The Perfect Star Trek Episodes & Movies To Watch On First Contact Day

Every April 5th, Star Trek celebrates First Contact Day, marking when the Vulcans made First Contact with humanity and ushered Earth into the future. Within the Star Trek universe, the holiday was celebrated across the galaxy to commemorate not only First Contact with the Vulcans but also the historic first warp flight of Zefram Cochrane (James Cromwell). For some, the holiday was little more than a day off from school, but it also provided a reason for people to come together in remembrance of the moment that made the United Federation of Planets a possibility.

In the real world, First Contact Day has become a day to celebrate Star Trek as a franchise. Beginning in 2021, First Contact Day became a full-day event that included panels featuring Star Trek actors and creators, as well as announcements about upcoming Star Trek projects. During the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, these panels were all held virtually, and some subsequent years have featured more events and announcements than others.

We can't think of a better way to mark the occasion than binge-watching Star Trek, and these episodes and movies make for perfect First Contact Day viewing.

6“Metamorphosis”

Star Trek: The Original Series Season 2, Episode 9

Star Trek: The Original Series may have aired before First Contact Day became official, but the season 2 episode "Metamorphosis" laid the groundwork for one important element of the holiday. "Metamorphosis" follows Captain James T. Kirk (William Shatner), Spock (Leonard Nimoy), and Dr. Leonard McCoy (DeForest Kelley) after a mysterious force pulls their shuttlecraft to the surface of an Earth-like planet. The Enterprise crew members are astonished to encounter Zefram Cochrane (Glenn Corbett), the inventor of warp drive.

Cochrane refers to the entity that brought down the shuttlecraft as the "Companion," and Spock eventually develops a way to speak to it. The Companion has fallen in love with Cochrane, and it merges with the dying Assistant Federation Commissioner Nancy Hedford (Elinor Donahue). Cochrane and Hedford/Companion then agree to live out the rest of their days together on the planet. From the beginning, Cochrane is a fascinating character, and his legacy continues to influence modern Star Trek.

5Star Trek: First Contact

Directed By Jonathan Frakes — Premiered November 22, 1996

In what many consider to be Star Trek: The Next Generation's best movie, Captain Jean-Luc Picard (Patrick Stewart) and the USS Enterprise-E travel back in time to stop the Borg from altering Earth's history. Upon following a Borg sphere through a temporal vortex, the Enterprise-D finds itself in the past on April 4, 2063, the night before Zefram Cochrane's historic warp flight. The Borg wish to prevent Earth's First Contact with the Vulcans and assimilate the planet when it's at its weakest.

As Captain Picard and Cochrane's assistant, Lily Sloane (Alfre Woodard), combat the Borg on the Enterprise, Commander William Riker (Jonathan Frakes) and Chief Engineer Geordi La Forge (LeVar Burton) work with Cochrane to repair his ship, the Phoenix. In the end, Cochrane completes his warp flight, which catches the attention of a passing Vulcan ship. Cochrane and a group of humans greet the Vulcans, and Captain Picard and his crew return to their own time, having successfully repaired the past.

4“Homestead”

Star Trek: Voyager Season 7, Episode 23

As Star Trek: Voyager was nearing its end, "Homestead" gave Neelix (Ethan Phillips) a proper send-off before the USS Voyager found its way back to the Alpha Quadrant. The episode begins with a celebration of First Contact Day, planned and hosted by Neelix and the young Naomi Wildman (Scarlett Pomers). Captain Kathryn Janeway (Kate Mulgrew) remarks that when she was a child, all First Contact Day meant was a day off from school. Neelix and Naomi wanted to make the day more fun, giving Voyager's crew something to celebrate after seven years in the Delta Quadrant.

Neelix has prepared Zefram Cochrane's favorite food (cheese pierogies), and an old jukebox plays his favorite songs. Neelix also convinced Lt. Tuvok (Tim Russ) to recite the first words spoken by a Vulcan to a human: "Live long and prosper." Before Neelix and Janeway can convince Tuvok to dance, Commander Chakotay (Robert Beltran) interrupts the festivities to announce that they have detected a nearby Talaxian settlement. In the end, Neelix decides to remain with the other Talaxians, setting up the beginning of the end of Voyager's journey home.

3“In A Mirror Darkly, Part 1”

Star Trek: Enterprise Season 4, Episode 18

Following the adventures of Captain Jonathan Archer (Scott Bakula) and the Enterprise NX-01, Star Trek: Enterprise culminated in the founding of the United Federation of Planets. In its fourth season, Enterprise paid a visit to the Mirror Universe, revealing that their version of First Contact Day played out very differently. In the opening scenes of "In a Mirror, Darkly," a Vulcan ship lands on Earth after detecting Zefram Cochrane's warp flight. However, instead of welcoming their extraterrestrial neighbors, Cochrane pulls out a shotgun and shoots the Vulcan leader.

The humans behind him then storm and loot the Vulcan's ship, stealing the technology for themselves. This leads the Terran Empire of the Mirror Universe to develop technology and weapons more quickly than the Prime Universe, allowing them to conquer their enemies more easily. "In a Mirror, Darkly" then jumps ahead, revealing the Mirror Universe version of Commander Archer, who takes command of the ISS Enterprise. What follows is a fun storyline that not only references Star Trek history but also reveals some surprising connections to Star Trek: The Original Series.

2“Grounded”

Star Trek: Lower Decks Season 3, Episode 1

In Star Trek: Lower Decks' season 3 premiere, Ensign Beckett Mariner (Tawny Newsome) and her friends devise a plan to help prove Captain Carol Freeman's (Dawnn Lewis) innocence. Mariner and Ensign Brad Boimler (Jack Quaid) realize that Boimler's logs on the USS Cerritos can prove Captain Freeman did not destroy the Pakled Planet. Mariner and Boimler, along with Ensigns D'Vana Tendi (Noël Wells) and Sam Rutherford (Eugene Cordero), then travel to the site of humanity's First Contact with the Vulcans in Bozeman, Montana.

Bozeman is now home to an amusement park dedicated to Zefram Cochrane and his historic flight, including a Ride the Phoenix attraction that includes a replica of Cochrane's warp-capable ship. The Lower Deckers commandeer the Phoenix replica and travel to the spacedock where the Cerritos is stationed. The Historical Boseman theme park includes numerous other rides and attractions celebrating First Contact, including a massive statue of Cochrane himself.

1“Fissure Quest”

Star Trek: Lower Decks Season 5, Episode 9

In the final season of Star Trek: Lower Decks, the USS Cerritos embarks on an adventure that spans the multiverse. Lower Decks' penultimate episode checks in with Captain William Boimler (Jack Quaid), who has been given command of the starship Anaximander and a crew of "interdimensional castaways." While investigating a series of quantum fissures, Boimler and his crew encounter an alternate universe version of Lily Sloane. Sloane and her crew have been inadvertently causing these rifts as they explore the multiverse.

In Star Trek's Prime Universe, Lily Sloane helped Zefram Cochrane invent warp drive, but in this Sloane's universe, she helped him create a quantum reality drive. Sloane insists that she had no knowledge of the damage their ship was causing; they were simply on a peaceful mission to explore the multiverse. While Star Trek has not revealed what became of the Prime Universe's Lily Sloane, this alternate universe Sloane became a hero and an explorer who exemplified everything that First Contact Day represents.