6-23. Rightful Heir.

The fabled Kahless (Kevin Conway) returns,
as prophesied... or has he?

THE PLOT

A crisis of faith leads Worf to request a leave of absence.  He travels to the Klingon temple on Boreth, where the high priests await the prophesied return of Kahless. Here, he hopes that prayer and meditation will bring him a vision of the Klingon emperor, something to answer his doubts about his faith.

What he doesn't expect is the actual return of Kahless (Kevin Conway). While Worf is praying, a Klingon appears before him and claims to be the fabled emperor, returned to lead his people back to their roots as honorable warriors. Koroth (Alan Oppenheimer), the leader of the priests, is overjoyed, but Worf is skeptical. And Gowron (Robert O'Reilly), the Klingon Chancellor, is enraged, insisting that this is a ploy by the priests to steal his power.

Gowron, Kahless, and Koroth all are taken aboard the Enterprise and treated as honored guests. But it is clear that if the situation is not resolved before they reach the Klingon home world, then the Empire may descend yet again into civil war!


CHARACTERS

Capt. Picard: Recognizes that Worf's crisis of faith is not something the Klingon can resolve on the Enterprise. He grants him an indefinite leave of absence to find the answers he seeks, and wishes him luck. At the same time, however, he makes clear that he expects Worf to be ready to act as a Starfleet officer when he returns.

Worf: His experience in the Romulan penal colony, in which he awakened the faith of the young Klingons, has left him grappling with his own crisis of faith. It's no wonder: He grew up away from the Klingon Empire, absorbing the stories of glory and honor - only to come face to face with a corrupt Empire ruled by men more interested in power than integrity. He has also served as a Starfleet officer, trained to gather evidence before simply accepting a claim. This leads him to initially doubt Kahless, only to become his most devout acolyte once he is convinced of his true identity.

Data: Though his role in this episode is not a large one, he does get a key scene late in the show. He talks with Worf about his own "leap of faith," when he decided to consider himself as a person capable of being more than just programming rather than merely a machine. This gives Worf the inspiration he needs to find his own solution for the Kahless situation.

Klingons: Writer Ronald D. Moore fills in more of Klingon society, introducing the high priests and filling in substantial detail about Kahless and his teachings. We learn that Koroth has opposed Gowron's leadership from the start. Gowron has no belief in Kahless, dismissing him as an imposter from the first. Even when presented with evidence, he challenges the other man, refusing to reliquish his power. This puts Worf in the middle, with both Gowron and Koroth trying to win his support because of his brother's seat on the council.


THOUGHTS

After the disappointment of Birthright, I wasn't exactly overjoyed to see a follow-up. I should have had more faith. With Ronald D. Moore in the writer's chair, the Klingons come to life as a complex, genuinely interesting creation once again. 

Rightful Heir is the kind of episode Trek tends to do well. It uses a science fiction setting to examine human issues: In this case, the power of faith versus the need for empirical proof. The priests want Klingon society to accept Kahless simply because he exists, says all the right things, and makes all the right claims. Gowron rejects Kahless out of hand because his return after more than 1000 years is simply impossible. In between the two exremes is Worf, who desperately wants to believe but who will not make the leap of faith without evidence.

It's a thoughtful, layered script. Neither side is painted as entirely right or wrong. Gowron is clearly driven by a need to protect his own power, but he is right that the return of Kahless has the potential to split the Empire. Koroth is right that Klingon society has grown decadent and corrupt, something past episodes have provided ample examples of. Then there are scenes simply discussing faith, from Data's musings on his own decision to be more than a machine to the Klingons who kneel in the holodeck for hours on end, waiting for Kahless to return to the room to talk to them once more - to fill a need that's gone unfilled.

The plot is well-constructed, too. Just as Worf's time in the Klingon temple is becoming stale, Kahless appears and the Worf/Kahless conflict takes center-stage for Act Two. Once that plays out, the setting shifts back to the Enterprise, with the Gowron/Koroth conflict taking the fore. There's a plot twist that fits within the Star Trek universe, and which instead of rendering the issues explored irrelevant is actually used to bring those issues into focus for the resolution. It's well-structured, and the plot twists just enough to remain enjoyable throughout.


