Once More Unto The Breach

DVD, DS9 S7 (Once More Unto The Breach) (2)

Kor, that John Colicos sure knew how to act, and no mistake! It's still amazing to me that an actor who originated a character in the first ever season of Trek returned to the same role for three more episodes in an entirely new spinoff series, his final appearance over thirty years after he first played him. It shouldn't be such a surprise, I suppose, when you know he played the first notable example of the most popular race in Trek history. It would have been criminal if they hadn't brought him back, but he shares the honour of being one of the last actors to be in both 'TOS' and the latter part of modern Trek, indeed, aside from Leonard Nimoy, who was a special case (appearing in the first two Kelvin Timeline films), I can only think of two other actors that had been in 'TOS' and played roles on Trek after this point, both of which were on 'Enterprise' (Joseph Ruskin as a Suliban in the pilot, 'Broken Bow,' and Jack Donner in a couple of episodes of the final season). That the writers wanted to use up one of their precious final season episodes on the character ably demonstrates in what high regard and esteem both Colicos and Kor were held. As I hear, the name still has the ring of legend about it since the House of Kor is a part of 'Discovery,' so he's even bridging the furthest parts of the Trek Empire chronologically. Kor isn't the only thing to do that as this episode itself bridges the gap between both 'TOS,' thanks to his reprisal, and our current decade, with 2013 film 'Star Trek Into Darkness' partly taking place in Ketha Province, first mentioned here.

It's terrific that so late in the day we still learn new things about these characters we love, whether it be that Kor is son of Rynar, or details about General Martok's past and his self-made scramble up to the position he now holds, a sign that it is not the quality of one's birth that matters, but the quality of one's persistence and character. It was Martok that came from the Ketha lowlands on Qo'noS, and Kor that was the reason he had to work so hard to get into the military. It speaks to his irrepressible hard work and determined attitude that he made it so far, and not just that, but equally to JG Hertzler's ability to hold an audience, that he's given another starring role when he was but a recurring character - you would assume he and Kor were the main cast while Worf, and especially the others, were merely supporting if you stumbled upon this episode in ignorance. Add this one to 'Soldiers of The Empire,' 'Shadows and Symbols,' and perhaps the B-stories of a few others and you have your own 'Captain Martok' TV show running through the series. I wonder if anyone's ever attempted such a thing? It shows that a Klingon series would work, although having Worf along, with his Federation ethics and understanding adds something (so you would have one or two observers from other cultures, perhaps a human and a Vulcan - sold!).

In the vein of the season continuing to show us things we'd never seen before, it must be a rarity to see Worf knocked unconscious on the deck. Certainly in 'TNG' he was often being knocked over as the proof of alien beings' power, but not in 'DS9.' Similarly, I can't remember him being in Starfleet uniform and taking off his baldric in the past. Small notes in the grand scheme, but they stuck out to me. He was still composed enough to catch a knife in midair as Martok tried to take out the demented Kor by flinging his d'k tahg - just when you think Worf couldn't be any cooler (and just another reason I'd happily watch a 'Captain Worf' TV show), he acts like some kind of Klingon Mr. Miyagi. It's a tough position for him, throughout this story, he's caught between two strong-willed friends and comrades that he respects more than any others of his race. It's not Kor's fault, he really comes off looking good, even his lapse of sanity is forgivable after the humiliation he endures from Martok and the crew. It is Martok's bitterness that causes all the trouble, a raw nerve Worf has never seen prodded before, and doesn't diplomatically back down from, but plunges in in full Klingon style, respectfully not taking Martok's refusal to talk about it for an answer. Even early in the episode I was pleased to see the time taken to show the sensitivity of the situation: when Worf is summarily dismissed from the General's Quarters, we see him pause in the corridor outside, a look of shock on his face that such a reaction would explode at him. That could easily have been cut, but it adds so much.

The sensitivity extends to the portrayal of the aged Klingons, Kor and Darok, the world-weary aide to Martok who plays an important part in the episode's ability to pull everything together for a species of victory, a show of courage and resourcefulness that is the theme of the episode. We're shown and told a little more about the class struggles within Klingon society, both in the way Martok speaks of being treated, and how Darok is discussed. The attitudes are so endemic within Klingon culture that even Worf displays it when he demands to know if he is to be treated as a 'ShuVak' (servant), like Darok, when Martok won't speak of Kor. Whether it was meant to be ironic by the writers or whether it wasn't considered, I don't know, but certainly there is great irony in such a 'lowly' man being the one to set things on the path to speed out the episode well, giving Kor his honourable death and Worf his honourable young life in consequence. For someone who is looked down on, Darok shows such great wisdom and forethought that it makes you wonder how he came to be in that position, a tale that would no doubt be grand in the telling. It also shows that, as we've occasionally seen, there are more than just warriors in Klingon culture, and society needs people to be servants as much as anything else. He has just the right level of respect and dryness in his manner so as not to irritate Martok too much, but gets his feelings across.

