The Next Generation 7x21 "Firstborn"

rating: ***

the story: Worf and Alexander have a final reckoning (in this series, anyway).

what it's all about: Of the episodes that tried to follow the final season mandate of looking for character resolutions ("Descent, Part 2," "Attached," "Journey's End," and the later "Preemptive Strike"), "Firstborn" may be the most bold.  In a far less significant way, it's kind of Next Generation's version of Deep Space Nine's brilliant masterpiece "The Visitor."

The longer Alexander was in the series, the more problematic he became.  You can see a conscious de-emphasis of the character the longer he's around, even in episodes where he should have been a natural presence ("Rascals").  Fans tend to remember Wesley Crusher as the annoying youth of the series, but it really was Alexander all along, and it's because he was horrendously one-note, and no offense to Brian Bonsall, but he was played by a child actor far too young to bring anything meaningfully dramatic to the series.  It always fell to Worf to redeem their scenes, but an exasperated Worf only goes so far (and is by far the least interesting version of the character).

"Firstborn" finds a clever solution to this dilemma: Instead of focusing on Kid Alexander, his future self is brought into the picture.  Frequent guest-star James Sloyan becomes one of the most interesting Klingon actors of the series in one appearance, proving beyond a doubt that Alexander could have been interesting, had anyone bothered to try, which is what "Firstborn" is all about.  Too often the series didn't really try to flesh out his perspective.  Well, this episode is all about it.

What's also interesting is the intersections with Deep Space Nine going on.  For one, there's an appearance by Quark.  For another, one last series appearance by the Duras Sisters, who had last appeared in that series' "Past Prologue" (they would finally meet their fate in Star Trek Generations, a fact that's usually overlooked in franchise lore).  It's oddly appropriate, because Deep Space Nine would later have one of its rare major creative missteps by undoing all the good work "Firstborn" accomplished with Alexander.

This is the last Klingon episode of the series, and it's a good one, an intimate one, and handily sums up everything you need to know, in case the rest of it had somehow eluded your attention.

criteria analysis:

• franchise - Crossover appeal?  Check!
• series - Since I don't want to call it a classic, a mark must be taken from somewhere, and it's between these first two categories.  It's a toss-up, so I'll take one away here, because that overall series Klingon arc doesn't need this to feel complete.
• character - It's the best Alexander episode.
• essential - It's a better Worf episode, and by Alexander episode standards, that says a lot!

notable guest-stars:

• Brian Bonsall (Alexander)
• Armin Shimerman (Quark)
• James Sloyan
• Gwynyth Walsh (B'Etor)
• Barbara March (Lursa)

The Next Generation 6x8 "A Fistful of Datas"

rating: ****

the story: A computer malfunction leaves Worf, Troi, and Alexander dealing with, well, a fistful of Datas.

similar to: "A Piece of the Action" (original series), "Bride of Chaotica!" (Voyager)

my thoughts: Finally!  Worf and Alexander spend quality time together, manage not to fight at all, and it's not only an enjoyable experience, but it's a Star Trek classic, in the tradition of the screwball "A Piece of the Action" (the planet of gangsters!) and "Bride of Chaotica!" (the Paris/Kim production gone horribly awry).  Thanks in large part to a healthy dose of Brent Spiner playing, in the end, every character on the holodeck except the Klingons and Durango, I mean Troi.

Putting Brent Spiner aside for a moment, "Fistful" is a wonderful opportunity for Marina Sirtis to stretch as well.  Her turn as the mysterious gunslinger, who sidles into Alexander's program well after he and Worf have, completely in-character, is her best turn outside of the later "Face of the Enemy" and First Contact, a welcome sign that she's a far better actor than most of her material lets her be (seriously, Troi has some of the worst material in the whole franchise, her and Crusher; this was not the series to argue female empowerment in the franchise).  It's the kind of turn that comes out of nowhere, except Troi's proximity to Worf's family, which by the end of the series reaches its climax (and then vanishes).  It's one of the most enjoyable performances of the series.

