[TNG] Lynch's Spoiler Review: "Birthright, Part II"
Timothy W. Lynch
"Birthright, Part II", this week's latest offering from TNG. Those devoted
to the principle of avoiding spoilers are advised not to compromise
themselves by reading any further.
What an *incredible* ... disappointment.
This is probably the first time a second part of a promising two-parter has
made me outright *angry* at TNG. There were so many promising directions
this show *could* have taken that I'm really annoyed none of them were. Grr.
Anyway, more after a synopsis:
As Worf is subdued, L'Kor and Gi'ral tell him of their capture. Knocked
unconscious and then found, they were never given the opportunity to die,
even by starvation. The Klingon High Council would not acknowledge their
existence when it was made known to them, so in the end they chose to stay
rather than dishonor their families. L'Kor rebukes Worf for his search for
Mogh, saying that he wishes *his* son "would be Klingon enough to kill me".
Worf sees a youth, Toq, gardening with an old Klingon weapon, and is further
surprised by several references from the children to "the war" that their
parents came to the prison to escape. After a brief conversation with Ba'el,
the young girl he saw at the pond, Worf notices his homing signal beeping and
returns to his quarters to plot an escape. While there, he meets Tokath, the
Romulan "jailer" of the camp, who points out that he, too, sacrificed himself
by remaining to keep watch over his "captives". He talks to Worf of the
unprecedented peace between Klingons and Romulans in the camp, and warns that
he will not allow Worf to destroy that community -- including Tokath's
family, for Tokath even married a Klingon.
Worf, unmoved, rigs an explosion in the compound and attempts to escape. He
nearly succeeds, but is captured after refusing to harm Toq. As, far away,
the Enterprise begins to search for the now-overdue Worf by asking for the
trader's flight plan, Worf returns to the compound, now with an implant
allowing him to be tracked and with Toq as his guard. He chooses an
alternate approach, and begins altering the camp by educating the children,
teaching Ba'el and others meditation exercises, explaining old artifacts, and
telling them old Klingon legends. He finds himself drawn to Ba'el, but is
taken aback when he sees her ears, which are *pointed*. "You are a Romulan!"
Actually, Ba'el is a crossbreed, the thought of which causes Worf to recoil
in disgust. She insists that her father, Tokath, is a good man that would
never have caused harm to anyone. When Worf challenges her to ask him
about the *truth* of how they all came to the camp, she leaves angrily. The
next morning, Worf attempts to apologize, but muffs the job. Ba'el tells him
to "leave the old hates behind" and keep the attraction to her, but he
confesses that he doesn't know if he can. Worf continues "training" the
children, now involving Toq in a game that hones hunting skills. When Toq
proves a fast learner, Worf suggests an actual hunt, with Toq as his guard.
Tokath refuses, but L'Kor intercedes, pointing that Worf has given his word
as a warrior.
The hunt goes well; too well, in fact. Toq finds his Klingon side and
rejoices in it, even challenging Tokath upon their return. He rouses all the
youth of the camp, and even some of the older Klingons, in a *proper*
rendition of a battle song they'd heard only as a lullaby. Tokath, noting
correctly that all of this is due to Worf's influence, appeals to Worf to
live with them as one of them, and not to wreck the "harmony" Tokath has
created. Eventually he offers Worf a simple choice: submit, or be executed.
Worf chooses the latter, even refusing Ba'el's offer of helping him escape --
which all but breaks Ba'el's heart.
When morning comes and Worf remains defiant to the last, Tokath prepares the
execution. At the last moment, however, it is challenged -- by Toq, now
dressed in his forebears' warrior garb. He insists that he and many others
want to leave, and that to keep them here will require killing them as well.
Slowly, more Klingons choose to stand with him, even including L'Kor -- and
Ba'el. Gi'ral accepts this new reality, persuading Tokath that there is no
reason for this to be the *children's* prison as well as their own. Worf, in
recognition of the elders' sacrifice, swears the children to secrecy
regarding the camp's very existence. They leave a few days later aboard a
Romulan supply ship and rendezvous with the Enterprise, where Worf tells
Picard that his quest was a failure: "No one survived Khitomer."
Well, that takes care of that. You'll note this was a shorter synopsis than
I've done lately; there wasn't much to tell. Now, on to some comments:
First, I want to remind everyone that I rather enjoyed the first part.
