UNCUT - Firstborn (TNG S7E21) | Star Trek Journey 318

Notice that old Alexander has the exact same forehead ridges as young. They are similar within families, but like a fingerprint for the individual.

Older Alexander: "By Kahless, I was such a dumbass." Worf: "Why does my son grow up to look like that Romulan detector? Should I get a DNA test?"

As S7 eps go, Firstborn is solid. I think B is a fair rating. Sloyan once again does a lot of the heavy lifting, and he has a lot more to work with than in The Alternate. Plus a cameo from the Duras sisters for old time's sake and a Quark crossover, what's not to like. Though whenever Worf says "I have seen you before", I always half expect him to follow it up with "you are a Romulan!!". Regarding why Riker decided to speak to Quark, originally there was going to be a scene where he talked to Sisko first, who then directed him to ask Quark. It does make a degree of sense given the Duras sisters are trying to lay low, and Quark tends to have his fingers in all sorts of shady business, but also Riker does have leverage on Quark as well. Or at least he had. I also don't know how K'Ehelyr would have worked, but it went far beyond a flash in the pan idea. They actually tried to get Suzie Plakson back and she was interested, but had other acting commitments. Actually oriiginally this episode had nothing to do with Alexander. Originally they would have found a Romulan ship with Federation markings and a future version of Riker from a time when the Romulans and Federation were at peace. But it would all turn out to be fake, part of a Romulan plot. It was deemed too generic. Regarding this episode, Michael dorn had this to say. "We don't really know what happens now. Just that the future is uncertain. It's just like real life, but Worf is still a terrible father. He hasn't got a clue." And there you have it, not that any of us needed the confirmation.

I'm afraid I just find this episode boring. I want to like it. It has a bunch of elements I like. I like Worf. I like looking at his relationship to Klingon culture. But, this ends up being an entire episode about how Worf is a terrible parent. And the sci-fi time travel twist just doesn't work for me. I find it unnecessary. I thought maybe I would like it more this time on a rewatch, but I'm afraid it is about a B grade for me, too. Maybe C+?

Nothing wrong with a little fan service. :)

Star Trek was the only franchise where anyone could submit a script without having the representation of an agent. The producers could buy the script just for an idea (future Alexander) and have a staff writer do a completely new script. So often these submissions were from people that had no other produced writing credits.

Patrick Stewart was barely in this episode because he was guest hosting Saturday Night Live the week this was filmed, and they rehearse during the week.

