Could Cochrane of Alpha Centauri mean Alpha Centauri project/institute?
- Thread starter Yistaan
- Start date
Close! It doesn't mention Alpha Centauri, but says Cochrane was piloting a one-man and possibly experimental ship when he disappeared. That's definitely setting up the events of "Metamorphosis" as the future of the character from the "First Contact" film.
Too easy, too obvious and it doesn’t take advantage of the lack of in-canon proof to smooth out recasting, premature aging and old-school references to a home system and space warp (it’s not like DSC had Pike “address intercraft” or call out “time-warp” factors). This isn’t about full-blown conspiracy theories, merely seeing how far we can get with alternative takes on the official word.
4.3 light years to be exact! I do wish you would research things better!
Said in my best Spock voice! 
I thought it funny that the facial differences between Glen Corbett and James Cromwell were explained away as the effects of radiation! I wonder how James Cromwell had felt about that if he knew?
JB
Fine. You're welcome to believe that theory, with the understanding that you're the only one who does.
The radiation was never mentioned in the film. That was only a fan theory. The real reason why James Cromwell looks nothing like Glenn Corbett is because the producers of First Contact wanted James Cromwell for the part from the get-go and didn't give a shit that he didn't look like or wasn’t the same age as Glenn Corbett. Just like how the producers of Star Trek '09 didn't care that Bruce Greenwood looks nothing like Jeffrey Hunter or wasn't the same age as what he should have been at the time.
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Of course, we don't really need "radiation" as an in-universe explanation for a drastic difference in looks - but in this specific case, we don't need to pretend there's no such difference, either. It's all built into the premise of "Metamorphosis" already!
In that originating episode, our heroes initially fail to recognize Zephram Cochrane by his looks. Sure, Kirk fails to recognize Khan Singh by his looks, too. But Singh is a character silenced to death in history, while Cochrane is celebrated. If there were statues to Khan, those would have been torn down; Cochrane's statues still stand in Kirk's time.
So in-universe, it's the Corbett portrayal of the character that "doesn't fit". And the excuse for that is right there, at the heart of the storyline. The Companion saved Cochrane, and gave him eternal life. It stands to reason that the Companion would also have given him a face that looks merely "familiar" to Kirk, instead of looking true. The disconnect between the man having the name of a historical figure and him having the face of that man in his youth would be enough to explain why Kirk doesn't make the connection despite being splattered with the evidence. There may be a photo or two of how Zep looked like a few years before he made the discovery that got him photographed a thousand times, but those earlier photos are seldom referenced...
For all we know about the in-universe side of things, Cochrane "always" looked Cromwell-old back when he discovered FTL flight, and "always" only looked Corbett-young several years before this, back when he was still a nobody. And even then, the Companion probably flattered Zep when recreating the youthful version of his body.
Timo Saloniemi
In that originating episode, our heroes initially fail to recognize Zephram Cochrane by his looks. Sure, Kirk fails to recognize Khan Singh by his looks, too. But Singh is a character silenced to death in history, while Cochrane is celebrated. If there were statues to Khan, those would have been torn down; Cochrane's statues still stand in Kirk's time.
So in-universe, it's the Corbett portrayal of the character that "doesn't fit". And the excuse for that is right there, at the heart of the storyline. The Companion saved Cochrane, and gave him eternal life. It stands to reason that the Companion would also have given him a face that looks merely "familiar" to Kirk, instead of looking true. The disconnect between the man having the name of a historical figure and him having the face of that man in his youth would be enough to explain why Kirk doesn't make the connection despite being splattered with the evidence. There may be a photo or two of how Zep looked like a few years before he made the discovery that got him photographed a thousand times, but those earlier photos are seldom referenced...
For all we know about the in-universe side of things, Cochrane "always" looked Cromwell-old back when he discovered FTL flight, and "always" only looked Corbett-young several years before this, back when he was still a nobody. And even then, the Companion probably flattered Zep when recreating the youthful version of his body.
Timo Saloniemi
That theory is well documented about how Companion gave Cochrane eternal life and it could be said that she gave him looks that she liked too! Glenn Corbett had died before production began on First Contact am I right? What a great moment it would have been though to have had Corbett reprise his role of Cochrane with his beer belly and drawn out face! No fan could argue with that!!!
