UNCUT REACTION - Star Trek TNG S2E20 - The Emissary
Added 2024-03-28 12:59:52 +0000 UTC
Comments
The Worf episodes are few and far between in S1 and 2, but they make them count, and The Emissary is no exception. Suzie Plakson does a brilliant job as K'Ehleyr, and despite the character being half human, she's something of a prototype for Klingon women in the TNG era. Minus her disregard for klingon tradition, but the personality is there. She's a commanding presence in every scene she's in. It's funny though that she says she was ready 6 years ago, and yet Worf is fully ready for commitment now and she gets cold feet. At this point Michael Dorn is 37, but Worf is only 25. Therefore it's entirely possible Worf may have been a virgin before this. Worf's claims that human women are too "fragile" for klingon sex is clearly BS given K'Ehleyr's mom was human and clearly survived. It certainly points to Worf never having hooked up with a human woman, otherwise he wouldn't think it was impossible. More to the point, this episode drives home something hinted at a few times before, such as during the tea ceremony with Pulaski. Worf is a hopeless romantic. Sex isn't "just sex" to him. It's a deeply meaningful act to him. Worf is a warrior poet through and through. The klingon ship would have been launched between Star Trek V and VI, so it seems odd to say they were at war given the klingon participation in "the planet of galactic peace". Excellent episode with a great romantic plotline.
Timothy Nikiforovs
2024-07-21 09:18:33 +0000 UTC44.9% seems way too high, but maybe the standard to pass it is fairly low, perhaps just a line between two characters. This one is a complete scene, which is a rarity.
JGoss
2024-03-29 19:52:04 +0000 UTCI’m certainly not going down the rabbit hole of what is/is not a spoiler, but I will say people react as if we went into everything blind 30 years ago, when no, you didn’t have to seek out info to know an actor might guest star, or guess a particular plot point. There were more genuine surprises, but it’s been 30+ years and even watching Family Guy will contain TNG spoilers. 😉
Glenn Johnson Barnes
2024-03-29 13:47:03 +0000 UTCBelieve it or not, according to the Trekkie Feminist website, 44.9% of all TNG episodes pass the Bechdel Test, including 18 episodes from earlier in the series than "The Emissary." The website uses an image of Troi and K'Ehleyr above its table of Season 2 episodes. According to the same website, only seven TOS episodes pass: "The Changeling," "I, Mudd," "By Any Other Name," "And the Children Shall Lead," "The Lights of Zetar," "The Cloud Minders" and "Turnabout Intruder." The image on the website's TOS page is Chapel teaching Uhura how to read in "The Changeling."
Anthony Bernacchi
2024-03-29 13:13:16 +0000 UTCI'll also point out that Josh and Alex were risking spoilers by looking up the actress and what else she has done. But, that's on them. I agree that it is fun to see if they recognize recurring guest actors, but it's even more fun if they don't have a clue they're coming! (e.g. Q).
Jovet
2024-03-29 06:00:49 +0000 UTCI think we all do... though for differing reasons.
Jovet
2024-03-29 05:43:42 +0000 UTCI did not know that! 😲
Jovet
2024-03-29 05:39:10 +0000 UTCToo right!!
Jovet
2024-03-29 05:38:01 +0000 UTC@Mark Moran No, but stating such-and-such actor definitely returns to the series or franchise—in any role—is a spoiler. I continue to advise everyone to pretend it's 1989 around Alex and Josh, as if no one knows the future because it hasn't aired or even been written yet. If you want any additional urging that this level of spoiler-free environment is warranted and rewarded, go look at their reaction to Q in "Q Who."
Jovet
2024-03-29 05:34:28 +0000 UTCThose types of episodes "sound great on paper" but they are not.
Jovet
2024-03-29 05:30:16 +0000 UTCMicheal Westmore did the movie and TNG series.
