Original air date: March 22, 1988
The Enterprise is ordered to investigate a disturbance Starfleet detected in the Neutral Zone. Upon arriving, they find a damaged transport ship adrift with three Klingons aboard, one of them badly wounded. Yar beams them over just before the damaged ship explodes and takes them to sickbay, where Dr. Crusher starts treatment on the wounded Klingon.
Captain Picard questions the other two about what happened, and the leader, a fierce-looking fellow called Korris, tells him that they were attacked by a Ferengi vessel. Worf insists that the weapons used on the transport ship were not Ferengi, and Korris says that the vessel was Ferengi but the weapons were Klingon. They ask to be excused from further questions as they are tired and hungry, and Picard tells Worf to escort them to their quarters. At their quarters, Korris and his Number Two Komnel test Worf to see if he has grown soft among humans, when they receive word that their comrade is dying. They arrive at sickbay and perform the Klingon death ritual, which involves staring into the dying warrior's eyes, watching the life leave them, and then roaring at the ceiling. The crew is surprised when Worf also takes part.
Later, Korris asks Worf how he came to serve on a Human Starfleet ship and Worf tells him of his backstory: he was rescued from the Klingon Khitomer colony by Starfleet after it was attacked by Romulans, and a Starfleet officer raised him as a son. They admire him for his ability to control his instincts to fight and attack, and complain that this peace is a living death to them. Korris reveals that they indeed stole the freighter, to look for a place where they could live by their instincts, and were pursued by a Klingon battle cruiser, which they destroyed. Worf is not happy to hear this, but agrees to show them around the ship.
On the bridge, Data detects a Klingon cruiser approaching. They are hailed and the captain of the cruiser, K'Nera, tells them that Korris and the others are fugitives who had destroyed a Klingon cruiser. He even offers to send a team down to collect them, but Picard says that Tasha can handle it. When the security team arrives, Korris appeals to Worf for help. Before Worf can reply, a child stumbles through a door between them and Korris picks her up. Tasha prepares for a hostage situation, but Korris merely hands the child to Worf and allows himself and Komnel to be led away. Tasha expresses her relief, and Worf explains that Klingons don't take hostages because it is a cowardly act. Worf then tries to intercede for Korris's and Komnel's lives with Commander K'Nera, asking him to allow them to die with honor on a remote planet and not bound and helpless. K'Nera says he feels the same way, but he must follow his orders to bring them for a trial.
In the brig, Korris and Komnel assemble a disruptor from bits of their uniforms, along with a device which deactivates the security field. Komnel dies trying to escape, but Korris manages to fight his way to the warp core, which he threatens to destroy (taking the entire Enterprise with it) unless he can speak to Worf. Worf and Picard get their butts down to engineering. Korris again tries to recruit Worf, saying that together they can force Picard to grant them access to the battle bridge and allow them to take the Enterprise's stardrive section for a warmongering joyride. Worf refuses and again tries to reason with Korris, who can't believe a Klingon would side with humans over him. Worf zaps Korris with his phaser after Korris tells him that he is no Klingon.
As Korris lies mortally wounded, Worf stares into his eyes and performs the death ritual for him. On the bridge, Picard informs K'Nera of Korris and Komnel's deaths. Worf adds that they "died well," and K'Nera tells Worf that once his tenure on board the Enterprise is over, he must consider joining them, as they can learn from each other.
This episode contains examples of:
- Badass Boast: The Klingon Death Roar is essentially this without even speaking a word: it is a warning to the dead that a Klingon will shortly be joining them.
- Be Careful What You Wish For: Korris and Konmel get their wish to die in combat... however, the latter's being killed in a shoot-out with a Red Shirt and the former dying during a failed attempt to hijack the stardrive section of the Enterprise probably isn't quite the glorious death that they hoped for. The only one of the trio that does experience the kind of death they were looking for was Kunivas, who at least died in a seemingly hopeless battle against a vastly superior opponent.
