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Wacky Reviews: Star Trek

Birthright: Part 2 - The Klingons tell Worf they are already dead because they're so ashamed of being captured. The Romulan commander Tokath kept them alive because he thought he was being kind. He eventually decided to let them go free but they knew it would disgrace their families so they asked to stay and he let them. Worf just keeps asking why they didn't just kill themselves (what a dick) but they say they were already dishonoured anyway. Worf is angry when he sees a young Klingon using a battle spear to do the gardening. The youth thinks the war is still going on, as does Ba'el (the girl he met in part 1.) Tokath comes to talk to Wof and Worf does he usual "Romulans don't understand honour!" thing. Tokath tells him how he gave up his military career to keep the prisoners alive. He married a Klingon (I WONDER IF THEY HAVE KIDS.) Worf pretty easily escapes and runs through the fake looking jungle to meet James Cromwell, but the Klingon youth from before grabs him and Cromwell leaves. Worf does Klingon yoga and the youths are amazed because they've never seen it before. Ba'el shows Worf forbidden Klingon stuff (it's all warrior stuff, of course) that she wants him to tell her about. Worf tells the youths Klingon stories (guess what, they're all about swords and fighting and shit!) Worf nearly kisses Ba'el and it comes out of nowhere as up until now I thought she was another of the teenagers...or maybe she is and that's just what Worf's into. Who am I to judge. But what he isn't into is the fact that she has ROMULAN EARS. She's Tokath's daughter!

The Enterprise searches for Worf. Ba'el says Worf fancied her before he knew she was half Romula (did he?) and ask if he can't just put the hate aside. Worf doesn't know. Worf teaches the youths about hunting. They are horrified because they have replicators and don't need to kill defenceless animals, but Worf insists that killing things is good. Worf convinces Tokath (with help from the old Klingon whos name I can't be bothered finding) to let him take the young Klingons on a hunt. Worf takes that one Klingon boy out and teaches him about smelling things. His acting isn't very good by the way. Worf teaching him that killing things will make him a true Klingon and he brings a dead animal home. The kid has gone from stopping Worf from escaping to being a complete and utter Klingon after one hunt. He sings a Klingon song and it's pretty cringey. All the other Klingons start singing because it's "in their blood." Torath sees this singing a a threat to everything he's built and decides to execute Worf. Ba'el is going to let Worf escape but he wants to stay and die because Klingons don't run. FUCK KLINGONS. Worf, asolutel unbelievably, claims to be in love with Ba'el. Worf makes a speech before he execution about he he's being executed for telling young people the truth about who they are. Worf's apprentice arrives in full Klingon costume and says if Worf dies, he dies too. All the other Klingons stand with Worf. Eventually Tokath agrees to let the youths leave with Worf, after Worf makes them promise not to tell anyone about the camp.

This episode could have been good! There's some potentially interesting stuff that could have happened, with Worf having to face his prejudices and maybe admit that the Romulan commander made some good points even though it was wrong to deny the Klingons their heritage. But no, the episode just turns the Romulan into a villain who's going to execute Worf for singing songs in the end. I think this is the episode where Klingons completely jump the shark. All the Klingon stuff Worf teaches the kids is SO FUCKING BORING and cliched. Warriros! Kahless! Hunting! K'PLAH! It's completely ridiculous that the young Klingon just turns into a total Klkingon fanboy after going on one hunt. But the worst part is probably the idea that Worf is in love with Ba'el after knowing her for five minutes and having no chemistry with her (the actress isn's good either.) There's no reason at all this had to be a two parter either, this could easily have been a self contained story with the Data's dreams plot as a b-story in some other episode. So this is an episode that starts off quite interesting but ends up making me never want to watch another Klingon episode again.

SCORE: 4/10
 
Richard Herd who plays the old Klingon believed he was worfs father, but said he wasn't so he wouldnt have to live with the shame.
 
