Star Trek: The Next Generation — 5x01 — Redemption, Part II

Aired 1991-09-23

SpaceOpera.com rating:9

Average reader rating:5.63

Synopsis

A civil war threatens the Klingon empire.

Remarkable scenes

Kurn's trick causing a stellar flare to destroy his opponents.
Riker accepting (temporary!) command of a ship!
Data requesting command of a ship.
Kurn celebrating the war.
Data took command of a Nebula class starship. :)
O'Brien as tactical officer! Woot!
Gowron meeting the challenge to his authority and swiftly defeating it.
I love how Guinan's race has something of a sixth sense, to see events across the timelines.
Sela's story about what happened to the second Yar from TNG: Yesterday's Enterprise.
The Duras sisters seducing Worf.
Data (angrily?) yelling at his first officer.
Data ignoring the Enterprise's orders.
Data briefly revealing the Romulan fleet and forcing them to turn back.
Data chastising himself for disobeying orders.
Gowron giving the son of Duras' life to Worf and Worf sparing him.

Review

While I found the prejudice against Data a little absurd, I enjoyed the explanation of why Sela more or less was Tasha. Connecting this episode with TNG: Yesterday's Enterprise is genius continuity. I love it. I also love hearing what happened to the second Yar from the alternate timeline. Finally, the way this episode ties Federation, Klingon, And Romulan politics together is just beautiful. An excellent showing.

3 reader comments

At the end of "Redemption," Worf was leaving to serve as weapons officer on Gowron's ship. Yet this episode opens with Worf serving under his brother Kurn on Kurn's ship. Did Worf get a demotion?
Worf's brother claims that the bar is filled both with men loyal to Duras and those loyal to Gowron. At one point, men loyal to Duras attack Worf in the bar. They knock him unconscious and drag him out. Why doesn't anyone come to Worf's aid?
Sela gives Picard an accurate recounting of the facts of "Yesterday's Enterprise." Specifically, she knows that her mother came from twenty-two years in the future. If the Romulans knew that Yar came from twenty-two years in the future, it is inconceivable that they would kill her. Yar was a tactical officer with in-depth knowledge of weapons systems. The Romulans had unlimited time to torture her until she cooperated. It makes no sense for them to throw away a resource like that just because she tried to escape.
After the sisters of Duras fail to convince Worf to join their cause, Sela appears on a viewscreen and gives them new orders. Worf calmly looks at the screen before they lead him away. Is Worf still groggy from the beating in the bar? The viewscreen shows the face of a woman he called a friend - a woman he thought died years ago. His reaction should have been similar to Picard's: shock and amazement.
Picard's entire plan for exposing Romulan involvement hinges on the successful detection of cloaked Romulan supply ships. The successful detection of the supply ships rests solely on the blockade using active tachyon beams. When the main computers on both the Enterprise and Sela's ship show the blockade, the graphics show lines connecting the Starfleet ships. If the Starfleet ships are using beams, they've got problems. The Romulans could detect the gaps and fly through them. To get the type of density they need, the Starfleet ships would have to be clustered very closely together. And if the ships are clutered that closely together, then the Romulans could simply fly around the blockade. Picard and the main computers on both the Enterprise and Sela's ship must be confused. The Starfleet ships must be sending out "waves" of tachyon emissions. This would fill in the gaps.
At one point, O'Brien tells Picard, "The detection net is picking up activity from the Romulans … fifteen cloaked ships spreading out along the border." O'Brien says this before the Romulans cross into Klingon space. If the blockade could only detect a cloaked ship when it crossed a "beam," how does O'Brien know that there are fifteen cloaked ships getting ready to cross?
When Sela speaks with Picard, she asks why twenty-three Starfleet ships lie on the Romulan border. If there are twenty-three ships in the blockade, why do only seventeen show up on the viewscreens both on the Enterprise and Sela's ship?
After the Romulans flood the border with tachyon emissions, Picard orders the ships to fall back. Data realizes that the Romulan ships might be detectable for a short time. He gets to work immediately, disobeying a direct order from Picard. Aside from the fact that everything in Data's programming supports his full compliance with orders from a superior officer - Data's disobedience is totally unnecessary. In the time that Data spends arguing with his first officer about Picard's orders, Data could simply say, "Data to Captain Picard. There may be another way to detect the Romulans. Stand by." Data's disobedience is simply a plot contrivance to add tension.
Worf's resignation from Starfleet was a major component of the cliff-hanger of the finale for the fourth season. Then, just before this episode concludes, Worf turns to Picard and says, "Request permission to return to duty, sir." Picard says ok, and they leave together! That's it? That's all? A person can resign from Starfleet and all they have to do is say, "Oops, I've changed my mind," and everything's fine?
by DSOmo | 09/03/2007 at 8:59 pm

I have to say that after such a great buildup in the first part in terms of klingon political intrigue what we get in this concluding part is an episode that deals mostly with a romulan/federation confrontation and a rather out of place storyline for data. Surely we're all thinking 'lets see klingons!!' all the way through the other scenes. Judging by the average scoring others no doubt disagree with me.
Solid episode, but such a disappointment for me considering how well the first part sets things up.
by Bernard | 05/26/2008 at 12:09 pm

Problem: During the battle among the three Klingon Warbirds (one of which is commanded by Kurn, Worf's brother), Worf announces that the aft shields are gone. Immediately afterwards, the ship takes several direct phaser hits on the aft section. It would have been totally destroyed without shields. However, the shots are clearly deflected off the Warbird's aft shields. Which is of course inconsistent with the statement Worf just made.
by Jeff Browning | 10/02/2011 at 3:49 pm