“Heart of Glory”
Teleplay by Maurice Hurley
Story by Maurice Hurley and Herbert Wright & D.C. Fontana
Directed by Rob Bowman
Season 1, Episode 20
Original air date: March 21, 1988
Star date: 41503.7
Mission summary
The Enterprise is called out to the Neutral Zone to investigate a recent battle involving a Talarian freighter. Some life signs are aboard, so Riker, Data, and Geordi beam over to the ship, with Geordi transmitting VISOR-cam back to the Enterprise. The away team pokes through the damaged vessel until eventually they stumble upon the survivors, but they’re not Talarian or Romulan: they’re Klingon.
They are beamed back to the Enterprise just before a spectacular explosion of stock footage and the survivors relate their suspiciously glorious story to Picard. The Klingons are Korris, Konmel, and Kunivas (in critical condition). Korris explains that a Ferengi ship attacked the freighter, but Worf says the weapons are clearly Klingon. Undeterred by the intrusion of fact, Korris relates their cunning in defeating the “Ferengis.” Unfortunately, this glory is short-lived, as Kunivas gives up the ghost. Korris, Konmel, and Worf perform the Klingon death ritual–looking into the dying man’s eyes and screaming.
Korris and Konmel initially distrust Worf, calling him “docile,” “tamed,” and “gentle” from living with humans his whole life. Worf admits that he has never lived among his own people, but argues that beneath his calm exterior is the force of a great typhoon. Raging fires may also be involved. Either way, Starfleet taught him to control, but not tame, that inner nature. Korris and Konmel are impressed by this personal history and decide to reveal the truth of their encounter aboard the freighter. They are outcasts from the Klingon empire, rejecting the peace treaty with the Federation as “like a living death for warriors like us.” They were in search of a place to be all manly and stuff, so they commandeered the freighter and used it to destroy the Klingon ship sent to recall them to the Empire. Worf is horrified that they would kill their own, but Korris says that the souls of those Klingons had been corrupted by peace anyway.
Picard, meanwhile, is contacted by K’Nera, a Klingon commander. He demands that Picard turn over the survivors, who are wanted criminals. Picard has no choice but to comply and sends Yar with a security team to take them into custody. They plead with Worf to intervene but he’s a Starfleet officer first. After a brief near-hostage situation with an adorable child, the Klingons are taken into custody. Alas, this is to be brief, as the Klingons assemble a disruptor from various bits and bobs of their costume, disable the forcefield holding them, and take out both security guards. Konmel dies in the attempt but Korris makes it to Engineering and holds the dilithium chamber hostage, demanding to speak to Worf.
Worf, who had begged K’Nera to let the men die honorably on a remote planet (no dice, rules are rules and traitors are traitors), agrees to speak to Korris. He tries to explain that Korris has gone a little cray-cray:
WORF: My brother, it is you who does not see. You look for battles in the wrong place. The test of the warrior is not without, it is within. Here, here we meet the challenge. It is the weaknesses in here a warrior must overcome.
Korris isn’t a fan of this answer and tries to shoot Worf, but Worf gets him first. Korris tumbles through many levels of engineering, mortally wounding himself. Worf races to the bottom and manages to perform the Klingon death ritual before Korris finally dies.
Back on the bridge, Worf explains to K’Nera that all three surviving Klingons no longer have an adjective. K’Nera is impressed, and invites Worf to serve his next tour of duty aboard the Klingon ship. Worf says he is honored by the invitation, but as soon as the call is over quickly explains to Picard that he was just being polite.
Analysis
This is the first episode of the series that has reminded me why I loved this show. Deciding to focus on the characters and tell a story around them rather than trying to fit these characters around a story sets this episode apart from those that came before it. Worf gets to emerge from the shadows of the supporting cast and fill a Spock-like role, the man caught between worlds, who feels like a stranger in a strange land no matter where he happens to be. It’s a solid character arc that feels a little cliche by now, but it’s easy to forget how poorly this can be handled, and how well Star Trek winds up doing by Worf.
