{"id":6212,"date":"2015-10-01T05:53:52","date_gmt":"2015-10-01T05:53:52","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/47-Reunion"},"modified":"2015-10-01T05:53:52","modified_gmt":"2015-10-01T05:53:52","slug":"47-reunion","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/relivethemajesty.com\/index.php\/2015\/10\/01\/47-reunion\/","title":{"rendered":"4.7 — \u201cReunion\u201d"},"content":{"rendered":"\n \n

4.7 — \u201cReunion\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Plot:<\/strong> K\u2019Ehleyr’s return to the Enterprise<\/em> marks an intrigue-filled episode steeped in the politics of the Klingon succession. Surprisingly, K’Ehleyr has a young Klingon in tow. Guess who his father is?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Thoughts:<\/strong> A string of random thoughts. I love the Big-Eyes Klingon! Gowron. His brain pan markings make him look like one of the aliens in Mars Attacks!<\/em> (1996).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The writing credit on this episode is immense: Teleplay by Thomas Perry & Jo Perry and Ronald D. Moore & Brannon Braga. Story by Drew Deighan and Thomas Perry & Jo Perry. It helps when the Klingon episodes smash together a lot of concepts, sometimes melding ideas from two or more spec scripts. The same happened in “Sins of the Father,” creating a density of plot turns that really keeps the episode moving.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

K\u2019Ehleyr\u2019s costumes, disappointingly, are less colorful than they were in TNG 2.20, \u201cThe Emissary,\u201d where they basically dressed Suzie Plakson as the Klingon Wonder Woman.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Lots of turnover in this episode! We lose three continuing Klingon characters (K\u2019mpec, K\u2019Ehleyr, and Duras) and gain two others (Alexander and Gowron). We get teased more about Worf\u2019s discommodation without resolving the issue. The writers expertly sow conflict between Worf and Picard where conflict rarely exists.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Blu-ray set comes with an episode commentary by Ronald Moore and Brannon Braga. “Reunion” is Braga\u2019s first writing credit; he will go on write or co-write many more, totaling 24 episodes of TNG, 48 episodes of Voyager<\/em>, 37 episodes of Enterprise<\/em>, and the screenplays for two of the Next Generation films. Moore and Braga recall a lot of outrage from fans that they would kill off K\u2019Ehleyr, a rare strong female character at this stage of the series. They say they never considered alternatives: \u201cKilling K\u2019Ehleyr was baked in from the get go.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I can see this two ways. On the one hand, the episode would be greatly diminished without her death. Worf’s arc would have been truncated and he would not have been pushed to kill Duras. We would miss the tragedy of Alexander witnessing his mother\u2019s death and becoming Worf’s dependent. On the other hand, this plotline is uncomfortably reminiscent of the \u201cwomen in refrigerators\u201d trope familiar from comic books (a phrase coined in 1999, considerably later than this episode’s first airing on November 5, 1990).\u00a0https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Women_in_Refrigerators<\/a> The show has gotten much better in its fourth season, but it is still written primarily from a male perspective.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This is the second episode directed by Jonathan\u00a0Frakes. Executive Producer Rick Berman reportedly instructed Frakes to deemphasize Worf\u2019s primal scream upon finding K’Ehleyr’s body, because Berman hated that moment from TNG 1.20, \u201cHeart of Glory,\u201d a rare highlight of Season One. They should have just went for it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I find that I\u2019m mostly describing facts about this episode, not analyzing it. That’s because I was pulled in by the story. I want to know what happens next when Worf’s trajectory intersects again with Klingon politics. More, please.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

4.5 out of 5 bat\u2019leths.<\/p>\n\n\n

http:\/\/en.memory-alpha.wikia.com\/wiki\/Reunion_(episode)<\/a>