"Birthright, Part I" set up some promising ideas, particularly on the Data
end of things, and suggested lots of possibilities for the conclusion.
So what did we get? As far as I'm concerned, nothing worth speaking of. The
story part II decided to tell was a potentially interesting one that turned
out to have nothing to say we haven't already seen countless times already.
And the most promising ideas of all, the Data subplot, simply _vanished_.
Until I went back and watched the show a second time for the synopsis, I
hadn't even noticed that Data appeared *at all*. (Not a difficult thing to
miss -- he only shows up in one scene, and I don't believe he had any lines.)
That suggests to me that the Data subplot in part I was primarily intended to
be *padding*, to make sure that the Worf story could make it into a full two
hours. And *that*, quite frankly, I object to. A lot.
Two years ago, perhaps even one year ago, I wouldn't have objected, because
I'd have thought that further developments here were being reserved for
future storylines. However, given the long, *long* list of things still
waiting to be looked at again in the filmed Trek universe, I'm pretty certain
that any examination of Data's new abilities and circumstances simply _will
not happen_. And when the scenes setting the stage for those abilities were
so interesting, and so *breathtaking*, I get rather offended when I'm made to
realize that it was probably just there to fill time. Growl.
Enough of what they didn't attempt to do. What about what they _did_ attempt
to do?
Well, unfortunately, a lot of that didn't work too well for me either. One
point that was very strongly avoided throughout this whole thing was the
irony of having *Worf*, who is a very *atypical* Klingon in many respects,
trying to teach children who know nothing of "how to be Klingon". You'd
think there would be cases where he'd screw up, and also that there would be
times when he'd think "Wait a minute. Some of this stuff I'm teaching is
stuff I don't even believe." None of that was in evidence, either.
Now, I realize it's very arguable that Worf was teaching based on what he
thought a Klingon *should* be, not on what Klingons really *are* like. In
fact, given what we know of Worf it makes a lot of sense. But we're never
given any hint of that, either -- not from Worf, and not from any of the
elder Klingons. Tokath at one point tells Worf that he is molding the kids
into what Worf *wants* them to be, not Klingons. That's a step in the right
direction, but Tokath's the wrong person to be saying it. Give that line to
L'Kor and the show suddenly starts grabbing at the depth it desperately
needs.
The most interesting thing to me was not the "Klingon culture" idea, since
that's an idea that's working on being done to death without some different
approaches, but the *rebellion* it slowly engendered. The scene where Toq
begins his battle song reminded me of the "World Series" scene from "One Flew
Over the Cuckoo's Nest", which I had the opportunity to see an adaptation of
recently. *That* scene had some power, particularly when we saw Tokath lose
some of his composure and L'Kor joining in. I'm not happy with all the logic
that led up to that scene, but the scene itself worked beautifully.
But as long as I'm on faulty logic ... there was an ample supply of it handy,
particularly if it's extended to include "stupid crew tricks". For instance,
-- There was *still* absolutely no explanation given for how Shrek came by
his information or why he sought Worf out. Nothing at all; not even an
*attempt* at closure.
-- While Worf was at least bright enough to mention to the Enterprise that he
was going, he apparently was *not* bright enough to send them Shrek's flight
plan _beforehand_, so that they could find him if need be. (And don't tell
me Shrek wouldn't give it to him. Worf wasn't in the mood to accept refusals
at the time.) Nor was the crew of the Enterprise swift enough to, for
instance, give Worf a homing signal that *they* could pick up. Dumb, dumb
thinking.
-- Worf's move to accept execution, claiming that his martyrdom would inspire
the children, was a particularly silly idea on his part. It would not
exactly have been difficult for Tokath to *secretly* execute Worf and then to
say either that Worf escaped or that Tokath decided to let him leave. Now,
it appears Tokath wasn't bright enough to take advantage of that, but one
person's muddled thinking does not justify another's.
I think the point is made. Lots of things here simply _weren't thought
through_, and they really needed to be to justify the situations we found
ourselves watching.