Overall Rating: 8/10.

Previous Episode: Suspicions
Next Episode: Second Chances


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4-26, 5-01. Redemption

The crew honors Lt. Worf.

THE PLOT

The Enterprise returns to the Klingon homeworld, so that Picard can complete his role as arbiter of the Klingon succession by installing Gowron (Robert O'Reilly) as the new chancellor. No sooner has the ship entered Klingon space than Gowron hails them. Officially, his ship is acting as an escort. Unofficially, he needs to meet with Picard to discuss a grave matter: The threat of a Klingon Civil War!

Duras' sisters, Lursa (Barbara March) and B'Etor (Gwynth Walsh) are challenging Gowron's claim to leadership by presenting their own candidate: Toral (J. D. Cullum), the illegitimate son of Duras. Toral is a mere boy, a clear puppet of the Duras Sisters - but he does provide them with an opportunity to split the council, turning Duras' old supporters against Gowron.

This is also an opportunity for Worf.  With Picard's blessing, he bands together with his brother Kurn (Tony Todd) to reclaim their family honor by fighting alongside Gowron. But as the conflict escalates, Worf finds that his service to the Empire may not be compatible with his role as a Starfleet officer...

CHARACTERS

Capt. Picard: His ongoing support of Worf is apparent from the very beginning. The episode opens with Picard urging Worf to challenge his discommendation. With Duras dead and Gowron being confirmed as Chancellor, Picard feels the time has come. Worf's discommendation "is a lie," Picard tells him, "and lies must be challenged." Despite his personal feelings, Picard will not use Federation resources to interfere in Klingon matters. He does declassify the Federation information about the Khitomer massacre to help Worf, by making it available to anyone - but he also tells Worf that this is as far as he's willing to go.

Worf: Worf has become a sound strategist. When his brother urges action against the entire council, Worf refuses because such an act would be dishonorable. But he doesn't insist on immediately supporting Gowron. "We will wait," he tells Kurn, "until he feels the grasp of his enemies around his throat. Then we will offer him our support - and the price will be the restoration of our family name!" It's a plan that Kurn cannot ignore, both because Worf's goal is one he shares and because Worf's plan actually has a chance of succeeding.

Data: Part Two introduces a subplot in which Data takes command of one of the vessels in Picard's fleet. This gives the android his first proper command of a starship. Naturally, he must contend with a First Officer who does not believe an android can possibly be suited to command. It goes without saying that Data proves himself. That he does so by stepping outside the strict dictates of rules and regulations, applying his own judgment to a critical situation, is a good plot turn. It emphasizes the flipside of In Theory. While that episode showed that Data was too much of a machine to carry on a relationship with a human (at least, with an emotionally needy one), this episode reminds us that Data is still much more than just a machine.

Sela: Denise Crosby's official introduction as the half-Romulan daughter of Tasha Yar comes here, though she was previously heard as the voice of a figure in the shadows in The Mind's Eye. Though Crosby's acting limitations remain, the coldly guarded Sela's characterization is better-crafted to disguise her weaknesses than Tasha was. She gets a strong introduction, too, being shown to be tactically shrewd when she evades Picard's trap. Though her gambit fails, she judges Picard and his responses perfectly. She simply makes the mistake of underestimating Data, selecting him as the weak link in Picard's fleet when he's actually probably the strongest.

Klingons/Romulans: Seasons Three and Four have steadily built up the Klingon and Romulan arcs, and have gradually intertwined them. This two-parter pays off all that setup. We previously saw the Romulans attempt to drive a wedge between the Federation and the Klingons through a political assassination. Now they use their influence over the Duras clan to create a full-blown civil war. With Starfleet too "noble" to interfere, even to support their own interests, the Romulans are able to build up the Duras clan to the point that Gowron seems all but defeated. We also see yet again the corruption at the heart of the Klingon Empire, with the Klingon council effectively a tool of the Duras sisters.