But there's also Spiner to consider.  Like the later "Masks," having him perform multiple guises is a recipe for instant gold.  His later, limited film work in character roles (chiefly, Independence Day and Out to Sea) stems directly from these episodes.

Usually, when the franchise dips into different genres, the results justify it (see also: "Heroes and Demons" from Voyager and "Our Man Bashir" from Deep Space Nine).  "Fistful" is one of the more straightforward of these.  Forget the technobabble nonsense that makes it possible.  The rest of the episode makes that pretty easy, especially when Data begins exhibiting his Wild West reflexes in his ship-board duties.  Sit back and enjoy.

criteria analysis: franchise - series - character - essential (all criteria met)

notable guest-stars:
Brian Bonsall (Alexander)

The Next Generation 6x7 "Rascals"

rating: *

the story: Picard, Guinan, Ro, and Keiko are de-aged.

similar to: "One Little Ship" (Deep Space Nine), "The Counter-Clock Incident" (The Animated Series), "Before and After" (Voyager), "Too Short a Season" (Next Generation)

my thoughts: This is one of those episodes I have a real conflict with.  On the one hand, it's the rare episode that reverses one of the franchise's favorite tropes (characters aging).  On the other, it's akin to episodes like "Genesis" (Next Generation; characters devolving), "Threshold" (characters evolving), and "One Little Ship" (characters shrinking).  On the other hand, it's actually got its own tradition ("Counter-Clock Incident" from The Animated Series, "Before and After" from Voyager, and "Too Short a Season" from Next Generation itself).

But "Rascals" remains pretty unique, in that it literally features young actors taking the place of established ones.  To me, it's as tough a concept as "Threshold" has always been ("Threshold" is routinely listed as one of the worst episodes in the whole franchise).  I can easily stomach "Threshold."  "Threshold" is, ultimately, less of a gimmick episode and more of a concept episode (what happens when you pass Warp 10?).  "Rascals" has to live and die, ultimately, on its own merits.

The young actors as a whole are pretty terrible.  This was the last era in which casting directors could get away with this sort of thing.  By the end of the millennium (Haley Joel Osment in The Sixth Sense), they'd starting looking for real talent.  The actor playing the young Picard is particularly egregious. 

What makes this worse is that it's such a pivotal character episode.  It's the last regular appearances of Ro and both O'Briens in the series, and one of Guinan's last (before two appearances in the movies, Generations and Nemesis).  It's insane that this moment is all but ruined by having child actors perform the roles for the majority of the episode.

And yet, and yet...It's good for Ro's character, and good for Keiko's.  It positions the O'Briens for how they would interact throughout Deep Space Nine, and is the first time we see Ro as meaning anything as an individual since, basically, "Ensign Ro." 

And we get that nice little scene where the young Picard pretends to be Riker's son.

So as you can see, I have a conflicted relationship with "Rascals."  I group it most with "One Little Ship" because it's an absurd gimmick of an episode that really shouldn't work, and yet it kind of does.  The worst, in the end, that can be said about it is that Alexander, in a whole episode filled with other kids, is once again reduced to being relatively pointless in an episode where he should have been one of the most important characters.  Anyway...Let's just move on.

criteria analysis: franchise - series - character - essential

notable guest-stars:
Colm Meaney (O'Brien)
Rosalind Chao (Keiko)
Whoopi Goldberg (Guinan)
Michelle Forbes (Ro)
Brian Bonsall (Alexander)
Hana Hatae (Molly)

The Next Generation 5x22 "Imaginary Friend"

rating: *

the story: A little girl's imaginary friend becomes real.

similar to: "The Bonding" (Next Generation), "Alter Ego" (Voyager), "Exile" (Enterprise)

my thoughts: A great deal similar to "The Bonding," in which a little boy is manipulated by aliens, "Imaginary Friend" is another tangential Alexander story (there were a ton of these after he becomes a recurring character in "New Ground" during the fifth season...) proving that maybe the series didn't really know what to do him after all.  I mean, it's odd that they were still doing a "Bonding" episode with a recurring boy in the cast line-up and not have him in the lead.

