The Worst TNG Moment

[Mr. Lezar]

Episode: "Redemption, Pt. II"

Season: 5

Scene that pissed me off most in all of TNG:

Kurn: "But it's our way... it's the Klingon way."

Worf: "I know... but it is not my way."


W... T... F...

So all this stuff for the last five years about Worf being a proud warrior, and embracing and engrossing himself in his Klingon heritage and all things Klingon, that was what, exactly... a passing hobby?

It IS his damn way, and will always be his way. Worf was always the one extolling the virtues of Klingon ways and heritage to both Alexander and K'Ehleyr, and now, all of a sudden, the Klingon way isn't his way?

I love RDM, but my God, when I first heard that line, and whenever I hear it, I just wanna smack him silly. As if Worf hadn't had enough damage done to his honor as a Klingon... he finally has Gowron restore his honor and family name, and in the middle of a room full of fellow warriors, in the freaking Capitol building, for Christ's sake, he blurts out that the Klingon way isn't his way. Ugh.

 

[horatio83]

Before the civil war everything Klingon was basically an artefact for Worf, something he clinges like everybody who grows up in another culture does. Now he experiences it for weeks and he does not embrace it totally, at least not when it comes to killing a boy. Where is the honour in killing a child? Do not tell me you really would have wanted Worf to kill Duras' son. That would have been the act of a coward who does something he does not really want because of peer pressure. Worf has the guts to admit that he is not 100% Klingon, that he lives among humans and prefers prune juice to bloodwine. And precisely because of that he is a better and more honourable Klingon than most.

 

[Mr. Lezar]

Before the civil war everything Klingon was basically an artefact for Worf, something he clinges like everybody who grows up in another culture does. Now he experiences it for weeks and he does not embrace it totally, at least not when it comes to killing a boy. Where is the honour in killing a child? Do not tell me you really would have wanted Worf to kill Duras' son. That would have been the act of a coward who does something he does not really want because of peer pressure. Worf has the guts to admit that he is not 100% Klingon, that he lives among humans and prefers prune juice to bloodwine. And precisely because of that he is a better and more honourable Klingon than most.

Oh, I'm totally glad he let Toral live. But the thing is that Worf ALREADY gave his reason for doing so, which BTW, was an honorable one. He correctly stated that Toral had done him no wrong, and that he wouldn't kill him for the crimes of his family.

What I take issue with is the one specific line that Worf utters in reply to Kurn:

Worf: "I know... but it is not my way."

That right there should never have been written or uttered, because all it does is serve to alienate Worf even more from the Klingons, and it's also contrary to Worf's own character, as he prides himself on being so Klingon in all he does... including his personal sense of honor.

 

[Tiberius]

But it is the Klingon way to execute Toral for the crimes of his family. Worf refused to do this. And so Worf was not following the Klingon way.

If Worf really was a Klingon in every way, he would have killed Toral.

 

[SchwEnt]

I can almost see Worf's line "It is not my way" working, maybe.

He prided himself on his Klingon warrior ways, sure. But he lived among humans and was raised by humans and all that. A child of two worlds, like Spock et. al.

In Redemption Worf was finally balls deep in with the Klingons, as he never was before. Never before that immersed amongst his own kind.

Then he has the startling life revelation that, ultimately, he IS of two worlds, unique unto himself. So yes, he is Klingon, but he must find his own way. (not dissimilar to Spock, btw).

If THAT was Worf's Big Life Moment, his turning point, okay, I'd buy that line.

But it isn't.

He goes right back to spouting off about Klingon ways and traditions and customs, even inflicting it upon Alexander. What the hell, Worf? What happened to being your own man? Letting little Al be his own man?

He says it's not his way, but soon enough he goes right back to his usual Klingon virtues and such, all the way thru to DS9. Oh well.

 

[Tiberius]

Yeah, I agree. Worf should have killed Toral (not have to worry about him when he pops up in DS9, face it, that could have been any klingon) and killed Kurn in DS9 too.

 

[horatio83]

But it is the Klingon way to execute Toral for the crimes of his family. Worf refused to do this. And so Worf was not following the Klingon way.

If Worf really was a Klingon in every way, he would have killed Toral.

Precisely, anything else would be a lie. The irony is that precisely via being honest and and saying that the Klingon way is not his way he is more honourable than somebody like Gowron who has to be pressed to repay his debt to Picard.

 

[Tiberius]

With what happened, I agree with your interpretation.

However, I think Worf should have killed Toral and Kurn. Nothing else would have changed, but it would have given us a further glimpse at the Worf we saw killing Duras.

 

[horatio83]

This would have shocked his crewmates and the audience and neatly emphasized that despite having grown up on Earth Worf is still a Klingon. Trek very often fell into a pattern of making alien major characters not feel alien enough in everyday life.