Zefram Cochran got screwed in "First Contact"

[Dale]

Was watching FC on Skiffy this evening and it occurred to me, not for the first time, that Zefram Cochran kind of got screwed out of his historical experience. Riker and LaForge kept giving orders, pushing buttons and hurrying everything along... and they made him turn down his music! They were a total pair of buttinskis! I understand that they had to ensure the mission took place and stayed on a schedule in order to attract the attention of the Vulcans and ensure first contact, but they could've let the guy enjoy his ride and run the show a bit more, IMHO.

 

[InklingStar]

Makes you wonder how Dr. Cochrane did it on his own the first time around.

Or maybe it was a temporal loop and Riker and LaForge were meant to be there.

 

[Peach Wookiee]

I go for the temporal loop theory...

 

[Arlo]

WE got screwed by being fed a ZC that was not even remotely similar to the one from TOS.

 

[Shieldsdown]

Arlo said:
WE got screwed by being fed a ZC that was not even remotely similar to the one from TOS.

I could not agree more. On the one hand we are told that only stuff on screen is canon. Then the stuff on screen blatantly defiles what went before. This makes for a very loose canon (excuse pun!)

Regards

 

[archeryguy1701]

Shieldsdown said:

Arlo said:
WE got screwed by being fed a ZC that was not even remotely similar to the one from TOS.

I could not agree more. On the one hand we are told that only stuff on screen is canon. Then the stuff on screen blatantly defiles what went before. This makes for a very loose canon (excuse pun!)

Regards

But you have to keep in mind that the TOS Cochran is a couple hundred years older... I think after so much time, your persnality wouldn't stay the same, would it? After a time, people change, and boy, did he have time!

 

[Arlo]

Ugh please, that's the usual rationalization and I don't buy it.

 

[number6]

Are you the same person you were 30 years ago?

I'm not and I would hope most people have life changing events that change their whole persective on life and their goals. Who's to say that Cochran didn't become a changed man having invented warp drive and ushering a new era of exploration??

GR himself went through a major change from TOS to TNG as a direct result of believing his own hype. The are many who would say that GR's vision for TOS and TNG are completely different.

 

[Peach Wookiee]

I do think the TOS Cochrane was one who'd gained a lot of experience and found the world a much better place. The Cochrane we saw in FC was one who'd seen the post-atomic horror and was used to looking out for number 1.

 

[number6]

Exactly. I don't think that it's much of a stretch here to believe that the person in FC became the person in Metamorphasis. I never had a problem with Cochran in FC.

 

[archeryguy1701]

Besides, how big of a personality change do you normally see when someone decides to stop being a crazy drunk? I can imagine that's a huge part of the difference right there.

 

[BriGuy]

Arlo said:
WE got screwed by being fed a ZC that was not even remotely similar to the one from TOS.

And the number of people who remember that character who was in love with a cloud from a single episode of the original series VS the many more who enjoyed FC and made it a box office hit?

I had no problem with the portrayal of ZC in FC. You can be angry about it for the rest of your life, it won't matter.

 

[Arlo]

I never said I was angry. In fact, I quite enjoyed James Cromwell's performance. It just doesn't jibe with the original portrayal in my mind.

 

[Squiggy]

Arlo said:
I never said I was angry. In fact, I quite enjoyed James Cromwell's performance. It just doesn't jibe with the original portrayal in my mind.

The Original ZC was pretty much a carbon copy of "Generic American Fighter Pilot circa 1968".

 

[Dayton3]

Arlo said:
WE got screwed by being fed a ZC that was not even remotely similar to the one from TOS.

100% agreed.

I hated First Contact.

The whole thing regarding the warp drive ship built inside a missile silo in post apocalyptic America was too much like 1950s era sci-fi stuff where mad scientists built spaceships in their backyards.

 

[P0sitr0nic]

Arlo said:
... a ZC that was not even remotely similar to the one from TOS.

Yes, we got a much better one in FC.

 

[James Bond]

Holly Wookiee said:
I go for the temporal loop theory...

Agreed.

Arlo said:
WE got screwed by being fed a ZC that was not even remotely similar to the one from TOS.

And that's not a bad thing, that's a GOOD thing!

 

[jayrath]

More to the point, how did Cochrame LAND an interballistic missile? I think I'd want the music turned up very loud, just to try that.

 

[Brutal Strudel]

archeryguy1701 said:
Besides, how big of a personality change do you normally see when someone decides to stop being a crazy drunk? I can imagine that's a huge part of the difference right there.

And still a bit of a reactionary bigot--at least by Star Trek standards. He had no problem with communing with the Companion until he discovered it was "female" (leading to one of Star Trek's dumbest lines ever, about male and female being universal constants--hell, they aren't even human contants). I got no problem with FC's ZC.

 

[Shieldsdown]

We can discuss the merits or demerits of TOS ZC or FC's ZC, and whether we enjoyed the one portrayal or the other better, till the cows come home. Some try to rationalise it by saying he changed a lot (a verrrry lot!!) in some hundreds of years. Regardless of which portrayal you enjoyed more, I found them so different that I just wish the makers of FC had created a new character altogether. It might have preserved the continuity of Star trek a little better.

Regards