Starship Mine - The Enterprise is docked at a station to undergo a routine technobabble sweep. Everyone has to leave the Enterprise as the Baryon Sweep (I hate having to look up the spelling for these names) is deadly to human life. Commander Hutchinson is hosting a reception that nobody wants to go to, because he's a boring bastard. Data mimics his behaviour in an attempt to learn small talk and it's funny. Hutch mentions horses and Picard sees a way out. He returns to the Enterprise to get his saddle (any serious rider has his own saddle!) TIM RUSS catches Picard snooping around. He's one of the maintenance crew...OR IS HE. Picard suspects he's up to someting and hits him with his saddle then, ironically, puts him to sleep with the Vulcan nerve pinch. Riker introduces Hutchinson to Data and they have a funny conversation. Picard won't kill Tuvok but does leave him unconscious on the ship. He'll surely die when the Baryon Sweep passes through anyway! Picard is captured by some woman. The staff on Hutch's station end up being terrorists too and they kill Hutch (after only stunning Geordi because they know he's a main character.) Picard claims to be Mot the Barber. He finds out they're stealing "trilithium resin."

Picard manages to escape. He manages to trick one of the terrorists into being burned to death (or whatever) by the Baryon sweep, so he's fine with killing them now (or sees no other choice.) Picard goes to Worf's quarters to stock up on weapons. One of the terrorists is a nervous nerdy guy, weirdly. (I keep calling them terrorists but I guess they're just thieves.) Picard and their leader talk over the coommunicator. Riker and friends plot to use Geordi's VISOR in some technobabble way to fight back. Picard shoots a guy with a bow and arrow, which is funny. The terrorist leader murders the nervous guy. I would have too. Geordi's VISOR knocks everyone out. Picard is captured again and brought to Ten Forward, where he's left a trap. The lead thief gets away on a ship but Picard riggred the Trilithium to explode. The Baryon sweep is deactivated right before it hits Picard. Worf finds Picard's saddle and everyone has a good laugh about saddles.

It's the famous "Die Hard on the Enterprise!" episode. And it's pretty good. It's a thin plot, but I have no problem with TNG doing a straight action episode. Picard is believable taking out the bad guys with his smarts and fighting skills. Hutch is a fun guest star (before he dies!) The problem is...it's TNG doing Die Hard. TNG isn't exactly known for great action and there really isn't much in the way of action here. Really any of the later Trek series would have been better equpied to do an episode like this than TNG. And the villains are hardly Alan Rickman. So yeah it's entertaining enough but not a top level episode or anything.

SCORE: 7.5/10


Lessons - The new head of Stellar Cartography Nella Daren is doing some experiment so Picard goes to investigate and ruins whatever she was doing. She's angry at first but then she notices he's the Captain so she makes him some tea. Picard talks to Crusher about Daren and watches her play the piano in Ten Forwad. He's obviously into her! They talk about music and she wants Picard to play with her sometime. She walks in on Picard holding his flute from 'The Innner Light.' She has a roll out piano with her so they play together. It's nice. They become closer through their music and they get better at playing together. Picard starts acting all sassy with Riker and Riker makes a great face. Daren talks to Crusher about Picard. Crusher seems fine with their obvious attraction. Daren takes Picard to the most acoustic spot on the ship so they can play together again. Picard plays the song from 'The Inner Light' and she plays it on her space piano. Geordi listens to them playing from Engineering.

