Lynch's Spoiler Review: "Reunion"
Timothy W. Lynch
full enjoyment of the TNG episode "Reunion". If you have not yet seen said
episode, I strongly recommend delaying your reading of this review.
I am very, VERY serious.
So serious, in fact, that I'm going to break with tradition. I will first,
for just a line or two, give a review without spoilers. Then, I'll proceed
with a synopsis and full review. So, with no spoilers:
This episode hit me harder than any show ever should. I give it the highest
recommendation of the season, and if my opinions hold after the novelty's worn
off, this is the best show TNG has ever done. If you do not see it, the loss
is most definitely yours. If you dislike it, too bad, you're wrong.
Now that I have THAT off my chest, here's a synopsis. (And for those of you
who plan to skip the synopsis and head straight to the commentary (shame on
you :-) ), the synopsis this week is a whopping 152 lines. Vidiot's going to
kill me...) Anyway:
While on a routine mission, the Enterprise meets a Klingon attack cruiser.
Aboard is K'Ehleyr, on an urgent mission. She beams aboard--with her and
Worf's SON, Alexander. Despite the fact that K'Ehleyr couldn't care less about
Worf's discommendation, he does; and he refuses to even discuss the child at
first.
K'Ehleyr informs Picard that the Klingon Empire is on the verge of civil war.
The two factions that have divided the council for years are becoming openly
hostile, because K'Mpec, head of the council, is dying. The civil war is of
the utmost importance, because Klingon wars have a habit of spreading--
according to K'Ehleyr, eventually it'll bring in everybody, including the
Federation. K'Mpec is also on board the cruiser, and wants to talk to Picard,
who beams over.
K'Mpec tells Picard that he's been poisoned (and there's no antidote). He
tells Picard that HE must arbitrate the dispute over leadership of the Council
(and hence, the Empire) after K'Mpec is dead--and when Jean-Luc tries to
decline, tells him both that to refuse would be a grave insult to ALL Klingons,
and, more importantly, that it's too late: he's already given the order.
K'Mpec tells Picard that he's sure one of the factions' leaders poisoned him,
and tells Picard to find out which it is--Gowron, an outsider, or _Duras_, the
Klingon responsible for almost killing Picard and for Worf's accepting
discommendation. Picard, of course, accepts--and then, scant seconds later,
watches K'Mpec die.
Meanwhile, Worf finds that Alexander knows nothing of Klingon ways (and doesn't
even WANT to be a warrior), but when he confronts K'Ehleyr with this, she tells
him that she is half-human, and that Alexander will choose his own way. She
says she didn't tell him of the child last time she saw him because he would
have insisted on the Oath, and she was not ready. When Worf cites his dishonor
as a reason he cannot acknowledge Alexander, K'Ehleyr dismisses it as of no
consequence, and demands to know what really happened in the Council chambers--
after all, she knows Worf wouldn't just WITHDRAW his challenge.
The two factions' ships arrive: the Vorn, carrying Duras; and the Barruc,
carrying Gowron. Duras is contemptuous of Picard's being named to mediate, but
has little choice but to agree to it. He insists, however, that Worf be kept
off Klingon ships. In private, Worf insists that Duras cannot be allowed to
lead the Council due to his father's treachery, and when he hears of K'Mpec's
poisoning, insists Duras must be responsible. Picard, while acknowledging
Duras's past deeds and promising to keep Duras's deceptions in mind, tells
Worf that he cannot hold Duras responsible for his father's crimes--and reminds
Worf that he CHOSE to accept the consequences of Duras's lie.
Just under an hour later, on K'Mpec's ship, the Son-Che ceremony takes place,
in which Gowron and Duras ascertain for themselves that K'Mpec is truly dead
(by prodding him with Klingon pain-sticks). Duras demands that the rite of
succession be completed immediately, and when Picard balks, there's suddenly an
explosion, which kills two Klingons and injures others.
Not long after, Worf talks to K'Ehleyr again. When pressed to reveal his
feelings, he admits that he would have demanded the Oath--"but not just for
tradition". She says she thought about telling him, but wasn't ready. Now,
however, she's realized that she isn't complete without him either. They
begin the Oath--but this time Worf cannot bring himself to complete it--for if
nothing else, the sake of Alexander, who will be "another traitor from a
family of traitors!" K'Ehleyr doesn't fully understand, but eventually
respects Worf's decision--but she asks him "if you cannot be his father...at
least be his friend."
Picard, who needs to delay in order to continue investigating both the
explosion and the poisoning, asks K'Ehleyr how he can gain such time. When
she mentions the old rites of succession, which take much longer than the
modern ones, he decides to follow them. As she leaves, however, K'Ehleyr
asks Picard about Worf's discommendation, since she knows he was there--Picard
says he cannot discuss it.
Duras and Gowron are anxious to begin the ritual combat which decides the
Council's leader, and nearly attack each other before Picard manages to
impose order. They're not thrilled to hear that Picard is holding the Zha-Juc,
in which both candidates must give verbal evidence about the battles they've
served in, awards they've won, and so forth, to qualify for the leadership.
However, they have no choice but to agree.
After we see Worf showing Alexander the batlekh, a weapon that's been in his
family for ten generations, we see K'Ehleyr talking to Gowron. Gowron points
out that she could accelerate the selection process, offers her anything she
desires up to and including a Council seat, and when she refuses, implies that
she'll end up as dead as K'Mpec if she doesn't help.
Then, in Engineering, Riker hears Geordi and Data report on the explosion. The
explosive was a triceron derivative, but that's unimportant. Of interest is
that the bomb was only about three cubic millimeters in volume (and thus could
have been hidden anywhere)--and more importantly, the detonator was triggered
by molecular decay. And the only race that uses such detonators--is the
Romulans.
In conference, it's agreed that one of the faction leaders must be working with
the Romulans--which could significantly endanger the Federation. When
K'Ehleyr, based on her conversation with Gowron, voices suspicions about him,
Worf claims it must be Duras--and when K'Ehleyr asks why, Picard can say only
that they've had indications in the past that he's untrustworthy. Due to the
threat this poses to the Federation, Picard now insists Worf accompany him to
the next gathering, despite the disruption it will cause.
As the Zha-Juc continues, K'Ehleyr begins researching the Enterprise's visit
to the Klingon homeworld--accessing the ship's logs. The Zha-Juc is completed,
and before declaring a short recess prior to the combat, Picard brings up the
matter of the explosion, and brings Worf in. Worf's presence sparks massive
outcries from BOTH sides, and Duras threatens to bring the proceedings to a
halt, giving in only when Picard tells him the only thing he can do now is
forfeit his claim. Neither party is helpful, however, when Worf asks what
their investigations have revealed, and neither claims anything was out of
the ordinary. When the detonator is mentioned, both parties decide to return
to their ship to confirm this.
During this, K'Ehleyr hooks into the Klingon information-net, and when she
finds that all the Council records on the Khitomer massacre were sealed by
Duras, calls up biographical information on him. Through an aide, Duras
gets wind of this and confronts her. She accuses his father of treachery
and him of covering it up, and says, "The son betrays his people to the
Romulans, just like his father did--Duras..."