Yet it's not a complete waste, because the kid in the lead is played by the precocious Noley Thornton, who would later appear in Deep Space Nine's "Shadowplay" in a much better story.

But as you can see above, this kind of story was a franchise trope, and a season that otherwise was packed with excellent episodes sometimes had to fall back on old standby material to pad itself out.  That's what "Imaginary Friend" basically is, padding.  Watch it if you're a season completest, but otherwise you can certainly consider skipping it...

criteria analysis: franchise - series - character - essential

notable guest-stars
Brian Bonsall (Alexander)
Noley Thornton
Whoopi Goldberg (Guinan)
Patti Yasutake (Ogawa)

The Next Generation 5x20 "Cost of Living"

rating: **

the story: Lwaxana Troi is engaged to be married,  but that hardly prevents her from continuing to be a pest, this time enrolling Alexander into her shenanigans.

similar to: "The Muse" (Deep Space Nine)

my thoughts: Building on "Half a Life" the previous season, "Cost of Living" makes Lwaxana Troi to be something other than a constant irritant, but to a lesser degree.  It kind of does the same for Alexander, at last as far as his progress from "New Ground" goes.

For whatever reason, Next Generation loved recurring characters who were sources of conflict.  From Q to Ro Laren to Barclay, most of them were pretty much more trouble than they were worth, at least as far as the regular crew was concerned.  Two characters who absolutely epitomized this were Lwaxana and Alexander, so it was only natural that they converged into a single story.  The result was supposed to better represent both of them.  The flipside to these recurring characters was that it was as much a challenge to the crew as to the audience to find redemption for them.  (Redemption was a big thing for Star Trek creators at this point.  Deep Space Nine and Voyager both predicated on it.)

Which is to say, "Cost of Living" is all about trying to find sympathy for outcasts.  Lwaxana constantly makes bad choices romantically, and Alexander chafes at his father Worf's ideas about parenting.  Both would be better off in a colony such as the one Lwaxana conjures on the holodeck, full of free thinkers.  Yet because Star Trek itself craves orders, the episode ends with reluctance more than resolution, Lwaxana's engagement broken off and Worf at least agreeing to sample the maverick program that has so distracted his son.

The whole thing is part of how Worf ends up with Lwaxana's daughter, Deanna, at the end of the series, both of them equally exasperated by their unwieldy family members.  "Cost of Living" is important, in part, because of that, but it succeeds only so far as it talks about these things but doesn't at all attempt to resolve them.  You don't expect a single episode, years before the series is ready to be over, to attempt resolution, but for a series perpetually gun-shy about character development, when an episode comes along that make a bold statement but instead makes a mild one, you kind of have to find fault with said episode.

Still, there are some really great moments in it, from Alexander laughing at dinnertime to that poor guy who eats his planets, and the phrase, "The higher the fewer" (said two times with equally ridiculous profundity).

criteria analysis: franchise - series - character - essential

notable guest-stars:
Majel Roddenberry (Lwaxana Troi)
Brian Bonsall (Alexander)
Carel Struycken (Mr. Homn)
Tony Jay

The Next Generation 5x16 "Ethics"

rating: ****

the story: Worf becomes paralyzed, despondent, suicidal...and the recipient of a controversial medical miracle.

similar to: "The Host" (Next Generation)

my thoughts: Only Crusher could have pulled off something like this.  Actually, I guess Crusher and Riker.  Such an odd pair, these two.  Riker, early on, was cast in the mold of Captain Kirk, the fallback character in case Picard didn't work out (bald, older, cerebral).  Yet the more Picard caught on, the more Riker regressed (Voyager haters, please continue to pay attention: the more confident Janeway grew, the less she relied on Chakotay).  So what exactly was there to do with him?  Like Decker before him, Riker became more cynical, despite offering every protest that he didn't (see: "Second Chances").  By "Ethics" he's openly being ethnocentric concerning Worf's cultural plight, the overt struggle Crusher carries against a medical rival and proving how different she is from, say, Dr. McCoy.