Then, of course, we had the Worf/Ba'el romance. I didn't buy it -- not one
iota. I can't put my finger on exactly what it was about it that rang false,
because I can't localize it that closely. Nothing about it felt *right*,
that was for certain. And "I never thought it possible that I could love a
Romulan" -- please, no. This is Harlequin romance dialogue, folks -- not the
words, or the *ideas*, I would expect from the Worf who was involved with
K'Ehleyr.
That may also be partially due to Jennifer Gatti's performance as Ba'el,
which I found somewhat lacking. The only two guests who I thought did
reasonable jobs were Richard Herd as L'Kor, who was *quite* good, and Alan
Scarfe as Tokath, who was decent. But Ba'el and Toq were fairly important
characters with lots of screen time, and I didn't manage to get through the
*acting* to the *characters* there at all.
This is all sounding awfully harsh, and I'm surprised I disliked the episode
as much as I did. I expected to like it a *lot* -- Rene Echevarria has
written several good shows. "The Mind's Eye" had fantastic tension and
suspense (including several good Klingon roles), "I, Borg" was a great
character piece for several characters, and "The Perfect Mate", though
flawed, had a great romance in it. Echevarria is more than capable of doing
great jobs with *all* the elements that were sitting in this story -- so what
happened? I've no idea, but it's a hell of a disappointment.
Some other short comments, then:
-- As you might expect given my opinion, MST3K-style taunting was *very* much
in evidence this week. Most of them aren't worth repeating or remembering,
but two of them are ones I thought were worth sharing:
1) [Worf and Toq on the hunt, as Toq is catching the scent of the prey]
Toq: I *can* smell it!
Me, in my best Michael Dorn voice: Er ... that was me. Sorry.
2) [Worf is training Ba'el and others in the meditation exercises]
Me: It's just a jump to the left...
The latter, in particular, I'm rather proud of. Those who wish to harm me
for a lousy sense of humor are welcome. :-)
-- If Ba'el being a crossbreed was supposed to be a surprise, they need to
work on their secret-keeping. I had her pegged as one roughly ten minutes
into the episode.
-- So, Klingons and Romulans have never peacefully coexisted and have been
blood enemies for centuries? I can't have been the only one responding "You
were *allies* a hundred years ago, you morons!" Granted, they may not have
liked each other much even then, but that's not the same thing as "blood
enemies". Sheesh.
-- How did Worf manage to still have the homing signal on him after being
taken captive? Boy, *great* security measures on the part of the Romulan
guards...
That's about it. I've seen far worse shows, but I can't remember that last
one that I found this *surprisingly* disappointing. "Birthright, Part II"
deserved to be a hell of a lot better than it was, and I wish I knew where it
took a wrong turn.
Numbers, then:
Plot: 3. Riddled with faulty logic and not telling much in the process.
Plot Handling: 4. The only scene with any fire in it was the song.
Characterization: 5. Good Worf and L'Kor, but not nearly enough to make up
for everyone else.
OVERALL: 4. What a letdown.
NEXT WEEK: A rerun of "A Fistful of Datas", so I can rest. (Both TNG and
DS9 are in reruns, for that matter...)
Tim Lynch (Harvard-Westlake School, Science Dept.)
BITNET: tlynch@citjulie
INTERNET: tly...@juliet.caltech.edu
UUCP: ...!ucbvax!tlynch%juliet.ca...@hamlet.caltech.edu
"No one survived Khitomer."
--
Copyright 1993, Timothy W. Lynch. All rights reserved, but feel free to ask...
Si Rowe
episode has been. Although I was a bit disappointed by the absence of a few
plot points (e.g. Data's dreams, Shrek's motivations), I thought that the
situation was marvellously carried out. The story was gripping both on a
level of Trek and on a level of good storytelling.
What I really enjoyed was the sense of cultural conflict the story
engendered. The show showed that both sides really were right, in their own
ways, which is somewhat rare for TNG which *does* tend towards rather
blatant humanistic moralizing. I particularly liked the scene with Worf and
Tokath, where Worf says, "I would not expect you to understand. You are
Romulan." and later, Tokath comes back with, "I would not expect you to
understand. You are Klingon." The show got across very clearly the
different sorts of honor and morality in the two (or three, as the "colony"
was rather more than just a combination of Klingon and Romulan societies)
cultures.
