Star Trek: First Contact Had A Grander Romance Planned For Lily And Picard

The plot of Jonathan Frakes' 1996 sci-fi film "Star Trek: First Contact" took Captain Picard (Patrick Stewart) and the crew of the Enterprise-E back in time to the year 2063. It seems that the Borg, a malignant race of all-consuming cyborgs, had traveled to that year in order to attack Earth when the planet was still recovering from the recently-ended World War III. The Borg could easily swoop in and assimilate the 21st-century humans into their mechanical collective, were the Enterprise not there to stop them. 

The Borg also aimed to foil First Contact, a momentous event in human history. According to "Trek" lore, 2063 was the year humans first made contact with an alien species, forcing all Earthlings to realize they weren't alone in the galaxy and unite under a doctrine of peace and togetherness. If the Borg could stop that, then they could alter history in their favor. 

Picard and company have to disguise themselves as denizens of 2063 and surreptitiously talk to the locals, including Zefram Cochran (James Cromwell), the inventor of faster-than-light travel, and his friend Lily (Alfre Woodard), a former solider. Lily, sadly, is injured in an attack and needs to be beamed up to the Enterprise's sickbay. She will be revived and find herself in the company of Captain Picard, who leads her stealthily through the hallways of the Enterprise, avoiding the Borg drones that have snuck on board and explaining to Lily that he comes from the 24th century. 

According to a 2016 oral history about "First Contact," printed in The Hollywood Reporter, the relationship between Picard and Lily was supposed to flower into a romance. Indeed, the original script even featured a kiss between the characters. But the kiss was cut because Stewart's and Woodard's chemistry wasn't quite right.

The screenplay for "First Contact" was written by longterm "Trek" veterans Brannon Braga and Ron D. Moore, and they essentially juiced up the "Star Trek: The Next Generation" TV series into a full-bore action picture, with gunfights, death, and Picard transforming from a judicious and calming authority figure into a vengeance-bent action hero. "First Contact" doesn't bear the tone of "Star Trek," but many appreciated the action and violence. 

When Picard is stalking the Enterprise with Lily, he explains that in the 24th century, capitalism has come to an end. "The acquisition of wealth is no longer the driving force of our lives," he says. "We work to better ourselves and the rest of humanity." It's a great line, but it's delivered oddly. Stewart isn't facing Lily, and the two are covered in sweat as they lurk through a hallway. It's not a moment with any gravitas, and the two characters aren't given a moment to ponder the line's profundity. 

Moore noted that the above moment and similar other instances were indicative of Picard's and Lily's unromantic relationship. Frakes shot several moments where it looked like Picard and Lily were connecting emotionally, but the film's editors cut them for their weakness. Moore said: 

"The relationship between Patrick and Alfre's character was really strong. It was more of a romance in the earlier drafts and I think there was more to the kiss [at the end of the movie] and it was shot to have a more romantic element to it. I think what happened was, it wasn't quite playing as well on screen and that got kind of cut back through post and through the editing process." 

For the most part, Picard and Lily have an antagonistic relationship, and she's the one to confront him about his violent attitudes.

Ultimately, Lily is the one to force Picard's hand. In their short time together, Lily witnessed Picard become completely unhinged, murdering Borgs with uncharacteristic verve. Picard finally snaps when the two are in private. "I will make them pay for what they've done!" he yells. Lily immediately points out that he's just a mad killer, a captain more comparable to Ahab than Horatio Hornblower. Picard smashes a pane of glass in response before finally calming down and acknowledging that "Moby-Dick" was a little too appropriate a comparison. 

Lily understood Picard, and it was wise of her to call him out, but that kind of inter-character understanding doesn't equal romance. The two actors are both excellent, and they played their scenes well together, but Moore knew that wasn't what any potential love story required. He continued: 

"It wasn't an overt romance, it was never scripted that he falls in love with her, but there was definitely more of a chemistry between the two of them. The chemistry onscreen between the two of them was interesting, but it was a little more adversarial and they were challenging to each other on an intellectual level. It wasn't sort of sparking off romantic sparks the way we thought it would initially." 

To reiterate, Woodard and Stewart are both excellent actors. But Lily might have made a better First Officer character for "Star Trek," in that Lily is a plain-spoken, naturally authoritative screen presence who would happily stand up to a commanding officer who sometimes required a kick in the complacency. Unfortunately for the film's initial plans, that's not the same as falling in love.