THOUGHTS

Season Four comes to an end, and Season Five begins, with this 2-parter. Though it follows the precedent established by The Best of Both Worlds, ending the season on a cliffhanger, it is a vastly different episode. The Best of Both Worlds' first episode was a steady march to doom, with its second part forcing the characters (particularly Riker) havng to find it in themselves to face a massive external threat. This 2-parter is about corruption from within an empire: Civil Wars and alliances.

It lacks the spectacle of Best of Both Worlds, and it doesn't have anything as iconic as "Locutus of Borg." But in its way, this is almost as good - particularly the first part.

One major difference between these 2-parters lies in their episode structure. The previous two-parter was very much a single narrative, divided at the moment of greatest drama. Redemption instead is structured so that each part is very much its own unit, with its own focused narrative within the broader story of the Klingon Civil War.

The first part centers on Worf's struggle to regain his family name, with the emerging Klingon Civil War as a backdrop that makes this possible. This part features a lot of political maneuvering. The Duras Sisters introduce Duras' illegitimate son in order to split the council and lay claim to the throne. Worf presses his brother to enlist Klingon squadrons to support Gowron... but not until Gowron's moment of greatest weakness, to push for the restoration of their family name. Picard attempts to walk a tightrope between supporting Gowron in his role of arbiter and maintaining neutrality in his role of Starfleet captain.

There are some terrific scenes here, particularly on the Klingon homeworld. The best scene is probably the confrontation between Picard and the Duras sisters. They extend an invitation to him, attempting to influence his decision as arbiter. Picard observes their efforts for a few minutes, then shuts them down by giving a bluntly accurate assessment of their actions. He ends by telling them they have manipulated the situation "like a Romulan," simultaneously insulting them as Klingons and telling them that he knows whose interests they are truly serving. A terrific scene, brilliantly performed by Patrick Stewart.

Part 2 picks up some time after the events of Part 1. The war has been raging for weeks, and Gowron is losing. The focus here is more on Picard than Worf, as he attempts to block the Romulans from supplying the Duras forces. The emotional center is the revelation of Sela, with Picard having to wrestle with the thought that he (in another reality) was responsible for her. Worf's material is more of a subplot, with his scenes focusing on how his values differ from that of the other Klingons around him - all to set up his inevitable return to Enterprise.

It's all good drama, but there is a sense that the second part is stretched out a bit. The subplot involving Data's recalcitrant First Officer feels forced, and the entire arc of this subplot is extremely predictable. Meanwhile, the civil war is resolved too quickly and neatly to entirely convince. Civil wars are historically bloody affairs, rarely over quickly and never neatly. This is an inevitable consequence of a series that insists on resolving its plots within 1 - 2 episodes: Stories that cry out for additional development are cut off before there's time to do anything but hint at their potential complexity.

Still, if it falls short of full marks, this is nonetheless another very good piece. With Sela and the Duras Sisters still out there, and with Worf having chosen Enterprise and Starfleet over his Klingon heritage, there are any number of new dramatic possibilities for the series - and that can't be anything but good for a series that has now firmly found its voice.


Rating for Part 1: 10/10.
Rating for Part 2: 8/10.

Overall Rating: 9/10.


Previous Episode: In Theory
Next Episode: Darmok


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4-07. Reunion

Picard presides over Klingon ritual.

THE PLOT

A Klingon ship decloaks in the Enterprise's vicinity, bringing two familiar faces to the ship: K'Ehleyr (Suzie Plakson), Worf's old flame, arrives with Worf's illegitimate son in tow. She isn't just there to bring Worf the son he did not know he had, however. She also brings a message from K'mpec (Charles Cooper), the Klingon Chancellor. The old Klingon is aboard the ship, and requests a meeting with Picard.