- Blood Knight: Peace does not sit well with Korris and his pals, though Worf does tell him that the challenge is to learn to live in peace and the greatest enemy to be conquered is the fears within.
- Blue-and-Orange Morality: Tasha urges them to wait until Korris cools down, treating it like you would a human who was threatening to kill himself along with everyone else. Worf however knows that's the entire point, and Korris will only hold off only until he realises he has nothing else to gain but a glorious death.
- Characterisation Click Moment: Worf goes from being more than just a junior officer in this episode, getting an established backstory.
- Characterization Marches On: This is the episode that establishes that Worf has had almost no contact with other Klingons during his upbringing, making his previous bafflement at common aspects of human culture to be Early-Installment Weirdness. Later seasons show him to be familiar enough with human customs/culture that he can explain to Data what usually goes on at a human wedding.
- A Day in the Limelight: The first major story centered around Worf.
- Death Wail: This episode introduces the Klingon Death Roar, where upon the death of a Klingon, his/her comrades hold their eyes open while screaming loudly to the sky to warn those in Sto-Vo-Kor that a great warrior is on his/her way to join them.
- Didn't Think This Through: The three renegade Klingons soon discovered that stealing a small, lightly armed freighter to go on their little warrior's quest wasn't the wisest move, when the Klingons send a fully-armed cruiser after them. Played with in that the renegades actually did destroy the cruiser with some clever tactics, but Kunivas was mortally injured and the freighter was left severely damaged and on the verge of a warp core breach, with only the timely arrival of the Enterprise saving Korris and Konmel.
- Early-Installment Weirdness:
- The Klingon ship has a flag behind their captain showing both the Klingon symbol and the Federation's. The dialog strongly suggests the Klingons are subservient to the Feds. This also fits with Q from an earlier episode saying the Feds defeated the Klingons.
- The brig where Korris and Konmel are kept is easily accessible in a corridor, very different from the brig introduced in season 3's "The Hunted".
- Korris speaks of traitors of 'Kling,' presumably meaning the Klingon homeworld, later established as Qo'nos (pronounced "Kronos"). Using 'Kling' for the name of the homeworld probably made sense right up until people heard Korris speak it out loud. (Unless it's some kind of archaic or poetic name for the homeworld that's only occasionally used by modern Klingons, like "Terra" for Earth. If that's the case, then it would fit with how Korris and Konmel are trying to recreate the Klingon Empire's glory days.
- The Klingons have a lot more religious fanaticism to them, even calling non-Klingons "infidels."
- Korris claims that the Batris was attacked by a Ferengi vessel armed with Klingon weapons, something which seems like an absurd lie given what we know about the Ferengi. This is in fact a remnant of one of the original ideas for the Ferengi, namely that they'd acquired much of their technology by purchasing or stealing it (something later re-used for the Pakleds in the following season). Then again... DaiMon Lurin pulled something similar with the episode "Rascals."
- The Klingons are very understated and affable, if somewhat mean to Worf, but they're a far cry from the Large Ham Proud Warrior Race Guys we'd come to know and love later.
- IKEA Weaponry: While held in the brig, Korris and Konmel assemble a disruptor from parts disguised within their uniforms.
- In the Blood: The Klingons try to convince Worf that battle is in his blood, and there's clearly something about this that appeals to him.Konmel: You have not spent much time among your own kind.Worf: Hardly none.Korris: So, when the night was still and quiet, and the sound of the blood rushing through your veins filled your ears, the only way to silence it was to slip out into the night and, like the hunter that spawned you, join in the struggle of life and death. You were unable.Konmel: And those around you did not understand. You frightened them.Korris: They shunned you. Cursed you. Called you vile names, and you knew not why. Even now do you know why you are driven? Why you cannot 'relent' or 'repent' or 'confess' or 'abstain'? How could you know? There have been no other Klingons to lead you to that knowledge.Worf: Yes...yes...those feelings are still part of me. (beat) But I control them. They do not rule me.Korris: Yes. To fit in the humans demand you change the one thing that you cannot change.