We see Riker and Dr. Crusher discover that one of the dead Klingons had the
bomb implanted in his forearm--Duras's man. Then, Worf and Alexander enter
K'Ehleyr's quarters--and find her alone, bloodied, and dying. Worf urgently
summons a medical team, then hears K'Ehleyr say Duras was responsible. She
takes Alexander's hand and places it on Worf's--then her hand slips away, and
she dies. Worf howls in anguish, then goes through the Klingon death-ritual.
When he sees that Alexander has never seen death before, he tells him "then
look--and _always_ remember."
When Dr. Crusher and a medic arrive, he leaves the child with them and heads
for his quarters, where he takes off his sash and communicator, picks up the
batlekh, and leaves. As Dr. Crusher, Picard and Riker watch as K'Ehleyr's
body is taken away, they page Worf--and find he just beamed over to the Vorn.
Riker begins assembling a team to get him back.
On the Vorn, Worf arrives and demands right of vengeance. When Duras claims
that Worf, as a traitor, has no rights, Worf says that K'Ehleyr was his MATE.
Duras picks up the sword handed to him. We see Riker, Data, and a security
guard enter the transporter room, phasers set to maximum stun--then we see
the battle between the two Klingons. Duras tells Worf that only he can
prove Worf's innocence, but Worf is beyond caring. Riker and the team arrive
just in time to watch Worf defeat Duras and plunge the batlekh right into his
breastbone. Duras dies--slowly.
The issue settled, all three Klingon ships leave. The Council is satisfied
with the proceedings--Picard, however, is NOT. He harshly reminds Worf that
despite the many races on board the Enterprise, all have agreed to serve
Starfleet--and if they can't do that, they should resign. He is relieved,
however, that Worf does not want to resign, and merely tells Worf that a
reprimand will be put on his permanent record. When he asks Worf if there's
any point in keeping silent about Duras's guilt any more, Worf points out that
the members of the Council all participated in the lie as well--but one day, he
says, he and his brother will "convince" them to speak the truth.
Finally, Worf tells Alexander that he will be sent to live with Worf's human
parents, telling him that he needs a home and a family--something Worf cannot
at present provide. In response to Alexander's question, he tells him, "Yes--
I am your father.", and embraces him.
Wow. I didn't really expect to give a play-by-play synopsis. Catharsis, I
guess. Anyway, on to some commentary before you get sick of reading:
Let it be known from this day forward--TNG *CAN* do sequels. Whatever people
may have thought of BOBW2, this one should convince them. This was a double
sequel--both to "The Emissary" and to "Sins of the Father", and it actually
managed to outdo them both. That's not easy, since both were good--in fact,
I think "The Emissary" is in TNG's top 10. But this beat them.
I feel more burned-out, more wasted, more emotionally aching, than I think I
ever have from watching TNG. Part of this is me, I'm sure--after all, I've
been waiting to see K'Ehleyr again for 16 months now, and it hurt to see her
so brutally taken from us. But part of this was just superb television.
Jonathan Frakes, in my estimation, is now 2 for 2 in directing stints. (His
other one, in case you've forgotten, was "The Offspring".) While I've often
had doubts about his acting ability, I now believe he's one of TNG's premier
directors. Give him more shows. His entire direction was good, but some
shots stuck in my mind. To wit:
--The close of the teaser, when K'Ehleyr beams in with Alexander. Before we
see them, we see Worf's face; it's calm and collected...he sees K'Ehleyr...his
eyes turn to the other person beaming in...his eyes double in width. Some of
this, naturally, is due to Dorn--it often takes a really poor director to
screw Mike up. But Frakes may have chosen to show Worf's face before anything
else--and it worked swooningly well.
--This isn't actually Frakes's doing...more Okuda and Sternbach's, but I'll
mention it anyway, since it was striking. In one of the exterior shots of
the ships, the scene begins with the "camera" a ways behind the Enterprise
(which is facing the three Klin ships), and about 15-20 degrees above the
plane the ships are in. It slowly comes down until we're just barely above
the plane, and we get a remarkable look at the ships. Beautiful.
--Right after Worf performs the death-ritual (and a more grief-stricken howl
I doubt I've ever heard), as he's talking to Alexander, the camera is behind,
to the right of, and a foot or two BELOW Alexander. And since he's still a
little kid, and Mike Dorn's so tall, Worf looks about a zillion feet tall.
Chilling, chilling effect, especially since he's about to go grab a weapon and
chop someone into tiny little bits with it. Brr.
There were many other things I could gush about...I don't even know where to
begin. Let's see.
While I've never had the objections to TNG music many people have, I will
accept that it's been a little...commonplace, shall we say. Not so here.
Much of the music here was powerful--in particular, I still remember the
music when K'Ehleyr's calling up the Klin net. Of course, we also heard a lot
of the Klingon theme (which is easily the best thing that ever came out of
ST:TMP), and some of the music from "The Emissary" resurfaced when Worf and
K'Ehleyr almost took the Oath. Nice work.
Ah, here's another big thing. This episode was very, very nasty, in that the
commercial breaks were real edge-of-your-seat situations. I haven't been in
that much of a hurry to get past the commercial break since the last two
breaks of "Yesterday's Enterprise"--and this had THREE of them. (Just in
case you're keeping track of which ones, I'm thinking of the last three:
the explosion, the realization that it was a Romulan bomb, and K'Ehleyr's
confrontation with Duras--ESPECIALLY that last.)
Technically, this was a treat--lots of external shots, including a number of
shots of the absolutely STUNNING-looking new Klingon attack cruiser. I
normally scoff at the idea of getting models--but I think I want one of those.
Life-size, though. :-) Seriously, though, it's a beautiful, beautiful ship--
which is a good thing, since we'll probably see it for the next several
seasons.
On another technical note, the Klingon makeup jobs were up to their usual
good standards--and I particularly noted that the ridges on Alexander's head
really looked to be something in between Worf's brow and K'Ehleyr's brow, which
is a great attention to detail.
Some comments on the acting, now. First, everybody OTHER than K'Ehleyr.
Charles Cooper was fine as K'Mpec for the few scant minutes we saw him. He
looked believably sick and defeated...yet strong enough to keep Picard jumping.
Nice.
Robert O'Reilly was okay as Gowron--as good as he needed to be, anyway. I'm
a little wary of putting that guy in as head of the Empire, but I think that
was kind of the point. Jon Steuer was remarkably watchable as Alexander--
we didn't see all that much of him, and he mostly just had to react to Worf.
Worked well for me.
Then, there's Duras. I wasn't all that impressed with Patrick Massett back in
"Sins of the Father", but he improved. A lot. I'm sure this was a combination
of the different storyline and the different direction, but I positively
despised Duras here. And I have never, ever, EVER--wanted to see a character
die a slow, lingering death as much as I wanted to see Duras suffer in the
final minutes of this show. I'm not a violent person, but I cheered when
Worf killed him. It scared me, a little.
Finally, there's Suzie Plakson. Ah, Suzie. I didn't think she could DO a
better job than she did in "The Emissary"--but she might have. Her character's
changed a bit--she seemed more human here than she was last time 'round (except
for the final confrontation with Duras--she was all Klingon then). But that's
fine--since she primarily works on the Federation side of things, it makes
sense to me that she'd be growing more human as her career evolved.