Worf spends most of the first season as half-angry black man and half-comic relief, and it isn’t until now when they flesh out Klingon culture a bit that he gets some depth to him. As the series went on he wound up being among my favorite characters, and I see a lot of the beginnings of that with “Heart of Glory.” We finally hear Worf’s tragic past and begin to understand his position. Being the only Klingon in Starfleet is more than a curiosity. For the first time we see a character who may be ashamed of, rather than proud of, serving in the fleet. This was a great choice. I really like the idea that serving in Starfleet isn’t the ideal of success to everyone in the known universe, and other cultures have other values. It also makes Worf’s decision to serve a real choice, rather than obvious trajectory, as it is for so many others we meet.
Moreover, we’re introduced to what will be a central theme of Worf’s character: the dilemma of what makes a “true” Klingon, and what the difference is between that and a race traitor. Korris and Konmel certainly believe that they are the former and Worf is the latter, which creates a tension that, unfortunately, I think the show was just not quite at this stage prepared to deal with in a nuanced fashion. It’s too obvious too early on that Worf’s vision of the empire is the “right” one, when the show would have really benefited from making this murkier. That Worf must constantly prove his “Klingonness,” however, is a thread we’ll see again and again, both among his own people and among aliens. My problem, in the end, is that “Heart of Glory” feels more like it should be the end of Worf’s character arc, and not the beginning of it. He’s too sure of himself and the show validates his view too quickly to allow for a more interesting conversation. But we do get a taste of the difficulty that Worf faces both among other Klingons and among aliens.
One detail I really appreciated was that at no point does Picard ever question Worf’s loyalty. There’s no discussions, discreetly or publicly, about whether Worf will side with the renegades. Picard has absolute faith in his officer. It’s a minor thing, but it’s an important one. Something I really didn’t like: the whole VISOR sequence. If this VISOR works by translating external stimuli into electromagnetic signals easily interpretable by the brain, there’s absolutely no reason why the ship should be unable to wifi into it at any given moment and translate these signals into classic ROYGBIV visual spectrum. If a tricorder can do a visual spectrum analysis, why can’t the VISOR? Now, there’s no reason why Geordi would see only the visual spectrum–it would be only one of many layers of information he receives–but there is no reason that the ship couldn’t filter out the extra information in a way that his brain cannot. I know it’s supposed to be all cool and futuristic, but it doesn’t work for me, and the worst part is when Picard says, “Now I’m beginning to understand him” in the most condescending way possible. No, you’re not understanding him. You’re merely seeing what he sees. When you and Riker both examine the captain’s chair, are you beginning to understand Riker? No, so stop it.
As an intro to the soon-to-be important Klingon civil war thread that will occupy much of the later seasons, this does work. We see the stirrings of resentment against the alliance, and while Korris and Konmel are villains, we do sympathize with their feelings of being born in the wrong place at the wrong time. Nostalgia for a glorious past is universal to any place or time, but again I felt that Worf’s “correct” position rejects Korris’ vision of an alternate Klingon empire too quickly and too surely to make the most of the idea. There’s still too much Roddenberry here–the characters are just too perfect. As the Klingon civil war evolves, however, we will see Worf be more mixed in his loyalties, and as a result some more complex stories. Most interesting is that the Empire eventually develops an identity crisis that parallels Worf’s, and every Klingon becomes torn between longing for a “purer” past and evolving to suit a changing future.
I’m looking forward to it.
Torie’s Rating: Warp 4 (on a scale of 1-6)
Thread Alert: Perhaps to the episode’s credit, there are no particularly egregious costume fouls in this episode. I suppose I’ll have to mention the Klingon warrior uniforms, which I actually quite like. They feel militaristic but utilitarian–you get the sense a warrior would actually wear this because it’s flexible and allows mobility. And they made me realize that we have yet to get an explanation for Worf’s baldric.
Best Line: PICARD: Look over at Data. There’s an aura around Data.
LAFORGE: Well, of course. He’s an android.
PICARD: You say that as if you think that’s what we all see.
LAFORGE: Don’t you?
RIKER (as the ship starts to fall apart): Sir, I hate to break this up, but…
Trivia/Other Notes: This episode marks the first reference to the Talarians, who won’t appear onscreen until Season 4’s “Suddenly Human.”
