173 – Firstborn

Grade: C+

Summary

While visiting a Klingon colony, Worf and Alexander are attacked. A mysterious Klingon bodyguard named K’Mtar comes to their defense. He also offers to help Worf train Alexander as a Klingon warrior.

Commentary

I’m not much of a fan of these Alexander episodes. They don’t seem terribly authentic most of the time. I guess it could be because the actor who plays Alexander has never been very good. But in addition, I don’t believe they have ever really come to terms with how old Alexander should be. At one point during this episode, it’s established that Alexander was 3 years old when his mother died. OK, that’s fine, but only if his mother did not become pregnant during “Emissary” toward the end of the second season. Regardless, if Alexander is 3 in November 1990, he couldn’t be 10 only 3.5 years later. So something doesn’t add up. Oh well.

The acting in this episode is fine. I thought James Sloyan did great, though he was better as a Romulan commander earlier in this series. I also thought Michael Dorn did very well as Worf, but he’s a great character, so he has an advantage.

Finally, I’m not a huge fan of these Klingon episodes, but this one wasn’t that bad. It probably could have been better in some places, but it was fine. I only wish this wasn’t part of the last season of the series. There haven’t been very many great episodes in this season.

Of Note

In this episode, we find out that Klingon law allows for non-relatives to take custody of young Klingon children if they think their parents are not doing a good job. I can’t imagine how many cans of worms this kind of law would open.

The DS9 character Quark makes an appearance during this episode.