2.8 — “A Matter of Honor”
Plot: Riker volunteers for an officer exchange program within Starfleet, which places him as first officer aboard a Klingon Bird of Prey commanded by Captain Kargan. Riker must find a way to fit in and prove himself among the Klingon crew. A misunderstanding involving ship-eating space bacteria (don’t try to say that fast) soon turns matters grave as the Bird of Prey prepares to attack the Enterprise with Riker on board.
Thoughts: I appreciate the audacity of this episode. It’s ambitious to show us the inner workings of a Klingon ship and crew. There’s also the wide selection of Klingon food, including the first appearance of the gagh (“always best when served live”). I take it that the concept of an officer exchange program is one that will recur throughout the series, as a means of bringing interesting guest stars onto the ship.
It’s also a good episode for Riker, doing much to establish his character as intrepid and curious, while still willing to brawl, act tough, and eat strange foods.
It’s far from a perfect episode, however. It’s not obvious to me why all Klingon food is safe and nutritious for humans. It’s not Chinese food, it’s food from outer space. The whole subplot involving Ensign Mendon is fired. I thought that, at worst, this subplot would be insipid and boring. Then we are treated to the scene of Wesley teaching Mendon that everyone makes mistakes, so he should feel good about himself (MENDON: You’re right. I’ll do it your way. I’ll work even harder than I did before, and I’ll succeed brilliantly). This scene made me gag more than the gagh.
The sight of Riker aboard a Bird of Prey attacking the Enterprise is stirring, but it is never explained where the hull-eating organism came from, or how it transferred between ships. Thank goodness it can be removed using a “tunneling neutrino beam.” I don’t really buy the Klingon captain jumping to the conclusion that this is an attack, disregarding the Enterprise’s messages to the contrary, and then preparing to counterattack from ambush with no warning. This hardly seems like an honorable way to proceed. The “with friends like these, who needs enemies” cliché is apt.
I’m just not in love with these Klingons. Kor, the original Klingon from “Errand of Mercy” (played by John Colicos), was cultured and urbane–a worthy adversary for Kirk. TOS’ Klingons were more threatening because they were sophisticated. These Klingons are rage clowns. The humor is a bit broad for me.
If the whole crew are warriors, who are they fighting all the time? Surely they wouldn’t be included as part of the Federation if they were still pillaging worlds, as in the TOS era. Is it just civil wars? A society that doles out merit by capacity to give out and sustain physical abuse just isn’t that interesting to me (although it’s okay if you’ve got an actor the caliber of Christopher Lloyd leading the pack).
Memory Alpha says director Rob Bowman (this is his second Klingon-centered episode after 1.20 “Heart of Glory”) was going through a divorce at the time, and he and Jonathan Frakes poured a lot of aggression into the scenes. Bowman directed 13 episodes of TNG, all but one of them taking place in the first two seasons. He went on to direct over 30 episodes of The X Files and directed The X Files Movie.
Warp 4 of 6.
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