Vaughn Armstrong, who plays Korris, has the distinction of having played thirteen different characters in Star Trek across four different series. I remember him as Danar on DS9 but you can see all of his roles here.
Previous episode: Season 1, Episode 19 – “Coming of Age.”
Next episode: Season 1, Episode 21 – “The Arsenal of Freedom.”
I had forgotten that this episode took place so early in the series. (In fact, as soon as I heard “Talarians,” I mistook this for the fourth season episode Torie mentioned.) Ron Moore is credited with developing much of the Klingon culture in TNG, but “Heart of Glory” fleshes out Klingon history and beliefs and established Worf’s ongoing struggle to embrace his dual heritage long before Moore was on the scene. Of course he helped to expand and deepen Klingon themes and character conflicts, but he was given terrific material to start with–and Dorn also did a better job with it as the series progresses. It was also neat that they even mentioned Worf’s foster brother, who wouldn’t appear until the seventh season! Continuity. It works.
This is the first time that Klingons seem more than stock villains, while also feeling like classic opponents from the original series; even the movies up until this episode’s broadcast hadn’t done much for them other than update their appearance. I enjoyed hearing the Klingon “theme music” from the films incorporated into the episode score, and it was interesting to watch this with Star Trek VI in mind, which wouldn’t appear in theaters for another five years.
I love Torie’s comparison of Worf to Spock, something I hadn’t thought much about before, and how this episode contrasts with TOS’s “Balance of Terror,” when some of the crew is instantly suspicious of Spock when they first see the Romulans. The closest we get to a moment like that is Yar’s overreaction to her “hostage situation.” Was she trying to be a good security officer for a change? I suppose. But I appreciated Worf calling her on her mistake.
Overall, I was engaged by every scene with Worf and the other Klingons, and especially how he kills Korris. It seems Worf is trying to talk Korris down from the ledge, but I think there’s the implication that this is a calculated move to give him the death a warrior deserves. It’s more complex characterization than we’ve seen in the series so far, something Worf becomes known for, but no one dwells on whether he could have saved the ship without violence. I’ll also say it’s really amazing that Korris holds the entire ship at gunpoint–it’s clever and brash of him, and once again, Starfleet security proves itself incompetent.
I agree with everything Torie says about the “Visual Acuity Transmitter” and I’ll go one farther–why don’t they just use a regular camera if they want to see what’s going on? Geordi shouldn’t be able to see anything the tricorders can’t, right? It was an interesting idea, but it doesn’t add much to the story, and I can’t see them using such a device regularly in the series, so it’s no wonder they pretty much drop it entirely. Almost entirely: Dr. Soran uses Geordi’s VISOR to spy on the Enterprise in Star Trek Generations, but he manages to get an actual picture out of it instead of Predator-vision. But then, he’s a genius, so.
In light of our recent discussion about families and children aboard the ship, I noticed that they briefly entertain the idea of separating the saucer before going into battle. I’d forgotten about that since they use it so infrequently, but it did remind me that producers had written in something to address combat situations with civilians, however impractical it might be.
Two nitpicky questions: It’s fine for Yar to be present in the Transporter Room when the Klingons arrive, but what makes her qualified to operate the transporters? She nearly kills them. Get Miles in there!
How does the universal translator know when someone wants to speak in a different language? Worf switches to Klingon a couple of times, and we don’t even get subtitles!
I agree with Torie on this one: Warp 4.
I’m in just about complete agreement with Torie here, right down to the rating. This is one of the first times we see just what the show could be and it’s one major flaw stems from the fact that the producers hadn’t grasped the concept of the character arc yet. But opening up Klingon culture is probably the best thing this episode does. The whole Klingon civil (cold) war isn’t really hinted at here, since they had no idea they would be going in that direction, but it does make a nice prologue.
