The Emissary (ST:TNG Rewatch: Season Two, Episode 20) — Enjoyable Worf-centered Romance

Rewatching ST:TNG after a 20-year break.

Susie Paxton, who appeared as the Vulcan Dr. Selar in a Season One episode, shows off her comic timing as the half-human, half-Klingon K’Ehleyr, who turns out to have a history with Worf.

K’Ehleyr was sent aboard the Enterprise to intercept the T’Ong, a Klingon sleeper ship. Everyone expects the T’Ong, not knowing about the recent alliance, will attack the nearest Federation colony as soon as the crew revives.

The quirky and charming K’Ehleyr rubs the stuffy Worf the wrong way, but before long the two end up in amorous congress on the holodeck. I was only listening to this episode as I was driving, but I remember this scene involves the drawing of blood and a discreet fade-to-black.

A brief conversation between K’Ehleyr and Troi sheds some good light on both their characters, but this is very much a Worf episode.

The ethical tension between K’Ehleyr’s values and Federation/human values makes for good Star Trek, but the resolution to the T’Ong problem is painfully obvious. Nevertheless, we get a preview of just how enjoyable the later Klingon-focused episodes will become.