First Con-tact (episode)

Real world article

(written from a production point of view)

For the TNG episode with a similar title, please see "First Contact".

When a mentor from Dal's past persuades him to use their Federation cover for personal gain, they quickly discover Starfleet has protocols for a reason.

Summary[]

Teaser[]

Floor pie — *The crew's welcome distraction: floor pie.*

The crew has been on edge since Gwyn uncovered what happened to the original USS Protostar crew, but they've been unable to glean anything more. While Hologram Janeway is obsessing over the recordings of Chakotay, the crew has left messes around the ship and found a new "welcome distraction" to play with: the transporter. After beaming a piece of pie around the ship gets boring, the crew volunteers Murf as a live test subject, only for him to be sent to the wrong side of the bridge window. Fortunately, he is unharmed due to his apparent indestructibility, and is beamed safely back aboard.

Act I[]

After safely rematerializing Murf back in the ship, Janeway calls the crew to the bridge to answer a distress call. On-screen, a hooded figure talks about having orphans aboard her ship who are stricken with the phage, which Dal immediately recognizes as a typical con of his adoptive mother, DaiMon Nandi, a Ferengi. She drops the illusion by disabling her holo-emitters and welcomes Dal and his friends aboard the Damsel.

Nandi claims to have searched for Dal for "years" and never forgave herself for losing him. She even kept his room under the engine just as it was (which the crew generally finds to be a "dump"). Gwyn realizes that all of the stories Dal told her – including seeing the Window of Dreams – must have been experienced from here. Among various odds and ends stored the Damsel's cargo hold (including a horga'hn), Jankom notices Nandi's Klingon cloaking device, which Gwyn then identifies. The Ferengi is impressed by Gwyn's ability to read Klingon.

Act II[]

Nandi tells the crew she has a deal for them: she will give them the cloaking device – which is useless to her since it requires chimerium, a substance she doesn't have but the Protostar does – in exchange for a remalite crystal located on a nearby planet. Hologram Janeway points out this planet falls under the Prime Directive since they've never encountered alien life, and first contact could have serious repercussions. Dal is reluctant to act against Hologram Janeway's advice, but Nandi had already confessed to him that she needs the crystal to pay a hefty debt incurred at dabo.

The crew, accompanied by Nandi, land the Protostar on the planet's surface and are surprised to find it deserted, even though tricorders register lifeforms all around them. Suddenly, lights appear in the distance and the sand starts to dance and whirl around them. Gwyn realizes that the lifeforms are using harmonics to communicate with them. Once she finds a way to talk to them via their tricorders, the sand settles down and opens a passage for them into a cavern.

The crew discovers that the aliens use sound waves, created by the crystals within the cavern, in order to shape matter via Cymatic transmutation – Rok-Tahk dubs them the Cymari. Nandi presents the Cymari with a gift – a Ferengi spit pan – and asks for one in return. The ethereal Cymari offer a beautiful song, which leaves the crew in awe. Unfortunately, Nandi is unimpressed; she steals a crystal from the cavern and runs off. Guilt-ridden, Dal and the crew chase after Nandi in order to retrieve the crystal.

Act III[]

Dal catches up with Nandi and in the course of their argument, she admits that she didn't "lose" Dal, as she claimed earlier, she sold him to The Diviner and bought a "better" partner. After a struggle, Nandi escapes with the crystal and returns to her ship, which is now equipped with the same cloaking device the crew found earlier, being fueled by chimerium which Nandi stole from the Protostar. Fortunately, Dal snuck a combadge onto the crystal during their fight, and the crew is able to beam the crystal back to the planet.

Though they succeeded in making things right, Hologram Janeway berates Dal, saying that because of their actions, the aliens' first encounter with off-worlders was a negative one, which will lead them to be distrustful of outsiders.

Nandi, back on her ship, learns from her new partner Pik-Pox that The Diviner has a bounty out on the Protostar crew.

Log entries[]

Captain's log, USS Protostar

Memorable quotes[]

"Oh, my lobeling, I never forgave myself for losing you. I searched for years."
"I missed you too."
"Oh, how I've missed you! You're alive! And-- you joined the Federation?"
"I stole it."
"I taught you well!"

- Nandi, a proud Ferengi parent, remarking on Dal's ship, the Protostar

"You slept under the engine?"
"What a dump!"

- Rok and Jankom, on realizing where Dal's "room" on the Damsel was

"Ahh, what is this contraption?"
"OOh, it looks powerful."
"It's a cloaking device."
"Ooh!"
"Oh, she reads Klingon? A girl like that can be useful!"

- Jankom, Zero, and Gwyn (translating), as Nandi pinches an embarrassed Dal's cheek

"It's just a diplomatic exchange. A crystal for a-a--"
"Really? A Ferengi spit pan?"
"Not only will they meet life from other planets, but a gift of precious metal from outer space?"

