Star Trek: The Next Generation — 5x10 — New Ground

Aired 1992-01-06

SpaceOpera.com rating:5

Average reader rating:4.2

Synopsis

Worf receives a visit from his son Alexander.

Remarkable scenes

Geordi's enthusiasm coupled with Data and Worf's sterile reactions.
Worf's adoptive mother making a case to Worf to take back Alexander.
Ms. Kyle interrupting Worf. Then Dr. Crusher interrupting Worf.
Troi coercing Worf into getting more involved with the school.
Worf's reaction to Alexander stealing.
Worf's discussion about honor with Alexander.
Worf discussing the incident with Troi.
The test ship exploding.
Worf silently proud of his son for defeating his training program.
Troi carefully trying to convince Worf to embrace his son instead of send him away again.
Worf and Riker attempting to save Alexander.
Worf lifting the beam by himself.

Review

I found the plot regarding Worf and his son vastly more interesting than the soliton wave. Mostly because the soliton wave involved quite a bit of bad science and just seemed a ridiculous concept. Yeah, warp without warp drive. Very cool. But I could tell the whole idea would flop from the beginning. Conversely, Worf's son's issues were interesting. Seems history is repeating itself and Alexander will grow up without a real family and end up being another truly unique Klingon. I like the way the two problems of the story are woven together in the end. It makes Worf's rescue attempt so much more vigorous and exciting to watch. An overall decent and memorable episode.

7 reader comments

For some reason, I took quite a liking to the endangered species that Riker saved
by Pete Miller | 04/16/2006 at 2:58 am

There is always a risk of bringing kid actors onto the screen. You never know how they are going to perform. For this episode I believe Worf's son was played well. The dialog between him and his dad was believable. Troi also has something to do in this episode. The conversation she has with Worf about the true reasons behind Worf's problems with his son is one of Troi's best speeches in the series. It is always a plus to see her do something involving because her character just seems tacked on to the episodes sometimes, with no real purpose.
The rest of the plot falls into the "We are helping a scientist try an experiment and it is working, but oh no, wait, something is wrong" cycle of writing. The fire at the end was a good piece of work, but it is hard to believe Alexander would survive after having metal fall onto him.
New Ground deserves a 6. It is well executed, but there is not much excitement. It is what it is.
by Orion Pimpdaddy | 05/15/2006 at 1:55 am

Several shots near the beginning of the episode show the Enterprise in orbit around the planet that serves as the origin point for the soliton wave experiment. It's the same footage used for Galorndon Core in the episode "The Enemy." I find it odd that sequences aren't reused when they could be. When revisiting Galorndon Core in "Unification II," the Enterprise flies around a completely different colored planet!
Alexander's schoolteacher seems to have marital problems. When Worf refers to her, he calls her "Miss Kyle," but when Troi refers to her, Troi calls her "Mrs. Kyle." (I see in the Remarkable Scenes section above, "Ms. Kyle" is used) ;)
Early in the show, Geordi raves about the soliton wave as a great improvement. He says that the soliton wave will allow ships to travel at warp speeds without bulky warp drives. Later, the head scientist of the project explains that a group of warp coils on a planet will generate the wave, which will push the test ship to the destination where another group of coils will dissipate the wave. How is this an improvement? What happens if you want to change course in the middle of the trip? How do you reach a destination "where no one has gone before"? On second thought, the better question is, How do you stop once you reach the place where no one has gone before? In addition, the soliton wave emits a great deal of subspace interference. To monitor the test ship's telemetry, the Enterprise must stay within twenty kilometers. In other words, without futher improvement, any ship traveling in a soliton wave won't be able to communicate with any ship more than twenty kilometers away!
When Geordi recommends flying through the soliton wave to get in front of it, Picard asks why they can't fly around it. Data responds that the wave has increased in size and there isn't time to fly around it! Yet when a space scene shows the Enterprise chasing the soliton wave, the wave looks very flat. It sure looks like the Enterprise could just fly over it!
by DSOmo | 09/10/2007 at 8:14 am

"Early in the show, Geordi raves about the soliton wave as a great improvement. He says that the soliton wave will allow ships to travel at warp speeds without bulky warp drives. Later, the head scientist of the project explains that a group of warp coils on a planet will generate the wave, which will push the test ship to the destination where another group of coils will dissipate the wave. How is this an improvement? What happens if you want to change course in the middle of the trip? How do you reach a destination "where no one has gone before"? On second thought, the better question is, How do you stop once you reach the place where no one has gone before? In addition, the soliton wave emits a great deal of subspace interference. To monitor the test ship's telemetry, the Enterprise must stay within twenty kilometers. In other words, without futher improvement, any ship traveling in a soliton wave won't be able to communicate with any ship more than twenty kilometers away!"
I considered this problem while watching the episode. I think the explanation would be that they are simply testing the theory that A) soliton waves could be created/harnessed and B) that they would actually propel a spacecraft. I don't think the experiment was to be a finished propulsion system.
by krs321 | 08/31/2009 at 5:15 pm

My favourite scene from this episode is at the very beginning, where Geordi likens witnessing the soliton wave test as a moment in history, equivalent to witnessing Cochrane engage the first warp drive. Little does he know in the future, he will be at that moment too!
by Mitch89 | 03/24/2013 at 9:36 pm

reviewer:
look at your problem from the reverse angle: 98% means 2% loss in the energy transfer. 4.5 times the loss of energy in the transfer would mean the enterprise operates at 91% energy transfer which is right around where you think it should be. hope that helps
by Rick Smith | 11/26/2013 at 5:55 pm

Worf's meeting with Picard is interrupted twice: first by Ms. Kyle and then, moments later, by Dr. Crusher. Worf looks annoyed, but seriously, when you think about the communicators for a second, wouldn't this happen all the time? How is it that the person on the receiving end of your communication just so happens to never be in the middle of an important conversation? Especially the senior level folks, you'd think they'd be getting interrupted all the time by the officers under them.
by Dstyle | 09/16/2016 at 6:01 pm