Episode of the Week: 2x20 "The Emissary"

[Jeyl]

Memory Alpha Entry
Chrissie's Transcript

This week is finally here! For years I've waited for this moment, and now I can finally sit back and talk about "Emissary", the pilot episode to my favorite Star Trek series ever, Deep Space Nine. Enough intros, let's watch this epic beginning!

*watches*

Wait, this is "THE Emissary"..... Oh, that's right. We're still in season 2 of TNG.... That really was a long weekend.

Not that watching "The Emissary" is a bad thing. On the contrary, I find this episode to be one of the highlights of Season 2's entire run. I know "Q Who" is iconic for the introduction of the Borg, but when it comes to how the characters act and react to situations, it winds up being a more consistently written episode in the end where you're not left wondering why the characters are doing stupid things.

From the very beginning, we know this episode is going to be unique because this time the story is about Worf. For a character who is well known for being easily beaten up by anyone who can throw a punch and always having his suggestions ignored, it's nice that Worf is being portrayed as a real problem solver. His insistence that "There are always options" is so great that it feels almost sad that this is the last Klingon TNG era episode before Ron D. Moore was brought it to stereotype them all to heck.

The Emissary also brings back Suzie Plakson who was last seen in this season's episode "The Schizoid Man" where she played the Vulcan officer Selar. Here she plays the half human, half klingon K'Ehleyr, an emissary who is brought in to brief the Enterprise on intercepting a Klingon battlecruiser carrying a crew of Klingons who, upon waking up from stasis will still believe they are at war with the Federation. Cool premise, and it give this episode an excuse to bring in the Klingon K't'inga battle cruiser from TMP and that's always a plus!

One of the more interesting dynamics I wouldn't have expected from a TNG episode is how K'Ehleyr and Worf go about their views on sex. Worf sees their fling as a ritualistic bonding moment where they are mated for life, where as K'Ehleyr sees it as just a fling. You don't get this kind of thing in Star Trek, especially when it comes to the female characters. Both sides see what they did in a different ways, and both arguments are totally understandable. Their final scene together in the transporter room was well acted and really added a nice layer to Worf's character that we haven't seen before. The only real downside to this whole episode is that this is where Alexander, a character I remember hating more then Wesley when the show was still new, was conceived. God help us all.

CONCLUSION: Definitely one of the better episodes of Season 2. The writing is top notch, the actors are all at the top of their game, and we get to see Worf and K'Ehleyr in full Klingon attire in command on the Enterprise's bridge. One of my favorite moments of Season 2 and was glad that Worf had a plan that the Captain agreed to go with. Definitely not an episode to skip.

STINGER:

 

[Forbin]

Whilw I thought Suzi was gorgeous as Selar, I fell for her hard in this ep. I spoke with her for a while at a Creation Con a few years ago and confirmed that she is, indeed, an absolute doll.

 

[Jeyl]

Whilw I thought Suzi was gorgeous as Selar, I fell for her hard in this ep. I spoke with her for a while at a Creation Con a few years ago and confirmed that she is, indeed, an absolute doll.

I completely agree. It's just that TNG sort of developed a "Dump'em/Kill'em" streak when it came to female characters they introduce that have really good promise. But in the end, Selar, Gomez, Pulaski, K'Ehleyr and even Ro are forgotten. I was actually intrigued by the idea of Selar having a thing for Worf and wondered what a Vulcan would find attractive in a Klingon. Since Vulcans are three times stronger than humans, it'd be cool to see Worf look at a Vulcan as a worthy adversary and instead of that "Earth female are too fragile" trope.

I love the character of K'Ehleyr and thought Suzie really did own that role. But again, going back to the streak, the only thing the writers wanted to do with her when she came back was to kill her off just so they could give Worf some development.

 

[FormerLurker]

Technically, the writers didn't want that. It was Michael Dorn's idea. He was talking with one of the writers about what would motivate Worf to kill Duras, and Dorn told him that would only happen if Duras had killed K'Ehleyr. He apologized to Susie Plakson on the set for getting her character killed.

 

[Trek Survivor]

Technically, the writers didn't want that. It was Michael Dorn's idea. He was talking with one of the writers about what would motivate Worf to kill Duras, and Dorn told him that would only happen if Duras had killed K'Ehleyr. He apologized to Susie Plakson on the set for getting her character killed.

Source? According to Michael Piller, he came up with the idea.

 

[FormerLurker]

Michael Dorn said that at a convention in Denver. In fact, it may have been Michael Piller he had been talking to. It's possible that their conversation is what inspired Piller to have Duras kill K'ehleyr.

 

[Captrek]

Dorn told him that would only happen if Duras had killed K'Ehleyr.

Killing Alexander would also have done the trick. It would have been difficult to come up with a way to write that into the story, but it would have been worth it.

 

[Jeyl]

Killing Alexander would also have done the trick. It would have been difficult to come up with a way to write that into the story, but it would have been worth it.

Worth it. Oh, so worth it. That's the best idea I've heard about his character.

 

[Captain Clark Terrell]

Killing Alexander would also have done the trick. It would have been difficult to come up with a way to write that into the story, but it would have been worth it.

Duras attacks K'Ehleyr not realizing Alexander is nearby. He tries to stab her but misses, fatally wounding Alexander instead.

--Sran

 

[MikeS]

That would have been a great service to the character of Alexandra.

 

[Captain Clark Terrell]

That would have been a great service to the character of Alexandra.

Not to mention Star Trek fans everywhere.

--Sran