I thought she did a marvelous job--and I am downright MAD that we'll never get
to see K'Ehleyr again. I can't take off points for it, because killing her
worked like few other things I know of have (certainly, it had a much bigger
effect than it did when Tasha died, in part because I didn't know this one was
coming), and because it was done magnificently, but if Paramount doesn't bring
Suzie back, either as Dr. Selar or in yet another role (like, say, a Romulan?),
then either they're fools or Suzie's too busy.
The writing? Hey--this struck me as a very solid plot. There are, to the best
of my knowledge, NO technical incongruities that people could mensch about such
as those in "Brothers" (they didn't bother ME, but some people are just never
satisfied, y'know?). I'm sure some people will be complaining about the
following three things, though, so I'll bring them up here.
1) "How could Alexander have been born before?" Look, guys--it was never
made clear that Worf and K'Ehleyr were entirely platonic before "The Emissary".
Apparently, they weren't--it's not a problem.
2) "We never found out exactly who killed K'Mpec!" To this I give a
resounding "So WHAT?" In performing the despicable acts that he did and
aligning himself with the Romulans (which was pretty much proven), Duras proved
himself a worse candidate for leader than Gowron would be even if Gowron DID
poison K'Mpec. If Duras did it, fine. If Gowron did it, that's fine too--I
suspect he's not the greatest leader in the universe anyway.
3) "Picard's letting Worf off with a REPRIMAND?! Come on!" This is the
closest thing to a valid complaint I can see. Had Worf's action taken place
just slightly earlier, before the matter had essentially settled itself anyway,
I would have found that unacceptable. As it is, though, Worf more or less just
compromised Starfleet values a little--deserving of a reprimand, surely, but
with the glowing record Worf DOES have, hardly worthy of drumming him out of
the service.
Quick comedy break: the biggest laugh I had/got all episode was when Worf and
Alexander were walking back from Alexander's school, and Alexander mentioned
that he didn't WANT to be a warrior. I guess I've seen "Yellowbeard" too many
times, but I couldn't resist saying, "He wants to be a _gardener_!" out loud.
Ah, well. :-)
Anyway, I think I'm finally running out of steam here, and it's getting late.
Suffice it to say that this was one of the most gripping, gut-wrenching,
hard-hitting TNG episodes I've ever seen, and when people ask me why I watch
the show, this is one of the first things I'll show them.
Anyway, the numbers:
I'll save you eyestrain--they're all 10s. If you wonder why, go back and
read the review again.
Like I said at the beginning, I'm going to wait for the novelty to wear off
before making any firm statements about just how good this was. But if a few
months pass, and my feelings haven't changed, then this vaults into my number
1 spot--and probably stays there for a long, long time. Wow.
Rest In Peace, K'Ehleyr. We'll miss you.
NEXT WEEK:
Riker Van Winkle. The window-dressing is fantastic--in set/costume changes,
this looks to be on "Yesterday's Enterprise" level. Now if the story's as
good, we'll have another real winner on our hands.
Good night.
Tim Lynch (Cornell's first Astronomy B.A.; one of many Caltech grad students)
BITNET: tlynch@citjuliet
INTERNET: tly...@juliet.caltech.edu
UUCP: ...!ucbvax!tlynch%juliet.ca...@hamlet.caltech.edu
"K'Ehleyr! I will not be complete, without you."
--"The Emissary"
--
Copyright 1990, Timothy W. Lynch. All rights reserved, but feel free to ask...
Michael Rawdon
Spoilers...
>This episode hit me harder than any show ever should. I give it the highest
>recommendation of the season, and if my opinions hold after the novelty's worn
>off, this is the best show TNG has ever done. If you do not see it, the loss
>is most definitely yours. If you dislike it, too bad, you're wrong.
*Smirk*
I think we're seeing a reversal of our roles WRT "Remember Me", here, Tim.
I thought it was a good episode, yes, one of the best (though it doesn't
take much to be "one of the best" TNG episodes), but not THE best. It just
didn't have the emotional impact. Everything was kept so calm throughout
the episode. There was no real sense of urgency. The episode just lacked
a certain level of power that "The Naked Now", "11001001", "Contagion",
"Best Of Both Worlds" Part One, and "Remember Me" had. (In fact, off the
top of my head, those are the only TNG episodes I'd rank higher than this
one, though "11001001" is tenuous).
>I feel more burned-out, more wasted, more emotionally aching, than I think I
>ever have from watching TNG. Part of this is me, I'm sure--after all, I've
>been waiting to see K'Ehleyr again for 16 months now, and it hurt to see her
>so brutally taken from us. But part of this was just superb television.
It didn't do a thing for me. In fact, I found K'Ehleyr to be a remarkably
blandly conceived and acted character. Really very dull stuff. I found
Worf's reactions to her interesting, but that's about it.
>Jonathan Frakes, in my estimation, is now 2 for 2 in directing stints. (His
>other one, in case you've forgotten, was "The Offspring".) While I've often
>had doubts about his acting ability, I now believe he's one of TNG's premier
>directors. Give him more shows. His entire direction was good, but some
>shots stuck in my mind. To wit:
The main thing I dislike about TNG directing in general (and this episode was
no exception as I recall) is that the directors don't do anything really
interesting with a MOVING camera. Everything always seems to be standing
still, which is very boring. To use one of your examples:
>--Right after Worf performs the death-ritual (and a more grief-stricken howl
>I doubt I've ever heard), as he's talking to Alexander, the camera is behind,
>to the right of, and a foot or two BELOW Alexander. And since he's still a
>little kid, and Mike Dorn's so tall, Worf looks about a zillion feet tall.
>Chilling, chilling effect, especially since he's about to go grab a weapon and
>chop someone into tiny little bits with it. Brr.
This didn't do a thing for me, not a thing. If Worf had looked and more
precisely ACTED more menacing and the camera angle had been used for
more of an effect, if there had been more movement, it might have been
more effective.
Of course, one of the drawbacks to interesting directing in TNG is that TNG
is so cisually sterile. There's nothing interesting to look at.
Certainly the Enterprise sets are some of the blandest I can recall seeing
on television.
>While I've never had the objections to TNG music many people have, I will
>accept that it's been a little...commonplace, shall we say. Not so here.
>Much of the music here was powerful--in particular, I still remember the
>music when K'Ehleyr's calling up the Klin net. Of course, we also heard a lot
>of the Klingon theme (which is easily the best thing that ever came out of
>ST:TMP), and some of the music from "The Emissary" resurfaced when Worf and
>K'Ehleyr almost took the Oath. Nice work.
I remember toward the ending noting that I found the music to be quite
average for TNG. That is to say, nondescript.
>Finally, there's Suzie Plakson. Ah, Suzie. I didn't think she could DO a
>better job than she did in "The Emissary"--but she might have. Her character's
>changed a bit--she seemed more human here than she was last time 'round (except
>for the final confrontation with Duras--she was all Klingon then). But that's
>fine--since she primarily works on the Federation side of things, it makes
>sense to me that she'd be growing more human as her career evolved.
I certainly did not find K'Ehleyr to seem even remotely Klingon at any
point in the episode. The best she ever got was "human pretending to be
Klingon".
I found her to be a rather boring character, as I said. She didn't have
anything here to really make her stand out. Very generic, actually.