Re the Worf/Spock equivalence: It’s pretty obvious that the original idea was that Data would be the Spock equivalent, with the trope turned on its head: Data wants to be human, where Spock was trying to eliminate that part of him. It just never worked. Data’s quest was occasionally interesting, but there was no conflict. Worf works so much better here as someone caught between cultures and whenever it comes up we really feel it. There is always a bit of tension there, divided loyalties, Worf’s desire to be more Klingon than Kahless, but being deep down a dedicated Starfleet officer. There’s a depth of character there that even Picard doesn’t get until later.
I also find it interesting that this episode shows Worf and the Pirates engaged in a process of negotiating what it means to be Klingon and how that identity is changing — one thing that I keep noticing in far too many books & “properties” is that the worlds are entirely too static; take the Star Wars extended universe, where we’re supposed to believe that this intergalactic civilization experiences essentially no technological or cultural progress over thousands of years of history, there’s just some political stuff that happens in a vacuum…
What bugged me a bit, though, about this is that Worf immediately and unquestioningly buys into the Pirates’ version of Klingon-ness. Well *obviously* being Klingon means you want to run around in the wilderness killing animals with your teeth or something. Where is he getting this idea? He was raised by humans, he does not have a lived cultural link to Klingon identity; sure he’s read about it a lot, but you don’t get that kind of atavistic violence from book learnin’. So this suggests that there’s something genetic, something terribly essentialist, about Klingon identity, which I’ve never really bought. If nothing else, it seems to imply that there’s no real variation in the personalities and minds of individual Klingons, which seems like it would prevent a well-balanced culture from forming. We sort of grow out of this later in the series and franchise, but we also sort of don’t. Too bad.
It’s also a sign that the Klingons at this point are conceived of as space Spartans, in the Frank Miller sense: the words “warrior” and “man” are practically interchangeable, everyone’s life centers around violence, and yet where are the helots that grow the food? Where are the scientists that design the Klingon’s space craft, and the workers who assemble them? It’s a serious oversight in the Klingon society that we see (though it can be finessed since we’re clearly only ever exposed to the noble class).
@ 1 Eugene
I am bracing for a Ron Moore fight, but I’ll wait. *cracks knuckles*
Great observation about Korris’ death and Worf’s calculation to perhaps arrange it. Worf is one of the few characters on the show who actually gets to do morally dubious things on a semi-regular basis and remain a generally good person. The viewer is obviously meant to admire this calculation, which allows Korris a nobility that no one else seemed to think he deserved, but you know that Picard would’ve bristled at the suggestion that death was the answer. It allows for some cultural tension that the show badly needed.
@ 2 DemetriosX
They didn’t know they’d be doing the civil war at this point? I assumed it had been planned fairly early.
As for Data, I really love Data’s character arc, but it takes a long time to find its footing. The real flaw has always been that Data is just so obviously superior to humans in every way and he never makes a compelling case for the value of emotions. This same thread was pulled off perfectly by Spock, who a) not only recognizes his superiority, but practically basks in it; and b) articulates in eloquent terms how meaningful emotion can be. Instead of retreading familiar ground they could have done any of a million other themes, like maybe the longing for imperfection, so that one could learn and improve. Oh well.
But Worf is an interesting case because he’s not Spock’s tragic mulatto, but a real nature vs. nurture piece. Which is more authentic: Worf’s genetics, or his upbringing? How have his values been shaped? Is he still Klingon at all? It’s such a great leaping off point and they did really well by him until, sadly, DS9.
@4 DT I’ve always seen the TNG and later Klingons as Space Samuari with a heavy dash of Dwarf tossed on top of the pile.
This is a fair episode and I think the better elements are probably traced by to D.C. Fontana’s touches on the script. She always did have a fair eye for culture and what you have here, as has been noted, is the start of an attempt to create a more defined culture for the Klngons that ‘space nazis.’
I think the observation that because Worf is torn, and in later season they allowed him to become more conflicted about his heritage, that made him a more intersting character with a more identifiable arc than Data. after all we all struggle with our faults and temptations, that makes us the viewers more like Worf than like Data.
@4 DeepThought
What bugged me a bit, though, about this is that Worf immediately and unquestioningly buys into the Pirates’ version of Klingon-ness.