JB
JB
It's part of Zef's Vision.
The theory prior to FC was (as I understand it) that cochrane was a alien native of alpha centuauri who discovered the space warp. FC establish that he was a Human who also directed the construct of the first warp drive.
Where are you getting that Cochrane moved to alpha centauri at some point?
Seems a practical thing for Kirk to have done, the episdode says that lot's of things were named for Cochrane (entire planets), would it be so hard to believe that people would be named for him?
Meaningless. It's what appears on screen or in the sound track.
.
There is a scene in "Metamorphosis" where McCoy flat out states that Cochrane is human.
Here is the transcript.
"He's human, Jim. Everything checks out perfectly."
^ Which only bolsters the theory (since confirmed) that Alpha Centauri is a colony of Earth.
If the natives are human - not merely humanOID, but actually human - then by definition they (or their ancestors) came from Earth.
If the natives are human - not merely humanOID, but actually human - then by definition they (or their ancestors) came from Earth.
Of course.
But the events of ST:FC surely had a profound impact on Cochrane, and maybe this was the tipping point that made him want to venture out.
Alpha Centauri was 4.3 light years, but at warp 1. whatever.. thats still a long time.. even at 2 warp 2 is atleast a year.
I tend to think that the vulcans, or some other species had a civilian freightor or service that stoped by Earth and took them to Vulcan, Alpha Centauri, etc. Cochrane could have been one of the first to go, or he just caught a cruse ship after the warp 5 project settled down, and spent his retired life on Alpha Centauri..
I tend to think that the vulcans, or some other species had a civilian freightor or service that stoped by Earth and took them to Vulcan, Alpha Centauri, etc. Cochrane could have been one of the first to go, or he just caught a cruse ship after the warp 5 project settled down, and spent his retired life on Alpha Centauri..
I wonder if the misconception that Zephram Cochrane was a native of Alpha Centauri was perhaps a reflection of the pre-internet/home video era when it wasn't as easy to quickly check an episode for a particular detail. The phrase "Zephram Cochrane of Alpha Centauri" probably stuck in people's heads better than Cochrane asking the Enterprise crew if they were Earth people or McCoy confirming that Cochrane was human. And from there it was a only a short trip to assuming that he was from Alpha Centauri.
This line from Metamorphosis is funny in light of First Contact--
Kirk: Mister Cochrane, you say you were brought here a hundred and fifty years ago? You don't look over thirty five.
Cochrane should have said, "Captain, have you seen photos of what I looked like at 31? I looked like I was in my fifties!"
(As Cochrane was said to be 87 when he disappeared circa 2119, that means he must have been 31 in 2063 in First Contact).
Kirk: Mister Cochrane, you say you were brought here a hundred and fifty years ago? You don't look over thirty five.
Cochrane should have said, "Captain, have you seen photos of what I looked like at 31? I looked like I was in my fifties!"
(As Cochrane was said to be 87 when he disappeared circa 2119, that means he must have been 31 in 2063 in First Contact).
Or Alpha Centauri was colonized by a sleeper ship such as the DY-100, which was my assumption. In my head canon (prior to FC's release), I imagined that Cochrane, a native of Alpha Centauri, discovered the warp drive and brought it to Earth (in a most dramatic fashion).
It's true that at one point certain official novels, unofficial publications and RPGs went under the assumption that "Zefram Cochrane of Alpha Centauri" was a literal statement and that he was actually an alien from that planet who coincidentally looked human. But as @Maurice pointed out, and which the episode pretty much makes clear, is that he's human. Plus, having him be an alien who invented warp drive for the entire galaxy to use would imply that Earth, Vulcan, the Klingons, Romulans, etc, all got warp drive at the exact same time, from the same guy.
Next time, please quote my entire sentence, not just a part of it, so as not to take what I say out of context. When I mentioned 'writer intent,' it was in response to the idea that 'writer intent' was not used for the characters of Martok and Bashir (i.e. that they were not originally intended to be Changelings until the story required them to be, which is not at all the same thing as believing that Glenn Corbett's character and James Cromwell's character were not intended to be the same person.)
