Mini Review #102: Star Trek TNG 6x16/6x17 Birthright: Parts 1-2 (Patreon)

I saw all the responses on the post I shared on Patreon and these two episodes seemed to be the most commonly talked about so I decided to watch them! There will be 2 more episodes of TNG being watched as well before I hunker down and focus pretty much solely on DS9 (but those will be a secret). These two episodes will be split into 2 videos as well to make editing a little easier on myself as work on my thesis is ramping up. Anyways, y'all don't care about that so what did I think of these two episodes??

Birthright Part 1 was a really fun episode with some things that I really did not expect!!! BASHIR FIRST OF ALL! Seeing that glorious man in his full HD glory on board the Enterprise as he talks to Data and Geordi was absolutely insane and made me smile so much. Seeing the hallways of DS9 in crisp HD as well was really cool and we got a glimpse of FRANK MORN flirting of a girl and it actually made my day. Morn in TNG is a crazy thing to say. Besides that, this Part was divided into two father storylines. One was of Worf and his newfound knowledge that his father may still be alive. This would bring dishonour to not only Worf, but to generations of his family after him as it would mean that his father was not killed in battle. Watching Worf work through his conflicted feelings to finally understand that he wants to see his father again no matter what was really cool to see and it helped me understand again, that Worf is different than many other Klingons due to how and where he was raised. The other part of the episode dealt with Data and his visions of his father. Loved watching Data discover a bit about himself and watching him paint was really fun (I'd buy those paintings they were cool!). Even though it was an accident in the end, Data being able to dream firmly cements him into the 'actual living being realm' rather than the man-made machine realm.

Birthright Part 2 was all about Worf with little time for any other character. He was stuck on a Romulan planet inside a compound surrounded by Klingons who had befriended and worked with the Romulans who also lived there. While is father was indeed dead and died in battle, the intrigue of the episode came from the conflicted feelings Worf had with seeing younger Klingons having their culture and identity as a Klingon hidden from them. The episode brought up interesting points from both sides but in the end, the young Klingons left the compound to explore who they are as Klingons. This feeling of uncertainty was exemplified by a female Klingon who turned out to also be half Romulan. The confusion Worf felt about loving her and his slow acceptance of that really went to show how mature Worf is as a character and as a Klingon. He accepted the way of life and that Romulans and Klingons actually could work together but still urged the younger Klingons to find out more about themselves. A fine line to walk but he walked it well. These two episodes made me very curious as to why these were good ones to watch for future DS9. Originally I was thinking it was because Worf appears in DS9 in season 4 (I don't know when so please don't tell me), but know I am starting to think it was for one or two of the side characters that may make a guest appearance in an episode. Only time will tell!