With "Star Trek" Deep Space Nine" airing its first show on January 3rd, 1993, this episode of Next Generation took the opportunity of a making a crossover episode to potentially alert viewers to the new series, even if this one aired a few weeks later. I've read a few reviewers here who lament the fact that there weren't more characters from DS9 in the story, but that's probably unfair considering how the new show had yet to establish itself. I speak from the standpoint of present day as I wasn't watching either program when they came out.
This one starts out on a parallel track with both Commander Data (Brent Spiner) and Lieutenant Worf (Michael Dorn) in a quest to connect with their fathers. Because Data experienced a surreal dream sequence when his positronic net became overloaded by a plasma shock, an attempt was made to duplicate the event so he could explore the mystery of the vision he had of seeing his creator, Dr. Noonien Soong. Apparently, the experience brought Data to a closer understanding of what it might like to be human. In Worf's case, a conversation with the Yridian Jaglom Shrek (James Cromwell) led to a voyage to a Romulan prison colony where it was claimed that his father was still alive. The story allows Worf to expound on his Klingon belief in the warrior tradition of his home planet, and how dishonor and shame would be brought to bear on him and his descendants if his father Mogh allowed himself to become a Romulan captive at the battle of Khitomer.
Informed by Klingon elder L'kor (Richard Herd) that his father did die, and shocked to learn that other Klingon survivors of Khitomer now live peacefully with Romulans, Worf makes haste to return to his rendezvous point with Jaglom Shrek, only to be detained by a pair of Romulan guards. L'kor states that Worf will not be allowed to leave the planet, as knowledge of the Klingon/Romulan coexistence would only lead to trouble for all concerned.
This one starts out on a parallel track with both Commander Data (Brent Spiner) and Lieutenant Worf (Michael Dorn) in a quest to connect with their fathers. Because Data experienced a surreal dream sequence when his positronic net became overloaded by a plasma shock, an attempt was made to duplicate the event so he could explore the mystery of the vision he had of seeing his creator, Dr. Noonien Soong. Apparently, the experience brought Data to a closer understanding of what it might like to be human. In Worf's case, a conversation with the Yridian Jaglom Shrek (James Cromwell) led to a voyage to a Romulan prison colony where it was claimed that his father was still alive. The story allows Worf to expound on his Klingon belief in the warrior tradition of his home planet, and how dishonor and shame would be brought to bear on him and his descendants if his father Mogh allowed himself to become a Romulan captive at the battle of Khitomer.
Informed by Klingon elder L'kor (Richard Herd) that his father did die, and shocked to learn that other Klingon survivors of Khitomer now live peacefully with Romulans, Worf makes haste to return to his rendezvous point with Jaglom Shrek, only to be detained by a pair of Romulan guards. L'kor states that Worf will not be allowed to leave the planet, as knowledge of the Klingon/Romulan coexistence would only lead to trouble for all concerned.