>2) "We never found out exactly who killed K'Mpec!" To this I give a
>resounding "So WHAT?" In performing the despicable acts that he did and
>aligning himself with the Romulans (which was pretty much proven), Duras proved
>himself a worse candidate for leader than Gowron would be even if Gowron DID
>poison K'Mpec. If Duras did it, fine. If Gowron did it, that's fine too--I
>suspect he's not the greatest leader in the universe anyway.
I agree that Duras deserved to die for the purposes of the story, but I
*still* feel cheated for not knowing who poisoned K'Empec. The story
lacks a sense of closure, which takes away from its power.
>3) "Picard's letting Worf off with a REPRIMAND?! Come on!" This is the
>closest thing to a valid complaint I can see. Had Worf's action taken place
>just slightly earlier, before the matter had essentially settled itself anyway,
>I would have found that unacceptable. As it is, though, Worf more or less just
>compromised Starfleet values a little--deserving of a reprimand, surely, but
>with the glowing record Worf DOES have, hardly worthy of drumming him out of
>the service.
I don't think he would be drummed out, either. I do think that this is
another plot ramification that should be picked up on in future episodes
(like, say, the next three or four, at least) in order for TNG to retain
some of its rapidly-vanishing credibility as a series with continuity.
>NEXT WEEK:
>Riker Van Winkle. The window-dressing is fantastic--in set/costume changes,
>this looks to be on "Yesterday's Enterprise" level. Now if the story's as
>good, we'll have another real winner on our hands.
This one looks real good, from what little the teaser showed us. Cross
those fingers...
--
Michael Rawdon
Tulane University, New Orleans, Louisiana
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Internet: raw...@rex.cs.tulane.edu | Knowledge may be power, but
Usenet: rex!rawdon.uucp | withholding knowledge can be a
Bitnet: CS6FECU@TCSVM | dangerous thing.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Disclaimer: Opinions mine, typos and grammar errors someone else's.
Timothy W. Lynch
raw...@rex.cs.tulane.edu (Michael Rawdon) writes:
>In <1990Nov8.0...@nntp-server.caltech.edu> tly...@nntp-server.caltech.edu (Timothy W. Lynch) writes:
>Spoilers...
>>This episode hit me harder than any show ever should. I give it the highest
>>recommendation of the season, and if my opinions hold after the novelty's
>>worn
>>off, this is the best show TNG has ever done. If you do not see it, the loss
>>is most definitely yours. If you dislike it, too bad, you're wrong.
>*Smirk*
Somehow I thought you'd smirk at that, though you weren't the specific person
I had in mind.
>I think we're seeing a reversal of our roles WRT "Remember Me", here, Tim.
>I thought it was a good episode, yes, one of the best (though it doesn't
>take much to be "one of the best" TNG episodes), but not THE best.
That's about what I thought of RM, so yes, this is definitely a reversal.
>It just
>didn't have the emotional impact.
The hell it didn't. Tell that to the tears I choked back when I saw K'Ehleyr's
broken body.
>Everything was kept so calm throughout
>the episode. There was no real sense of urgency.
No "urgency" was needed until the end. I saw a definite sense of TENSION
throughout the show, which is necessary, but the only time urgency was called
for, it appeared.
>The episode just lacked
>a certain level of power that "The Naked Now", "11001001", "Contagion",
>"Best Of Both Worlds" Part One, and "Remember Me" had. (In fact, off the
>top of my head, those are the only TNG episodes I'd rank higher than this
>one, though "11001001" is tenuous).
Well, at least it's in your top few. The only one of the ones you list there
that I think even come close to this is BOBW1, though--but we just finished
arguing "The Naked Now" to death. :-) With the exception of TNN, though,
all the other shows did get 10s from me--so we're at least in the same
ballpark.
>>I feel more burned-out, more wasted, more emotionally aching, than I think I
>>ever have from watching TNG. Part of this is me, I'm sure--after all, I've
>>been waiting to see K'Ehleyr again for 16 months now, and it hurt to see her
>>so brutally taken from us. But part of this was just superb television.
>It didn't do a thing for me. In fact, I found K'Ehleyr to be a remarkably
>blandly conceived and acted character. Really very dull stuff. I found
>Worf's reactions to her interesting, but that's about it.
I'm at a loss to explain this, since among other things we've never met. I
suspect, again, that some of this may be because you never saw "The Emissary".
(Though this may not be the case--a friend of mine here LOATHED K'Ehleyr in
"The Emissary", but liked her a lot here.)
And, to be honest, I think that difference there may be why it's a few spots
higher for me than it is for you--since you didn't like K'Ehleyr, those bits
fell flat for you--whereas since I adored K'Ehleyr, those bits worked swooning-
ly well for me.
>>Jonathan Frakes, in my estimation, is now 2 for 2 in directing stints. (His
>>other one, in case you've forgotten, was "The Offspring".) While I've often
>>had doubts about his acting ability, I now believe he's one of TNG's premier
>>directors. Give him more shows. His entire direction was good, but some
>>shots stuck in my mind. To wit:
>The main thing I dislike about TNG directing in general (and this episode was
>no exception as I recall) is that the directors don't do anything really
>interesting with a MOVING camera. Everything always seems to be standing
>still, which is very boring.
Using a moving camera is rare, I admit, but it's rarely if ever disturbed me
to any great extent. Are there any scenes in particular this week that you
think called for the moving camera?
>To use one of your examples:
>>--Right after Worf performs the death-ritual (and a more grief-stricken howl
>>I doubt I've ever heard), as he's talking to Alexander, the camera is behind,
>>to the right of, and a foot or two BELOW Alexander. And since he's still a
>>little kid, and Mike Dorn's so tall, Worf looks about a zillion feet tall.
>>Chilling, chilling effect, especially since he's about to go grab a weapon
>>and chop someone into tiny little bits with it. Brr.
>This didn't do a thing for me, not a thing. If Worf had looked and more
>precisely ACTED more menacing and the camera angle had been used for
>more of an effect, if there had been more movement, it might have been
>more effective.
What more needed to be done to make Worf look menacing? I found him more
frightening there than I have in a long time, if ever. (Granted, that's
because he used to make losing fights a hobby...:-) ) I thought the camera
presented the one effect that really did it for me--maybe something else
would have worked even better, but I can't entirely see how.
>Of course, one of the drawbacks to interesting directing in TNG is that TNG
>is so cisually sterile. There's nothing interesting to look at.
>Certainly the Enterprise sets are some of the blandest I can recall seeing
>on television.
Some of them, yes. The better bits, in my estimation, are the displays,
where Okuda and Sternbach really get to shine. The set designs are still
holdovers from Roddenberry's original TNG idea, I think.
>>While I've never had the objections to TNG music many people have, I will
>>accept that it's been a little...commonplace, shall we say. Not so here.
>>Much of the music here was powerful--in particular, I still remember the
>>music when K'Ehleyr's calling up the Klin net. Of course, we also heard a lot
>>of the Klingon theme (which is easily the best thing that ever came out of
>>ST:TMP), and some of the music from "The Emissary" resurfaced when Worf and
>>K'Ehleyr almost took the Oath. Nice work.
>I remember toward the ending noting that I found the music to be quite
>average for TNG. That is to say, nondescript.
Somehow I thought you might say that. Let's not get into this again...
