Star Trek: The Next Generation : Birthright

Birthright

This is a very unusual two-parter given that the A-plot (Worf's) stretches over two episodes whilst the B-plot (Data's) is sketchy at best and doesn't go beyond part 1.

It seems to me that they should have made Birthright a Worf only story, including the clever use of DS9 where he receives the intel on the Romulan camp. On the other hand, Data's "accident" could have been caused by some other plasma-discharge and I don't feel that Bashir made a profound contribution to the episode. Half the observations he made could easily have gone to a regular Enterprise engineer such as Barclay or Lefler, or just Geordi to help develop the relationship between them.

I'm not sure if Data's story could have filled a full episode easily on its own, but I think it could have been much improved and run as an A-plot against some other B-plot. For example, it seemed very odd to me that Deanna Troi did not make any attempt to counsel Data on his experience and advise him how to proceed – it would seem to fall into her "area of expertise" to some degree. Just goes to show that she's only a busy-body when it suits her.

Naturally, they couldn't have made two unrelated TNG episodes back-to-back set on DS9, but omitting Bashir completely and finding another way of triggering Data's dreams, then expanding Worf's time at the Romulan camp would surely have been better. The BluRay has a number of lengthy deleted scenes from part 2 which would have worked. We could have learned more about Mogh and his death, seen more relationships between the Klingons and Romulans than just dinner, and gotten a much better picture of their coexistence and daily lives.

The episodes are not too highly rated, part 1: 7.6, part 2: 7.3, which seems to reflect the fact that there were some good concepts which were poorly employed. Birthright ultimately lets itself down by doing too much in part 1 and not enough in part 2. The overall result is a lack of focus, under-developed ideas and a weak conclusion for both Data and Worf.

Welcome any further thoughts.

Re: Birthright

You think a 7.6 and a 7.3 isn't too highly rated??? That's a terrific rating. It's out of 10. A 7 up, is pretty stellar, I think. I'd agree with you if it was a 5 or less. 7 is a very good rating. I enjoy the Worf parts. Don't remember much of the Data's.

RIP Matt Roberts. You were great.

Re: Birthright

Well, it's a bit of a weak episode because it really doesn't change Worf or Data. They do some character exploration, but nothing especially different than we didn't know before. It starts out with a good premise: Worf's father may still be alive!

What it pusses out on is revealing that Mogh did, in fact, die at Khitomer, and didn't die at this prison camp, or is still alive. That would've been a startling revelation to Worf. He's idolized both his father and the Klingon Empire, and this kind of revelation would've been life-changing. He'd have to really think about his life a bit, not to mention his father's, and it might've put things more into perspective. It might not have tempered his idealism about Klingons, but it might've posed some serious questions about himself and his own lineage. If his father was captured and died an old man not bothering to fight the Romulans, does that say anything about himself?

This point leads to the notion of External and Internal Honor. Klingon Honor is notably External, in that it's mostly about what you present not what you actually are. Worf, on the other hand, exhibits Internal Honor, which is the opposite. Worf might find that he may be a bit more honorable than his father may have been. But, if that's true, why didn't he take the opportunity to go to the Klingon Empire and be a warrior anytime he wanted to go? The Federation wouldn't stop him. Romulan Honor, by the way, is very Internal, and if Worf were to examine that, he might find that they are not so dishonorable as he thinks; they're just not trustworthy with anyone not Romulan (heck, I'd venture to say they're not exactly trustworthy among other Romulans). But the Romulans have something over Klingons, and that is their sense of Duty.

The stuff about Data changed nothing, really. So what if Data dreams? The problem with Data is that he's Unique. Having him dream would've been much more profound if he were but one of thousands of intentionally emotionless androids serving in Starfleet, who began to develop sentience.

Re: Birthright

Interesting thoughts about Worf and Klingon Honor. I personally find the whole thing a bit annoying at times, but it probably has more to do with its execution than the premise itself.

Data's new dream program was a plot point in a later episode. Can't remember the name off the top of my head, but it's when he has those crazy visions of the workmen, Deanna cake, Sigmund Freud, and some other weird stuff, with him stabbing Deanna in the shoulder.

Re: Birthright

That would be "Phantasms" S7E6. It's a fairly lame episode, really.

Re: Birthright

Interesting what you say about Romulans. I always thought that Romulans and Cardassians were too closely portrayed in terms of each race's characteristics... just the same traits with different make-up. Even to the point each has a much-hated special intelligence group running parallel to the military: Tal Shiar and Obsidian Order, both of which distrust the military, civilans and are controlled by the most prominent politicians like private armies. Both were untrustworthy, war-mongering and isolated themselves from alien species but loved to expand, colonise and control: both had an Empire. Each had their own honour system, sense of duty, family, misplaced pride, etc. but they always seemed the same. Heck, when they introduced Cardassians they even had the same history of conflict with the Federation as the Romulans and an unstable peace. It isn't until the last season or two of DS9 that they tried to really explore the differences between them, but even then never felt very dissimilar.