On a similar note, I thought it was strange that these rogue Klingons confided in Worf. I kept thinking they were just using him, and they did to some extent, to get more information about the ship, but they genuinely seemed to trust him. But why? He represents everything they hate.
I had the impression that Worf tried extra hard to learn about his Klingon heritage while growing up, and in some ways he’s more Klingon than other Klingons–demonstrated when he schools Korris on what it really means to be a warrior, just before shooting him. That was a pretty powerful moment.
This slavish devotion to his culture is one of the core conflicts between him and his son Alexander, who couldn’t care less about that part of his heritage and is overall kind of an embarrassment as far as Klingons go. He basically has the same upbringing Worf did, was even raised by the same people, which sets up an interesting contrast in the whole nature versus nurture debate.
@5 Torie:
I really don’t think they had. They wouldn’t get anywhere close to the storyline again until season 3 and I can’t imagine them having that kind of patience. I was stunned they managed to hold off on Odo’s origins for as long as they did. Also, consider their handling of the first story arc they give us. We had that BS B-plot last week and then they ignore it for a while and wrap it all up in one episode. Heck, the season finale for S1 had elements that eventually tied in to the Borg, but when they wrote it they had no concept at all that the Borg even existed. They really just stumbled around for two seasons with no clue.
Worf’s problem on DS9 was that his character arc really wrapped up on TNG. There wasn’t a whole lot for him to grow towards. He might not have been quite so ill served had Terry Farrell stuck around for the last season, but he really had a full arc and there were others who offered more interesting places to go.
As far as the nature vs. nurture aspects, his foster parents did make an effort to keep him connected to Klingon culture and mores, so at least some of it does come from nurture. But there does seem to be a genetic component that at least predisposes Klingons toward violent outbursts and settling their differences with a brawl. Perhaps they’re descended from top tier predators that weren’t as social as primates. It would have been nice to see a little something from his foster culture, though. Lighting Hanukkah candles or an occasional “Ay, gevalt!” or something.
On the subject of worf and his Klingon culture vs his human culture, in this episode when asked how young he was when he was adopted by the humans his answer was ‘Before the age of Inclusion.’
The beauty of this answer is we have no idea what it really means. It could mean before the ritual that marks become an adult, which means in human terms he could have been as old as 12 or 13. Pleanty old enough for quite of bit cultural heritage to take root and become deeply fixed. (In the up coming episode where we meet hsi human parents I do believe that his mother mentions Worf would only eat Klingon food. A sign that he was old enough to recognize that he was an outsider and stubburnly clinging to it.
I agree that it was unlikely that the Klingon civil war was in thee works. Roddenberry was still running the show and I don’t think he had been a show runner since the 60’s. he pilots of the 70’s were all turned down. His TV experience as producer and writer was a product of the 50s and 60s which were decidedly non-arc styles of writing and producing.
@9 bobsandiego
That was definitely clever. Konmel’s response, “That young?” implies this is pretty early, but how early? Especially given how long-lived Klingons are (if they survive all those battles, of course.) According to Memory Alpha, this is later referred to as the Age of Ascension, which does become a big thing in the series and is supposed to happen by age 13.
I’m a big believer in not pinning myself down as a writer with precise numbers. I try to work outa nice general idea of what I need, and then play it a little loose. If you’re to eaxct then it is easy to get it wrong, if you just totally spitball it you can look even more foolish.
I too shared DT concerns about where are all the non-fighting Klingons? A technicaly adavanced race cannot survive on just Helots — unless they are the emergence — and so that means there must be Klingons who don;t fight, but fix, tinker, and think. Hopefully that approach it witha brighter sense of worth than the Imperial Japanese Navy did their Submarine crews. (My sunderstand is that the worse sailors were sent to the ‘dishonorable’ silent service giving Japan the best Submarine of WWI, but the worst crews.)
Probably the only really watchable episode out of the whole season. Certainly one of the only ones deserving a re-watch and reassessment.
The Creative did a good job of imbuing the Klingon’s with a different ethos and “warrior’s code” cultural values and rituals—certainly something we didn’t see with the original series cast until perhaps The Undiscovered Country. Until this moment, they were usually depicted as unidimensional thugs.