>>Finally, there's Suzie Plakson. Ah, Suzie. I didn't think she could DO a
>>better job than she did in "The Emissary"--but she might have. Her
>>character's
>>changed a bit--she seemed more human here than she was last time 'round
>>(except
>>for the final confrontation with Duras--she was all Klingon then). But that's
>>fine--since she primarily works on the Federation side of things, it makes
>>sense to me that she'd be growing more human as her career evolved.
>I certainly did not find K'Ehleyr to seem even remotely Klingon at any
>point in the episode. The best she ever got was "human pretending to be
>Klingon".
All right, then--define to me what being "even remotely Klingon" entails. We
may be dealing with a difference in definition. I mean, hey--I enjoy "The
Trouble with Tribbles", but Koloth is very definitely NOT a Klingon in my
mind. (Kor, though...now THERE's a Klingon...:-) )
>I found her to be a rather boring character, as I said. She didn't have
>anything here to really make her stand out. Very generic, actually.
Again, I can't really answer this, since we're starting from different levels.
>>2) "We never found out exactly who killed K'Mpec!" To this I give a
>>resounding "So WHAT?" In performing the despicable acts that he did and
>>aligning himself with the Romulans (which was pretty much proven), Duras
>>proved
>>himself a worse candidate for leader than Gowron would be even if Gowron DID
>>poison K'Mpec. If Duras did it, fine. If Gowron did it, that's fine too--I
>>suspect he's not the greatest leader in the universe anyway.
>I agree that Duras deserved to die for the purposes of the story, but I
>*still* feel cheated for not knowing who poisoned K'Empec. The story
>lacks a sense of closure, which takes away from its power.
Lots of stories have lacked closure--some of them didn't need one. (Most of
them did, but not all.)
>>3) "Picard's letting Worf off with a REPRIMAND?! Come on!" This is the
>>closest thing to a valid complaint I can see. Had Worf's action taken place
>>just slightly earlier, before the matter had essentially settled itself
>>anyway,
>>I would have found that unacceptable. As it is, though, Worf more or less
>>just
>>compromised Starfleet values a little--deserving of a reprimand, surely, but
>>with the glowing record Worf DOES have, hardly worthy of drumming him out of
>>the service.
>I don't think he would be drummed out, either. I do think that this is
>another plot ramification that should be picked up on in future episodes
>(like, say, the next three or four, at least) in order for TNG to retain
>some of its rapidly-vanishing credibility as a series with continuity.
I don't know that they'll deal with it immediately--in fact, I rather doubt
they will. I'm dead certain, though, that they will be dealing once again with
aftereffects of this show at some point--after all, Worf and Kurn still need
to "convince" the Council to open their yaps.
>>NEXT WEEK:
>>Riker Van Winkle. The window-dressing is fantastic--in set/costume changes,
>>this looks to be on "Yesterday's Enterprise" level. Now if the story's as
>>good, we'll have another real winner on our hands.
>This one looks real good, from what little the teaser showed us. Cross
>those fingers...
Crossed.
Now, to answer your other rebuttal...
Michael Rawdon
>raw...@rex.cs.tulane.edu (Michael Rawdon) writes:
>>In <1990Nov8.0...@nntp-server.caltech.edu> tly...@nntp-server.caltech.edu (Timothy W. Lynch) writes:
>>Spoilers...
>>It just
>>didn't have the emotional impact.
>The hell it didn't. Tell that to the tears I choked back when I saw K'Ehleyr's
>broken body.
Naturally, I find it hard to be moved by a cardboard character...
>>Everything was kept so calm throughout
>>the episode. There was no real sense of urgency.
>No "urgency" was needed until the end. I saw a definite sense of TENSION
>throughout the show, which is necessary, but the only time urgency was called
>for, it appeared.
The only tension I saw in the episode until the very end revolved around
an issue that, ultimately, was left unresolved: Who poisoned K'Mpec.
Everything else I found interesting spun off from that. (Seeing as I
understood and completely agreed with Worf's attitudes toward K'Ehleyr and
their son, I didn't see much tension there.)
>>>Jonathan Frakes, in my estimation, is now 2 for 2 in directing stints. (His
>>>other one, in case you've forgotten, was "The Offspring".) While I've often
>>>had doubts about his acting ability, I now believe he's one of TNG's premier
>>>directors. Give him more shows. His entire direction was good, but some
>>>shots stuck in my mind. To wit:
>>The main thing I dislike about TNG directing in general (and this episode was
>>no exception as I recall) is that the directors don't do anything really
>>interesting with a MOVING camera. Everything always seems to be standing
>>still, which is very boring.
>Using a moving camera is rare, I admit, but it's rarely if ever disturbed me
>to any great extent. Are there any scenes in particular this week that you
>think called for the moving camera?
I certainly think imaginative use of a moving camera, or simply bizarre
camera angles at the least, could have moved the conferences between
Duras, Gowron and Picard into a higher plane of dramatic effectiveness.
The Klingons almost demand bizarre direction, especially since they're
visually very boring, having lost the mongoloid look they had in TOS.
Maybe the directors of Klingon episodes should go back and watch the
direction of John Colicos in "Errand Of Mercy"...
>>To use one of your examples:
>>>--Right after Worf performs the death-ritual (and a more grief-stricken howl
>>>I doubt I've ever heard), as he's talking to Alexander, the camera is behind,
>>>to the right of, and a foot or two BELOW Alexander. And since he's still a
>>>little kid, and Mike Dorn's so tall, Worf looks about a zillion feet tall.
>>>Chilling, chilling effect, especially since he's about to go grab a weapon
>>>and chop someone into tiny little bits with it. Brr.
>>This didn't do a thing for me, not a thing. If Worf had looked and more
>>precisely ACTED more menacing and the camera angle had been used for
>>more of an effect, if there had been more movement, it might have been
>>more effective.
>What more needed to be done to make Worf look menacing? I found him more
>frightening there than I have in a long time, if ever. (Granted, that's
>because he used to make losing fights a hobby...:-) ) I thought the camera
>presented the one effect that really did it for me--maybe something else
>would have worked even better, but I can't entirely see how.
I'm not quite sure EXACTLY what could have been done, but my impression
was basically one of "here's an angry guy" and not much else. Use of
close-ups, perhaps a frenetically moving camera in some places (moving WITH
him, maybe, as he stalked off down the halls), just more than the
stationary "this is what there is" type of direction. TNG seems
reluctant to use the camera for effect, and they seem expecially reluctant to
present anyone, especially Worf, as truly alien.
>>I certainly did not find K'Ehleyr to seem even remotely Klingon at any
>>point in the episode. The best she ever got was "human pretending to be
>>Klingon".
>All right, then--define to me what being "even remotely Klingon" entails. We
>may be dealing with a difference in definition. I mean, hey--I enjoy "The
>Trouble with Tribbles", but Koloth is very definitely NOT a Klingon in my
>mind. (Kor, though...now THERE's a Klingon...:-) )
She doesn't seem savage in the least. She doesn't seem ambitious or
driven, either (which is certainly very strange for a Klingon). She
never seemed threatening to anyone, much less Gowron. She seemed rather
like a human trying to be diplomatic to a hostile person.
I wouldn't say Koloth was especially Klingon either, but then, "Tribbles"
being a comedy and all, I don't think he was supposed to...
>>I agree that Duras deserved to die for the purposes of the story, but I
>>*still* feel cheated for not knowing who poisoned K'Empec. The story
>>lacks a sense of closure, which takes away from its power.