Like Kirk, McCoy was known as a maverick, and a genius.  In fact, Kirk's was a crew of geniuses.  Picard's was always more subdued.  Even the android who for all intents and purposes was a born savant filled the role of an average crewman, generally speaking.  La Forge didn't even start out as chief engineer.  Whatever Worf was before his ascension to chief of security has never really been examined.  Crusher's competence was her knowledge, not her practice.  That's why her absence during the second season, and her departure in Nemesis, was in an office capacity.  McCoy would have been the one performing daring medical fetes, not condemning them.

The moral stances taken in "Ethics" are bold.  They can't be ignored.  They serve as a statement for the whole series.  Maybe you tend to think about one over the other, Worf's emotional journey versus Crusher's intellectual one.  Granted, "Ethics" gives Alexander one of his better uses.  But it's just a tough, tough episode.  I call it a classic insofar as it's easily one of the franchise's most challenging stories, one that can't be ignored, and one that stands to be continually examined.  What else is there to do with it?

criteria analysis: franchise - series - character - essential (all criteria met)

notable guest-stars:
Brian Bonsall (Alexander)
Patti Yasutake (Ogawa)

The Next Generation 5x10 "New Ground"

rating: **

the story: Worf begins full-time custody of his son Alexander.

similar to: "Collective" (Voyager)

my thoughts: Alexander can be viewed as the Wesley Crusher of the second half of the series.  He's the second youth to be featured regularly.  Apart from Jake Sisko in Deep Space Nine and his regular antics with Nog during that series' early seasons, there's no one quite like Alexander, otherwise, except the Borg kids in Voyager, who debut in "Collective," and are eventually boiled down to just Icheb.

Yet being the youngest of the bunch, Alexander stands the best chance of being considered as irritating as Wesley famously was by fans.  His regular recurring debut in "New Ground" explains it all nicely.  The son of the late K'Ehleyr, whose arc is otherwise irrelevant to him, aside from his similar struggles trying to find a place for himself between the Klingon and human cultures he straddles, Alexander is everything the young Kirk and Spock in Star Trek are not, continually trapped in the role of being a pain in his father's side.  This might be considered shedding light on Worf (having a son paves the way to the relationship with Troi that culminates in "All Good Things..."), but his obvious discomfort in the role of father makes him look weak.  Not imperfect, just weak, because it's a role he doesn't even want, never fully commits to, and routinely fails at.  Maybe it's a judgment on Worf's own discomfort with his duel Klingon/human heritages, but in isolation, when all he has are other humans (or, half-humans, in Troi's case), it presents a lopsided narrative that painfully crescendos in the seventh season episode "Firstborn."

Leaving "New Ground" very hard to justify itself.  If the fourth season was all about finding comfort in family, the fifth is about the discomfort of it, whether in "Ensign Ro" (a Starfleet officer who doesn't fit in) or "The First Duty" (cadets who fail miserably to live up to moral standards, including Wesley).  It's the first Klingon-centric episode since "Redemption," bringing high drama back to low, mundane affairs.  Adding characters like this is a common trope for long-running series.  The one real benefit is that, unlike Wesley before him, Alexander allows the viewer to see more of the family aspect of the ship, which has all along been touted to feature family in abundance.  Except aside from the random appearance here and there, kids are mostly absent. 

If Jake hadn't come along and filled the role better, I might not have as much a problem with Alexander, or "New Ground" specifically, but Jake did come along, and he was instantly a better character.  Alexander wasn't a total loss ("Cost of Living," "Fistful of Datas," the aforementioned "Firstborn"), but he's a huge letdown, at least initially.  That's kind of bad enough.

Maybe you aren't, or won't be, as annoyed by Alexander as I tend to be, just I won't dismiss "New Ground" entirely.  It does have some important things to say, and to show.  But it could easily have been better.

criteria analysis: franchise - series - character - essential

notable guest-stars:
Brian Bonsall (Alexander)