TNG Flashback: The Emissary

Some of my favorite Star Trek episodes are the ones where the "problem of the week" either grows organically from the main characters themselves, or when it takes a back seat to a more character-driven story. "The Emissary" is a very fine example of the latter kind of story, even though Worf isn't necessarily one of my favorite characters on The Next Generation.

The Enterprise is diverted mysteriously to deep space to bring aboard a small probe; riding inside is Klingon diplomat K'Ehleyr, with an urgent mission for the crew. A Klingon ship whose crew has been in hibernation for several decades is nearing several defenseless Federation outposts. Its recently-awakened crew thinks that war between the Klingons and the Federation is still on, and the Enterprise must find a way to convince them not to attack. But the real war is between K'Ehleyr and Worf; the two have a fiery romantic history that's rekindled with her arrival on the ship.

This episode hinges on a compelling guest star, and the character of K'Ehleyr, as played by Suzie Plakson, truly is. She's an excellent merger of good writing and good acting. She's not at all what you would think of as a stereotypical Klingon, but her fiery and strong personality is completely consistent with the race, and great fun to watch. (The costume department has some fun with her too. She has several outfits that seem wildly inspired by 80s fashion, though they do manage to not look overly dated today. Barely.)

Of course, I'm not a fan when an episode is all about the guest star. Fortunately, that's not the case here. This episode is all about Worf. And interestingly, though he's an orphan looking in from the outside on Klingon culture, he's a strict traditionalist. He doesn't want to have anything to do with K'Ehleyr when she first arrives on the ship, but once they give in to a moment of passion, he changes direction on the spot and wants to marry her. (It's also interesting to see a woman happy with a one night stand, and the man demanding to know if "last night meant nothing.")

K'Ehleyr even manages to cause a few ripples in the pond for characters other than Worf. She has a couple of nice scenes with Counselor Troi, in which the two discuss what it's like to have parents of two different races. She even ropes Data into the drama just a little bit, in the scene where Worf uses him as an "android chaperone"; K'Ehleyr asks Data whether he finds human or Klingon culture more peculiar, and gets a fun reply.

The directing of the episode, by Trek veteran Cliff Bole, is fairly strong here. He uses some incredibly tight close-ups on several dramatic scenes. (A big tip of the hat goes to Michael Westmore and the makeup department, as the makeup on Worf and K'Ehleyr completely holds up even that close, even in HD.) Cliff Bole is also said to be the one who came up with the notion that Klingon foreplay involves the man crushing the woman's fingernails into her own palm until they draw blood -- a very nice touch.

Poker returns to the show in the teaser, for the first time since it was introduced in "The Measure of a Man." This time, the connection is a bit more tenuous to the main plot. Essentially, the scene is there to show Worf as completely unflappable, to play up how thoroughly he'll be flapped when K'Ehleyr arrives. It is fun... but I cringe at how badly the game of poker is depicted. It's not that Star Trek is any worse in this regard than most television and movies, but all the pot splashing and string raising drives me nuts. Then there's Data, who offers Geordi a cut, then subsequently cuts the deck himself anyway. (Brent Spiner does a very impressive one-handed cut, though.)

Composer Ron Jones delivers one of his best scores for the series in this episode. He makes very clever use of synthesizers, working with the fact that 80s synthesizers don't quite sound like real instruments. He writes suspense music for the recovery of K'Ehleyr's probe, and an angry anthem for the character herself. He has pounding action music for Worf's calisthenics program, and sweeping romantic music (with Klingon influences) for the encounter afterward. Suspense is back on again in the hunt for the Klingon ship, and another bittersweet melody covers the goodbye between K'Ehleyr and Worf. It's a full musical meal.

Other observations:

• The idea of sending K'Ehleyr to the Enterprise via probe is a very cool one. The thought of riding for hours in a coffin makes me queasy.

• There's a great visual gag of Worf cutting a holographic opponent in half with his weapon. The enemy dissolves before you see anything that wouldn't be allowed on TV in 1989.

• There are two minor guest characters in the episode whose faces you might recognize. Replacing Wesley Crusher at the helm is a character played by Anne Elizabeth Ramsey, who played Helen Hunt's sister on Mad About You. And near the end of the episode, the security station is manned by Deidrich Bader, of Napoleon Dynamite, Office Space, and many projects with Drew Carey.

• Earlier, I mentioned the well-conceived detail of bloodletting as a prelude to Klingon sex. The blood here looks just like human blood, a fact that would later be contradicted in the movie Star Trek VI. There, the elaborate zero-gravity assassination sequence was animated with goofy looking purple blood specifically so that the violence wouldn't garner an R rating for the film. (Though I suppose you could retcon all this by noting that K'Ehleyr, who is half human, might have "human colored" blood.)

• This is one of the few episodes where the last image isn't a space shot of the Enterprise flying away to its next adventure. Instead, it finishes with a close-up on Worf, an appropriate conclusion for an episode that had such an impact on him.

Not only was this a solid episode, but it was followed up on in season four with an exciting sequel. But we'll get there in time. For the moment, "The Emissary" gets a B+.