Of course, Worf *was* trying to show the children what he thinks a Klingon
*should* be rather than what Klingons really *are*, but that's completely
in character for Worf. Remember the scene in "Redemption" (I don't remember
which part) in which Worf was so shocked that some of his compatriots were
out drinking with Duras supporters? Worf really is "more Klingon than the
Klingons".
I did find the Worf/Ba'el relationship a bit unconvincing, but it raises a
slightly interesting question: what is it with Worf and these biracial
women? Do you suppose being raised with humans he was somewhat socialized
towards non-human women? (Although with Kheyl'r and Ba'el it seems to have
been established that Klingon genes are pretty much dominant in any mix. :)
)
Yes, looking back on it the episode did not quite manage to cover
everything it could have. But it made for one of the most engaging episodes
of TNG in a while, and makes me think that the TNG folks have finally
gotten over the brief disorientation they seem to have had when the writing
staff split between TNG and DS9. Actually, with the exception of "Aquiel",
the second half of this season on TNG has been quite strong, which gives me
hope for the series.
An aside: Worf looks good in black. It suits him (and also hides Michael
Dorn's paunch!). Also, this was the first show I felt comfortable with
Worf's ponytail. I guess I'm getting used to it.
Yours, Si Rowe
__________________________________________________________________________
"I'm on Aslan's side even if there isn't any Aslan to lead it. I'm going
to live like a Narnian as best I can even if there isn't any Narnia"
--Puddleglum the Marsh-wiggle, _The Silver Chair_ by C.S. Lewis
==========================================================================
/sir...@pop.cis.yale.edu/ 8>: Si Rowe: not just a couple of Greek letters!
Bill Poitras
: I did find the Worf/Ba'el relationship a bit unconvincing, but it raises a
: slightly interesting question: what is it with Worf and these biracial
: women? Do you suppose being raised with humans he was somewhat socialized
: towards non-human women? (Although with Kheyl'r and Ba'el it seems to have
: been established that Klingon genes are pretty much dominant in any mix. :)
: )
Yeah that's it. Worf is attracked to bi-racial women only because they
are bi-racial... NOT! I think you missed the point. That's like saying
I date black women (I do) because they are black (I'm white). Its not
true.
I don't know if its intentional or not, but I think the writers are
trying to show people should be so concerned about a person's race.
: An aside: Worf looks good in black. It suits him (and also hides Michael
: Dorn's paunch!). Also, this was the first show I felt comfortable with
: Worf's ponytail. I guess I'm getting used to it.
I think it was his outfit. I found the combination very appealing
myself.
--
+-------------------+----------------------------+------------------------+
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Sean Erwin (aka Mark Locatelli)
I thought that Michael Dorn gave an excellent performance. His best work
on the show so far, I'd say.
Am I alone in thinking this?
---Sean Erwin
Jeffrey J. Nelson
POSSIBLE SPOILER
>Two years ago, perhaps even one year ago, I wouldn't have objected, because
>I'd have thought that further developments here were being reserved for
>future storylines. However, given the long, *long* list of things still
>waiting to be looked at again in the filmed Trek universe, I'm pretty certain
>that any examination of Data's new abilities and circumstances simply _will
>not happen_. And when the scenes setting the stage for those abilities were
>so interesting, and so *breathtaking*, I get rather offended when I'm made to
>realize that it was probably just there to fill time. Growl.
Breathtaking is not the word I would use. Compared to a dream sequence
like that in 2001, Data's dream looks like a boring set of very easily
interpretted, well connected images. Dreams just aren't like that.
Data's dream should have been more abstract.
I would love to see this explored further also though...
BTW, the Klingon battle song was great, but I'm a sucker for that
sort of thing (violence, loyalty, etc. Yes, it was a happy childhood.)
- Jeff
Mark Morrill
sir...@pop.cis.yale.edu (Si Rowe) wrote:
> The show showed that both sides really were right, in their own
> ways, which is somewhat rare for TNG which *does* tend towards rather
> blatant humanistic moralizing.
I felt it did better than that. It showed that both sides thought they were
really right without telling us which side we should think was right.
> Of course, Worf *was* trying to show the children what he thinks a Klingon
> *should* be rather than what Klingons really *are*, but that's completely
> in character for Worf. Remember the scene in "Redemption" (I don't remember
> which part) in which Worf was so shocked that some of his compatriots were
> out drinking with Duras supporters? Worf really is "more Klingon than the
> Klingons".
