Weekend Trek “New Ground”

At some point in the past, I started putting scenes I found on YouTube into these chat logs, something to show the hypothetical reader a bit about what Jimmy and I were talking about. Then came this episode, and…I couldn’t find one except from the old “Next Time On…” trailer. That was it. Apparently, there was nothing about this episode that anyone felt was worth setting a scene up for on YouTube. Sure, there were online reviews for the episode, but no scenes.

Does this mean Jimmy and I have nothing much to say about how Alexander came to live with Worf more permanently? Well, see below and find out.

“New Ground”

Worf’s life gets flipped and turned upside down when Alexander comes to stay.

jimmy: MVP. Most Valuable…Parent?

tomk: Well, I have yet to see Alexander on DS9, so I am not so sure.

jimmy: If I was in that situation, I’d have no idea how to be a parent either.

tomk: You probably wouldn’t be sending your son off to a Moose School or whatever within the first five minutes.

jimmy: Hmm. Maybe not.

tomk: And to be fair, I suspect part of the problem was a general unwillingness to make Alexander a regular character. He’s more of a sporadic presence on the different shows. That might have to do with the difficulties of having a kid on too often given labor laws surrounding children.

So, Worf’s kid just isn’t seen very often. Heck, DS9 did more or less the same with O’Brien’s family, and fans never question his parenting.

To the best of my knowledge of course.

jimmy: I don’t think the number of appearances of Alexander indicates the level of proficiency as a parent. Worf’s certainly cut from a different cloth than O’Brien.

tomk: Yeah. O’Brien actually seems to like his.

jimmy: Look, I know nothing about parenting, but you have to think you’d be better equipped mentally if you’ve gone though the pregnancy and birth and early years with your partner than having none of that and having a child dropped on your doorstep.

tomk: True. I think the problem is that Worf is probably one of the deepest and best-developed character on any Trek series, but anytime Alexander shows up in an episode, it does come across as Worf never really figures out what to do with this kid. Part of that could just be due to his Klingon nature. He’s got himself on a strict moral and honor-based code of conduct at all times, but it isn’t always human honor or morality. Likewise, it could be that being (mostly) Klingon accounts for some of Alexander’s general acting up. But for all that Worf does show a lot of growth over two different shows, it just seems odd that every Alexander episode is basically “Worf doesn’t understand his son.”

And that’s more from other fan commentary on Alexander. Worf is many things, but for no doubt a wide variety of reasons, we don’t see his son that often, so it is easy to assume Worf is maybe not much of a parent.

jimmy: It also appears to be the Klingon way. They send the kids off to school, don’t allow them on starships, etc.

tomk: That explains why Picard had all those Klingon boarding school pamphlets in his quarters.

jimmy: Lol

tomk: Ok, but regardless, this episode marks the first time Worf actually tries to be a parent.

jimmy: He’ll learn as he goes. At least by the end of it he wanted Alexander to stick around.

tomk: All it took was the kid’s general disobedience to put his life in danger when he accidentally saved two puppets.

jimmy: I guess they used up all the effects budget on the wave.

tomk: Waves aren’t that expensive.

jimmy: Those aren’t cheap.

tomk: Well, we’re not filming at Yankee Stadium.

I, for one, would film at Shea Stadium because the Mets seem like a cheaper option.

jimmy: How about we film at Fenway so I can mark that off the bucket list?

tomk: Whatever floats your boat on that wave, man.

jimmy: Done and done.

I assume we’ll hear more about this wave technology in upcoming episodes.

tomk:

Um, sure. Lots of wave technology. Once it stops destroying everything in its path.

jimmy: The test went exactly as predicted…by the viewers.

tomk: You mean us?

jimmy: Like you never saw the wave experiment failing catastrophically coming?

tomk: I may have.

jimmy: And like most things Trek, this fantastic new tech, fails once, never heard of again. There sure are a lot of Betamax type technologies in Star Trek.

tomk:

Look, if the technology almost destroys populated planets, maybe it should be abandoned.

jimmy: It was just a glitch.

tomk: So was Skynet.

jimmy: And that worked out ok.

tomk: Sure. Once a time traveling Wolverine changed the past, Skynet was defeated and Zephram Cochrane made first contact with the Kryptonians.

jimmy: I’d watch that.

tomk: You aren’t?

You probably missed the episode where Walter White cooked up some special stuff for Doc Brown’s time machine.

jimmy: He created the blue wave technology.

tomk: Also, Jesse and Marty stole Bill and Ted’s girlfriends for an episode. Hilarity ensues because the princesses were supposed to be babysitting Alexander.

jimmy: Explains all the trouble he gets himself into.

tomk: Yeah. So, it’s actually Marty and Jesse’s fault for Alexander’s putting himself in mortal danger after #EvilWesley sabotaged the wave tech.

jimmy: Wesley! I knew it was him. Even when it was the bears, I knew it was him.

tomk: And we’re back on topic.

jimmy: Which usually means we don’t have a lot to say. The episode was fine, but neither story was very inspiring. A new tech that we know is going to fail and never be heard of again. Little tension around getting it resolved. Worf trying to be a parent, Alexander being a kid, afterschool special ending.

tomk: And the actress who played Worf’s adoptive mother died a few months after the episode aired.

jimmy: Oh really? That’s too bad. I did wonder if there was a particular reason his father never showed up in this one.

tomk: That I don’t know.

jimmy: Not vital to the show or anything, was just obvious he wasn’t there. To the point of there being an in story explanation.

tomk: True. But Skeletor came back!

jimmy: And lost to an 8 year old.

tomk: It was set to novice level.

jimmy: Still. Not a good look for Skeletor.

tomk: He could have set it for easier. You know, Troi level.

jimmy: Haha.

tomk: Besides, Skeletor is very age-appropriate for a kid. You leave out the real evils like Trapjaw and creepy guys who forcibly recruit child soldiers for the higher levels.

jimmy: Also, Worf needs some new programs.

tomk: Maybe he needs to learn just telling a kid about honor doesn’t automatically mean a change in behavior.

jimmy: And that kids will tell you what you want to hear to get out of trouble.

tomk: And that Troi probably doesn’t know as much about parenting either aside from “don’t be like Lwaxana.”

jimmy: Heh. Well, as a counselor she does have a leg up on everyone but Crusher. (And O’Brien, who doesn’t appear.)

tomk: Guinan usually offers good advice. Prune juice was her idea.

jimmy: She came to mind too…but also absent.

tomk: You can’t afford Whoopi every day.

jimmy: Nor have the stamina.

tomk: You probably just need to do some more cardio. Might I recommend Worf’s exercise program?

jimmy: I could beat Skeletor on novice setting! Ok…Troi setting.

tomk: You gotta start somewhere.