 10/10 · 16 July 2007]

In this we see an injured Riker on a planet which is about to enter space to test a warp drive for the first time. The Federation have been closely monitoring this planet with away teams in disguise and Commander Riker had the misfortune of getting injured. He is eventually discovered to be an alien and the Hospital is thrown into uproar among the Security and Medical staff. Picard and Troi make contact with Mirasta Yale, a Scientist and she agrees to help locate Riker. The Planet's leader is then contacted and he is in awe of the Enterprise. Alas, Nayrok, the Security man causes trouble and feigns his own death,attempting to make it look like Riker had killed him. The planet's leader shares some Château Picard with Jean Luc and wistfully asks him to leave as they are not ready for contact with an alien world and the Enterprise departs, taking Mirasta Yale with them at her request. Trivia, Mirasta Yale was played by Carolyn Seymour who has played a Romulan Commander twice in 'Contagion' and 'Face Of The Enemy'

Do you reveal the BIG picture?

[redpin-70557 · 10/10 · 7 January 2019]

The topic of this episode is fascinating. One thing I would have liked the writers to include would have been having Picard reveal to Chancellor Durken that not all space-faring beings are as friendly or considerate as the Federation.

• - - - - - - - -

Picard: "I feel obliged to inform you chancellor that not all space-faring beings are, shall we say, friendly."

Durken: "Is this some kind of threat Picard?"

Picard: "No, not at all chancellor. I just feel you should be aware of certain realities. For instance, there are the Ferengi. They are traders, but they will endeavor to gain the utmost advantage in any trade deals to the point of exploitation."

Durken: "I'm sure we have many shrewd trader negotiators on our world."

Picard: "And then there are the Borg."

Picard shows video footage of a Borg cube and the normal greeting the Borg give.

Durken: "Captain, what do you suggest we do to speed up our warp program, and when may we join the Federation?"

Picard smiles.

• - - - - - - - -

The question is, would revealing such things actually have the opposite effect. Would it make a species decide to avoid space travel altogether. Would they cease any kind of industrial activity that could attract attention from beings such as the Borg?

Problems with the episode, and even more with the reviews

[estoude01-845-203939 · 8/10 · 11 January 2015]

First, many reviewers refer to Arkonians. The planet is Malcor III (spelling subject to speculation).

That leads into the YATIs (Yet Another Trek Inconsistency).

Picard and Troi greet Minister Yale as Mirasta, as do ALL the Malcorians. When introducing Durkin and Dr Yale to Data, Picard pronounces her name as Mirista. Also, Mirasta knows about Data being an android without (apparently) having met him (minor picky point).

Dr Crusher reports from the medical facility that Krola is a Marconian male. No, he's Malcorian.

QA was either not working, or they just thought no one would catch these errors.

Finally, Dr Lilith Sternin (Lanel) seduces Riker in one of the most idiotic bits of wink-wink pandering I've ever seen.

Overall, this is a good episode. Excising some of these errors would improve things immeasurably.

First contact? More like worst contact!

[amusinghandle · 8/10 · 19 February 2024]

So, starfleet is a space sales person roaming about the galaxy pouncing on potential assets to the federation? Oh man, the resistance leaflets were right!

I always felt that the prime directive provides plenty of wonderful opportunities for storytelling. I like grim stories from time to time and the idea of an absolute catastrophe does intrigue me.

This episode actually made me ponder the embarrassing culture wars we are currently experiencing on the internet. It's always the enlightened few that have to drag the rest of us kicking and screaming into the future and this episode goes into detail about that.

I like the leader of the aliens ---- it takes wisdom to avoid the lure of starfleet and concentrate on breaking the chains of fear and dug in belief.

Riker Undercover

[Samuel-Shovel · 7/10 · 8 January 2020]

In "First Contact" while secretly observing a culture on the verge of warp-capable flight, Riker gets injured and held for questioning in one of the planet's hospitals. With Number One near death, Picard must reveal himself to some of the planet's inhabitants in the hopes of peaceful first contact and the retrieval of Riker.

There's a couple things here that really holds this thing back from being a great episode. We get no explanation as to why they can't locate Riker in the planet's surface... I know he lost his pin but you think Data and Geordi could have come up with some type of scan that could find his unique earthling signature.

Also that scene where Riker sleeps with that nurse to help him escape is something straight out of a softcore porn script. It's ridiculous. The writing team should have known how ludicrous it is. Are they all 12 year old boys?

The whole "being a martyr for traditional values" development felt a bit tacked on as well. Is this man THAT passionate about staying out of space? You'd think he'd be more interested in stealing Star Fleet tech so that his people could defend themselves... Felt like an odd character choice.

But I did like Picard's interactions with the planet's head of state. The scientist leaving with them was a nice touch. Not the best of Season 4 but also not the worst.

A seriously injured Deanna forced to have sex for her freedom

[bgaiv · 7/10 · 20 November 2021]

Wait, I meant William Riker. Ok, now it's funny.

This was a form of rape that wasn't funny even in the early 90s. This seriously damages an otherwise spectacular episode.

Nice twist

[Psilio · 7/10 · 31 December 2013]

I've always enjoyed sci-fi where aliens make contact with 'earthlings'.

This is a refreshing and thought-provoking episode where 'earthlings' are the ones to make first contact with another species.

The downside is the side-story involving Riker/Jonathan Frakes (horrible actor, in my opinion), which isn't very good at all, as with most stories where he is the lead character.

But as for the main story alone - the 'First Contact'-part - I rate this as one of my favorite TNG episodes ever, and I've watched it many times.

Highly recommendable if you like sci-fi where 'earthlings' interact with foreign species for the first time, or vice-versa.

