65 – Sins of the Father

Grade: B

Summary

A Klingon commander named Kurn comes aboard the Enterprise as part of the Federation’s Officer Exchange Program. It doesn’t take long for him to annoy the entire crew, but soon enough, the real reason for his visit becomes obvious.

Commentary

This is the 5th strong episode in a row, and for the first time, I’m getting the feeling that this is going to be a great series. I don’t pretend to understand Klingons, their motivations or their character, but this is a good example of how their government works. Duty and honor are of the utmost importance to Klingons, and Worf demonstrates this admirably in this episode. For what it’s worth, I only wish there had been a way for the Klingon High Council to do the right thing as well.

It’s nice to see Michael Dorn get the spotlight in an episode, and Tony Todd does a great job playing Kurn. But there is also a bit of overacting, it seems. Most of the Klingon actors seem to talk in exaggerated tones, which becomes pretty annoying. If they could have toned it down a bit, I would rate this episode a tad higher.

This episode introduces a storyline that will be addressed again in future seasons, and even in Deep Space Nine and in at least one film. So this is one of the fundamental episodes of the series, and in my opinion, one of the few “must-see” episodes of the 3rd season.

Of Note

This episode introduces us to the Klingon High Council and to a character of some importance – Duras.