>Lots of stories have lacked closure--some of them didn't need one. (Most of
>them did, but not all.)
I think this one did.
Atsushi Kanamori
>In <1990Nov8.0...@nntp-server.caltech.edu> tly...@nntp-server.caltech.edu (Timothy W. Lynch) writes:
>Spoilers...
>>
>
>*Smirk*
>
*Ditto*
: : . . : :
: : : :.:: : :.. .:
::::::::::.: :::::::
------------ ---------------------------------------------------------
TNG Lifelines: From Yesterday's Enterprise To Reunion ("Warriors do not
ask so many questions." - Worf)
R. Timothy Smith
>SEVERE WARNING: The following post contains spoiler information critical to
>full enjoyment of the TNG episode "Reunion".
(1)
>
>K'Mpec tells Picard that he's sure one of the factions' leaders poisoned him,
>and tells Picard to find out which it is--Gowron, an outsider, or _Duras_, the
>Klingon responsible for almost killing Picard and for Worf's accepting
>discommendation. Picard, of course, accepts [...]
What does it mean to say that Gowron is an "outsider"?
(2)
>Meanwhile, Worf finds that Alexander knows nothing of Klingon ways (and doesn't
>even WANT to be a warrior), but when he confronts K'Ehleyr with this, she tells
>him that she is half-human, and that Alexander will choose his own way. [...]
Obviously my memory is worse than I realized -- somewhere along the way
(prior to watching _Reunion_) I had come to think that K'Ehleyr was half
Klingon and half Romulan. Who have I confused her with (i.e., what
previous Star Trek character was half-Klin/half-Rom)? (Boy, is this
embarrassing?!?)
(3)
> [...] Duras demands that the rite of
>succession be completed immediately, and when Picard balks, there's suddenly an
>explosion, which kills two Klingons and injures others.
The later upshot of this is that the bomb was implanted in the arm of
one of the Klingons who was killed, that the bomb had Romulan origins,
and that this Klingon was one of Duras' men. But does it necessarily
follow that this was done under Duras' direction? Is it possible that
the bomb-carrying Klingon was planted by Gowron (or someone else who
wanted Duras out of the picture) and that an underling of Duras was the
likely place to do this because such a person would be expected to be near
Duras when the bomb detonated (at least more likely than that he'd be
anywhere near Gowron)?
(4)
>Duras and Gowron are anxious to begin the ritual combat which decides the
>Council's leader, and nearly attack each other before Picard manages to
>impose order. They're not thrilled to hear that Picard is holding the Zha-Juc,
>in which both candidates must give verbal evidence about the battles they've
>served in, awards they've won, and so forth, to qualify for the leadership.
I'm assuming by his presence that Duras was part of the Council
from _Sins of the Father_, which also indicated he had allies;
but was Gowron there? How can a Klingon who is not even part of the
Council be high/powerful enough to move directly to Leadership of the Council?
(5)
Along those lines, what does one do to be part of the Council -- especially
seeing as how:
>After we see Worf showing Alexander the batlekh, a weapon that's been in his
>family for ten generations, we see K'Ehleyr talking to Gowron. Gowron points
>out that she could accelerate the selection process, offers her anything she
>desires up to and including a Council seat, [...]
(6 & 7)
Later ...
> [...] Worf and Alexander enter
>K'Ehleyr's quarters--and find her alone, bloodied, and dying. Worf urgently
>summons a medical team, then hears K'Ehleyr say Duras was responsible. [...]
Did she actually say "Duras"? I thought she just groaned in response to
Worf's first question as to whether it was Gowron; Worf inferred Duras;
and K'Ehleyr then said "Alexander" .... And although the response time
for Crusher to arrive was probably more realistic than usual (short of
point-to-point beaming), did it strike others as being noticeably longer
than we've come to expect in similar circumstances from past episodes?
(8)
>I thought she did a marvelous job--and I am downright MAD that we'll never get
>to see K'Ehleyr again. I can't take off points for it, because killing her
>worked like few other things I know of have (certainly, it had a much bigger
>effect than it did when Tasha died, in part because I didn't know this one was
>coming), and because it was done magnificently [...]
The circumstances reminded me of the phrase -- be careful what you wish
for, you may get it. Many have lamented that no one of consequence ever
dies in Star Trek, certainly not recurring characters. I was so shook
by their letting this character die that when Worf in turn terminates
Duras (fulfilling another common lament that Worf always get beat up
and never gets to win against anyone) it was too soon to find satisfaction
in it. In fact, in a word, that was my final reaction to this
episode -- it was not "satisfying." Surprising, yes; but not satisfying.
(9)
>On another technical note, the Klingon makeup jobs were up to their usual
>good standards--and I particularly noted that the ridges on Alexander's head
>really looked to be something in between Worf's brow and K'Ehleyr's brow, which
>is a great attention to detail.
I've no complaint with the make-up, but for the first time the Klingon
costumes struck me as ... I dunno ... cheap (?) -- especially during the
meetings with Picard on the Enterprise. Maybe it's the difference in
lighting -- on the Klingon ships or the home planet, things are dark and/or
smokey, and the costumes never bothered me. But in the bright light they
lost any sense of realism.
(10)
Finally ...
> [...] When he [Picard] asks Worf if there's
>any point in keeping silent about Duras's guilt any more, Worf points out that
>the members of the Council all participated in the lie as well--but one day, he
>says, he and his brother will "convince" them to speak the truth.
I thought only Picard, Worf, K'Mpec, and Duras were privy to knowing the
truth as to who was the traitor leading to the Kittimer Massacre. How can
Worf then say that the rest of the Council "participated in the lie" as
they did not know what had occurred. And if they don't know, how can they
later "speak the truth"?
-=-=-=-
Well, so much for revealing my ignorance and confusion; I'm sure you
all will set me straight right quick. Thanks!
- R. Tim Smith, University of Delaware, Newark, DE
PS - Thanks to Mr. Lynch for providing us the synopsis into which I
could intersperse my comments and questions.
Timothy W. Lynch
>>>It just
>>>didn't have the emotional impact.
>>The hell it didn't. Tell that to the tears I choked back when I saw
>>K'Ehleyr's broken body.
>Naturally, I find it hard to be moved by a cardboard character...
This is, methinks, not only a deadlock, but a rapidly heating one. Best drop
it here before I do something I'll regret.
>>No "urgency" was needed until the end. I saw a definite sense of TENSION
>>throughout the show, which is necessary, but the only time urgency was called
>>for, it appeared.
>The only tension I saw in the episode until the very end revolved around
>an issue that, ultimately, was left unresolved: Who poisoned K'Mpec.
>Everything else I found interesting spun off from that. (Seeing as I
>understood and completely agreed with Worf's attitudes toward K'Ehleyr and
>their son, I didn't see much tension there.)
You don't consider choosing the next ruler of the Klingon Empire to be a rather
tension-inducing situation? Who poisoned K'Mpec was an important factor in
that choice, but the underlying source of tension, IMHO, was the selection of
the new leader.
And the issue of tension over Worf's son is a dying one here, since it directly
depends on solely emotional issues.
>>>The main thing I dislike about TNG directing in general (and this episode
>>>was no exception as I recall) is that the directors don't do anything really
>>>interesting with a MOVING camera. Everything always seems to be standing
>>>still, which is very boring.