Okay. I'm going to restate a lot of the same points that Josh brought up, but I really want to express my frustration with Worf and Alexander and how they were handled over the course of TNG. First, and this always makes me want to scream at the sky, this is the only episode after "Reunion" in which K'Ehleyr is mentioned in context with their family at all. In Ten-Forward, Worf says that he wants Alexander to be able to honor his mother, but we are never shown them talking about her or even acknowledging her at all. Why is this? One of the earliest and certainly one of the most prominent memories this kid has is his mother -- the only parent he knew during the first three years of his life -- getting brutally murdered. How is Alexander meant to honor his mother, if her influence is not active in his life? Second, and I think this is where Worf's parenting falls apart, Worf seems almost totally incapable of wrapping his head around the idea of a Klingon, especially a male Klingon, who is not fully enmeshed in the warrior aspect of Klingon culture. I get that for Worf being a Klingon means being a warrior, but at this point, having directly interacted with the Klingon Empire on multiple occasions, and being in a relationship with a half-Klingon diplomat, it feels a little ridiculous that Worf struggles to frame his cultural heritage as a Klingon in any other context. Because, third, this is not the first time Alexander has said outright that he's not interested in being a warrior. This is the emphatic his been about it, but it's not the first time. And it's no wonder. Again, his mom, who was the only parent he knew, was brutally murdered and he directly witnessed her death. And then, immediately after that, his father, whom he'd only just met, goes and brutally murders someone else. Of course Alexander is going to think battle for glory or honor is stupid, that's what killed his mom. And that it seems Worf never sat down and talked with him about it from that framework seems nuts. What were they doing with Deanna? Was it just, "He's not listening to me again, but I am his father so he must," every time? I think Alexander was very attached to K'Ehleyr who, let's not forget, was very dismissive of Klingon culture herself. I think he carries a lot of trauma from her death that seems, for the most part, to have been unaddressed. So, I think it's very natural for him to cleave more to her path than Worf's; for him to want to find ways to mediate conflict rather than engage with it. Look at who Alexander likes to spend time with. Outside the age-appropriate friends we hear him mention (but rarely see) it's the Trois: the ship's counselor and her diplomat mother. I also think Alexander is a theater kid. I don't get the sense that he was drawn into the performance on the Klingon colony because it was a battle, I think he liked the street opera. It would also explain his interest in the Deadwood program on the holodeck -- his role isn't a fighting one, it's one where he gets to spend time with both the heroes and the villains and see both sides of the story. That Alexander seems to have largely been stifled throughout his childhood from fully exploring his genuine interests, while living in an environment that seems uniquely suited to allowing them to flourish seems like an absolute missed opportunity. And I know adult Alexander is upset because he feels responsible for Worf's death -- so much so that he felt motivated to erase his own timeline -- but I really dislike his speech about his guilt in this episode. If you go back and listen to what he says, the reason his efforts failed is that he had no support, not even from within his own House. Is he partially at fault for not listening when Worf tried to warn him that his timing was off? Sure. However, there are several mentions of how influential Kurn is throughout this episode, and adult Alexander says that Worf tried to get him not to go forward with his efforts to reconcile the Houses. How would it have been different if Alexander had been given support so that there was the physical strength that Klingons respect available to back up his efforts? It should not have required a time-traveling adult version of Alexander nearly in tears over his losses to shock Worf into acknowledging his son as person with his own goals and destiny. Ultimately, I know it's a failing on the part of the writers. They created Alexander as a conduit of vulnerability and conflict for Worf when it wasn't strictly necessary and then didn't know what to do with him once he was there. But it's so frustrating that it seems like they never sat down and really thought about Alexander until the very end of the show. Alexander could have been a much better character if they'd taken advantage of his exposure not only to a vast number of different cultures, but to people like Picard and both Trois, to expand on this side of him before the final month of the show. To show that there are ways to engage with a society that aren't just compressing it into a monoculture. Still, it's encouraging to see that they did get there for now. Sorry for the essay, hopefully it was mostly coherent.

I always wanted to love this one, but it just didn’t measure up to what I normally enjoy from a Worf episode. Especially since someone letting a stranger Klingon hang out with your kid with like no vetting seemed so odd to me considering how few friendly klingons Worf encounters.

39:20 I'm glad you both had that reaction! hahaha

This episode would have been so much better without the "I am Alexander!" twist.

Found this rather boring I'm afraid. Haven't ever rewatched it. Once you know the twist there's no point in rewatching...

Klingon Ren faire.

Target Audience and "Whinging About the Opening Credits" . Name a more iconic duo.

Just wondering, first time comment, love the commentary on this channel - is the plan to include Voyager in the reactions? I grew up with all 3 shows and each one I adore, but each for very different reasons. All put together they create such a wonderful universe, the 90's was a fantastic Trek era. It would make me sooooo beyond thrilled if Voyager gets mixed in with the TNG films for complete continuity - forgive me if I'm ignorant, I'm new to comments and can't recall if they've ever mentioned adding Voyager to the release date order schedule

Great performance by James Sloyan, but as a Klingon episode it's not much better than Birthright. It's actually similar to "New Ground", but with a time travel twist.

Different circumstances/episodes, but speaking of how one of you previously said that you felt like you should like Blood Oath more than you do, upon reviewing this episode, that's kind of how I feel about this one. I do like it, but until rewatching it this morning, my memory was 'meh'. I did enjoy it more this time, and I probably would give it a B as well, but in theory this feels like it could have been an A/S, but I'm not sure what it needed to get me there.

I like the call backs, but just think the story itself is ok. C

Damn wishing this was Marquis part 2. Still saying that mostly all but the final two shows of tng are pretty mid

Weird how Troi has zero role in this story. Weren’t she and Worf seeing each other just a few episodes ago?

I mean actors have to get credit as part of their contracts there’s simply nothing you can do about it

The way that James Sloyan says father is so similar to the younger Alexander says it. It's a really good episode

as for credits spoiling things you guys could both block out the bottom of the screen with your hands so characters and actors arent spoiled

Regarding the dvds for future series “Enterprise “ is available on Blu-ray.

I actually forgot Quark was in this.

