Redemption Part 1, TNG S4 E26 Review, The Battle Bridge
Picard balances his Federation and Klingon duties as new Klingon Chancellor Gowron faces a civil war. Worf and his brother Kurn fight to regain their father’s honor. (Season Finale)
Today James and Lou discuss (Redemption Part 1) and what we think of it, with tonight’s guest host, resident FORMER Klingon Bryan Detamore.
Credit: Main Title Theme (TV Edit) was arranged by Dennis McCarthy and composed by Gerry Goldsmith and Alexander Courage
Links Discussed In This Show Were:
Starfleet International Region 1 Summit
Federation Ground Forces Facebook Page
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It’s always difficult to break the two-parters up and judge them accordingly, but I think in this case we practically get two separate episodes that fit together nicely.
Part one is all about the politics. The transfer of power to Gowron, the last ditch attempt by the house of Duras to stop that, and the inevitable beginning of the civil war that results in their failure to accept they’ve lost. There’s even the subplot in there about Worf restoring his family’s rightful place now that the truth about Duras is out there.
Part two will focus on how this war goes and how it affects the other powers in the quadrant, but we’ll leave that for another week. All I’ll say at this point is that I agree with Bryan that they actively ensure non-interference when they try blocking the Romulans.
However, I also agree that choosing the next leader of the high council is interfering whether the Klingons asked for that or not. They ask for help in the war and don’t get that after all! I’m sure Picard had a get-out for his part in choosing the new leader of the high council, but I forget what it was.
Maybe they differentiate between actively helping a war and only being involved in the fairness of politics, but since one leads to the other I’m not sure that flies.
Besides, I find it hard to believe that the Federation wouldn’t have had a preference when it came to which one was leading the high council. James made the comparison to our world and how it would be like involving another country in your internal affairs. Well, imagine that now? Imagine the US had asked Russia for help in ensuring that the last presidential election was fair? Or imagine the UK asked the US to ensure that the EU referendum was conducted fairly?
I actually remember this being suggested for the Scottish independence referendum a few years ago, and it was completely dismissed – mainly because “we can do this fairly ourselves” was the usual response, but there were many people saying that no one would actually be neutral and would have a preference for how the vote would go. Even last week, because it was announced he was making a trip to Scotland, I saw a clip of then President Obama saying the US would prefer a strong United Kingdom!
Clearly the Federation would have a vested interest in who was leader of the high council, and it just so happens that Worf killing Duras forced them down the right path anyway. What would have happened if Worf hadn’t done that though? Would Gowron still have won? Perhaps, but we’ll never know. You suspect he would have though.
Mind you, I can just imagine Picard being all high and mighty and pointing out that he doesn’t have grounds to throw out the claim of Duras.
I like the politics of this episode, but I think I preferred Reunion. This episode feels a little like they were going back and doing that story from a slightly different angle. It needs followed up though, so I can’t really criticise that.
So, moving on to other aspects of the story.
B’Etor will sleep with you if you decide to recognise her nephew’s claim as the leader of the high council. Do you:
A) motorboat the boob window
B) kill them all, dishonorable p’taQs, or
C) compare her to a Romulan for suggesting such a thing
Oh, apparently it’s C. I may well have done a combination of A and B personally!
I do like the introduction of the Duras sisters. I don’t think we did quite enough with them, but this episode is probably their finest point. I really like the different ways they approach things, from Lursa’s political sense to B’Etor’s slutty sense. I’m sure they’re both more than that, but that’s pretty much how this plays out.
Moving on again…
I don’t think Worf was actually leaving the show, I just get the impression we were supposed to think that with the way this episode was left. If that’s the case, they did it really well.
I don’t have too much more to say. I prefer the second episode of the two-parter personally, but that’s not to say this is a bad episode. I just think a lot of the ground was covered in Reunion already, and even the introduction of Toral and his Aunts don’t really make enough new ground for this episode to cover. So at times this feels like filler to get to the cliffhanger. So I’d give this a three out of five.
That’s an average of 3.35 for the season, lower than season three but higher than seasons one or two. I gave four 5s (Best of Both Worlds Part II, Remember Me, The Wounded, The Drumhead) and only one 1 (The Host).
I can’t wait to get started on season five though. I have a feeling it will be the highest ranked series for me yet!
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