- I Surrender, Suckers: How Korris defeated the Klingon ship that attacked his hijacked freighter—at least, that's how he tells it to Picard. Since the part about merely being passengers on that freighter turns out to be a lie, that raises the question of what else he lied about.
- Just Following Orders: K'Nera agrees that Korris and Konmel should die on their feet like Klingons, but he has his orders to bring them back for trial and execution.
- The Main Characters Do Everything: Lieutenant Yar asks to leave the tactical station in order to lead the security team apprehending the Klingons. This shows the flaws of having one officer serving as both Chief Tactical Officer and Chief of Security.
- Narrow Annihilation Escape: The away team sent to investigate the Batris and its passengers barely escape, with a transporter malfunction at first, to boot, just as the freighter explodes.
- No Place for a Warrior: Korris can't stand the peace treaty with The Federation. He also can't understand why Worf chooses to serve aboard the Enterprise with humans.
- Patrick Stewart Speech: Delivered by Worf to Korris. Korris dismisses it out of hand.Worf: Brother, it is you who does not see. You look for battles in the wrong place. The true test of a warrior is not without. It is within! [pounds his chest] Here! Here is where we meet the challenge! It is the weaknesses in here a warrior must overcome!
- Pre-Mortem One-Liner: Given by Worf. "Perhaps not." ZAP
- "The Reason You Suck" Speech: Korris to Worf:Korris: Living among these humans has sucked the Klingon heart out of you. You are a sham! My words were dust upon the ground! Your blood has no fire! You are weak like them! I don't care what you look like—you are no Klingon!
Worf: Perhaps not. [shoots Korris] - Red Shirt: Two are killed during Korris' escape, although to the second one's credit, he does take down Konmel.
- Scaramanga Special: Korris and Konmel's disruptor is assembled from their belt buckles and other bits and pieces of their uniforms. Korris uses it to kill one of the guards and takes the dead man's phaser.
- Secret Test of Character: Korris and Konmel immediately begin antagonizing Worf when they sit down for a meal. When Worf calls them on it, they admit that they were testing to see if he'll stand up for himself.
- Seeing Through Another's Eyes: Geordi wears a special attachment to his VISOR, allowing Picard and the rest of the bridge to "see" like he does. When Picard asks how he filters out the Sensory Overload, Geordi compares it to how you listen for one voice in a crowded room. Geordi is surprised to hear that regular vision doesn't produce a halo around Data, despite briefly having it in "Hide and Q."
- Series Continuity Error: Worf says that Klingons do not take hostages, in contradiction to what we see in the TOS episodes "Errand of Mercy" and "Day of the Dove". However you could easily handwave this as Worf having an overly idealistic view of a people he, as yet, has little experience of. Later episodes will show that Worf's idea of Klingon honor doesn't match what Klingons actually get up to.
- Stock Footage: The shot of the Klingon Battle Cruiser on the viewscreen is (somewhat modified) footage recycled from Star Trek: The Motion Picture.
- Skyward Scream: Both Klingon Death Wails are shot from above—the second time, combined with a Staggered Zoom away from Worf.
- Tastes Like Friendship: When Worf shows Korris and Konmel to their temporary quarters, they get three servings of pipias claw and tea and try to "test" Worf before warming up to him, clearly trying to get him on their side. Worf averts the trope, as he doesn't touch the food they give him, and looks suspicious for most of their meal (probably suspecting that they weren't telling the truth).
- "They Still Belong to Us" Lecture: Korris argues to Worf that his heart is still Klingon. Worf agrees, but they have a fatal difference on what being Klingon means.Worf: You have talked of glory and of conquest and legends we will write. [...] Yet in all you say, where are the words "duty", "honour", "loyalty"? Without which a warrior is nothing!
- Worldbuilding: Our first look at the culture behind the Klingons. While the rest of the series would expand further on Klingon culture, this was the first time that their Proud Warrior Race Guy status was shown.
