Title: The Emissary
Airdate: 06/26/1989
Plot Summary
The Enterprise picks up an emissary from the federation, K’Ehleyr, to intercept a Klingon ship that’s been in stasis for 75 years and doesn’t realize the war is long over. She and Worf also had a relationship in the past and end up rekindling it again. But when she will not take the oath of marriage with him, their working relationship suffers. She is dead set on destroying the Klingons believing they cannot be reasoned with, while he attempts to find a better way as Picard orders him to.
Make It So
Picard will not accept that the only option is the destruction of Tong. He orders Worf to work with K’Ehleyr to figure out a new option. He also doesn’t have any patience with Worf’s excuses to not work with her. He at one point has a hilarious moment with Worf when he tells him to relax, to which Worf replies “I AM RELAXED!!” All it takes is a look from Picard after that for Worf to sheepishly leave the bridge.
Number 1
Riker mostly is in the background on this, though his past experiences with Klingons are put to good use when he greets K’Ehleyr in Klingon, much to her surprise.
Fully Functional
Data has to act as a chaperone for Worf and K’Ehleyr, though he doesn’t know it.
Today Is A Good Day To Die
This is all Worf’s episode, as we get him finally having a relationship. This would begin a long journey for Worf and a deeper understanding of who he is. He also looks great in an actual Klingon uniform. When Riker asks him how he liked command, he simply notes “Comfortable chair.” Knowing how Klingons shun comfort, I’m not sure that was a complement or an insult.
Phase Inducers
Geordi helps with beaming and works on the bridge to find the Tong when it was cloaked.
Counselor Cleavage
Deanna does get a few moments with K’Ehleyr to connect on their dual heritage and to help her get her aggression out so K’Ehleyr doesn’t destroy all the furniture on the ship.
Doctor Not Bones
Pulaski is curious about K’Ehleyr’s vital signs, wondering if she feels ok. This is when we discover K’Ehleyr is half-Klingon/half-human.
Shut Up, Wesley
Not here this time.
Guinan?!
Nope.
Enlisted Man
O’Brien beams up the probe at warp speed with his usual expertise.
Canon Maker
Half-human, half Klingons are established as a possibility. This would be key in Voyager later.
The poker game makes a welcome return and cementing as a recurring thing.
Canon Breaker
One can be put into a class 8 probe and go at high warp. This makes no sense. One, how the heck can it go so fast? It needs warp nacelles, a warp core, and these are big. Secondly, it’s a silly way to travel. I can possibly see this as something they want to launch from a ship to a planet, it’s small and undetectable. But in deep space? Why? I can understand getting someone there quickly, but surely a shuttle with warp capability would make a lot more sense.
A Little Bloody Nose
No deaths!
Technobabble
Although the Tong is formidable, there is no way it would have a chance against the Enterprise D. Would’ve been a heckuva battle though.
Please Repeat Your Communication
Lieutenant Worf: You are late.
K’Ehleyr: Sorry. Had to make myself beautiful.
Lieutenant Worf: I fail to understand why.
K’Ehleyr: Worf, we’re alone now. You don’t have to act like a Klingon glacier. I don’t bite. Well, that’s wrong. I *do* bite.
— K’Ehleyr flirting and Worf having none of it.
Library Computer
This is the first time we see that looking at the viewscreen from different angles looks different, giving it a 3d quality.
I Know That Guy:
Suzie Plakson plays K’Ehleyr. We saw her back in The Schizoid Man, but here is where she truly makes an impression. She is just dazzling here and matches up with Worf perfectly.
Lance LeGault plays K’Temoc. He’s probably best known as Colonel Decker in The A-Team, but he was in a ton of shows during the 70s and 80s. If you needed a tough ass bad guy, he was your man.
Georgann Johnson plays Admiral Gromek. A few guest stars and small parts in movies, but nothing to write home about.
Anne Ramsay returns to play Clancy, this time in a red uniform. We saw her last in Elementary Dear Data.
And in this edition of “before they were famous” we get Diedrich Bader playing a Tactical Crewman in Worf’s place while Worf is in command. He would go on to be in The Drew Carey Show, the hick neighbor in Officespace, Batman in The Brave and Bold cartoon, and a ton of other stuff. REX KWAN DO!
What It Means To Be Human – Review
This is a great episode that tells us a lot about Worf as a character and his duality of his Klingon side and his human upbringing. K’Ehleyr is half human and has been raised in the federation, at least it appears that way. In any case her and Worf finding each other in the past makes a whole lot of sense, as they would be the only Klingons that are federation citizens. K’Ehleyr rejects her Klingon side and doesn’t like how she can lose control of herself. Worf on the other hand attempts to be the perfect Klingon, even though he has nearly no real experience with being with other Klingons.
It’s no wonder that as much as he tries to only be with Klingons, he ends up staying with humans, and joining Starfleet. He falls in love with a Klingon that is furthest from Klingon as one can get. This would continue to be a throughline with him as later on he develops a short lived relationship with Troi, and finally with Dax. Dax especially has the same humor as K’Ehleyr.
The rest of the crew are nearly absent from the entire episode, but unlike episodes like Too Short A Season and Loud as a Whisper, here the crew never feels like a guest star in their own show. A big part of that is the tremendous performance by Susie Plakson. She absolutely owns the role of K’Ehleyr, yet manages to make it seem as she has always been a part of the Star Trek universe and belongs there as much as a regular cast member.
She’s funny, charming, short-tempered, a little stubborn.. basically a fully fleshed out three dimensional person. What a concept, and that the writers could do that so well with a guest star says volumes about how writing talent has gone down the toilet in the last decade or so. Add to that her performance and you get a memorable character that makes her mark on Trek forever.
We will see K’Ehleyr again and it’s just as good as this time. She and Dorn have a great chemistry together and I wish she was able to do a lot more. Overall the plot takes a bit of a back seat to their relationship but the solution they come up with is just great.
Overall a must-see episode, not just for how good it is, but for future storytelling dealing with Worf and the Klingons.