Picard talks to Troi about the ethics of a Starfleet Captain being involved with an officer under his command. Troi gives him her permission to date Nella. Picard tells her the full story of his flute. It's a great and rare example of TNG using continunity in storytelling! Picard wouldn't tell just anyone about that episode. They kiss and probably have sex but it's TNG so they're not that explicit. Riker and Daren have a disagreemnt. Riker goes to Picard and says he's feeling uncomfortable with Daren's requests because of her relationship with Picard. Picard tells him to relax and treat her like he would anyone else. Picard's date with Nella is interrupted by a storm hitting a Federation outpost (yes there's a sci fi plot too!) Daren goes to the staff meeting about this because it invovles solar flares, the first time we've ever seen the head of stellar cartography do anything. The outpost needs evacuating and she has an idea that might help. Picard is a bit worried about sending Daren on the risky mission. Daren and her team beam down to set up a firewall against the solar flares. Ther's a problem and they can't be beamed up with everyone else. They lose communication due to the storm and she goes missing and Picard is very worried. He stands sadly in the transporter room but she's finally beamed up alive. Picard knows that he can't be with Daren anymore because he can't be objective when she's in danger like that. She says she'll apply for a transfer. He suggests they still see each other when they can, but it's obvious they'll never see each other again.

It's a good romance episode! On Star Trek! At last! It's mature and well acted. I really like the use of the 'Inner Light' flute. The only problem is that due to TNG's episodic nature you know they'll have to split up (or she'll have to die) by the end. But even that's quite well done. It's good I like it.

SCORE: 8.5/10
 
The Chase - Picard's old mentor Professor Galen shows up to surprise him. He wants to take Picard with him on some secret expedition. Galen's been shrouded in mystery for the last decade and Picard wants to know what the fuck is up, but he'll only tell Picard if he agrees to come with him. He needs Picard's help because it's such risky work and hints that it could change the universe or someting. Okay, Galen's supposed to be a hugely respected archaeologist and Starfleet is a scientific organisation so...why can't he just get a dedicated science vessel to help him? Isn't that the kind of thing Starfleet does? Picard knows he'll have to say no to Galen and tells Crusher he feels bad because Galen was like a father to him and he turned him down once before. Galen gets pissy when Picard turns him down. Just go to Starfleet! Get a ship! Galen's shuttle is attacked by Yridians and he dies. They were trying to steal files from Galen's shuttle. The Enterprise retraces Galen's steps. Riker kind of objects because they're supposed to be doing something else but Picard feels bad about the old guy dying. Troi questions Picard about his motives but he defiantly says that he won't let Galen's death by in vain.

Crusher finally finds out the information in Galen's files are DNA fragments from humanoids all across the galaxy. She finds a secret message coded in the DNA (somehow?) Picard has Crusher test the DNA of 17 non-Federation crewmembers on the Enterprise. The Enterprise goes looking for another DNA sample or whatever but finds Cardassians already at the planet when they arrive. Then a Klingon ship arrives too. They're all trying to solve Galen's puzzle. Picard meets with both Captains and gets them to reluctantly agree to work together. They all have samples the others need. Picard has Crusher create a computer programme that will find the likely location of the final missing fragment. There's a bit of filler with the Klingon Captain challenging Data to a ritual fight. He headbutts Data and falls over. Data stays chilled. He also tries to bribe Data into giving him the missing fragment. I guess this bit's here just to remind us that Klingons are dumb? The Cardassian Captain beams away as soon as they find the location of the missing fragment and disables the Enterprise and the Klingon ship. But Geordi had warned Picard this was about to happen so Riker did some technobabble thing to defend the Enterprise and the Cardies are going to the wrong planet. When they arrive at the planet they find that some Romulans have been following them all along. Picard sneaks off and activates the message while everyone else is arguing. A woman (it's the Female Changeling!) appears and reveals her species were the first to evolve in the galaxy and they found they were the only race, so they seeded the oceans of many worlds to "direct evolution" so that the species on those planets would evolve to look like them. They think that all the species watching this message means they've all come together in peace and fellowship. But really they're all squabbing like kids. The Klingon says "If she was not dead I'd kill her!" which is funny. The Romulan Captain does send Picard a friendly message before they leave so Picard has some hope of a better future where they'll all be friends.

