Wanderlust

1.20 — “Heart of Glory”

1.20 — “Heart of Glory”

Plot: Ford, Marvin, Arthur, Trillian, and Zaphod Beeblebrox engage the Infinite Improbability Drive and… wait, wrong episode. In this episode, Picard takes aboard three armored Klingon warriors, rescued from a derelict freighter under mysterious circumstances. Worf’s encounter with other members of his species awakens buried feelings of aggression and honor, and tests his loyalty to the Enterprise.

Thoughts: I think if Season One, overall, had been better, I might have more of a problem with this episode. Some of the plot logic and dramatic moments feel false. I don’t understand why it is so easy to blow up the ship with one well-placed phaser blast (yet it takes three to kill a Klingon?). Given that this is so, I don’t understand why Korris doesn’t just do it when he has the chance.

I guess I’m a sucker for melodrama, however (or it’s been a long drought!), but I loved this episode. It wasn’t quite the kind of story we ever saw in TOS, but it was ambitious, and actually made good use of Worf. I look forward to more Worf-centric episodes in the future. I didn’t watch this with the sense that nobody was really trying. They are building out the Star Trek universe, taking risks, and trying (for once!) to do something interesting.

Best of all, we have a story where a member of the crew puzzles about their true nature as a sapient being, and confronts an honest moral dilemma. Although the episode goes a bit shoot-em-up cowboy at the end, I still felt like I was watching Star Trek. Not brilliant Star Trek, maybe, but fairly riveting nonetheless. Just look at that picture. Grade: Pass.

What did you think?

http://en.memory-alpha.org/wiki/Heart_of_Glory

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9 responses to “1.20 — “Heart of Glory””

  1. Randi Cohen Avatar
    Randi Cohen

    Snoozefest.  Focus on technology rather than character development (e.g. let’s all look through Giordi’s magic glasses for a while).  Klingon death cry feels kind of silly to me (sorry, Kev!).  

    Nice to hear a little bit about Worf’s background.  However his decisions in this episode make little sense – these guys tell him they destroyed a Klingon ship yet he doesn’t tell the Captain and proceeds to continue on the tour of the ship?  

    I did like the part where the Klingons are like, what the heck, you think we take hostages like we are puny little girls or something?  We are KLINGONS.  We won’t even justify your assumption with a reply.

    Nice Worf speech on the bridge and overall really nice last 5 minutes or so of the episode.  Probably worth putting up with the rest of the episode for the sake of those 5 minutes.

    Reply
  2. Kevin Black Avatar
    Kevin Black

    I hate to warn you, but the next two EPs don’t get better! Have to take the highlights where you find them.

    Reply
  3. Kevin Black Avatar
    Kevin Black

    I was thinking of doubling up on episodes some days in Season Two, just so it doesn’t take as long to get through it. I’m not yet prepared to start skipping episodes, but while watching the next two EPs, the thought did cross my mind.

    Reply
  4. Randi Cohen Avatar
    Randi Cohen

    I second the thought of doubling up… I really don’t want to take this long to get through Season Two!

    Reply
  5. Kevin Black Avatar
    Kevin Black

    One thing I notice is that Trek writers seem to be much more enamored with rogue Klingons than the modern, bound-by-peace-treaty Klingons. The Klingons in this episode are wearing the costumes of Christopher Lloyd’s rogue Klingon crew from ST3.

    Still, at least in this episode, it’s a good platform for a meditation on the virtue of rising above our baser instincts and sticking with doing the right thing, even when it’s hard.

    Reply
  6. Kevin Black Avatar
    Kevin Black

    Welcome, folks (wherever all you plussers are coming from)! Subscribe to the community and join our rewatch. 121 episodes of Star Trek down, 604 to go.

    https://plus.google.com/u/0/communities/105070501462876214405

    Reply
  7. R. Alex Reutter Avatar
    R. Alex Reutter

    Random thoughts while watching:

    A battle!  In the Neutral Zone? 

    Shall we separate the saucer?  WTF Riker?  Is that a serious suggestion?  (note: later, Worf explains that the Enterprise is an even better warship without the saucer.  Whatever, it sounds drastic here, and they don’t do it as a matter of course later in the series.)

    Mr. Laforge, are we close enough to try the technobabble thingyum that will never be used again after this episode is over?  (I can always hope, but…) Oh, it’s Geordie character development through his disability time.  This is awkward and clumsy.

    “This is Commander William Riker of the U.S.S. Enterprise!  I’m going to try to knock down the door with my forehead!”

    They open the door and find… Klingons!  Wow.  Did we just spend nearly 10 minutes exploring the derelict ship?  That’s brave.  

    So, one of the Klingons died and I’m guessing they now they need another to take his place in whatever scheme they have.  (note: turns out there is no grand plan; I guess these are Klingons, and planning ahead is Not Their Way)

    So, Worf and his brother, who hated space more than farming (like a reverse Luke Skywalker), both got into Starfleet Academy and neither Wesley nor the other two highly qualified candidates made it in just the last episode.  Sure, seems legit.

    Really?  Security didn’t seal off the turbolifts into the area where the Klingons were?  Sure, it’s in the name of Klingons don’t take prisoners, but is awfully character convenience central.

    Really?!  The security guy charges into the room rather than waiting for backup?  Your job is to contain, hero!  We complained a lot about process and procedure in TOS, but you’d think Starfleet would have figured this out by now.

    Still, all in all, a good Klingon culture-building episode.

    Reply
  8. Kevin Black Avatar
    Kevin Black

    Uh-oh, wait until the next episode. Saucer separation is GO!

    Reply
  9. R. Alex Reutter Avatar
    R. Alex Reutter

    I’m watching it now!  WOOO-HOOOO! Monophylos Fortikos, that’s a good point, I do like the fact that it highlights the fact that the Enterprise is an exploration vessel with families and not purely a military vessel.

    Reply

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