Indeed. As with many people who have been seperated from their heritage
then choose to grasp what their heritage seems to be, Worf strives to be
more of his own idealized image of Klingon than the Klingons. Also, he
would be more threaten by non-Klingon behaviour by Klingons than 'natural'
Klingons.
Worf is a great character; he is full of internal conflict and he reflects
our society.
Mark. | my opinions are my own
Instructional Technology Centre |
University of Alberta. |
Rene Magritte
>---Sean Erwin
Yes. Dorn has given MUCH MUCH better performances than this
trash. Any of the redemptions, Sins of the Father, even the garbage
with Alexander was better than this..
Julia E. Kosatka
>
> POSSIBLE SPOILER
[stuff deleted]
> >And when the scenes setting the stage for those abilities were
> >so interesting, and so *breathtaking*, I get rather offended when I'm made
>>to
> >realize that it was probably just there to fill time. Growl.
>
> Breathtaking is not the word I would use. Compared to a dream sequence
> like that in 2001, Data's dream looks like a boring set of very easily
> interpretted, well connected images. Dreams just aren't like that.
> Data's dream should have been more abstract.
Actually, *Data's* dream *shouldn't* have been more abstract. Remember
when Dr. Soong (sp?) says something about "You're still grounded in the
mundane, but you're getting there." [I'm pulling that from memory] in
reference to the setting of the dream - the bridge with Data's stuff all
around? I'd *expect* Data to dream more coherently than humans do. His
mind functions much differently (much more *orderly*) than a human's, and
I would expect that to be represented in his dreams. If we *ever* see Data
dream again I'd expect to see the dreams become more abstract if, for no
other reason, than Dr. Soong's image implied that they would. On the other
hand, I must agree with Tim on this one (there's a surprise) that it'll
likely never be mentioned again.
> I would love to see this explored further also though...
Me, too.
> BTW, the Klingon battle song was great, but I'm a sucker for that
> sort of thing (violence, loyalty, etc. Yes, it was a happy childhood.)
That was an interesting scene, but I kept thinking about the French and
the Germans with their song slugfest in Casablanca. :-) I half expected
the Romunlans in the group to start in with their own song. :-)
Julia Kosatka "Due to budgetary constraints, the
University of Houston light at the end of the tunnel has
Information Technology Division been disconnected." - Anonymous
Support Services Texas State Employee
Dennis Brennan
I thought that "Birthright II" provided an interesting contrast to ST6:TUC.
Consider the premises:
TUC: Despite his long-held prejudices, Kirk helps bring two long-antagonistic
races together.
B2: Owing to his long-held prejudices, Worf destroys a peaceful community
of otherwise long-antagonistic races.
--
Dennis Brennan
dj...@midway.uchicago.edu
Lowell Gilbert
>
>spoilers
> Admittedly, there were problems, such as what happened to Data.
Apparently, I'm the only person on the net who had no problems with
this. At the end of part I, I said to myself "well, that subplot was
neatly wrapped up." As a result, I was *hoping* that the plot
*wouldn't* be brought back, since I didn't think there was any
more life left in it...
Why should all of the subplots have to be carried all the way through
any episode, much less all the way through a two-part episode?
--
Lowell Gilbert low...@acs.bu.edu
Graduate Teaching Fellow, Boston U., EK125
Spring Break in Boston: appropriately, starting and ending with a blizzard...
Catherine Beckstead
> In article <1nbmts...@mojo.eng.umd.edu> cl...@eng.umd.edu (Charles Lin) wri
> >
> >spoilers
> > Admittedly, there were problems, such as what happened to Data.
>
> Apparently, I'm the only person on the net who had no problems with
> this. At the end of part I, I said to myself "well, that subplot was
> neatly wrapped up." As a result, I was *hoping* that the plot
> *wouldn't* be brought back, since I didn't think there was any
> more life left in it...
>
> Why should all of the subplots have to be carried all the way through
> any episode, much less all the way through a two-part episode?
No you weren't the only one who thought this. I thought it was wrapped up
as well, and did not expect it to appear in part II.
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Catherine Beckstead a...@kryton.uucp
"Do you want to argue with a can of deodorant that registers
NINE on the Richter scale?" --Ace, in "Dragonfire"