7.13 Homeward

Rating: 2.5

A distress call from Worf’s half-brother, Nikolai Rozhenko, leads the Enterprise to Boral, a planet devastated by atmospheric dissipation. Rozhenko, who was observing the planet’s native inhabitants from a hidden observation post, could not bear to watch them die, so he transported them beneath the surface and set up a deflector shield to protect them. Picard, interested only in following the Prime Directive and not interfering with any pre-warp civilizations, orders Roshenko to abandon the planet and doom its inhabitants, but Rozhenko figures out a way to clandestinely beam the inhabitants into a holodeck recreation of the caves.

Comments

It’s nice to see Michael Dorn without his Klingon makeup.

Paul Sorvino guest-stars as Worf’s half-brother, Nikolai Rozhenko. And Dobara is played by Penny Johnson, who would later appear in numerous DS9 episodes as Cassidy Yates.

Nits

If you check my review of the episodesCode of Honor,Justice,Angel One,Symbiosis, and Pen Pals, you’ll see I am of the opinion that the Prime Directive is an extremely flawed concept that causes any number of problems when used as a plot device (and, unfortunately, it has been used and re-used many times). In short, the Prime Directive states that there should be no interference with pre-warp civilizations. So let me get this straight as it applies to this episode. Because the Boralans are a pre-warp civilization, Starfleet should simply watch them die as their planet self-destructs. But, if the Boralans had developed warp drive (but, for some reason their fleet of ships were disabled or otherwise unavailable), Starfleet would rescue them without a second thought. Does it seem fair to maintain such a strong prejudice toward pre-warp civilizations? Who benefits from this?

If you have ever seen the interior dimensions of the holodeck when it is portrayed as the ‘grid’, you’ll know it is not that big. So is it believable that a group of people could be led around the holodeck on a journey through caves and not be aware that they were in a confined space? For another discussion of this nit, see the review for the episode Ship in a Bottle.

Why doesn’t Worf volunteer to go back and search for the missing chronicle scroll? This would have ensured that Vorin did not have a chance to see any holodeck technology.

At the end, why does Worf take the Chronicles? Don’t they hold extreme significance to the Boralans?

Memorable Moments

•    Vorin’s death by suicide: I was so sure they were going to tie up this loose plot point with a neat thread.

Quotable Quotes

Troi: I know things must look very strange to you, but everything’s going to be alright. No one’s going to hurt you. We’re friends of Nikolai and Worf. Don’t be afraid.
Vorin: Nikolai?
Troi: Yes. He’s my friend. That means you are too. I promise, I won’t hurt you.
Vorin: Please! Help me! [pause] Where am I?