I think the whole Data dreaming idea was fruitless. Birthright's attempt to introduce the theme was weak and too vague, while "Phantasms" attempts to explore it for a full episode was embarrassing... a very lame conclusion to a poor theme.

Re: Birthright

Given what I've seen about both the Cardassians and the Romulans is that the Cardassians are not nearly so driven to Duty as Romulans are. However, Cardassians are all about Order. They do not care how that order is achieved (otherwise they might not have sided with the Dominion), just that it is achieved.

What we know about the Cardassians is that they're rather like the Germans prior to the rise of Nazism. There was widespread hunger and economic depression, according to Gul Madred (in Chain of Command), and then the military took over, and imposed socialism in order to turn the nation into a military camp.

The Romulans aren't like that, as far as we know. You could say they're about as fascist, but not for the same reasons. One thing I notice about Romulans is that they have very strong wills, possibly even stronger than Vulcans, their supposed brethren. If this is so, then if a Romulan commits a crime, it's a serious deal, and chances are isn't accidental. Admiral Jarok's defection (TNG The Defector) is an example of this; he had made a deliberate decision but was determined not to reveal classified information to Starfleet. As a result, I would not be a bit surprised if the Romulans have very draconian laws. Because it shouldn't matter how hungry a Romulan is, there's no excuse to steal food, so, off with your head. Because he is not human, he's a Romulan.

So Romulan society is orderly because they're Romulans, just as Vulcan society is orderly because they're Vulcans. However, if Romulans are as passionate as humans, would it be conceivable to think that perhaps the Vulcan resort to emotionless logic seems a bit extreme (particularly when you consider the Kolin'ahr, meant to shed all remaining emotions). Seems to me the Romulans are able to handle their emotions just fine without all that. Maybe they don't have psychic powers, but they have strong wills and a sense of duty that could give the Borg a run for their money.

Re: Birthright

You think a 7.6 and a 7.3 isn't too highly rated??? That's a terrific rating. It's out of 10. A 7 up, is pretty stellar, I think. I'd agree with you if it was a 5 or less. 7 is a very good rating. I enjoy the Worf parts. Don't remember much of the Data's.


RIP Matt Roberts. You were great.

Re: Birthright

It's all subjective... I consider 7.0 fairly average, i.e. "not too highly rated". To be honest, I think there are very few episodes in the entire Star Trek franchise that even deserve a full 10, though I have given some a 9. I have only rated all the movies and most TNG episodes on IMDB so far. I will eventually get through the rest as I re-watch them. TOS and Enterprise will probably follow, as I have the new BluRay sets to watch, having replaced my older DVD sets. Frustrating that DS9 and Voyager have not been remastered and put onto BluRay in glorious 1080p.

When I rate anything on IMDB I try to do it based on actual merit and not let personal bias influence my decision – that goes for films, documentaries, TV series (overall rating) and individual episodes. Even if I see something I really like that has a crap score I don't give it a 10 to "bump it up". I don't allow other reviews or critics to influence my rating, nor so I care about public opinon. I don't raise my score just because an actor I love is in it because I find that arificial. I tend to watch things with an open mind and base my vote on a combination of plot, script, cast, acting, stunts and effects, make-up and costumes, locations and set design, camera work, lighting, direction, overall interest, quality of action or comedy, use of clichés or deus ex machina events, historical accuracy and anacronisms (esp. war films), loopholes, soundtrack, and various other values depending on the genre, and come to what I consider a balanced rating. I don't tend to worry about adaptations of novels not being true to the source, I'm not a purist and I certainly don't do "fanboy" nonsense.

I also wish IMDB would allow .5 ratings sometimes, as I often watch something, usually in a series, and find it marginally better or worse and want to rate say 8.5 instead of 8 or 9. I think IMDB are just being plain lazy in not allowing this, rather than logical.

Re: Birthright

While I disagree that a 7 is fairly average, I'd say above average, I agree with you about one thing. I would also like .5 ratings. 7.5, 8.5, whatever. I don't always wanna give something an full 8 or whatever.

RIP Matt Roberts. You were great.

Re: Birthright

I have to disagree, it's definitely an unusual structure but I thought it worked. The parallels between Worf's and Data's stories and how they helped each other in Part I were strong (and Bashir was a nice outsider character to interact with and comment on Data) and focusing on just Worf (and primarily Worf and his conflict with the Romulan leader) in Part II made the story seem more intense.

Re: Birthright

Excellent episodes, for sure.

RIP Gene Wilder. One of the funniest people of all time. RIP Matt Roberts. You were great.
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