127. Heart of GloryWHY WE LIKE IT: A great look at Worf and Klingon culture, including that eye-popping death yell.
WHY WE DON'T: There are two characters that make me fall asleep here - K'nera and, as ever, Tasha Yar.
REVIEW: The appearance of a couple of Klingon renegades gives Worf a chance to tell his story and shine in Heart of Glory, and it's nice to finally see the Klingons appear on The Next Generation, period. A real fanatic, Korris is a typical charismatic whose words are poetry, which makes the temptation of Worf more credible. In fact, there's a religious tone to those scenes that works in the episode's favor, and if these guys were zealots, it helps explain why, for example, we never see very many death yells after this (Konmel desn't even warrant one). But those death yells are part of the real appeal of this episode.
Worf makes a good showing throughout, finally resolving the situation, and telling us what it means to be a warrior in a pacifist society. A lot of his personal history comes out, only briefly but it sets up a lot of future episodes. The other Klingons also do well, with their hidden weapon a perfect moment for this warrior race. K'nera's reaction to their deaths tells us a lot about these Next Gen Klingons as well, though the character is dully acted. What a snorefest this guy is.
I must also commend the direction in Heart of Glory, it has some real flair. The scenes on the Batris are atmospheric, there's a real hairy moment as they're about to transport back, Korris' fall in engineering is really cool (if unrealistic - breakaway glass for a floor?), and the last death yell beats out of the first one easily. Wow. Another thumbs up for the musical cues.
Geordi's point of view makes for a nice aside, though it's totally in the first season's tradition of introducing an element that makes sense, but is then never seen again (or only irregularly), like saucer separation or Riker forbidding Picard to get into scrapes. Troi and Wesley are once again missing, but the other regulars all get a little to do and they do it well. The exception is Tasha who seems about to be phased out in favor of the much more interesting Worf. She's incredibly incompetent in this episode, not securing deck 17 in any way and allowing a hostage situation to present itself, almost screwing up a critical transport, and on top of it all, delivering her lines very badly. Ugh.
LESSON: Rumors of a battle in another sector might be enough to call for saucer sep. A Klingon pointing a disruptor at the warp core? Not so much.
REWATCHABILITY - High: I was surprised how good this episode was. Generally well acted and superlatively directed, it's a great early showcase for Worf. More please!
Comments