Series: Star Trek:TNG
Episode: 3.05 The Bonding (10-22-1989)
Rating: 5/5
Redshirt Status: 1/1/22.5
Notable Guest Stars:
Gaberiel Damon – Jeremy Aster. He’s no longer working as an actor, but one of his more famous roles is the voice of Little Foot in the original Land Before Time film.
Susan Powell- Marla Aster. She appeared on TV shows such as Emergency!, The Six million Dollar Man, and Quincy M.E. It was actually harder then normal to find out information about her, as she shares the name with a victim in a famous missing person case.
Review:
This episode deals with grief, particularly of a child who has lost their parent. It effects several of the characters in different ways throughout the episode.
The episode begins with Worf leading an expedition to study the ruins on a abandoned planet. An explosion occurs, and the team is transported to sickbay. Unfortunately Marla Aster, the archeologist on board, was killed instantly.
Her son Jeremy must learn to deal with her death. Preventing this is an alien on the planet who is so disgusted by what happens they transform themselves into Marla to give him his mother back.
This episode is good on story as well as character development. We get to see more Klingon culture, and Wesley gets to show a range of emotions regarding the situation. He eventually talks about how he dealt with his father’s death. Beverly and he have a great scene where they both mourn Jack Crusher together. Worf also gets to share his past, and what being an orphan meant to him.
I think this is an excellent episode to watch if you want character building (dealing with grief from various background stories), and a glimpse into the lives of 24th century living.
Interesting Notes:
- Written by Ronald D. Moore (first episode, but he’ll be back.)
- Directed by Winrich Kolbe
- There is a VHS version with six minutes of additional scenes, but it was brought to the attention of CBS too late to be included in the remastered TNG version.
Pros:
- Worf in a command position
- Exploration of Klingon Culture
- This episode effects many characters in different ways.
Cons:
- Nothing really stands out.
Sokorra Lewis 