Overview – Worf must learn to work with his
estranged son, Alexander, who has joined the crew of the Rotarran on the eve of
a vital and dangerous mission, Meanwhile, on Deep Space Nine (Terrok Nor), Ziyal
has returned to the station, putting Kira at odds with Dukat.
Score: 7/10 – This episode was a bit slower than what
we have come to expect in the opening season arc. This episode seems to have
been done to move character development along more than overall story plot, and
because of that the pace seems a bit slower. We do see more of Worf and Martok
than in the previous episodes, and hardly anything from Sisko’s crew. We see
the return of Alexander Rozhenko, Worf’s estranged son. He’s all grown up now
and has enlisted in the Klingon Empire’s forces, which leads to some tension
between him and his father. Alexander has difficulty fitting in with the crew,
at first, and his desire to prove himself costs him. Aside from what the
wedding episode that will follow the multiple episode arc, this is the only
time we will see Alexander. On the station, things for Kira become more complex
as Ziyal arrives on the station, and Dukat uses it to his advantage to get to
Kira.
Relevance - 3 points. A point is scored for showing
us how Sisko’s crew was rescued from the planet they were marooned on in “Rocks
and Shoals”. A point is scored for the barrel of bloodwine bet that will be
settled in the final episode of this arc. A point is scored for addition of
Ziyal into the mix, as her fate will factor into how stories and characters
develop in a huge way. Additional points could have been scored for many other
aspects of this episode, but we hit the limit here, and that is sufficient for
me.
Continuity - 2 points. To score this section, I would
have to say that a point had to be deducted for the sudden accelerated growth
of Alexander. He was born eight years before this episode aired, and he is a
young man. Now, this does not come from the character continuity, as the way
that the story is told it makes sense that Alexander would take this path, even
if it goes against all the issues he had with Klingon culture in the past. I
deduct the point from the Universe section, as they have shown teenaged
Klingons before. The reason for this was given as a combination of two factors.
One, to cast a younger actor would have been difficult for filming, as there
are laws as to how long a youth actor can be in front of the camera. This would
have placed huge constraints as to the filming sequence. Second, the writers
and producers felt that if Alexander was younger, Worf would have come across
as being border-line abusive towards his son. So, while the change works for
the story, I still had to take a point off. Oh, and story wise, everything
seems to fit.
Character Development – 3 points. Two main characters
get quite the extensive treatment. Kira almost gets pulled into Dukat’s web as
she tries to be supportive of Ziyal. She eventually sees through his ploys and
puts her foot down. She shows some great wisdom and fairness in telling Ziyal
that she will not force her to choose between Kira and her father. Meanwhile,
Worf gets a solid, though not original, story as the negligent father forced to
confront the results of not being there for his son. They argue, they make
mistakes, and get into trouble, and eventually they reconcile. Some of the
recurring characters also get some good development. Dukat, Damar, and Ziyal on
the station all see some notable development. Meanwhile, we also see Martok
show some wisdom as he confronts Alexander in the training hall. Martok tries
to get Alexander to admit the reason he joined the military, and Alexander only
gives a slogan-type answer. I like the line that Martok uses after Alexander
pleads for a chance to prove himself, to which Martok responds “I just gave you
one! And you failed!”. A great Martok moment.
Social Commentary – 3 points. Two different
lessons on parenting in this episode. First, from Dukat, there is the tale of
using your child as a part of your game of manipulation. Second, Worf learns
the consequences of not being there for your son. Neither man is likely to win
the “Father of the Year” award with this episode. We also see with Kira how to
not hold the sins of the parent on the head of their child without driving a
wedge between them.
Cool Stuff – 0 points. Sadly, one of the prices of
trading in action and intrigue for character focus is that there is not a lot
of cool stuff to experience. While this episode is a decent enough episode,
there is nothing that stands out as being a “wow” moment. The speech that
Martok gives Alexander comes close, but beyond that, not much. This is not
necessarily a bad thing. With everything that happened in the last episode, it
was good to slow things down a bit. We just have to accept that cost that often
comes along with this direction.
Rank – Captain (18
points). I
would say that this episode is likely the weakest of the six that we open this
season, but it is still a worthy episode. It’s always nice to see how things
progress on the Klingon ship, and we get some good and important character
development. Obviously, you should not miss this episode, but you would almost
be able to get away with skipping it if not for the key element of adding Ziyal
into the Kira-Dukat angle.
If you would like to read other reviews from Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, please click the following link.
If you would like to read an episode review from any of the Trek series, click the following link to get to the series catalog. If the episode you want reviewed has not been done yet, then feel free to request it in the comments and I will see what I can do.
No comments:
Post a Comment