DS9 ruined Alexander Rozhenko

[Danoz]

There were hints on TNG that Worf's son Alexander could grow into quite an interesting character in future. But then the writers of DS9 decided to bring him into the show, and, IMO, completely botched the character, turning him into a bungling, Clouseau-type figure who was hopeless at everything and suitable only for derision. I feel that he could have been so much more than the pathetic comedy character we ended up with. How do others feel?

I think the confusion and direction of Alexander made a lot of sense. Worf, from a young age in a strange land, was brought up with younger parents and devoted himself to all things Klingon with a level of dedication that could have rivaled any child on the homeworld-- if anything, his situation carved him into a great warrior and wise, balanced officer.

Alexander's childhood was a little more difficult. Mother, opposed to traditional Klingon values, dies suddenly and horrifically-- with a father casting a HUGE shadow who shuttles him off to Earth to be raised as a human. Caught between worlds and confused, he eventually decides to serve on a Klingon ship, but he is already YEARS behind where the other children would be.

Before Alexander would ever become more like his father, he would undoubtedly go through a very awkward and difficult period of adapting and dealing with the disadvantages of his youth.

I really liked the episode where he serves on the ship with Worf. I always felt like they put a lot of thought into Alexander's dramatic jump in character development.

 

[FormerLurker]

Seeing as Gowron destroyed the house of Mog in DS9, there was no way the events of Firstborn could have happen in the first place, IMO.

Worf and then Alexander joined the house of Martog.

Unless Martog restored the house somehow, but the episode seemed to imply the House of Mog always stood.

I agree, TNG had a few touching scenes between Alexander and Worf, but by the time of DS9, they grew so far apart, Alexander wanted to Bat'leth the hell out of Worf for a moment.

"Generations" fundamentally altered the timeline by killing the Duras sisters, long before Gowron stripped the house of Mogh of its honor and holdings, and rendering it outcast.

Oh, and it's Martok, not Martog.

 

[Mr. Laser Beam]

DS9 didn't ruin Alexander, it *saved* him. By joining the Klingon fleet, Alexander got something to do, a place to feel useful - which is all he really wants. And I find it realistic that even though he's not exactly the best warrior the KDF has, he does well enough, and manages to get by (i.e. he's not weak or ineffectual, just...normal).

 

[neogothboy74]

I thought Alexander was ruined on TNG (he even had a bit of an age jump on that show). The character was a mess. I don't think that DS9 fixed him exactly, but it certainly didn't ruin him. They only had him in two episodes but I thought the actor did a fine job and the storyline seemed to flow pretty well. It didn't bother me at all.

 

[Navaros]

completely botched the character, turning him into a bungling, Clouseau-type figure who was hopeless at everything and suitable only for derision.

How is that different from him on TNG? I'm no TNG expert but I do recall being bored to tears by bumbling Alexander wasting an hour of my life in the useless filler episodes "Fistful of Datas" in which he gets trapped in a holosuite program and daddy has to also waste an hour of my life performing nonsensical acts to save him.

IMO Alexander was never much of a character to being with. DS9's treatment of him just expounded on that.

 

[Saquist]

He was a REAL BRAT in TNG.
I think his granparents must have been incompetent because Worf was the only child that came out okay and he was an alien...

 

[Chick_McGeester]

I just watched a Fist Full of Datas. Not a bad little western episode...

 

[Nightdiamond]

I agree, now that I think about it, DS9 actually saved him and added some more dimension to his character.

As far TNG was concerned, we never would have seen him again after he abruptly disappeared to live with his grandparents.

The way DS9 suddenly left off with him was awkward though. It seemed like a quick fix with no real follow up.

Trek has always had a thing with the dysfunctional families- almost every main character in each series comes from a family that you could describe as dysfunctional.

 

[Dusty Ayres]

He was a REAL BRAT in TNG.
I think his grandparents must have been incompetent because Worf was the only child that came out okay and he was an alien...

Worf was found by Sergei when Sergei was a young man and had the energy to raise him along with Helena.

Alexander was sent to Sergei & Helena when both were in their twilight years. Try handling a Klingon child then, and you'll see why they sent him back to Worf.

EDIT: If anything, I think that Klingon culture failed him, first by not taking him in after his mother died, and forcing him to live with his grandparents due to its rules about discommodation. Alexander also has to share some of the blame by not doing as his daddy said and go off to a Klingon school to learn the male coming of age rites and the other things that make a Klingon a Klingon.

 

[Mr. Scott]

Alexander was farmed out to his mother, who was Half-Klingon and thought most of the ways of the Klingon were lame and stupid (which they are)

Worf shps him off to his step-paremts who are old and cannot handle the child. Worf more or less ships the kid back to the grandparents. He's too busy guarding Picard's back.

