Talk: First First Contact (episode)

Rutherford's memory montage[]

Does anyone have the ability to go frame-by-frame through the superfast montage of Rutherford's memories of Tendi, and identify the reused and new shots? There are definitely some new ones (what appears to be a New Year's 2381 party, capturing a wasp, Ransom posing nude), as well as several from previous episodes. I'm trying to figure out whether they are in any particular order, or if it's just random, but I can't pause fast enough to catch them all, and there doesn't seem to be a frame-by-frame option in my P+ interface. —Josiah Rowe (talk) 17:22, 15 October 2021 (UTC)

It's hard to catch them all, but I can say with some certainty that scenes I caught from "No Small Parts", "Strange Energies", "An Embarrassment Of Dooplers", "The Spy Humongous", "Where Pleasant Fountains Lie", "I, Excretus", and "First First Contact" (an earlier scene) were all in the correct order. –Gvsualan (talk) 18:30, 15 October 2021 (UTC)

And where do the new shots fall? Are they distributed among the recycled ones, or are they all at the end? (If it’s the former, the New Year’s party shot might answer our question of whether "Strange Energies" is set in 2380 or 2381.) —Josiah Rowe (talk) 20:08, 15 October 2021 (UTC)

Theyre mixed in.–Gvsualan (talk) 21:06, 15 October 2021 (UTC)

Ok, I'm 99% sure I've capped all the clips...

1. previous scene from "No Small Parts"
2. previous scene from "Strange Energies"
3. previous scene from "Strange Energies"
4. previous scene from "Kayshon, His Eyes Open"
5. previous scene from "An Embarassment Of Dooplers"
6. previous scene from "An Embarassment Of Dooplers"
7. previous scene from "An Embarassment Of Dooplers"
8. previous scene from "An Embarassment Of Dooplers"
9. previous scene from "A Spy Humongous"
10. previous scene from "A Spy Humongous"
11. previous scene from "A Spy Humongous"
12. previous scene from "A Spy Humongous"
13. previous scene from "Where Pleasant Fountains Lie"
14. previous scene from "Where Pleasant Fountains Lie"
15. previous scene from "I, Exretus"
16. new scene of Sam and D'Vana playing Diplomath
17. new scene of Sam and D'Vana celebrating New Year's Eve 2380/2381
18. new scene of Sam and D'Vana capturing a giant alien hornet
19. new scene of Sam and D'Vana stuck in Chinese finger puzzle
20. new scene of Sam and D'Vana sketching nude Jack Ransom
21. previous scene from "First First Contact"

--Gvsualan (talk) 23:03, 15 October 2021 (UTC)

Thanks! That's terrific!

So the previously known clips are all in episode order... now, I guess we need to decide whether this means that all the episodes before "First First Contact" are set in 2380! —Josiah Rowe (talk) 23:18, 15 October 2021 (UTC)

In "Strange Energies", there are these lines of dialogue said by Tendi in "Strange Energies": Oh, actually, you [Rutherford] went on a date with Barnes last year and it wasn't a good match. She didn't care that a red alert failed to override maintenance hatch 70's access protocol - can you imagine? This is a reference to the first episode of this series. So, for myself, there is no dating issue, with the second season being set in 2381.Memphis77 (talk) 19:40, 16 October 2021 (UTC)

And what's more [REVISED]

• In "We'll Always Have Tom Paris"" (2x03) - Tendi stated that "We have been working together for over a year, Beckett." Which establishes that "Second Contact" (1x01) was over a year ago.
• In "An Embarrassment Of Dooplers" (2x05) - Rutherford establishes his pre-"No Small Parts"-self as "last-year me", and further establishes that since losing his memory in that episode, he was "like a year behind being friends with you."
• In "The Spy Humongous" (2x06) - Freeman establishes that "No Small Parts" was "last year".

So contrary to this recent tweet that assures us that LD is "still firmly in 2380"... the above clearly indicates a "last year" exists and that events from the beginning of Season 1 were over a year prior to the first third of Season 2, which should normally make sense.

So the last bits of the montage only make matters worse, since the transition from 2380 to 2381 occurs following the events of "I, Excretus" (2x08), meaning a second year had passed since all of the original "last year" references were made... –Gvsualan (talk) 20:19, 15 November 2021 (UTC)

I am now thoroughly confused. (So, nothing new there.) —Josiah Rowe (talk) 06:17, 17 November 2021 (UTC)

It wasn't that bad, as I was trying to throw in a few passages-of-time references to indicate certain spans of time between various episodes, but I've simplified it to the main points.

And while any theories about stardates we once had were maimed in VOY Season 7 (two years '77/'78 occurring within the same 54xxx block of stardates, then '79 in Nemesis during 56xxx), here (LD S1/S2) they do show a transition of 57xxx ('80?) to 58xxx ('81?) between seasons...for whatever that's worth. –Gvsualan (talk) 14:08, 17 November 2021 (UTC)

Or, if we follow the stardates given in the Star Trek: Lower Decks Logs, between "Strange Energies" and "Kayshon, His Eyes Open". Just to make things even uglier. —Josiah Rowe (talk) 04:07, 18 November 2021 (UTC)

They're not canon. That's why we're not talking about them.... –Gvsualan (talk) 12:44, 18 November 2021 (UTC)

Shout outs[]

The logo for Cetacean Ops looks like it evolved from the logo of the Cetacean Institute. Do we have confirmation of that?

Also, and this might just be my ear playing tricks on me, but the music as the Cerritos and the Archimedes are leaving spacedock sounds a lot like Alan Silvestri's finale to The Abyss. Wratched (talk) 18:21, 16 October 2021 (UTC)

What's the original tweet for that? -- Sulfur (talk) 20:05, 16 October 2021 (UTC)

I'm guessing its simply from this tweet, which is an image of a towel sold at shop.startrek.com , and not a direct statement of fact made by someone. –Gvsualan (talk) 14:08, 17 November 2021 (UTC)

No, it's in the show. See right at the start here: [1] Wratched (talk) 13:57, 30 November 2021 (UTC)

(We) I get that, but we're also looking for a bit more intent, because they look a lot less like a lot of other examples I can think of of similar looking things. –Gvsualan (talk) 14:13, 30 November 2021 (UTC)