Worf attempts to influence a peaceful Klingon-Romulan community to be more violent and aggressive.
This is an odd one to say the least. Personally I found it frustrating because there was the potential for another Klingon classic here but it went unrealised.
I'll start off with positives. The story has a great premise and a strong lead performance from Michael Dorn. These factors make it relatively intriguing and watchable to the end.
Unfortunately some aspects do not work for me. Toq, played by Stirling Macer Junior, is written in a silly way that makes the central plot feel somewhat implausible. His change of character is quite preposterous in how it's shown. In fact, when he appears in full Klingon battle costume it becomes almost laughable.
The relationship between Worf and Ba'el is poorly done even by Star Trek standards of screen romances. There is no chemistry between the two characters and when Worf mentions loving her, it comes so out of left field I wondered if I'd actually missed something.
Some exchanges of dialogue sound quite unnatural. "I've brought something dangerous to your young people: knowledge" Worf says like he's narrating a chapter of his autobiography. There are others that make me role my eyes too.
Many have commented that Worf is written as bigoted and quite unbecoming of a Starfleet officer. Whilst I agree that Worf is not portrayed in the best light here, it is not the first time in the series. In the more celebrated episode 'The Enemy' he is quite prepared to let a sick Romulan die out of pure hatred for the race, so these are consistent aspects of his character. I don't think this is necessarily bad as there needs to be mixture of personality types to keep a show interesting. However, this is the most unlikeable he has appeared to me as a character. I'm not sure if the portrayal was meant to be that of an exciting rebellious figure, but he comes across as an out of touch cultural fanatic.
The production values are generally good and most performances are great. For me it's just the writing that's below the usual standard for what is a very good show.
This is an odd one to say the least. Personally I found it frustrating because there was the potential for another Klingon classic here but it went unrealised.
I'll start off with positives. The story has a great premise and a strong lead performance from Michael Dorn. These factors make it relatively intriguing and watchable to the end.
Unfortunately some aspects do not work for me. Toq, played by Stirling Macer Junior, is written in a silly way that makes the central plot feel somewhat implausible. His change of character is quite preposterous in how it's shown. In fact, when he appears in full Klingon battle costume it becomes almost laughable.
The relationship between Worf and Ba'el is poorly done even by Star Trek standards of screen romances. There is no chemistry between the two characters and when Worf mentions loving her, it comes so out of left field I wondered if I'd actually missed something.
Some exchanges of dialogue sound quite unnatural. "I've brought something dangerous to your young people: knowledge" Worf says like he's narrating a chapter of his autobiography. There are others that make me role my eyes too.
Many have commented that Worf is written as bigoted and quite unbecoming of a Starfleet officer. Whilst I agree that Worf is not portrayed in the best light here, it is not the first time in the series. In the more celebrated episode 'The Enemy' he is quite prepared to let a sick Romulan die out of pure hatred for the race, so these are consistent aspects of his character. I don't think this is necessarily bad as there needs to be mixture of personality types to keep a show interesting. However, this is the most unlikeable he has appeared to me as a character. I'm not sure if the portrayal was meant to be that of an exciting rebellious figure, but he comes across as an out of touch cultural fanatic.
The production values are generally good and most performances are great. For me it's just the writing that's below the usual standard for what is a very good show.