REUNION Well, seeing as I never saw the first episode with Worf's SO, I felt a bit like I was coming in in the middle here. How well the creators did at informing me as to What Had Gone Before can probably be determined from how well I comprehend K'Elihr's (sp?) background. From what I could gleam from the episode, she's half human, she was raised by humans (if she wasn't, then she's a REALLY bad actress, because she doesn't seem Klingon in the least except in appearance), and is a Federation ambassador, presumably to the Klingons. I also assume that she has spent most of her time as an ambassador in the Empire, which is how she managed to keep the existence of her son secret from Worf and the Federation. On the whole, the episode was reasonably good, though I found K'Elihr to be an extremely one-dimensional character. We've all seen her like before. There were no surprises, or, actually, anything remotely interesting about her. The only thing she contributed to the episode was someone for the other characters to react off of. Fortunately, she wasn't the focus of the episode, or the quality would have suffered. Keeping her and Worf's son to the sidelines was also a good idea. The kid's script was good, but the actor wasn't very impressive (yeah, I know, he's a kid, but it was still a good idea not to focus on him). I was very impressed with Picard's meeting with K'Empec, and the politics surrounding it. The motivating factors behind the episode's actions was very solid. Picard's role was perfect (especially the line "There is no delay. It is the time I have chosen." Hah! That'll teach those Klingons) and the development of the succession plotline was well done. I was extremely impressed with the portrayal of Duras' rival. The make-up job, the mannerisms, it all seemed so perfectly Klingon, and yet he had a distinct personality (from what little we saw of him). I look forward to seeing him developed further in future episodes. Also well done was the portrayal of Worf, his refusal (on entirely logical grounds) to recognize his son officially, his reactions to K'Elihr (and her death) and his antagonism toward Duras. It was always quite clear that he was unable to maintain professional detachment where Duras was concerned, and his final fight with Duras was a nice culmination of those feelings (about bloody time a little reality of how deep hatred can go between two people is injected into this program!). I'm of two minds as to the resolution of the bomb issue. On the one hand, there wasn't one. We never do find out who planted the bomb for sure, and that makes the episode on its own something of a let down. On the other hand, they've done a good job developing the Klingons and their political and social foibles throughout the series, and I think that it would be a shame not to make use of the possibility that Duras did NOT plant the bomb (i.e., that someone bribed his man away from him), whether it be Duras' rival (and now leader of the Klingon council), or someone else. I assume we'll eventually see some sort of direct involvement by the Romulans eventually. Anyway, I'm not so bothered by this because of the potential for future stories in it, and optimism that it will be handled well. Somewhat less forgivable is the lack of resolution of the poisoning issue. The planter of the bomb and the poison need not have been the same person, and this lack of resolution takes a bit of the dramatic "Umph!" out of the episode, because this is the issue which basically started off the tension in the episode, and we never get a pay-off. There really wasn't a good reason to leave it hanging. Nice Touch: Finally making official TNG acknowledgement of the Tholians' existence, including implying that they're a major power in the region and are positioned adjacent to the Klingons. Overall, the episode had nice characterizations and executions on all fronts (except for Worf's girlfriend and son), a solid basis from which to build the story, and a great deal of drama. The tension was perhaps a bit low sometimes, largely due to the frequent shifting of scenes, but it was acceptable. Worf killing Duras certainly made up for it in surprise value. I'd say this one is about as good as "Family", and for basically the same reasons: Good characterization, concept and pacing. Grade: A- SEASON FOUR TO DATE: The Best Of Both Worlds Part Two: C- Family: A- Brothers: B Suddenly Human: C Remember Me: A+ Legacy: D+ Reunion: A- --- Total: 19.667 Average: 2.810 = B-