I think one thing that explains the willingness of Korris and Konmel to attempt to persuade weak, soft, sentimental Worf to their vigorous worldviews was that he was obviously available, hungry, for persuasion. It’s a rare individual who won’t attempt to evangelize someone who appears open to that effort.
I have to join the camp skeptical that the Civil War was an arc planned this early on. Pappa GeneR was hostile to the very idea of Klingons in his series, and really wanted to keep Worf way in the background, as a neutered symbol that everyone resolves their difficulties and lives in a happy, drama-free future. Gene must have been passed out when this script sneaked past him.
Like Spock, Worf has a highly idealized sense of his predominate and preferred culture.
Most of the Vulcans we see are petty, conniving, ignoble, insufferably arrogant and vainly superior sorts. His own father certainly had the last two of those traits nailed. The favored race hasn’t Spock’s essential apprehension of his own authenticity (hence his amazing overcompensation).
And Klingons never match up to Worf’s starry-eyed, storybook ideation and idealization of them. It’s like imaging the Soprano family to be fine upstanding business people, until you’ve spent a weekend with them at the Bada Bing. His entire character arc is one disillusionment after another.
Oh! One thing that seriously bugged me while I was rewatching it, the ‘hostage’ situation with the little girls.
first: You’re going to go take into custody a group are trained combatants adn you don;t have your weapons out and ready? Stupid.
Two: Your weapons have the ability ti make people go to sleep. A perfect non-lethal weapon.
They grab a kids? Big deal, phaser stun the all and let sickabay sort them out.
One thing the series did really well was establish an important relationship between the captain and his arguably most heartfelt loyal officer. I mean Data was loyal by programming; with Worf it was by blood-oath and fierce Honor.
In a future episode, when Worf is injured, the captain rigorously defends his right to choose death; and never even attempts to persuade Worf to some other culture’s solution. I believe for all Worf’s various stunts, he only draws one official reprimand for really veering over the line from his patient captain. He’s probably dressed down more than any other officer, but there also seems to be a bit more affection and sympathy there, too.
The relationship is like the special one between a father and his most unruly prodigal child. Or maybe like Ahab’s special fondness for his cannibal harpoonists :-)
Like Data, Worf is a stranger in a strange land; but Worf’s personal journey never had the grating artifice of Data’s (“today I, as second officer and third in command to thousands, will behave childishly in order to experience childhood!”). His “discomfort in his own skin” always came across as a bit more genuine—life lessons always inconvenient and seldon desired.
With this episode, Tasha Yar became an encumbrance. Worf already could do everything she could, which consisted mostly of recommending photon torpedoes as a solution to every crisis and losing fights to invaders; “Heart of Glory” turned Worf into a full-fledged supporting character while Yar languished with the pathetic scrap of backstory that was all that was ever given to humanize her.
I like this and many other of the Worf-centered episodes even though I’ve never bought into the TNG Klingons as a valid, admirable concept. They give off a vibe like that of the Psychlos of Battlefield Earth: we’re supposed to imagine that they conquered and ruled over a spacefaring galactic empire even though they spend all their visible moments feuding with each other and stabbing each other in the back? (or drinking themselves stupid?) Lemnoc is right that Worf’s character trajectory is a series of disillusionments, as he finds out that treachery and double-dealing trump honor on a regular basis in the Klingon empire. But damned if Michael Dorn doesn’t do such a good job of portraying it. There are some really strong episodes ahead that he carries.
This is really the first time any exploration of Klingon-ness had been done since STIII, and sort of represents the completion of their journey from being stand-in Soviets to being feudal Japanese. (None of the original series or movie Klinks had sticks up their respective backsides about HONOOORR! that I recall.)
I’m not sure that they had the Klingon War in development at this point in the series but I have to think that someone involved with the series saw it as a probability. Here’s why. Both the Klingon emblem and the UFP emblem were displayed in the communications from Klingons during at least one episode this season. On the surface it could have been done to show that an alliance was in place but I saw something deeper than that. (I’m speaking of my first viewing – long before learning about the disaster at Praxus.) When I saw that transmission I thought about how the Klingons serving on those ships would feel about that emblem being there while not seeing their emblem on the Federation ships. It’s just a subtle thing but I think it did help set the believability in some Klingons being displeased with the current state of affairs.