There's a great weight of nostalgia hanging on both he and Kor as these two men of great age who were alive back in simpler times, almost speaking directly of 'TOS' and the time in which it was made as opposed to the 'children' now in their vim and vigour, who are running the 'Empire' of Trek as writers and producers. It's something that I could especially aim at the Kelvin films when he says about them not knowing what they missed (not literally, since some were Trekkers, but I mean in terms of tone and attitude), while also accepting that things change and each new generation of youth takes its place for a time. The greatest comeback ever made, and the best line of the episode, however, goes to Kor. When Martok deliberately digs into him for his loss of place and time on the Bridge, where he confusedly thought he was back working with Kang and taking out a Federation settlement, he doesn't hit back, explain himself or show emotion. He knows he's past his best and endures the cutting remarks of these youngsters with dignity as befits his noble House. It's only when one of the women mentions the dead Kang in her mockery that he's had enough, but even then he doesn't do the Klingon thing of getting out of an awkward moment by making a challenge or knocking her to the floor, his warrior heart has cooled, but his poet's heart is strong. Instead, he warns them, and it's worth recording: "Savour the fruit of life, my young friends. It has a sweet taste when it's fresh from the vine. But don't live too long... The taste turns bitter... after a time."

The bitterness is rife within the Klingons, particularly Martok, who feels his class was to blame for Kor's blocking of him from the career path he wanted, while Kor can't even remember. The chip on Martok's shoulder towards the aristocracy is heavy, yet he thinks nothing of treating Darok without the respect due to age, getting angry with him and frustrated, but never equating their two positions as the same. Whether it's the quality of Kor's birth or his own in-built character, he puts Martok to shame, and although he can never get past the injury done to him, he does at least join in with the crew's toast to the brave last act of Kor. It doesn't matter that we don't see that final, important battle, the last shot of Kor being him transporting away in the familiar red slashes of a Klingon beam, to take his place as Captain one last time. Had the series continued they might have eventually found a way to bring him back, though they knew it wouldn't be continuing. The question was academic anyway because John Colicos died not long after, this his final triumph on the Trek stage, wearing that same toothy grin that had first been seen in 'Errand of Mercy' as a villain, but was now hero of the highest calibre. They might have brought him back in some way had the actor lived, but I'm glad it never happened because sometimes an ending should be the ending: for every Spock or Tasha Yar that rises from the ashes to become a more interesting character in greater stories than before, there's a Jason Bourne who becomes generic and uninteresting. So let Kor rest. We've seen his treachery, faith and the great river of courage within him and that was the perfect conclusion to his saga.

Going against conventional wisdom, it was more powerful not to show that epic battle of one Bird of Prey commanded by an ancient warrior, against ten Jem'Hadar ships. No longer a safe bet due to a new weapon, the tachyon scanner that can penetrate cloaks, a disturbing Dominion development that could have proved a turning point in battle. One ship peeling off from the headlong dash to safety to buy the others time against the odds was a true Klingon course of action. It wasn't even a risky suicide mission, it was a question of how long they could survive! Now, audiences would be disappointed not to see the scuffle, either of that rearguard action or the inevitable welcoming party of the Defiant and other starships awaiting the surviving Klingons, but that would be to miss the point because right from the very first conversation O'Brien and Bashir are having about how Davy Crockett died at the Alamo, the episode is telling us the details aren't important, it's the legend that matters. You would expect to see Kor go out in blazing glory, his Bridge full of smoke and flame, the dead lying all around at his feet, a wild expression of greedy delight in the honour and glory of battle alight in his wide eyes. The episode was kind enough to give us that in his erroneous joy at slipping back into a battle of the past, and it was a pitiable sight, an old man reliving memories that took him back to his vitality, the lost past a short, but bitterly intangible reminder. So we know what it would have looked like and it's better to leave the actual details to the imagination where they can equal a thousand glories. His heartfelt plea to get in on the action and die on his feet as a warrior was answered.