- Nandi tries to sell Dal on making first contact with an alien species by conning them with worthless "precious metal"

"We need to have a serious talk about first contact."
"Ugh, where's her off switch?"
"Starfleet's Prime Directive is to avoid interfering in the evolution of other intelligent species. These are the highest priority guidelines Starfleet abides by. I cannot stress enough that failure to adhere to these rules could have disastrous consequences, altering the fate of this civilization."
"We'll be careful not to interfere in their develop-lution."

- Hologram Janeway lays down the rules, frustrating Nandi; Dal casually brushes off her concerns

"It's Murder Planet all over again!"

- Zero as the sands swirl in the air around them

"They truly are an advanced species. Look, the symmetry and designs suggest strong mathematical knowledge."
"How is this possible?"
"Cymatic transmutation. By changing the pitch, they create sound waves that can shape matter."
"Hmm?"
"Acoustic terra-molding."

- Zero and Jankom marvel at how the beings reshaped sand into a solid castle, with Gwyn providing both scientific and simplified explanations

"It's magnificent."
"This is the greatest gift."
"Ugh. It's the most horrible thing Jankom's ever heard."
"A song?! We want a crystal! Give it to me!"

- Zero, Gwyn, and even a tearful Jankom are thankful for the song offered by the Cymari, but Nandi has quite a different reaction

"How could Nandi do that to me? I was like a son to her."
"And I was my father's daughter. But here we are."
"I'm sorry, I-I… because of me, we lost the cloaking device and the chimerium."
"But you learned who your true friends are. The ones willing to go along with you no matter how foolish it seems. Never take that for granted. I wish I could tell you it'll stop hurting, but I don't know that yet."

- Dal and Gwyn

Background information[]

Title[]

The title was announced by StarTrek.com on 10 January 2022. [1] It was initially revealed as "First Con-tact" and was presented as such on the Paramount+ episode menu, however the original title card itself read "First Contact" without a hyphen. Creators Dan and Kevin Hageman tweeted that the title card was an error and "the fix is on the way" [2], and to their credit a corrected title card was uploaded to Crave on 14 January 2022, and later updated on Paramount+.
This episode marks the fourth time that the phrase "first contact" is used in the title of a Star Trek installment, the first three being TNG: "First Contact", Star Trek: First Contact and LD: "First First Contact".

Production[]

Excluding the premiere episode, "Lost and Found", this is the first episode to feature a teaser scene before the title sequence.
This is one of two episodes in Star Trek: Prodigy that has a Teaser before the opening credits roll, the other being "Touch of Grey".
Though initially credited for their roles in this episode, Robert Beltran and Melissa Villasenor's names were later removed from the episode's end credits.

Continuity[]

Dal is revealed to have been raised by a Ferengi woman, Nandi, who was the third Ferengi female (after Pel and Ishka) to appear on Star Trek, and the first identified as DaiMon. She was also the first Ferengi directly encountered in the Delta Quadrant since VOY: "False Profits".
Grand Nagus Zek granted Ferengi females the right to wear clothes with an amendment to the Ferengi Bill of Opportunities in 2374, which was meant to act like a snowball effect for females to be able to acquire material goods, profit to buy the goods, and becoming part of the workforce so they could accrue profit, as seen in DS9: "Profit and Lace".
This episode marks the first appearance of a D'Kora-class marauder (first introduced in TNG: "The Last Outpost") since VOY: "Inside Man", and the second Alpha Quadrant starship (since the abandoned Klingon Bird-of-Prey in "Terror Firma") directly encountered by the Protostar crew.
A lirpa, a horga'hn, and a Klingon cloaking device are among the items found aboard Nandi's ship. She also carried with her a Klingon disruptor.
Nandi eats live tube grubs while she discusses business with Dal, suggesting that even in the far reaches of the Gamma Quadrant, she still has access to foods native to Ferenginar.
When initially trying to con the Protostar crew, Nandi seems to be cradling a baby wrapped in a blanket. It turns out it's just a large piece of food, which she starts eating once she recognizes Dal. It appears to be some sort of meat or bread, but the Ferengi's general pickiness about food suggests that it is actually some form of food product made with bugs native to the Ferengi homeworld.
Three previously known Rules of Acquisition were recited in this episode: #1 (originally from DS9: "The Nagus"), #21 (originally from DS9: "Rules of Acquisition"), and #208 (originally from DS9: "Ferengi Love Songs").
A reference is again made to the Window of Dreams (last referenced in "Lost and Found"), as well as the Phage (last mentioned in VOY: "Think Tank").
The text of the first two sections of the General Order 1 is taken from the reference book Star Trek: Federation - The First 150 Years (p. 108).
The crew has designated Gwyn as the communications officer.