Plot Synopsis: After Worf is paralyzed by a freak accident, his only hope may be a visiting doctor with questionable medical ethics. Commander Riker struggles with Worf’s difficult request of him.
Plot A and B Analysis: The teaser gets right to the point. Worf and Geordi are investigating the cargo bay for some unusual readings, and one of the heavy shipping containers falls off a high shelf, landing on Worf’s back and making him a paraplegic. Plot A is about Beverly and Dr. Russell’s attempt to heal Worf, plot B is about Worf’s request of Riker. Russell, a neurological specialist, arrives to see if anything can be done to help Worf but Beverly thinks it’s impossible. Worf asks Riker to assist him in a ritualized suicide, called the hegh’bat. Russell wants to use an experimental technology called genetronic replication to regrow Worf’s spinal column, but the success rate is only 37% and it’s never been tested on a person. Beverly says no. Russell brings the genetronic option to Worf anyway, and later instead of using conventional medicine on a victim of a Cardassian mine uses one of her new drugs and he dies. Beverly likes her even less. Picard convinces Beverly to give the procedure a try anyway, and Riker comes up with a good solution to Worf’s request–Alexander has to be the one to do it. Partly because of this Worf decides to agree to the procedure. The plot moves at a sedate, deliberate pace until the plot resolves is a somewhat predictable fashion.
Favorite Scenes: Honestly there aren’t many. There are two key scenes when Picard helps the audience understand Worf’s position. The first is in his ready room with Riker, the second is with Beverly, when he asks her to consider letting Russell perform her extremely risky procedure. I’ve spliced them together to convey Picard’s main arguments. First, what he says to Riker:
Picard: For a Klingon in Worf’s position, his life is over. Will, if you were dying, if you were terminally ill with an incurable disease and facing the remaining few days of your life in pain, wouldn’t you come to look on death as a release? You and I could learn to live with a disability like that, but not Worf. His life ended when those containers fell on him.
Later, what he says to Dr. Crusher:
Picard: If he can’t make a full recovery, Worf will kill himself… Beverly, he can’t make the journey you’re asking of him. You want him to go from contemplating suicide to accepting his condition and living with a disability. But it’s too far! And the road between covers a lifetime of values, beliefs. He can’t do it, Beverly. But perhaps he can come part of the way. Maybe he can be persuaded to forgo the ritual in order to take the chance of regaining the kind of life he needs. A Klingon may not be good at accepting defeat, but he knows all about taking risks.
Use of Cast/Characters: Picard’s main job is to do the heavy lifting in convincing the audience why Worf couldn’t go on living being paralyzed, as well as Riker and Beverly. Riker’s job is to decide whether he will take an active part in Worf’s suicide or not, and the audience is asked what we would do as well. Deanna works a bit with Worf and Alexander, and in a nice touch Worf asks her to raise him in the event of Worf’s death–I liked it. Honestly Worf does have some character development as he wrestles with what to do, but we already know he will be able to live and be back on his feet by the next episode. Data and Geordi only have a couple of lines. Beverly is the audience’s surrogate, outraged at how Russell practices medicine and then making the difficult choice to take a dangerous risk with Worf’s life. The fact that Worf does in fact die supports Beverly’s position as being correct, in my view. Brian Bonsall returns as Alexander, and does an okay job for a child actor. Caroline Kava is Dr. Russell. She is supposed to be very cerebral, but to me she just comes across as bland.
Blu Ray Version: If you pause at 21:07 when Beverly starts walking around her patient, you can see the script for the episode lying on the floor right next to her feet!
Nitpicks: In the teaser, why isn’t the cargo bay lit? Couldn’t those people turn the lights on? The spotlights are for dramatic effect I suppose. Also, if you pause at 1:39 when the containers hit the floor the lid of the closest one flies off. In the next shot it’s magically back on there, and they’re facing different directions.
Overall Impression: There are two inherent problems with this episode: first, we know Worf will get his ability to walk back, second, it’s borderline boring. It’s an exploration of the issues surrounding assisted suicide, and how you feel about this is going to have an impact on how you view it. I suppose this is a Worf-centered episode, but it doesn’t exactly feel like it. It seems like we spend much more time with Riker, Beverly and Picard. The audience doesn’t feel an emotional punch as Worf wrestles with the decision of whether or not to live (even though we can sympathize with him), because it’s one that we don’t see as being all that difficult. It is a nice touch that the surgical procedure fails, and it’s only Worf’s own body that allows him to live. It is a reasonably well written episode, and somewhat interesting, but ultimately not enjoyable. I rate this episode 2.5 out of 5 stars.
Behind the Scenes/Trivia: We learn that Geordi can see through playing cards if they’re transparent to infrared light. We also learn that almost every Klingon organ or system as a redundant backup, in case anything goes wrong with the original. Kinda ironic when you remember this is actually the second time Worf breaks his neck, the first was back in Transfigurations. The ritual suicide knife Worf uses here is the same one he used to attempt practically the same thing back in Night Terrors. The containers that fell on Dorn’s stunt double were Styrofoam. Riker makes references to The Bonding and Skin of Evil when listing off crew mates they both know who have died. It’s interesting that in Sons of Mogh Worf gets arrested by Odo and berated by Sisko for trying to do the same thing for Kurn that he asks Riker to do for him. Finally, the reason Levar’s face is so poorly lit is because he’s growing a beard that we will see in the following episode!
Missable/Unmissable? Missable. The next one isn’t any better.