New Ground is supposed to represent a significant growth of character for Worf, but instead ends up being a subpar offering. The premise, while understandable, isn’t particularly engaging. The writing and the acting just don’t make the grade, either.

In Season 4′s Reunion, Worf discovers that he has a son, Alexander, just before Alexander’s mother, Worf’s mate, is murdered. Worf sends Alexander to Earth, to be raised by his own foster parents. But in New Ground, Alexander returns to the Enterprise, with Worf’s mother telling him that she and her husband can no longer “keep up” with a strong-willed Klingon boy. And so we get to see a new phase of Worf’s life begin: fatherhood.

On a show such as TNG, adding a child to the cast is quite a risk. It can either add a new dimension to a character, or weigh that character down. In effect, while adding a child does give a character new emotional and dramatic avenues to explore, it also severely limits the directions a character can go. And lastly, but certainly not least, the child has to put in a solid performance, every time, to match the strength of the performances given by the main cast.

In New Ground, the effect of adding Alexander is about as negative as you can get. Instead of seeing a new side to Worf, Alexander seems to limit Worf’s character. And, too, Alexander’s character was written to be the cliché of the “problem child.” It’s exceptionally difficult to frame such a character sympathetically, and its even more difficult for an actor to give a sympathetic performance. And Alexander just isn’t very good at doing anything to inspire sympathy.

And to be clear, it’s not so much the decision to bring back Worf’s son that I criticize, it is the execution of that decision. Lines like “I would gladly fight ten Balduk warriors rather than face one small child” from Worf don’t help improve to soapiness dripping from this episode. Nor do the frequent appearances of Troi who seems intent on perpetually pointing out how Worf’s every decision as a father has been incorrect. She may be right, but as an on-screen guilt trip, it is demeaning to Worf and excessive for the audience.

The other issues with this episode center around the sub-plot featuring the invention of a new kind of propulsion system, meant to replace warp drive engines. It’s a kind of faster-than-warp wave that ships “surf” toward their destination. Nevermind the impracticality of having to create and dissipate such a wave, or the stress riding such a wave would have on a ship. The experiment itself has to be nothing short of criminally negligent. One planet creates a wave, and then aims it at another populated planet, which will dissipate the wave. Duh.

Predictably, the experiment goes out of control and threatens the second planet. And so the Enterprise has to go on a risky mission to dissipate the wave. And, of course, Alexander, being the annoying character he his, manages to get himself stuck in the one part of the ship where there is a fire – which also happens to be one of the very few parts of the ship that will suffer radiation damage. I bet you couldn’t guess that Riker and Worf arrive to save Alexander, and some twiggy puppets (supposedly rare endangered creatures), just in the nick of time.

It’s all way too much of a contrivance. And the episode suffers mightily for it.

New Ground is shaky, at best. The character of Alexander is a detriment. The premise is faulty. And the result is an episode that barely stands its ground.

Filed under: TNG Reviews