It's not like we weren't treated to any starship skirmishes, though I would have to admit that for 'DS9' and for a Klingon-centred episode in particular, it was light on the action. But what we did see was beautifully accomplished, with Birds of Prey swooping down through the clouds to attack an enemy base in what Sisko called a cavalry charge, Phasers and Photon Torpedoes rending the bright daylight, a Cardassian warship in pursuit of others… It was well done, though the ships did look a little lightweight, whether from CGI, or perhaps down to the agile, twisting nature of these dart-like vessels that could speed in and out so quickly and nimbly. That Captain Sisko describes such warfare in historical terms shows how even in the 24th Century there is a romanticism towards the daring and courage of such acts of the past. You would have expected him to call such a Klingon plan a waste of resources unlikely to achieve any real value, but as ever, the series liked to do the unexpected, so he clearly approves of Martok's plan. The nimble tactics within a bright atmosphere also sit well in contrast with the gloomy internals of a dark Klingon ship where most of the episode is situated - watching as I was in a central heated room in a fleece and a sleeping bag, the volcanic steam and glowing lava of the lighting made that Klingon set come alive as never before and I felt I was there!

The B-story back on the station, Quark's misunderstanding of Ezri's intentions towards Worf was comical, but I'm not sure really fit with the atmosphere. Sometimes, if it's too light, the secondary plot can undermine the main one, and though I wouldn't say it did that here, being slim as it was, and as good as it is to see Quark doing something other than serve drinks (more of which next episode), perhaps the parallel with the Alamo holoprogram that Bashir and O'Brien discussed should have been the focus and might have chimed better. But it is nice to see Ezri and Kira enjoying each other's company, and it was very true to both Dax and Kor that they would meet up to discuss old times, he once again having to get used to another version of the old man, Curzon, that he once knew. It's another little moment that didn't need to be there for the sake of the story, but adds to the richness of their friendship, while also reminding us of the chill between Ezri and Worf, who finds them together. And it makes me happy to know that Kor got to meet Dax one last time, especially after such an important event as Jadzia's death. She'd better watch out though, if Ezri keeps going round kissing people she'll get a name for it after doing the same to both Kor and Quark!

I don't remember it ever being stated why Martok doesn't take the Rotarran on this mission, instead commanding the Ch'Tang and a different crew. It could be because they didn't want to bring back the crew we'd seen before, though it was different in 'Shadows and Symbols,' or maybe this was a smaller ship, more agile, or perhaps it was a case of the Rotarran being called to do something else, unless I missed the reference within the episode. Details were far from stifled in this Klingon banquet, with everything from the name of Kor's Father to Martok's past (including fascinating minutiae: he worked as a civilian labourer on a ship and then got a battlefield commission - now more than ever I want to read Hertzler's Martok duology, 'The Left Hand of Destiny'!). I didn't know that the House of Mogh was noble, just as the House of Kor comes from Imperial blood, and I liked hearing that there was no blood feud between the Houses of Martok and Kor (wonder if they have the House of Martok in 'DSC'? Probably not, since he was of a low birth). Even the way Kor dresses had been carefully thought out - rather than wear the traditional soldier's uniform of most Klingons, he sports the animal skins or leather that we see Klingons in 'Enterprise' favouring, it befitting a Dahar Master to stand out from the commoners. We never did find out what a Dahar Master actually was, beyond its title of reverence, but that too is ripe for exploration now that Trek is in production again…

Neil Vipond, who made such an impact as Darok, the best aide in Trek that I can think of, went on to another role in 'Voyager' ('Natural Law'), and Nancy Youngblut, rather than being a similar female Klingon we saw in 'Soldiers of The Empire,' had previously played another alien in that same series, 'Displaced,' but under the heavy Klingon makeup and thick Klingon teeth, who was to know? They made good Klingons, which is essential for the atmosphere of an episode focused on the warrior race. Ronald D. Moore has his name to this, which must be the final Klingon-centric episode of the series in the most Klingon-centric series (leaving 'DSC' aside as I have yet to see it), so I'm glad he had one last chance to put his stamp on it as 'the Klingon guy.' Those Klingon lifespans have a disadvantage, it seems, as old grudges are never forgotten, but without their extended length we'd never have had the chance to see the great Dahar Master Kor of the Klingon Empire interact with our 'DS9' characters, and that would have been a huge loss to the series and to Trek in general. As 'DSC' appears (from what I understand), to be going back towards the era of 'TOS' as fast as it can, I can only hope they don't sully the great legacy left by people such as John Colicos. The Shakespearean title was doubly fitting for being host to what Colicos himself considered a Falstaffian figure in Kor. The Klingon race was always larger than life and theatrical, too, so it's delightful to spend another segment in their company, doing what they do best. Then again, I could say that about the actors, writers and directors of Trek, too. And I do!

****