This is an episode I've always found a bit weird. I think some people have it as one of TNG's very best. And I do like a lot of things about it! Seeing Picard getting so excited about solving the puzzle is a lot of fun. It's a well paced mystery and you do want to know how it's going to end. The other Captains are a bit too comical in their fighting but they can be amusing too. Galen is a pretty good guest character. And the ending with the Romulan contacting Picard is nice. On the other hand, man this episode is pretty dumb! I know Star Trek's not hard science fiction and never will be, but the idea that there's a secret holographic message encoded it the DNA of all these species (who all manage to evolve to the point where they were humanoids and weren't wiped out by any natural disaster before) and that evolution was "guided" by the aliens...I'm pretty sure that's not how DNA and evolution work! But like I said, it is a fun episode in a lot of ways, it's the closest Star Trek has come to being an Indiana Jones movie. I like the message of the holographic founder even if the way it's delivered is really dumb. I don't know how to rate this at all, really. It's definitely not one of the best but it is good and even now as I'm typing about how much the plot annoyed me I'm also thinking about how it was all very well done even though it made no sense...

SCORE: 8/10
 
CaptainWacky said:
(Lessons) Picard starts acting all sassy with Riker and Riker makes a great face.
Click to expand...
And this is why Frakes was the best possible casting for Riker. His faces when Picard or anyone else did something strange/funny were the perfect telegraph to the audience, pulling us in because we were making the same faces at home.

CaptainWacky said:
It's a good romance episode! On Star Trek! At last! It's mature and well acted. I really like the use of the 'Inner Light' flute. The only problem is that due to TNG's episodic nature you know they'll have to split up (or she'll have to die) by the end.
Click to expand...
If this were done today, they'd have hired the actress for half the season and made it an arc...until she dies in the season finale. But before that, there would have been lots of fun tension and jealousy between her and Crusher, and lots of great faces from Riker.
 
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CaptainWacky said:
(The Chase) The other Captains are a bit too comical in their fighting but they can be amusing too.
Click to expand...
The thing that bugs me about The Chase is that there's a subtle, lazy racism behind it all -- the other races are all clownish, scheming crooks who couldn't possibly be interested in the results other than how they can use it to their advantage. Meanwhile the Federation are the pure, noble body who only want to learn and grow and better themselves. We have to put up with (and work around) our inferior cousins in order to solve the puzzle. Oh sure Picard broke regulations and protocol, but IT'S US so it's okay. Federation exceptionalism. It's the same problem with that episode where Crusher had to become an outlaw to prove her friend's heat shielding theory or whatever.

There are so many races in the Trekverse that would have happily worked with Picard/Crusher, but I guess picking these 3 alien races was a convenient choice to make the story more interesting. But imagine if they had used this episode to introduce a NEW race to Trek, one that shows up to the site at the same time because they've been on the same chase. Now THAT would have made the episode historic (unless it was the Kazon who were just dumb with bad hair).
 
If humans, Cardassians, Romulans and Klingons are all related, how come no one noticed the similarities in their DNA before?
 
Especially considering the evidence of so many mixed-race beings like Spock and Troi and K'Ehleyr -- none of whom were mutants or deformed.

It was all conveniently forgotten for the episode.
 
Frame of Mind - Riker seems to be in a mental hospital, being interviewed by a doctor. The camera stays on Riker's face and he seems pretty distressed, but then he forgets his line and we realise he's just rehearsing a play with Data (playing the doctor) and Crusher. But he bumps into an alien crewmember after and feels weird. Riker is sent on an undercover mission to a planet. Worf gets angry at him when he's being briefed. He accidentally cuts Riker's face with a knife. He also gets freaked out by an injured officer staring at him and goes to Troi to admit he's been feeling uneasy recently, as if he's actually in the play he was rehearsing. Troi thinks he's just go into the character. He performs in the play and does an intense acting job, but then notices the alien officer from before. Suddenly he's in a cell for real and his doctor is one of the aliens rather than Data. The doctor tells him that he's not really in Starfleet and Riker remembers them contacting a Starfleet Admiral who'd never heard of him. He's a patient in a mental hospital for reasons the doctor won't tell him. He's let out to the common area where they're serving spiny lobe fish. A fellow patient (played by Susanna Thompson, who will appear in Trek again!) tells Riker that she's in Starfleet too and she's built a communicator. Riker has a brief moment of hope...then she starts talking into her spoon. It's funny but also sad! An asshole guard tells Riker that he murdered someone and Riker goes nuts. He has to be sedated...and wakes up again on the Enterprise.

