TNG S4E7 "Reunion" Review by AnswerMan

Horrible:Meh:Adequate:Good:Fantastic

The Enterprise is met by a Klingon ship, and a lady Klingon ambassador asks to board. Worf insists that someone else in security go meet the guest, because since he is such a disgrace, it would be inappropriate for him to do it. It's totally not because he doesn't want to be around his crazy ex. When she beams in, there are two travelers, one being a Klingon child. At this point the audience is aware that this episode will have a Maury Povich moment. The moment they're alone it's all confirmed by Ambassador K'Ehleyr, Worf is the father, and she never told him because she knew he would want go marry her or do some insane placenta death ritual or something. She is half human, and pretty much thinks all the Klingon posturing and ceremonial actions are a bunch of hooey. I like her!



The nature of the visit is to inform Picard that the Klingon chancellor K'mpec is dying, and he wishes for Picard to officiate the selection of a new chancellor. Someone has been slowly poisoning the aging chancellor, and he believes it is one of the contestants for his position. In one corner you have Gowron, who we've never met before. He has the creepiest beady eyes, but apart from that we have nothing against him. In the other corner we have Duras, who is responsible for Worf's recent discommendation, is a known liar, consorts with Romulans, recently tried to kill Picard, and never washes his hands after using the restroom. So it's clearly Duras that poisoned him. There is very little pretense of a mystery here, it's really more about proving what we already know. In an effort to buy time to do just that, Picard and the female ambassador invoke some ancient clause that takes the proceedings from being a short battle to the death to a big drawn out affair. Then there's a bomb that kills some redshirt Klingons, and they find that it has a Romulan component to it, so they're looking even closer at Duras.

Those eyes tho...

Meanwhile K'Ehleyr is digging around trying to figure out why Worf was stripped of his honor. She knows that neither him nor his father are traitors, so there must be more to it. She begins to piece together that it was Duras's father who was the traitor responsible for the massacre at Khitomer, She leaves behind traces of her snooping, which draws the attention of Duras. He comes to visit her on the Enterprise and promptly kills her. Worf finds her and lets out a guttural mournful scream that cuts the soul. It's actually a really well-performed scene. He then goes full-on Klingon and finds Duras to fight him. He's told that he has no claim since he's a traitor, but Worf cites People V Kahless or some dumb shit that grants even a traitor's right to claim vengeance for the loss of a mate. It's silly how technical the rules are for whether or not you're allowed to just slaughter a person without a trial when you become angry. No surprise, Worf is triumphant in the battle to the death, and Duras is dead. Gowron becomes Chancellor, and Worf gets a stern talking to from Picard about abandoning his post to go murder leaders of other nations. The Klingon child, Alexander, is left to Worf's care. He immediately continues being a deadbeat dad and pawns him off on his adoptive earth parents.

I'm not a fan of Klingon episodes, and this one is not an exception. However, with the introduction of Alexander, a character that we will see off and on again clear through DS9, this episode struck me as an important one. Also we are given hope that with Gowron in charge, someday Worf will get his honor back after that whole nightmare of events that we were recently dragged through. I find this episode to be Adequate; an ok balance between the ongoing story arc of Worf and annoying Klingon blustering.

Published April 10, 2017