The kid grows into a man and wants to fight in the war against the Dominion. He's 3/4th Klingon. Yeah, he's a fuck up, but according to Martok "He's a good boy, with a warrior heart (the ultimate compliment from a Klingon) and he tries hard." He fks up, oh well. He might be the Reginald Barkley of the Klingon Empire. Reg was honorable. Slightly.

 

[Saquist]

He was a REAL BRAT in TNG.
I think his grandparents must have been incompetent because Worf was the only child that came out okay and he was an alien...

Worf was found by Sergei when Sergei was a young man and had the energy to raise him along with Helena.

Alexander was sent to Sergei & Helena when both were in their twilight years. Try handling a Klingon child then, and you'll see why they sent him back to Worf.

EDIT: If anything, I think that Klingon culture failed him, first by not taking him in after his mother died, and forcing him to live with his grandparents due to its rules about discommodation. Alexander also has to share some of the blame by not doing as his daddy said and go off to a Klingon school to learn the male coming of age rites and the other things that make a Klingon a Klingon.

Sounds like the same or similar stupid Trek Rules for Cardassians that children with no parents are abandoned.

 

[RisingEmber]

I LOVE Alexander in either incarnation. I am writing a fanfiction featuring him. I loved the complexities of his and Worf's relationship.

 

[TEACAKE'S PLEATHER DOME]

He was ruined from day one. The absolute worst Trek kid.

 

[Tetrarch42]

He was ruined from day one. The absolute worst Trek kid.

Worse than Wesley? That's harsh.

 

[TEACAKE'S PLEATHER DOME]

Wesley was at least passable to look at.

 

[R. Star]

Yeah, a badass Klingon kid running around the Enterprise decking the adults would've been amusing, if crude and predictable. Turning him into a whiney, emo, sissy... ugh. Didn't we have enough of that with Wesley Crusher?

He didn't improve any on DS9. The only episode I liked him in was that Bloodlines episode, with his future self... who then attempts to murder his past self for the aforementioned reasons.

 

[RisingEmber]

Yeah, a badass Klingon kid running around the Enterprise decking the adults would've been amusing, if crude and predictable.

Well, I see that could have worked if they had allowed him to be on the ship during his "Teenage" years since that would have fit with both human adolescence as well as Klingon mentality once he'd hit puberty. We didn't really see Wesley rebel against authority before leaving for the academy and it could have added a bit if that type of story-line was explored.

As for Alexander on DS9, he had a bit of a right to be upset at his father. NO CONTACT for 5 years then he tried get a life for himself only to run smack into his father that wants to once more send him away just like he always had. I would have liked to see him on the Vor'Nak before he was transferred over to the Rotarran to see how he behaved there. On the Rotarran, Worf was adversarial towards his son from the moment he recognized him which of course would cause a "Teenager" to balk at their parents.

HOWEVER, by the second time he was on DS9 we see that the "WHINY" factor was gone even if he wasn't the "Tough-Klingon" that we are used to seeing just yet. But he appears to have forgiven his father for his lack of care over the years and came off as a happy-go-lucky type of kid for the most part. He had a lot of potential that just wasn't ever fully realized. By a year after Jadzia's death we hear Ezri say that Alexander had been promoted to weapons officer and was no longer clumsy which goes to show that he was maturing and was actually beginning to thrive. No thanks to Worf, I hate to say.

 

[The Grim Ghost]

Turning him into a whiney, emo, sissy... ugh. Didn't we have enough of that with Wesley Crusher?

Wesley may have been annoying and a bit of a whiner at times, but a sissy? No way, the kid was pretty tough seeing a lot of action as I remember it. Stuff that probably would have had most other kids his age whimpering in a corner.

 

[JirinPanthosa]

Oh, DS9 ruined Worf's entire family. They did even worse to Kurn.

Alexander appeared in DS9 four years after he appeared in TNG, and in that time he'd aged about ten years and dropped about 50 IQ points. He wasn't that great a character in TNG but he was an oversensitive kid with violent tendencies, not just a one dimensional incompetent.

 

[Deckerd]

Oh, DS9 ruined Worf's entire family. They did even worse to Kurn.

Alexander appeared in DS9 four years after he appeared in TNG, and in that time he'd aged about ten years and dropped about 50 IQ points. He wasn't that great a character in TNG but he was an oversensitive kid with violent tendencies, not just a one dimensional incompetent.

I thought it was refreshing to have a Klingon who wasn't a clone of all the other Klingons. It was the way the Klingons as a race were depicted that was two dimensional, not Alexander. He had human ancestry and had been raised by humans. As with his mother, who was a hybrid, he didn't really fit anywhere but he tried to.