Weekend Trek “Homeward”

Actor Michael Dorn has weighed in more time on-camera for  Star Trek than any other actor in franchise history, but since he plays a Klingon, his uncovered face has been rarely seen.

This episode actually does end up showing most of it.  Jimmy and Tom chat up how Worf had another brother that had never been mentioned before.

“Homeward”

Worf’s foster brother causes problems with the Prime Directive.

jimmy:  For an episode that was overly predictable, I was surprised by the suicide.

tomk:  Jimmy, those people made up a community that cares, and everything they do, they do for the greater good.

jimmy:  Uh huh.

tomk:  Jimmy, don’t you believe in the greater good?

jimmy:  I don’t think it was worth killing himself for.

tomk:  It’s probably not, but that guy believed in the greater good.

We just think it was for a worse bad thing.

Plus, it shows how reckless Nikolai was.

jimmy:  They’d all be dead if he had done nothing.

tomk:  Also true. But it was incredibly reckless. He better hope Kasidy Yates doesn’t notice a lack of a nose ridge on their baby.

jimmy:  They can surgically add one in just a few minutes apparently.

tomk:  Well, Beverly can. I’m not sure about Nikolai.

jimmy:  There’s a lot of problems with his plan.

tomk:  He doesn’t think things through. What does he tell those people when they can’t find others of their kind or familiar plants or animals?

jimmy:  Valid points.  It’s a tough spot though.  Should he just let them die?  Especially his wife and unborn child?  Prime directive says yes, but that’s a lot to ask of him.  In retrospect, he probably should have just revealed it all to them since he was breaking the prime directive anyways.  And it was only a handful of people, not like it was the whole planet.

tomk:  True, but we saw how that one guy reacted to the news.

jimmy:  But most of his problem was living with the lie if he went back to his people. But if they all knew…

tomk:  They might all get together and murder lying liar Nikolai!  Worf would be fine since he could just put his usual face back on.

jimmy:  Do they seem like the murdering type?  Though, apparently they have ritualistic suicide…

tomk:  You never know what people are capable of if they get mad enough.

jimmy:  They should just be happy their skin didn’t melt off.

tomk:  How do you know that isn’t the next stage of their evolution?

jimmy:  I guess I don’t.  But usually, you need skin.

tomk:  Usually. Unless you don’t.

jimmy:  So, Nikolai should have left well enough alone?  There’s probably no air to breath either.  Man, those guys had a lot of evolving to do in a few hours.

tomk:  Hey, Nikolai (probably) did the right thing. But the suicide at the end was just a reminder about why the Prime Directive exists and how Nikolai’s half-assed plan was, well, half-assed.

jimmy:  But only 1 dead guy is better than a village of dead guys.  And if the holodeck hadn’t been on the fritz, there would have been no issues.

tomk:  Did the others notice their record keeper disappeared?

jimmy:  Not in the show, but probably.

tomk:  That’s actually kinda sad.

jimmy:  I guess Nikolai had to explain that too.  And that Worf took one of their sacred scrolls…which was in no way a violation of the prime directive either.

tomk:  He just took the section that depicted Picard as god. That never goes well.

jimmy:  It won first prize for Alexander in the Season 8 episode with Picard Day in it.

tomk:  Alexander didn’t create that.  He just took it. How dishonorable. No wonder Worf left him behind when he went to Deep Space Nine.

jimmy:  He was probably there just conveniently off visiting his grandparents most episodes.

tomk:  He’s nearly an adult when he finally does appear in DS9.

jimmy:  Kids do that when you don’t see them for years.

tomk:  Worf:  Starfleet’s Worst Parent.

jimmy:  MVP’s are busy guys.

tomk:  True, but it did lead to a reoccurring bit on DS9 where characters would sometimes remind Worf what a terrible parent he was.

jimmy:  Oh?  Lol.

tomk:  It doesn’t happen often, but every so often, it comes up.

jimmy:  Probably by Miles, who’s such a great parent himself.

tomk:  His kids don’t constantly say he wants to send them away.

Plus it’s usually Dax.

jimmy:  We like Dax. Well, original recipe Dax.

tomk:  I’d say something about Extra Crispy Dax, but that might be too close to how Original Recipe Dax died.

jimmy:  Spoilers!!!

tomk:  …

Jimmy, you knew there was another Dax.

jimmy:  Oh right. Carry on.

tomk:  Jimmy, you need help from a seer like Worf sometimes.

jimmy:  He’d never lie to me.

tomk:  Like that he isn’t a Canadian but actually a Klingon?

jimmy:  Or that hatched lines appearing in a pool of water is good luck.

tomk:  That’s some quick thinking.

jimmy:  Yes. Are those people too gullible?  Or just innocent?

tomk:  Yes.

jimmy:  That’s what I thought.

tomk:  That Nikolai would make you an offer you can’t refuse?

jimmy:  I can refuse as the Earth atmospere is not disintegrating.

tomk:  Unless you go to prison with him.

jimmy:  They live better in prison than I do now.

tomk:  Jimmy, don’t you know who else is in prison?

jimmy:  Ugh.

tomk:  Ugh?  Are you segueing to the next episode?

jimmy:  Not that I knew off.

tomk:  Because up next is what is considered one of the worst episodes in the entire franchise.

jimmy:  Really?  In season 7?  That’s surprising.

tomk:  It’s a Crusher-focused episode directed by Jonathan Frakes that both he and Gates McFadden dislike.

jimmy:  Huh.  Crusher-focused I can see, but Frakes is usually a good director.

tomk:  He can only do so much with a bad script.

jimmy:  I thought that after I said it.

tomk:  All I know is it frequently appears on “worst Trek episodes” lists.

jimmy:  Well, that’s not good.

tomk:  Maybe it will be unintentionally hilarious.

jimmy:  Maybe. I have my doubts.

tomk:  We can find out.

jimmy:  After how well you sold it…let’s go!

tomk:  Here we go then.

Next:  “Sub Rosa”