Ethics

DVD, TNG S5 (Ethics)

There are many cords that bind the rope of this story, what might be better called a struggle. While Worf must face death or life, difficult decisions abound, people get angry, and the harmony of the Enterprise is unmistakably unbalanced. I'm not sure who has the toughest time of it: Dr. Crusher as she loses control of both her patient and his treatment against the unethical shortcuts taken by the specialist Dr. Toby Russell; Will Riker, requested by Worf to help him carry out the Klingon ritual suicide; Deanna, who must deal with a confused young boy that doesn't want to see his Father die; or Picard who plays devil's advocate throughout. At first I was a little surprised at his stance since he has so often valued life above all else, yet it also makes sense for him to present the Klingon side of it as he's been so involved in the inner workings of the race and well comprehends the mindset.

That mindset tends to be inflexible, a word that would also describe Worf, perhaps the character we've met most set in his ways, and just as he would find with Dax on DS9, he learns to unbend his stiff neck a little, no pun intended for such a harrowing ordeal. I'm not talking about the barrel falling on his back - if these containers were so heavy you'd think protocol would demand some kind of restraint to keep accidents from even having a chance of happening. Maybe the accident could have been more dramatic than a single barrel knocking Worf's spine to pieces, but that added to the shame of his position. Klingons have always been the most macho, manly aliens (yes, even the women!), so their incomplete medical knowledge and lack of concern for those that had become invalids is both fitting for their culture and horrifying, reminding us that they would rather let the disabled die than care for them, much like 'The Masterpiece Society.'

Worf treats his culture with the utmost reverence, more so because of his long absence from it, so he always would be quick to defend and follow that path, yet he also has the Starfleet rules and ethics that govern that organisation firmly ingrained in his being, the conflict always strong. Like Spock he chose to follow the Klingon way, but in a human environment, and he lives because of those interweaving sensibilities. Tackling the controversial subject of suicide was only part of the remit of the episode it seems to me, as there is just as much heat between Beverly and Dr. Russell on the ethics of medicine. Though Crusher rarely shows much emotion, being an excellent doctor and needing dispassion to play her role effectively, her frustration and anger at Worf's apparent death leads her to slam her hands down and forcefully turn away.

Dr. Russell's dispassion is far stronger, but this is because she appears to care more about her own achievements and the possibilities of her ideas and research than the patients she is trying to heal. Beverly gives her a deserved earful at the end because it was only due to Worf's redundant or backup brain functions that he stirred to life, and her shortcuts to success were terrible. At the beginning of the episode I wondered why she wasn't in Starfleet and wearing a uniform. By the end I could see why. She even had the misguided notion that Beverly was jealous of her ideas rather than horrified at her lack of safe procedure and lack of thorough research.

The suicide angle was covered through Riker's involvement. He too has some experience with the Klingon race, and for most of their ways he shows respect, such as when he joined a Klingon ship on exchange, but to assist the killing of a friend was beyond his ethics and he let Worf know it. There was a moment after his rant against the Hegh'bat when I thought he was going to agree to do it, but he sensibly found a loophole and helped Worf to see that it was a selfish course to take, that the challenge was in living and being there for those that he mattered to, citing past examples including Marla Aster and Tasha Yar. Poor Alexander finds more confusion for himself. It was typical of Worf to try and put a brave face on his injuries at first, but he was shamed even more when his strength gave out in front of his son. Deanna does an excellent job of attempting to explain and being with the young Klingon boy, and it's a very nice moment when Worf asks her to care for him in the event the operation fails. Perhaps it was her steady advice and support for Alexander that drew Worf to her as more than a friend in later episodes? I would suggest it wasn't good sense to send the little lad home with a huge knife - he might have tripped!

Up until this point I don't believe we had ever seen what a Klingon foot looked like, and certainly not a Klingon exoskeletal spine! We get all kinds of details about Klingon anatomy and their redundant systems, and they are described as 'over-designed,' a fitting epithet as we later learnt there was a great deal of genetic manipulation in their history thanks to 'Enterprise.' The prosthetics were excellent, and without being gory, the medical procedure was implemented believably. We know Worf won't die, yet his apparent death is so shocking and has such an impact, especially to Beverly, that his recovery is all the more joyous. Alexander is allowed to help his Father, if only to provide improved morale.

I love it when doctors in Trek pull rank, and it was a tricky moment for both Crusher and Picard when he comes to suggest she might have been hasty in forbidding Dr. Russell to practice aboard. In his own way it may be that he genuinely felt that Worf's best chance lay with the new procedure, but if he's seen her record and her attitude to her profession he might not have been ever so slightly condescending. It was like he suspected Beverly of losing her professional perspective in the light of what she'd learned about the kind of person the otherwise renowned Russell was and he was gently pulling her up about it, knowing full well he didn't have the authority to change her decision. His diplomatic skills were in full flow, and he needed them against Beverly since she has a little less subordinate respect for him than most.

Although the issues of respecting culture were addressed, I'm glad that wasn't the only moral of the story, and also that it came down more on the side of life than on giving up, which doesn't seem like a true Klingon's way. The arguments are there and Picard would be a strong voice in any discussion, so the fact that he appears to support that course means it was certainly given due weight. Ultimately the choice, if there even should be a choice, was made, and Worf lived to learn from it rather than giving up, and yet retained his Klingon honour by taking the risk - a good, balanced story, well told.

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