Episode: 1.20 Heart of Glory (03-21-88)
Rating: 4/5
Redshirt Status: 2 /1
Notable Guest Stars:
Vaughn Armstrong – Korris. Or, if you are an Enterprise fan like me, its Admiral Forrest. He appeared in several episodes and several series within the franchise. This is his only episode in TNG however.
Charles Hyman – Konmel. He had several roles on TV, including Sgt. Hannegan on the TV series Tour of Duty.
David Froman – K’Nera. He is known for his role on Matlock, and The Edge of Night. He was also professor of theater Northeastern Oklahoma College.
Dennis Madalone – Ramos. He is often seen more often as a stunt performer on the series, and those that followed.
Review:
We have Worf Backstory!! Not only this, but it sets up future TOS movies. The one thing that TNG gets to do that TOS didn’t is develop the cultures of the alien races. The Klingons are massively developed over the course of this series, and DS9. The Romulans as well. Not that no development was made during the TOS era, but it was silm.
This episode introduces two Klingons eager for the grand old days where there were no alliances to worry about. The alliance they are talking about was developed in Khitomer, as evidenced in the not-yet-written The Final Frontier. Worf lived on Khitomer, and was one of the few survivors of a Romulan attack. He was adopted by a Starfleet officer and raised with humans. I am assuming that Sergei (not named in this episode but I remember from later episodes) made sure to keep Worf knowledgeable about the Klingon traditions he was missing out on living in a Human population.
This episode not only starts the backstory of Worf that will be deepened over the seasons to come, but it gives the Klingon’s more depth. The warrior like culture is shown, and some of their customs are explained. This episode also establishes the concept that Klingons have about the bodies of the dead. They don’t see any signifagnace to them – the soul is gone. Klingon’s are oddly spiritual for a martial group.
Interesting Notes:
- Written by Maurice Hurley based on the story by D.C.Fontana and Herbert Wright
- Directed by Rob Bowman (He’s getting a lot of episodes this season)
Pros:
- Worf Backstory
- Some interesting camera views and light tricks.
- Tasha Yar being an awesome security officer.
Cons:
For someone raised as a human child, Worf knows quite a bit about Klingon culture that is not shown to humans. I’m curious as to why. Is it because he wasn’t an infant when he was adopted?
Sokorra Lewis 