DS9 Flashback: Sons of Mogh

Star Trek: The Next Generation was less serialized than its first spin-off Deep Space Nine. But it did have the occasional ongoing storyline, arguably the most significant being Worf's discommendation from the Klingon Empire. When Worf was added to Deep Space Nine and immediately became outcast once more, you can bet that this series -- more structured to examine the consequences of an action -- was going to pick up that thread. It did so with "Sons of Mogh."

Worf's defiance of Gowron has led to the dissolution of his House in the Klingon Empire. His brother Kurn has been stripped of title, lands, and honor, and has nothing to live for. Now he arrives on the station, asking Worf to assist in his ritual suicide.

Whenever you start to think Worf is rigidly Klingon-y and surrounded by patient friends who indulge that side of him, you can always count on "real" Klingons to provide perspective. Kurn comes stomping in to ridicule Worf for the creature comforts of his daily life and pull him to be even more Klingon. You have to admit, though, Kurn does kind of have a point here: when Worf recently chose his personal sense of honor over all else, he didn't give any consideration to how it might affect his brother (or his son).

Worf thinks about Kurn now, though, agreeing very early in the episode to actually go through with assisting his suicide. This was a twist introduced in a very late draft of the script by Ronald Moore (who felt that the earlier versions, in which Worf just spent the whole episode wrestling with Kurn's request, were falling flat). It does inject some compelling conflict into the story, putting Dax and O'Brien in the position of trying to defend Worf's choice to a Captain Sisko who thinks Worf has crossed well over the line in cultural differences that should be tolerated.

It's an episode all about "not fitting in." Worf tries to honor his brother's wishes, but when Dax's own code of ethics compels her to save Kurn's life, Worf must accept her intervention as honorable. At first, it seems Kurn will make a great deputy for Odo, who appreciates Kurn's discipline -- but when it becomes clear that Kurn is just looking to get killed in the line of duty, he loses the job. And at the climax of the story, Worf is forced to realize he can no longer fit in within the Klingon Empire either; his own instinct for danger has been too blunted.

There is one unsettling place in this episode where cultures don't collide though: Julian Bashir's infirmary. With no pushback or hesitation, Bashir agrees to mind wipe Kurn at the end of the episode, on Worf's say-so alone and without Kurn's consent. It's a bit mad scientist-like of the good doctor, if you ask me.

Also, apparently, if you ask actor Tony Todd. He returned here to play Kurn for the final time (after playing "old Jake Sisko" earlier in the season). Though he said in one interview that he felt "blessed" to play two such different roles on the show, he also noted elsewhere that he agreed to do this episode before seeing the script, and felt that its ending was "a disservice to people that were really into Kurn and into the Klingon legacy." The real shame of it, I think, is that this really was the end, that we never saw Kurn again in the three seasons to follow. There was surely a compelling story to be told in having Worf interact with a brother who no longer remembers him. Just like the awkward reintroduction of Toral a few episodes earlier, this is setting up something interesting that will never be paid off.

Other observations:

• The first scene of the episode is a flirtatious one between Dax and Worf. It was reportedly written to see what the chemistry was like between the two characters (and Terry Farrell and Michael Dorn). Clearly, the writers liked what they saw, and leaned into this pairing heavily from here on.

• I believe this is the first episode to show Worf wielding the one-handed mek'leth rather than the traditional bat'leth weapon. Designer Dan Curry created the weapon at Michael Dorn's request for something smaller. As Curry put it, the small weapon was meant to be cooler: "A guy who can use a dagger against somebody with a broadsword is certainly the badder of the martial artists."

There are some good performances in this episode. Tony Todd, in particular, is always a great Star Trek guest star. But the story overall is a little disappointing, especially in the unresolved possibilities it leaves on the table. I give "Sons of Mogh" a B-.