>>Using a moving camera is rare, I admit, but it's rarely if ever disturbed me
>>to any great extent. Are there any scenes in particular this week that you
>>think called for the moving camera?
>I certainly think imaginative use of a moving camera, or simply bizarre
>camera angles at the least, could have moved the conferences between
>Duras, Gowron and Picard into a higher plane of dramatic effectiveness.
>The Klingons almost demand bizarre direction, especially since they're
>visually very boring, having lost the mongoloid look they had in TOS.
>Maybe the directors of Klingon episodes should go back and watch the
>direction of John Colicos in "Errand Of Mercy"...
Hmm. I think I'll have to fall back on an old answer of mine: yes, something
like that could probably have made things more interesting, but I found them
interesting enough anyway that it didn't matter to me. Nothing's perfect in
this world.
[on Worf right after K'Ehleyr's death]
>>What more needed to be done to make Worf look menacing? I found him more
>>frightening there than I have in a long time, if ever. (Granted, that's
>>because he used to make losing fights a hobby...:-) ) I thought the camera
>>presented the one effect that really did it for me--maybe something else
>>would have worked even better, but I can't entirely see how.
>I'm not quite sure EXACTLY what could have been done, but my impression
>was basically one of "here's an angry guy" and not much else.
Boy, you really are jaded when it comes to anger. :-) Coming from NYC in my
bygone youth, I think I've seen plenty of anger--but this was quite a bit more
chilling.
>Use of
>close-ups, perhaps a frenetically moving camera in some places (moving WITH
>him, maybe, as he stalked off down the halls), just more than the
>stationary "this is what there is" type of direction.
I'll refer you to my answer a screen or two above.
>TNG seems
>reluctant to use the camera for effect, and they seem expecially reluctant to
>present anyone, especially Worf, as truly alien.
The latter I will MOSTLY agree with--though I think they did manage to bring
out the nonhumanity of Worf's value structure by the end. If they did that
more often, I'd not object.
>>>I certainly did not find K'Ehleyr to seem even remotely Klingon at any
>>>point in the episode. The best she ever got was "human pretending to be
>>>Klingon".
>>All right, then--define to me what being "even remotely Klingon" entails. We
>>may be dealing with a difference in definition. I mean, hey--I enjoy "The
>>Trouble with Tribbles", but Koloth is very definitely NOT a Klingon in my
>>mind. (Kor, though...now THERE's a Klingon...:-) )
>She doesn't seem savage in the least. She doesn't seem ambitious or
>driven, either (which is certainly very strange for a Klingon). She
>never seemed threatening to anyone, much less Gowron. She seemed rather
>like a human trying to be diplomatic to a hostile person.
Boy, I don't think she was diplomatic in the least, towards Gowron OR Duras.
Actually, I've thought some things over after considering what I saw in "The
Emissary", and I'll summarize what we found out, since you've not been
fortunate enough to have seen the show yet:
K'Ehleyr ends up talking to Troi about being of two races. She thinks she's
got the worst of each--her mother's sense of humor (which I think was apparent
here) has "gotten me into PLENTY of trouble", and her Klingon side. Her
Klingon side, she says, she keeps under TIGHT control--"it's like a terrible
temper, not something I like for people to see...". She lets it loose once or
twice in "The Emissary", but not often.
To wit, I think she's tried to have a basically human attitude--she's always
tried to PREVENT herself from acting Klingon. That attempt may have proved
fatal in the end (who's to say?), but I think her performance may be a bit
more understandable in that regard.
>I wouldn't say Koloth was especially Klingon either, but then, "Tribbles"
>being a comedy and all, I don't think he was supposed to...
And yet, says the devil's advocate, you consider "The Naked Now", ANOTHER
comedy, to be important primarily in its characterization? Exactly when is
characterization important, and when isn't it?
>>Lots of stories have lacked closure--some of them didn't need one. (Most of
>>them did, but not all.)
>I think this one did.
Suit y'self.
Tim Lynch (Cornell's first Astronomy B.A.; one of many Caltech grad students)
BITNET: tlynch@citjuliet
INTERNET: tly...@juliet.caltech.edu
UUCP: ...!ucbvax!tlynch%juliet.ca...@hamlet.caltech.edu
"It is happening again."
Timothy W. Lynch
>In article <1990Nov8.0...@nntp-server.caltech.edu>
> tly...@juliet.caltech.edu writes:
>>SEVERE WARNING: The following post contains spoiler information critical to
>>full enjoyment of the TNG episode "Reunion".
>What does it mean to say that Gowron is an "outsider"?
I would assume that it means he wasn't on the council. Don't ask me--ask Worf.
HE said it. :-)
>(2)
>>Meanwhile, Worf finds that Alexander knows nothing of Klingon ways (and
>>doesn't
>>even WANT to be a warrior), but when he confronts K'Ehleyr with this, she
>>tells
>>him that she is half-human, and that Alexander will choose his own way. [...]
>Obviously my memory is worse than I realized -- somewhere along the way
>(prior to watching _Reunion_) I had come to think that K'Ehleyr was half
>Klingon and half Romulan. Who have I confused her with (i.e., what
>previous Star Trek character was half-Klin/half-Rom)? (Boy, is this
>embarrassing?!?)
Yep, your memory's bad. :-) I know of no character who's been half-Klingon,
half-Rihan, though others may.
Whether this is embarrassing or not I'll leave up to you. :-) (Hey, you
phrased it as a question...)
[the explosion]
>The later upshot of this is that the bomb was implanted in the arm of
>one of the Klingons who was killed, that the bomb had Romulan origins,
>and that this Klingon was one of Duras' men. But does it necessarily
>follow that this was done under Duras' direction? Is it possible that
>the bomb-carrying Klingon was planted by Gowron (or someone else who
>wanted Duras out of the picture) and that an underling of Duras was the
>likely place to do this because such a person would be expected to be near
>Duras when the bomb detonated (at least more likely than that he'd be
>anywhere near Gowron)?
These are good points, currently under debate elsewhere. I still think that
Duras was responsible, but am open to TNG's later attempts to show me I'm
wrong.
>I'm assuming by his presence that Duras was part of the Council
>from _Sins of the Father_, which also indicated he had allies;
>but was Gowron there? How can a Klingon who is not even part of the
>Council be high/powerful enough to move directly to Leadership of the Council?
How can an out-of-work actor become president of the US? Politics is politics.
>Along those lines, what does one do to be part of the Council -- especially
>seeing as how:
>>After we see Worf showing Alexander the batlekh, a weapon that's been in his
>>family for ten generations, we see K'Ehleyr talking to Gowron. Gowron points
>>out that she could accelerate the selection process, offers her anything she
>>desires up to and including a Council seat, [...]
We don't really know the intricacies of the Klingon power structure, and I'm
not sure we ever will. Your guess is as good as mine.
>> [...] Worf and Alexander enter
>>K'Ehleyr's quarters--and find her alone, bloodied, and dying. Worf urgently
>>summons a medical team, then hears K'Ehleyr say Duras was responsible. [...]
>Did she actually say "Duras"? I thought she just groaned in response to
>Worf's first question as to whether it was Gowron; Worf inferred Duras;
>and K'Ehleyr then said "Alexander" ....