He tells Crusher what happened and she says it was probably all a dream. He performs in the play again but gets paranoid and looks around all agitated. He sees the alien officer again and shouts at him. He goes to Sickbay but Crusher can't find anything wrong. She tells him again that the play is just driving him mad. Data tells Riker he was impressed by his improvising in the play. But he starts hearing voices again and sees Susanna Thompson, then ends up back in his cell in the mental ward. The doctor tells Riker he needs a radical new treatment that scans his brain and projects his memories holographically. Or a lobotomy. They do the "reflection therapy" and he says a hologram of Troi, who represents "feelings" (of course she does!) Worf represents his actions. Picard represents his logical thoughts. They describe how Riker was jumped by three people in an alley, including the alien he kept seeing in the Enterprise. He's the hospital administrator. Riker's friends tell him this isn't real but the doctor convinces Riker to tell them to leave him alone. Riker seems to have accepted that hs belongs in the hospital but Crusher comes to see him and tells him they're still trying to get him out. Data and Worf try to break him out but Riker turns them over to the guards. They drag Riker back to the Enterprise anyway. Crusher tells Riker someone was trying to access his memories, but he starts bleeding where Worf cut him earlier. He realises this isn't real either and turns a phaser on himself. He's back in the hospital again where the administrator says it's time to perfor the lobotomy. But Riker still has the phaser and realises this isn't real either and starts shooting people. Then he's back on the Enterprise in the play. the point is, none of this is real! Finally Riker wakes up for really real and finds the aliens trying to do something to his brain. He gets beamed up by Worf. We finally see an exterior shot of the Enterprise so we know this is for real. Riker was abducted on the mission and injected by a drug. The aliens tried to extract information from him but Troi says his mind created a defence mechanism to stop them. So all the details of the play and preparing for the mission were real but muddled up in his mind. Riker takes down the set of the play to get some closure.

It's a great Braga mind-bending episode! It is hurt a little by the fact that LITERALLY EVERY tv show has done a "the main character is in a mentail hospital and the show is all a delusion!" story. Even other Star Treks. I'm not saying TNG was the first show to ever do it (though looking at tv tropes I can't find any earlier exmaples?) but again, like with tbe Groundhog Day episode (also written by Braga), they were definitely one of the first and the first such episode I'd seen. Jonathan Frakes gives a great performance hitting PEAK RIKER as he goes insane. Crazy Riker is the best Riker. All of the "this isn't real!" reveals do seem to drag a bit in the end but it's a really strong episode and one of the best examples of this type of episode. And it doesn't do a "but maybe the mental hospital reality is the REAL reality!?" final scene which I appreciate. So yeah if you just watched this without watching the many other similar episodes in other shows you'd think it's great and it actually is great.

