Turns out these reviews were done quite a while before I wrote this post, oops! Not only are the reviews for Rightful Heir and Second Chances done, but I recently completed Timescape as well.
Rightful Heir is a Worf-centered episode and it’s mediocre, really. Worf sort of loses it in the teaser. He tells Picard his visit to the colony back in Birthright influenced him. As he taught the young Klingons there about their history and beliefs he realized he was unsure if he believed it himself, so he was trying to summon Kahless. Picard sends him to a planet to get spiritual, and lo and behold the real Kahless shows up! Or does he? Gowron has some doubts and the ‘is he or isn’t he’ is the main plot.
You may not know that Kahless the Unforgettable first appeared on the TOS episode The Savage Curtain, where he fights against Kirk; of course that wasn’t the real one either. Did you recognize the actor that plays Kahless? I’ll tell you which famous TV show he features in along with other cool stuff in my full review.
Unfortunately Second Chances isn’t really any better than its predecessor. It’s a Riker-centered episode and again, mediocre. The Enterprise is returning to a planet Riker once visited to retrieve some important data that didn’t make it off-world. There is a distortion field that prevents all transporter access for years at a time, so Riker, Data and Worf beam down only to find another Riker! Turns out he’s just as much Will as the guy who’s been serving on the Enterprise all this time, except he’s been trapped on a planet by himself for the past eight years, and he’s still got the hots for Deanna.
You may not know this is the first episode LeVar Burton–everyone’s favorite blind engineer–directed, and the cast really wanted to do a good job for their buddy. Lieutenant Palmer, whom we meet in the 15th minute, was played by Mae Jemison, an actual astronaut and the first African American woman in space. She said she became a scientist and an astronaut because she watched Star Trek! Which idol did she meet while shooting Second Chances? Check out my full review for this and other cool tidbits.
Apologies for not getting this post out sooner. As I’ve noted, Timescape is already done and ready to read, I should hopefully have Descent done in a couple of weeks! At long last, season six will be over!