These kind of episodes are the reason I watch sci-fi in the first place, to learn how writers picture us (humans) or another species to react to each other upon first contact.

major plot holes and contradictory concepts revealed

[ShogaNinja · 7/10 · 15 October 2008]

This episode contains plot holes. They are pretty significant so I would like to point them out.

First off, there is no way that the Enterprise could conduct this mission without a cloaking device. I suggest that keeping cloaking technology from Starfleet would be impossible. If you are at war with a race you will inevitably capture their technology in battle and gain an intelligence coup. The Federation has been at war with both the Klingons and the Romulans yet it has never acquired the technology. If you use it on the enemy, there is a chance the enemy will get it and use it on you. In a world of limitless resources the concept that prevents American technology from being turned against us will not work. As of now it doesn't matter if you take our stuff, you don't have the resources to build enough of them yourself to pose a threat, it's useless to you. This would check/balance would not exist in the ST universe. You could say that you would reveal your technology very carefully for this reason. If your technology falls into enemy hands they can replicate it all day long without so much as understanding how it works. In short, you would protect your tech more than you do now, but there really would be very little you can do to stop the inevitable leaking of your technology to other alien races. Thus, there is no reason why Starfleet shouldn't all be cloaking.

Secondly, if Riker was on the planet for months doing acculturation research where was the Enterprise during this time? Are we to believe it sat in orbit out of sight while it conducted this mission? The Atkonians are supposedly on the cusp of warp travel I assume they have sub-light drive technology, satellites and of course telescopes. That would make it quite difficult for the Enterprise to do anything without being discovered since as I pointed out above they cannot cloak. With satellites and telescopes of our own as sub-warp aliens, we could tell the second an uncloaked alien ship entered our Solar System even with our vastly inferior to Starfleet technology.

Seems to me that an exploration vessel is designed to explore, and that diplomatic ships would be sent to deal with Atkonians. That would be like sending Columbus to initiate a mission of peace with the Native Americans. Columbus had weaponry. Most ambassadors I know of do not carry weaponry as a rule to peace talks or ever for that matter. How can peace exist in the face of firepower? More often, history shows us, that like Krola believes, explorers are usually conquerers. In 300 years on Earth(the difference between us in the here and now, and the Enterprise in 2366) there really is very little difference of the baser instincts of man despite our "civilization." Evolution takes longer than 300 years, history reveals. The concept of a First Contact is flawed in it's very concept for that reason. You cannot force evolution to occur thousands of times faster than it would naturally. Even with the introduction of superior technology, the baser instincts would case war or other disruptions in the balance of power. If you are not evolved enough to use the technology the results would be catastrophic. Just by revealing themselves, they reveal the concepts of technology that can be recreated by the Atkonians. For example, if the Iraqis saw microwave non-lethal emitters, they may not have them but now they know about them they are that much easier to re-invent. By just mingling with Atkonians it would greatly accelerate their technology levels far faster than evolution could keep up. It would be disastrous. Especially with a xenophobic race like the Atkonians. Are we to believe that when they get phasers that they won't use them on all the ugly foreign aliens that have fingers and toes?

Lastly, if they can change Riker's face why couldn't they change his hands and feet to make him more genuine. Latex gloves perhaps? Also why do humans always conduct First Contact, why not Vulcans or any of the vast myriad of alien races that belong to the Federation of Planets? More specifically why is it always the Enterprise initiating First Contact? Sometimes the way certain writers script this show they would have you believe that the Starship Enterprise is the only ship in the Federation, and they singlehandedly take care of every single emerging Federation problem. Other times they raise more questions about the series than the value of the story they are trying to tell. It can make the show very campy at times.

"I've always wanted to make love to an alien."

[classicsoncall · 7/10 · 29 January 2024]

This episode had an odd start, and I'm not even thinking about Commander Riker (Jonathan Frakes) lying there injured and getting the third degree from the Malcorian medical staff. When Captain Picard (Patrick Stewart) and Counselor Troi (Marina Sirtis) beamed down to Malcor III, they spoke in an unusually subdued tone, almost as if they were in a trance. They seemed to give off a creepy kind of vibe until the story got under way some more. I even thought they were violating the Prime Directive by telling Mirasta Yale (Carolyn Seymour) what they were doing on the planet, which was somewhat clarified later when the Captain explained the Prime Directive and how it came about. But the weirdest thing about the story was when the alien Lanel (Bebe Neuwirth) stated she wanted to make love to Riker!!, and by the look of things, I think he actually followed through since she showed him which way to go to escape the Sikla Medical Facility, her condition for helping him out. I can't think of another Star Trek episode where the scientific mission was to help an alien race get up to speed on developing warp drive and heading out into space. The story demonstrated the dichotomy between those who wanted to advance their knowledge and that faction, headed by Minister Krola (Michael Ensign), who feared the unknown and didn't want to take a chance on other alien races that might pose a threat to Malcor III. In what I thought was a surprising twist, Mirasta Yale was allowed to stay aboard the Enterprise when it left the planet, leaving it in its present state under Chancellor Durken (George Coe), opting to give his people more time to get used to the idea that the future was out there for those adventurous enough to take it.

Let's get real about First Contacts

[makiefer-87128 · 6/10 · 1 March 2024]

How Star Trek handles First Contacts is really not normal. And it is Star Trek that should be nailing this. The first thing everyone would see is mischievous smiles on everyone's lips. Because no sane alien race would ever reveal who they really are until they are check mate. In this episide, the first-contacted alien race is xenophobic. Which works, if they are, as a pre-warp race, obviously outmatched. First contacts among equal races can only involve secrecy, lies, distraction, poker faces, intimidation and complete avoidance. Let's please stop all honest, peaceful and demystifying first encounters in Star Trek.