SCORE: 9.5/10
 
Suspicions - Guinan comes to Crusher's quarters saying she has tennis elbow. Crusher says she's not a doctor on this ship anymore. Guinan does her typical Guinan thing of pretending she doesn't care about Crusher's story and just asking about her elbow. But Crusher tells the story in flashback form anyway. Crusher became interested in a Ferengi scientist (everyone acts like it's unusual for the Ferengi to have scientists, as if every single Ferengi on the whole planet is just a sleazey business person) and invited loads of other scientists (including a Klingon woman!) on the ship to hear about his metaphasic shielding. It's shielding that lets you fly a shuttle into the cornea of a sun. Didn't Kurn fly into a sun's cornea a few seasons ago? Nevermind! Reyga wants to fly a shuttle into a son to prove it works, but the other scientists want someone more "objective" to fly the shuttle. Wait, what? What difference does it make who's fllying the shuttle? Either he gets burned alive or he doesn't. Suns aren't objective! An alien name Jo'Brill volunteers to fly the shuttle instead. The test seems to go well but then Jo'Brill starts choking on the viewscreen with Picard and everyone watching. Pretty embarrassing for Reyga! They manage to beam Jo'Brill (stupid name by the way) back to the Enterprise but he dies under Crusher's care. She does an autopsy on Jo'Brill and finds he has a really unique body and he shouldn't have died like that. The exposure to the sun's radiation wouldn't have killed him. Reyga doens't accept that there was anything wrong with his shields and investigates with Data and Geordi. Crusher tells the scientists that the testing must be stopped. Regya wants to pilot a shuttle herself but she refuses him. Can't they just remotely fly a shuttle? Regya is found dead with a phaser in his hand. Crusher doesn't think he would have killed himself, and there's some evidence he didn't, but Worf pretty much just blows her off with "well he probably did who cares."

Crusher wants to do an autopsy on Reyga but Picard tells her the family refuse to allow it until the "Ferengi death ritual" is performed. Crusher is angry and supsects one of the other scientists did it and questions them. The Klingon woman becomes a suspect as she was heard threatening Reyga. She shoves Crusher because of "honour" and admits the Ferengi accused her of sabotage. Crusher goes ahead with the autopsy on Reyga because she needs answers, damn it. She goes and tells Picard right away and reveals that she found nothing. AND THAT'S HOW SHE ENDED HER CAREER, she tells Guinan. Except she hasn't really ended her career, she just has to face an enquiry tomorrow. Guinan tells her that if Crusher thinks there's a killer onboard she should try to find them and she has nothing left to lose anyway. Data tells her some technobabble way the shuttle could have been sabotaged. Riker warns Crusher to give up but she's a loose cannon and can't be stopped. Why isn't Worf doing is damn job and investigating all this? Nurse Ogawa helps Crusher access the autopsy files. Blah blah blah, Crusher steals the shuttle and goes for a flight into the corena to prove the shields really do work. The shields do hold up but then Crusher loses contact with the Enterprise. Jo'Brill comes out of a storage compartment. He was still alive! He just wanted to discredit Reyga then steal his idea. But he faked his death, so wouldn't people find out about that when he tried to sell the idea to someone else? They have a fight and Crusher shoots a hole through him (it's the only good part of the episode!) then disintegrates him. Crusher goes back to Guinan and gives her a tennis racquet. Guinan reveals THAT SHE NEVER PLAYED TENNIS, HO HO HO HO.

Wow this episode is shit. I remembered it being bad, but not this shit. It's also Guinan's last ever appearance (and she hasn't done anything since 'Time's Arrow'" before this anyway) and it's sad that she leaves on such a poor episode. There's literally no point to the framing device. It's just there in a failed attempt to make the episode appear more interesting. Crusher's voiceover is really weak too. They gave Troi a good episode this season so you can tell they're trying REALLY HARD to give Crusher one too but the story is a mess. Remember how it starts with Crusher saying her CAREER IS OVER and the reason why is because she did the autopsy ont the Ferengi? When the episode ends she STILL did the autopsy on the Ferengi but her career isn't over anymore because...reasons? Jo'Brill is a pretty terrible villain too. I do like that the scientists were fairly diverse and umm...yeah I don't like this episode.

SCORE: 3/10
 
I remember liking the episode for the diversity of the scientists and the bit where Jo’brill gets a hole in him, but the rest is a blank. Maybe one saving grace is that Crusher remembers the shielding in Descent when she flies the Enterprise into the corona of a star when it’s pursued by the rogue Borg ship. And I guess Voyager uses it every week in the opening credits when it whooshes past that solar flare.
 
