TNG: First Contact (episode)
Posted: Sat Jan 26, 2019 3:34 pm
There doesn't seem to be a thread for this episode, so here we go.
One scene always throws me off in this one. I thought Chuck might mention it, but he didn't.
Durken is in his office signing papers. His secretary buzzes to tell him Minister Yale is there with someone to meet him. He tries to pawn it off on the vice chancellor, but the secretary says Yale is insistent that it be him. He agrees to see them. Yale comes in, Durken says "Always happy to meet your friends", then Picard walks in and Durken is awed. Seems straightforward enough, right?
Here's my boggle. Was Picard standing at the secretary's desk? She doesn't sound excited or frightened or impressed or any of the other emotions you might expect from someone seeing a space alien for the first time. Was anyone else in the lobby or passing by in the hall that might have seen him? Surely there are security cameras in this area directly outside the office of the leader of the planet. Not to mention that the secretary would have likely called the planetary equivalent of the secret service, on the off chance that this space alien turns hostile.
Some people have suggested Picard beamed into the hallway before stepping into the room. That makes no sense on a number of levels. We don't hear the beaming sound effect before he comes in. Why would he beam into the hall instead of directly into the office? The office isn't shielded, he beams directly in later in the episode and the three of them beam out from the office at the end of this scene. Plus, the secretary said Yale had someone to meet the chancellor. She wouldn't have said that if Yale was alone.
If Picard was at the secretary's desk, how did he get there? Did he beam in? It's one thing for the secretary to have no emotional reaction to the presence of an alien, it takes a special level of jadedness to calmly go about your job when one appears out of thin air right in front of you. Maybe he beamed back to Yale's laboratory then they went to the chancellor's office. If it's in the same building, they must have walked along some busy hallways filled with security cameras, junior staffers, dignitaries, and tourists (this is the equivalent of the White House). Did no one get freaked out by the space alien in the corridor? If it's in a different building, did Picard go through security when entering the executive office building? There are probably several levels you have to go through before seeing the leader of the world, and it would surely involve pictures and whatever they use for fingerprints.
This scene just bothers me. It makes it impossible for me to believe there wouldn't have been definitive evidence of alien life left behind.
One scene always throws me off in this one. I thought Chuck might mention it, but he didn't.
Durken is in his office signing papers. His secretary buzzes to tell him Minister Yale is there with someone to meet him. He tries to pawn it off on the vice chancellor, but the secretary says Yale is insistent that it be him. He agrees to see them. Yale comes in, Durken says "Always happy to meet your friends", then Picard walks in and Durken is awed. Seems straightforward enough, right?
Here's my boggle. Was Picard standing at the secretary's desk? She doesn't sound excited or frightened or impressed or any of the other emotions you might expect from someone seeing a space alien for the first time. Was anyone else in the lobby or passing by in the hall that might have seen him? Surely there are security cameras in this area directly outside the office of the leader of the planet. Not to mention that the secretary would have likely called the planetary equivalent of the secret service, on the off chance that this space alien turns hostile.
Some people have suggested Picard beamed into the hallway before stepping into the room. That makes no sense on a number of levels. We don't hear the beaming sound effect before he comes in. Why would he beam into the hall instead of directly into the office? The office isn't shielded, he beams directly in later in the episode and the three of them beam out from the office at the end of this scene. Plus, the secretary said Yale had someone to meet the chancellor. She wouldn't have said that if Yale was alone.
If Picard was at the secretary's desk, how did he get there? Did he beam in? It's one thing for the secretary to have no emotional reaction to the presence of an alien, it takes a special level of jadedness to calmly go about your job when one appears out of thin air right in front of you. Maybe he beamed back to Yale's laboratory then they went to the chancellor's office. If it's in the same building, they must have walked along some busy hallways filled with security cameras, junior staffers, dignitaries, and tourists (this is the equivalent of the White House). Did no one get freaked out by the space alien in the corridor? If it's in a different building, did Picard go through security when entering the executive office building? There are probably several levels you have to go through before seeing the leader of the world, and it would surely involve pictures and whatever they use for fingerprints.
This scene just bothers me. It makes it impossible for me to believe there wouldn't have been definitive evidence of alien life left behind.