The discussion in this thread over the lack of (or perceived lack of) non-warrior members of Klingon society has reminded me of both an old Dean R. Koontz story – Beastchild – and the Isaac Asimov short story Victory Unintentional. I’ll not give spoilers for those other than what may be suggested by saying that I like the idea that the Human (UFP) / Klingon War could have been the result of misunderstandings and misconceptions.
I haven’t seen this episode in many years, but one thing that stuck in my memory was the Klingon “death yell” or whatever they called it. It always seemed too silly for me to take it seriously and I’m glad it wasn’t used again.
Growing up, Worf always reminded me of the Marvel comics’ character Wolverine. Both characters had a love of combat in their DNA, but time spent with their teammates has taught them to control their lesser instincts and find fulfillment elsewhere.
My problem with Worf is that if it isn’t a Worf-centric episode, his role on the show was usually to suggest to the captain that they attack whatever the crew was dealing with that week and be told by the more “enlightened” staff that there was a better way. Only when the story actually focused on his character would you see that there was more too him than that.
@18 Ludon
When I saw that transmission I thought about how the Klingons serving on those ships would feel about that emblem being there while not seeing their emblem on the Federation ships
I noticed that too, but I didn’t think through the implications. Of course, they don’t display any symbols on the Enterprise Bridge, and I think we mostly only see Federation insignia throughout with the UFP logo appearing on communications screens before when the channel is closed. Maybe that goes along with humanity’s advancement beyond the need for silly flags…
@19 JohnSteed7
It always seemed too silly for me to take it seriously and I’m glad it wasn’t used again.
I actually like the ritual as a concept, and the idea of warning the dead in Stovokohr that a Klingon is on the way. (Except… Isn’t Stovokohr filled with Klingons? Or do they believe in a shared afterlife with other races?) However, the implementation was rather silly, especially when Worf does it. I think it’s because of the camera angle–particularly during the second death yell (I call it that too), where the camera pulls out several times during the yell. I almost expected it to cut to outside the ship with his cry echoing out into space. I do think they use this again though, at least on DS9.
I hadn’t caught the whole “prying the eyes open” thing to stare into them at the moment of death before, but I like that too. It’s an interesting contrast to the human tradition of lowering the eyelids after death. It’s also interesting how they all say, “The body is just an empty shell,” considering that they made a big deal of preserving Kahless’ body later in the series.
@ 16 etomlins
I suppose we’ll get into this later, but—yes—I was thinking how different this series might’ve been if Crosby hadn’t left the series. Particularly in light of the fact they did not replace her (and therefore let other [more talented IMO] actors like Dorn shine more brightly). By not replacing her, they reduced the show’s complement of women (and particularly the bridge complement) and gave a different balance to the show.
I imagine if Yar hadn’t gone gently into that good night, the series might have had more of a “girls wanna have fun” emphasis from the Yar/Troi/Crusher triad. And, also, probably years of a false and irritating feminist vibe (emphasis on “false and irritating,” as a substitute for dealing with real issues of gender equality). By the time of Ro, I think the series was ready for a strong woman character.
With Worf moving to center, you get to further explore alienness, what it means to be an alien; and his “race” is stylized enough that it can serve as a metaphoric stand-in for many different things. Like Spock, he becomes your generic “familiar alien.”
It really opened things up in a different direction.
I’ve imagined the Klingons were in a state of decline at this point—really a metaphor for a sad post-Glastnost Soviet realm. They hadn’t had an actual emperor for some time, and I imagine their empire was mostly held together by the exploiting of conquered races who did the real grunt work of the empire. This gets back to DeepThought’s comment on the helots.
I mean, you look at their antics in TOS, and if they weren’t farting in an airlock and snickering about it they were pretty much putting their boot on the throat of some society bordering the Feds. The only “honorable” Klingon I can remember from TOS was Kang, but I think that might have more to do with the excellent gravitas of Michael Ansara than with actual scripting choices.
