Sins of The Father

DVD, TNG S3 (Sins of The Father)

There had been tentative steps towards defining Klingon culture in the series, but none had laid out the Klingon politics and none had presented the viewer with an actual trip to the centre of Klingon society, as this did. In many ways it was a momentous decision to depict such things, as they had been wondered about for years. The episode begins as a sequel to Season Two's 'A Matter of Honor', with a Klingon arriving to take Riker's spot as first officer of the Enterprise, prompting some fun scenes as this stranger experiences human life, and especially food. Guess who's coming to dinner indeed! Burnt, replicated bird meat is as good a description as any for roast chicken, but something tells me Kurn was having a bit of a joke with his hosts, as I'm sure some Klingon food is cooked. The episode swerves radically from this first style when all of a sudden the plot twist hits and it's full steam ahead for Qro'nos, discarding Wesley's wimpy whining and becoming a man's tale!

Charles Cooper as K'mpec is possibly the most convincing Klingon so far, and lent huge gravitas to his part, helped by his natural girth. He'd already been a big Klingon in 'Star Trek V', with that distinctive gravelly voice. The traitor, Duras (as he's always officially known) is the equal and opposite, completely unimpressive as the plotting and scheming deviant whose house retains a lot of power on the High Council, and seeming to be a mere paper Klingon that if Worf chose to could be wiped out. He survives, ready to spread discord in the future in what would become a recurring arc through the series, of Worf's dishonour and wish to become less of an outcast.

That's more than can be said of Duras' hench-assassins, who are dispatched feebly by a weak human and an old woman! Credit must go to Picard for his brave and capable handling of the attack, and brings to mind his early brush with death against the Nausicaans as revealed in last season's 'Samaritan Snare'. I don't know, he goes around with those Klingons and discards all those warnings from Riker about beaming down to planets alone and takes on a dangerous journey he knows could turn nasty. If Riker ever heard tell of the escapade he'd be in the brig!

Kurn is the biggest draw in some ways because we learn more of Worf's personal history, and I never realised that Worf didn't know he had a brother. It always seems that Kurn is shipped off at at the end of his appearances for his own good or whatever, but at least he gets to retain some honour this time. Tony Todd is a great guest star, but he doesn't display quite the heavyweight strength of his later appearances as Kurn, or especially his greatest contribution to Trek as the older Jake Sisko in 'The Visitor'. But his role isn't the focus it at first appears, and this is really Worf's story. It's most affecting when he selects Picard as his back-up after Kurn has a run-in with Duras' troublemakers, and the Captain makes a strong advocate and someone you really would want on your side as much as Captain Kirk would have been for Spock. There are stronger parallels to be drawn with Worf and Spock, as both are outcasts to their people and both seek solace and refuge in the environment Starfleet provides.

The Council Chamber is as big and chunky as you'd hope for from a Klingon hall, the uniforms are bulky and imposing and the whole scenario has a Shakespearean grandeur to it, even in the sparse surroundings. You can't beat a good Klingon opera, and this was the very first one that could truly have that epithet applied.

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