You're right--my mistake. I thought I saw her shaking her head when Worf
asked about Gowron, though, which implies to me that it was Duras. But I
could be wrong (shh! don't tell Michael! :-) ).
>I thought only Picard, Worf, K'Mpec, and Duras were privy to knowing the
>truth as to who was the traitor leading to the Kittimer Massacre. How can
>Worf then say that the rest of the Council "participated in the lie" as
>they did not know what had occurred. And if they don't know, how can they
>later "speak the truth"?
It wasn't clear at the end of "Sins of the Father" exactly who knew and who
didn't. But I'd be surprised if NONE of the rest of the Council knew.
>Well, so much for revealing my ignorance and confusion; I'm sure you
>all will set me straight right quick. Thanks!
I'm doing my best. :-)
Tim Lynch
James K. Huggins
|In article <1990Nov8.0...@nntp-server.caltech.edu>
| tly...@juliet.caltech.edu writes:
|>K'Mpec tells Picard that he's sure one of the factions' leaders poisoned him,
|>and tells Picard to find out which it is--Gowron, an outsider, or _Duras_, the
|>Klingon responsible for almost killing Picard and for Worf's accepting
|>discommendation. Picard, of course, accepts [...]
|
|What does it mean to say that Gowron is an "outsider"?
told him that Gowron and Duras were the two candidates to lead the Council.
|(2)
|>Meanwhile, Worf finds that Alexander knows nothing of Klingon ways (& doesn't
|>even WANT to be a warrior), but when he confronts K'Ehleyr, she tells
|>him that she is half-human, and that Alexander will choose his own way. [...]
|
|Obviously my memory is worse than I realized -- somewhere along the way
|(prior to watching _Reunion_) I had come to think that K'Ehleyr was half
|Klingon and half Romulan. Who have I confused her with (i.e., what
|previous Star Trek character was half-Klin/half-Rom)? (Boy, is this
|embarrassing?!?)
half-Vulcan/half-Romulan. Is this what you're thinking about?
|(10)
|Finally ...
|> [...] When he [Picard] asks Worf if there's
|>any point in keeping silent about Duras's guilt any more, Worf points out that
|>the members of the Council all participated in the lie -- but one day, he
|>says, he and his brother will "convince" them to speak the truth.
|
|I thought only Picard, Worf, K'Mpec, and Duras were privy to knowing the
|truth as to who was the traitor leading to the Kittimer Massacre. How can
|Worf then say that the rest of the Council "participated in the lie" as
|they did not know what had occurred. And if they don't know, how can they
|later "speak the truth"?
I believe K'Mpec had said during "Sins Of The Father" that it was
common knowledge among the Council that it was Duras' father who betrayed
the Empire at Khittomer. The problem was that Duras' family was
very powerful and such a revelation would have split the empire. So,
they pinned the event on Worf's father, hoping he wouldn't challenge it...
Jim Huggins, Univ. of Michigan
Michael Rawdon
>raw...@rex.cs.tulane.edu (Michael Rawdon) writes:
>tension-inducing situation? Who poisoned K'Mpec was an important factor in
>that choice, but the underlying source of tension, IMHO, was the selection of
>the new leader.
I didn't feel much tension in there, except when Picard and K'Mpec were
talking, because they didn't really go very far to show us exactly why
there should BE tension. It looked, to me, like a no-win scenario, (Hey,
Picard couldn't beat the no-win scenario! :-) which means I don't really
care WHO becomes leader, since neither one will make me feel much more
comfortable.
[On the merit of better direction:]
>Hmm. I think I'll have to fall back on an old answer of mine: yes, something
>like that could probably have made things more interesting, but I found them
>interesting enough anyway that it didn't matter to me. Nothing's perfect in
>this world.
True, but I always find it interesting, in retrospect, how close Trek
has come on occasion ("The Doomsday Machine", ST2:TWOK). Just a little
non-sequitur...
>To wit, I think she's tried to have a basically human attitude--she's always
>tried to PREVENT herself from acting Klingon. That attempt may have proved
>fatal in the end (who's to say?), but I think her performance may be a bit
>more understandable in that regard.
Somewhat. I guess I'll wait to see "The Emissary".
>>I wouldn't say Koloth was especially Klingon either, but then, "Tribbles"
>>being a comedy and all, I don't think he was supposed to...
>And yet, says the devil's advocate, you consider "The Naked Now", ANOTHER
>comedy, to be important primarily in its characterization? Exactly when is
>characterization important, and when isn't it?
Well, there's a difference. "The Naked Now" was a characterization vehicle
with overtones of comedy. "Tribbles" was first and foremost a comedy, with
dramatic undertones. "Tribbles" mainly had to keep its characterization
consistent in order to build its humor from the character interaction.
"Naked", on the other hand, was actually BUILDING characterization, and the
humor was largely incidental to the story.
>>>Lots of stories have lacked closure--some of them didn't need one. (Most of
>>>them did, but not all.)
>>I think this one did.
>Suit y'self.
Always do. Can you honestly say you don't? :-)
Timothy W. Lynch
>In <1990Nov11.2...@nntp-server.caltech.edu> tly...@nntp-server.caltech.edu (Timothy W. Lynch) writes:
>>You don't consider choosing the next ruler of the Klingon Empire to be a
>>rather
>>tension-inducing situation? Who poisoned K'Mpec was an important factor in
>>that choice, but the underlying source of tension, IMHO, was the selection of
>>the new leader.
>I didn't feel much tension in there, except when Picard and K'Mpec were
>talking, because they didn't really go very far to show us exactly why
>there should BE tension. It looked, to me, like a no-win scenario, (Hey,
>Picard couldn't beat the no-win scenario! :-) which means I don't really
>care WHO becomes leader, since neither one will make me feel much more
>comfortable.
Neither one is close to K'Mpec's level, this is true. This was also the
point, I think. It's less a no-win scenario than damage control--and Picard
had to ensure the Federation's best interests while mediating.
>[On the merit of better direction:]
>>Hmm. I think I'll have to fall back on an old answer of mine: yes, something
>>like that could probably have made things more interesting, but I found them
>>interesting enough anyway that it didn't matter to me. Nothing's perfect in
>>this world.
>True, but I always find it interesting, in retrospect, how close Trek
>has come on occasion ("The Doomsday Machine", ST2:TWOK). Just a little
>non-sequitur...
Yep...and one I don't entirely agree with (at least, not your choices). But
that's fodder for later debate.
>>>I wouldn't say Koloth was especially Klingon either, but then, "Tribbles"
>>>being a comedy and all, I don't think he was supposed to...
>>And yet, says the devil's advocate, you consider "The Naked Now", ANOTHER
>>comedy, to be important primarily in its characterization? Exactly when is
>>characterization important, and when isn't it?
>Well, there's a difference. "The Naked Now" was a characterization vehicle
>with overtones of comedy. "Tribbles" was first and foremost a comedy, with
>dramatic undertones. "Tribbles" mainly had to keep its characterization
>consistent in order to build its humor from the character interaction.
>"Naked", on the other hand, was actually BUILDING characterization, and the
>humor was largely incidental to the story.
Hoo, boy. Now you're wielding rationalizations right and left. Given the
claims you make above about the two stories, I see your point. However, since
I never considered TNN a characterization vehicle, that falls completely apart
for me.