In this sense, it’s similar to the evil empire of “Mirror, Mirror,” which was essentially unstable in its unidimensional rancor.
It’s intriguing to think that just the example of a competitive star regime, rubbing against something like the Federation and its humanitarian space armada, might have been enough to destabilize the Klingons, so dependent was this warrior race on expansion and conscription.
The emphasis on Worf I think springs a great deal from the fact that Mr. Dorn was simply a more talent actor than Ms. Crosby. The writing for this first season was pretty sub-par, and when you have sub-par writing it falls more heavily on the talent of the actors to resuce a scene and make it watchable. Mr. Dorn could do that, Ms. Crisby could not.
What would have happened has she stayed? She might have grown as an actor and there by resuce the character of Tahsa Yar long enough for better writers to step in.
I’m reminded of an article I read on the Brit series Blake’s 7 and when asked why he gave all the bets lines to Avon, Terry Nation answere that Paul Darrow was the best actor.
“Something I really didn’t like: the whole VISOR sequence”
I’m with you Torie. It was gimmicky, and just stopped the story dead. The visuals were sub-par and embarrassing, since those were obviously stand-ins he was supposed to be looking at. It was so non-essential and superfluous ( yes, I know thery’re the same thing, but it needs the extra emphasis ) that the entire sequence could be clipped out and it would not affect the episode at all. Use that extra minute for something more important.
“I haven’t seen this episode in many years, but one thing that stuck in my memory was the Klingon “death yell” or whatever they called it. It always seemed too silly for me to take it seriously and I’m glad it wasn’t used again.”
Ah, but it was. If I remember correctly, Worf did it when Alexander’s mother is murdered, and forces the boy to watch.
One thing I am glad they dropped was their first choice of name for the Klingon homeworld. One of the most cringeworty lines in the whole series has to be “…the traitors of Kling…”. That would be lke saying that humans come from “Hume”, or that Romulans come from “Romulus”, or Bajorans come from “Bajor” or ferengis come from…
Oh. Never mind.
I always related to Worf, when I began to watch the later Trek properties, as the classic childhood immigrant – exactly as I was. His struggles to reconcile his birth culture with the one he was moved into mirror my own as I struggled to adapt to Canada (so, SO different from the UK, in so, SO many little ways you never know til you try them).
And Alexander’s dismissiveness mirrors that of my own kids, who have no interest at all in England or things English (used advisedly; we were from Watford, before I came here at 10), while I have always emphasized my Englishness, a piece of defence against the people who would push me away for being an outsider: “I don’t care if I can’t play with you, I’m a better-than-you Englishwoman, I’m going to go eat scones and watch some footy on t’telly.”
I always felt his struggle to be a clear parallel to my own, and that of any immigrant who didn’t defensively assimilate (which my mother did, for instance, while my father didn’t).
Surprisingly good episode for first season TNG.
Hello. I commented once here before, a while ago, but then I stopped watching the episodes for a bit… anyway, um, I liked this episode, but what was the part about Data’s aura about? I mean, Geordi said it was because he was an Android but why would that make him have an aura? What causes it? It probably isn’t explained anywhere in the episodes so I was wondering if anyone had a theory?
@ 25 Noelle
Hi Noelle! Welcome!
I hadn’t really thought about it, but if pressed for an answer I would guess the aura is an electromagnetic one? Though I don’t suppose my TV has an aura, so who knows…
Noelle got me to look back over this thread and I realize a I left a few things hanging.
@ 15 Lemnoc
Yes and no. Remember that Worf refuses to help that Romulan who is dying and needs blood, and it drives a real wedge between him and Picard to let that man die. It’s fantastic writing but does put a nick in their perfect relationship (for the better).
@ 18 Ludon
The whole “what’s going on with the non-warriors?” thing makes me think of WWII-era America. Maybe all the women are home being scientists and manufacturers? Yeah, right.
@ 23 dep1701
Ha! “Ferenginar”–really??
@ 24 CaitieCat
I always liked him, but I have the sense that he may become my favorite character on this re-watch. His story has more substance than anyone else’s, and he’s a much better replacement for Spock than Data.