Rightful Heir - Worf is late for his shift and Riker finds him doing some weird Klingon ritual in his quarters. Picard wants to know what the fuck is going on. Worf says he's felt empty ever since the Birthright two parter (I have too!) and has been trying to summon a vision of Kahless. Picard gives him leave to go to a Klingon monastery to do Klingon stuff. He witnesses a 19 year old having a vision of Kahless and is jealous. Worf talks to the Klingon monk about how the planet they are on is where Kahless pointed before dying, saying he'd return there. Not long after a Klingon materialises before him. Worf recognises him as Kahless, even though he looks nothing like the one from 'Savage Curtain' (and can he do funny voices!?) Kahless tells the story of how his sword was forged (with his hair) to prove his identity, as it's story only the high clerics know. He says he's returned to show Klingons the right way after all their civil wars and stuff lately. Worf isn't convinced he's real and scans him with a tricorder. He tells Worf he knows him because he appeared in a vision before him once. Since they're Klingons they settle it like Klingons and have a sword fight. Kahless starts laughing halfway through and says fighting isn't just about spilling blood but enriching the spirit. He's a jolly Klingon! Worf goes back to the Enterprise and says he believes Kahless could be real. The others don't, obviously, but they humour Worf as they're to transport Kahless back to the Klingon homeworld. Data wants Worf to explain faith to him but Worf still isn't really that into it.

Gowron (the man!) comes onboard and doesn't believe for a second that Kahless is real. "Have you ever fought an idea, Picard? It has no weapon to destroy, no body to kill" is a good line. Crusher does a blood test that dermines the DNA of this returned Kahless matches the genetic sample they have. Worf is a believer now and Kahless says it was his purity of thought that brought him back and he wants Worf to sit by his side. Worf tries to go convince Gowron to get along with the new empire Kahless wants to build. Gowron says it's all a ploy by the guardians (I called them monks) who have always opposed him. Kahless's temple is recreated on the Holodeck. He tells a story about a man he met once but Gowron asks him what the man's name was and what he looked like and Kahless can't answer. Gowron and Kahless have a knife fight. Gowron wins and starts madly laughing at the idea Kahless is the greatest warrior of them all. The clerics want to lie about what happened but Worf is disgusted. Worf wants to know the truth. Kahless doesn't actually know what happened either. The head guardian explains that they used modern technology to create a clone of the first Kahless. Worf says this makes him a fraud, ut the clerics say they gave him all the original's memories and experiences as written in the sacred texts. They argue that they fulfilled the prophecy by bringing Kahless back in this way but Worf says he won't let this lie continue. Worf and Data watch some of Gowron's men praying to Kahless, even though he lost in combat to Gowron. Data keeps asking Worf the difficult questions about his faith. He says he once went through a spirtual crsis of his own when he was first told he was an android and couldn't be anything more than his programming, but he choese to believe he could be more. Worf tells Gowron the truth, but adds that many of their people believe in this new Kahless and he could be a powerful symbol to help bring the Klingons back together. If Gowron opposes Kahless it could lead to another civil war. He suggests that Kahless be made the new emperor and, while Gorwon would keep all the real power, Kahless could be a spiritual leader to the people. Gowron agress. Later Worf tells Kahless that his spiritual crsis hasn't actually resolved itself yet despite everything. Kahless tells Worf that if the teachings of Kahless are true then it doesn't matter if Kahless really returns. The words are more important than the man.

This is an episode I thought I might not like too much, because of all the Klingon stuff. And while it does start off with some fairly standard Klingon plotting, it goes off on a very intersting direction once everyone starts discussing faith and stuff. Using a science fiction concept (cloning) to explore a concept (faith) is a very Star Trek thing to do! There's some very strong scenes between Worf and Data, and I like how Worf's spiritual crisis isn't quite solved by the end of the episode. He might not believe Kahless will ever return but he believes in what he stood for. Gowron is always a lot of fun too! So yeah this is actually a good Klingon episode I liked it.

SCORE: 8.5/10
 
Memory Alpha said Ron Moore wrote Kahless to be a lot more like Jesus orginally but Berman told him to tone it down.
 
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