K'mpec is dying, poisoned by one of the factions vying for the throne after he dies. He has but one request, though it's a big one. Picard is to oversee the dispute to determine who will be the next Klingon Chancellor: Gowron (Robert O'Reilly) or Duras (Patrick Massett), the latter of whom was responsible for Worf's discommendation and an attempt on Picard's life. K'mpec has one additional caveat. He wants Picard to determine which of these two Klingons was responsible for poisoning the old Chancellor.

"The Klingon who kills without showing his face has no honor. He must not lead the Empire. Such a man would be capable of anything... Even war with the Federation!"


CHARACTERS

Capt. Picard: This episode sees Picard as an expert tactician, coldly using the resources at his disposal to keep the Klingons off their guard. He brings in Worf to disclose to both Duras and Gowron details of a bombing on K'mpec's ship. This is not to share information. It's to rattle Duras and Gowron by bringing "the traitor" into the room and forcing them to treat him with respect, while at the same time dangling the Romulan connection in front of Duras in a way that is by no means lost on Gowron. Picard knows his people need time to investigate the explosion, and uses details of antiquated Klingon rituals in order to draw out the ceremony for as long as he possibly can. Gets a memorable scene at the end, in which he lays out for Worf that while he respects the cultures of everyone who serves on his ship, he will not allow individual cultural imperatives to overrule service to Starfleet.

Worf: Shame at his dishonor within the Klingon Empire leads to his initial refusal to claim Alexander as his son. He does not want the boy's name stained the way his has been, he explains to K'Ehleyr. The same concerns lead to his refusal to marry K'Ehleyr, even though he had previously pushed for that very thing. The events of the episode seem to focus him with regard to his discommendation. At the start, he seems to have accepted it as an irrevocable event. At the end, he acknowledges Alexander as his son and tells Picard that he and his brother will someday "convince" the Klingon High Council to reveal the truth.

K'Ehleyr: Though The Emissary was not a very strong episode (save by comparison with the dismal shows surrounding it), K'Ehleyr was an interesting character, and I'm glad the writers saw the value in bringing her back. Her lack of respect for Klingon society continues, bringing her into conflict with Worf when she refuses to raise her son with Klingon traditions. "He is my son, and I am half-human," she tells Worf, "He will find his own way."

Klingons: The corruption in Klingon society, introduced in Sins of the Father, continues to play a part here. The entire story of the episode is sparked by the poisoning of K'mpec - a method of murder that Klingon society considers without honor. Neither Duras nor Gowron behave in a particularly honorable fashion. Gowron, in his first appearance, is painted as practically a sociopath, and his hissed threat to K'Ehleyr has me half-wondering if he will be revealed to be the true poisoner at a later date. Duras, whose lack of honor is already well-known to viewers from his earlier appearance, murders an unarmed civilian, then begs for his life while in an unsurprisingly one-sided duel with Worf. The traditions that are so vital to the Klingons have become window dressing, hollow rituals which are adhered to but whose meanings have been forgotten.


THOUGHTS

With a script credited to four writers and a story credited to yet another four writers, there were a lot of cooks involved in the creation of this particular soup. Fortunately, it doesn't show in the final product, an episode which is likely the best single-part show so far this season.

A sequel to two episodes, Season Two's unremarkable The Emissary and Season Three's excellent Sins of the Father, Reunion manages to weave the various characters from both stories into a coherent whole. The backstory is doled out efficiently in a moody conversation between Picard and the dying K'mpec, a scene which is carried by the excellent performances of Patrick Stewart and Charles Cooper. From there, the tension builds and is maintained throughout. Jonathan Frakes' second episode as director, and the directorial confidence he displays shows why he ended up directing two of the Next Generation movies.

Some elements are not fully tied up. While we are encouraged to suspect Duras is guilty of all of the bad acts mentioned or on display in this episode, K'mpec's poisoning is never really tied to him. Indeed, the only reference of the poisoning after the first fifteen minutes comes from Gowron, making a threat to K'Ehleyr. If this is addressed in a future episode, I'll withdraw the complaint. For now, the vanishing of the poisoning thread is the one thing keeping this from earning full marks.


Overall Rating: 9/10

Previous Episode: Legacy

Next Episode: Future Imperfect

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