LogFAQs > #979370563

Westernwolf4 posted...

TNG Worf was great, but he was there mostly so Picard could tell him to calm down and be more diplomatic or to get beat up to establish how big a threat something was.

Yeah... TNG Worf was beat up enough to establish other threats enough that it literally became a Trope...The Worf Effect.
https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/TheWorfEffect

DS9 Word on the other hand got to beat up a Gauntlet of Jem'Hadar and saved the Federation by defeating Gowron in a duel to stop interfering in the Dominion War...doubly so after Gowron ruined Kurn's life by seizing the House of Mogh's lands and titles, and publicly expelling Kurn from the High Council in disgrace.

Basically, I'm glad he finally got shown to be a great warrior, which was more rare in TNG.

For what it is worth though, that tropical planet episode was awful, with Worf being the worst part of it.

UnsteadyOwl posted...

If we're complaining about Worf, the thing I hated the most was what he did to Kurn. I have a problem with that episode in general because everyone in the episode is looking for a quick fix for what Kurn is going through. The choice Worf makes at the end to erase Kurn's memory seems more about not wanting to deal with Kurn anymore than actually helping him.

Kurn lost everything thanks to Gowron taking out his frustrations on Kurn over Worf refusing to fight in the Klingon War against the Cardassians. Kurn tried to adapt to a new life aboard DS9, but couldn't get the Klingon honor nonsense out of his system, since he, unlike Worf, actually grew up under it. Then he killed another Klingon and just couldn't go on, ready to off himself to escape all this "honor" nonsense. Honestly a tragic tale. Reminds me of the member of Q's race who killed himself due to the pain he was in in Voyager.

I'm puzzled on if Worf and Jadzia (the latter came up with the idea) to erase Kurn's memories was the right decision, but it beats Kurn offing himself. A better lesson would have probably been for Kurn to learn to life with what happened...but that's not the route the writers went with. I didn't take it as Worf wanting to get rid of Kurn at any rate.

UnsteadyOwl posted...

Contrast that to "It's Only a Paper Moon" which is a brilliant episode with a fantastic ending that understands there's not a quick fix for getting over trauma. It takes time and it takes support.

I like that episode as well, but I don't think the situations are that comparable. Nog lost his leg and had PTSD. He still had friends/family/home/etc though. Most of all, his upbringing didn't have an analog to all the "honor" nonsense Kurn was dealing with, who also lost his position as well as home.