My hunch is your reaction was subdued for the same reason mine was. When coming off a great part 1, it's awkward to change over for a single episode. It's sort of like... ok, this isn't just competing with itself, but the subconscious thing you want to see the part 2 and here's an interruption. This was a bit strange in real time because DS9 had haters from the beggining and a lot of people who checked out after season 1. Season 2 was when things really started to roll, particularly the latter part. This is probably why people remember it so differently. Are you thinking of the second half or the first half which felt more like season 1 tonally. And TNG was wrapping, the movie and Voyager were being promoted (it was going to be the flagship show of a new network)- this was probably "peak" trek time in terms of how big it was in general culture- 1995. Just getting into it I was wrapped up with the excitement not thinking about how TNG was ending. But it's funny- I kind of divide season 7 episodes into "good" or "barely remember". This goes into the "BR" half but nit because its not good. I think its more its placement and being the TNG sendoff for Alexander who was always kind of meh. You can think of Wesley as "meh", but his nerd boy Gary Sue character was a much bigger part of the show and he did deserve a send off. I like Josh appreciate they actually finished his character arc, even if it was silly by concept. I also like in the resolutions we got, it both is a send off and kind of arc end for characters but doesn't lock them down. Picard and Crusher was wrapped up by not wrapping it up. A (divisive) late romance that was an extension of a bond going back seasons... neat little things that made it feel like it was the end but was still fundamentally TNG. I have a lot to say on DS9 but I'll save it for part 2 of the Maquis.

Regarding opening credits spoiling guests, you have to remember that these were on in the era of “next time on” and commercials. While you guys go into these episodes cold, and no clue what an episode is going to be about, when these were being broadcast the first time, we’d have an idea about the plot and major guest appearances would be advertised like crazy.

The Dorfector!

The reality of these crossover appearances, like Quark in this episode, is that the whole purpose of them was promotion. "Come watch this week's DS9 - Q is going to drop by!" or "Don't miss Quark on this episode of TNG!" They had no incentive to avoid spoiling the appearance; on the contrary, they definitely wanted you to know that Quark was going to show up, so you'd tune in and keep watching!

Credits are going to spoil the shit out of you in the future. It’s only going to get worse. I know we have talked about this before but there is literally nothing you can do apart from shut your eyes for the first 30 seconds. 😂

I love the scene in 10 Forward, great acting by both Dorn and Sloyan. The banter between the Duras sisters and Worf made me laugh, especially Worf’s smirk.

Ah, I forget all about this episode! Really enjoyed "Keeping up with the Mogh's". Great twist too. And Jarok! / Dr Mora!

The alien lin the mine looked and sounded a lot like Steve Buschemi. It wasn't him obviously. But still.

Better on rewatch that I remember. The reveal scene is great, it’s a solid episode overall and B feels right.

I'm sure there'll be a lot more than this, but man,, there's a somewhat early Voyager episode where the credits are going to be SO spoilery.

Absolutely watch it again. It feels much more impactful knowing Alexander has watched his father die and is trying to convey so much to his younger self, and to Worf. The lines have new meaning. Also note the forehead ridges. They are family-specific. Kurns and Worf's are the same, as is K'mtar's and Alexander's. Doesn't have to be the best episode to hold meaning for these characters. Even when the plot is a little contrived.

I think Picard was exploring ruins this episode

I had to rewatch your reaction to the Kimtar is Alexander reavel. I thought your eyes were going to pop out of your heads, I loved it.

Closure is a good way to describe a lot of the season 7 episodes. They knew the series was coming to an end and tried to wrap up some loose ends, giving some of the recurring guest characters stories of their own to add a certain finality to them.

I'm with you guys: B episode. Not great but good.

I like the oral traditions of telling historical stories the Klingons have. Reminds me of some cultures of Earth.

Was wondering if you'd catch the head ridges! His forehead Kemtar's forehead makeup exactly matches Alexander's.

Commenting blind (gonna watch this when my shift ends noon eastern time), I will guess you guys were entertained by this but didn't love it. As for me? I mean, it's okay. It's your standard end-of-series character wrap up with a sci-fi twist. Some nice cameos with Quark and the Duras Sisters. And I do love my Klingon episodes. I can't call it a banger though. Sooo.....I dunno. C+

yeah.....I am skipping this one