Philbot
2024-03-29 05:11:25 +0000 UTCBelanna wins! I like Grilka or Martok’s wife more than Kehleyr. 🤷♂️
Philbot
2024-03-29 05:10:06 +0000 UTCThere’s a season 3!? Thank god I thought this 30 year old show was over for me. 😔
Philbot
2024-03-29 05:08:00 +0000 UTCNot me. 😆 I get bored when I’m the one playing.
Philbot
2024-03-29 04:58:11 +0000 UTCThe prosthetic used on the "Skeletor guy" In this episode and in last season is an actual Skeletor mask from "Masters of the Universe" movie.
Andrew Dubbel
2024-03-29 03:52:31 +0000 UTCSuzie Plakson is by far one of my favorite guest characters especially as K'heylar she owns the screen when she's acting.
AJC
2024-03-29 02:06:35 +0000 UTCSeason 3 exists. Is THAT a spoiler?
Mark Moran
2024-03-29 02:04:09 +0000 UTCJust a few years older than I. I'm not sure I saw each TNG episode when they first aired, but I saw many of them at the time.
Jovet
2024-03-29 01:18:04 +0000 UTCJust by mentioning they exist you are spoiling.
Jovet
2024-03-29 01:15:47 +0000 UTCI dunno. I can see some people reacting positively to receiving external validation of their emotional state.
Jovet
2024-03-29 01:13:24 +0000 UTC"I won't spoil them, but it will be interesting to see if you spot them when watching." <-- this.
Mark Moran
2024-03-29 01:04:55 +0000 UTCOne of the top s2 eps and a good indicator of what’s to come
Scarpad’s Domain
2024-03-29 00:59:39 +0000 UTCLoved this reaction. This episode is great. 🥰
Andrea R
2024-03-29 00:49:58 +0000 UTCI noticed that too. So sweet 🥰
Andrea R
2024-03-29 00:49:09 +0000 UTCWhat a great observation!
Andrea R
2024-03-29 00:47:21 +0000 UTC“IT’S A BANGER! IT’S A BANGER!” This has to be one of my favorite reaction episodes yet. Us old timers feel “great joy and gratitude” when experiencing these 5 star episodes with you guys. Great joy. And gratitude. *Old timer: I watched this episode when it originally aired and loved it so much. I was 15.
Shatner's Cigarette
2024-03-29 00:13:12 +0000 UTCThey did not. "Why didn't we do this 6 years ago?"
Jovet
2024-03-29 00:05:18 +0000 UTCSpoilers
Jovet
2024-03-29 00:04:59 +0000 UTCI'd never noticed that myself.
Jovet
2024-03-29 00:04:23 +0000 UTC@James Goss Yes she did!!
Jovet
2024-03-29 00:03:46 +0000 UTC47:50 The "Klingons never bluff" line I was afraid you were going to miss because you were yappin' over it, but you did catch it. These are the details that make me warn about talking too long during it. Glad you gents loved this episode as much as I thought you would!
Jovet
2024-03-28 23:57:00 +0000 UTCI'm pretty sure that Plakson was MADE for this role! She's AWESOME!
Jovet
2024-03-28 23:53:56 +0000 UTC44:50 Alex a bit misty-eyed, even before Worf's line...
Jovet
2024-03-28 23:52:31 +0000 UTC21:28 The spittake almost made me!! LOL!
Jovet
2024-03-28 23:27:22 +0000 UTC4:26 Star Trek does do that. Errr, will do that. Semi-spoiler not-spoiler.
Jovet
2024-03-28 23:07:26 +0000 UTCK'ehleyr is played by the actress who plays Marshal's mother in How I met your mother. This episode had the helmsmen was from Mad About you and the security guy is from Drew Carry show and from the movie Office space.
Lt Dan I scream
2024-03-28 22:41:54 +0000 UTCK'ehleyr's got to be the hottest Klingon(half) ever in all of Star Trek...
valen
2024-03-28 21:03:30 +0000 UTCIs it? It's commonly cited as an early season highlight. The next episode I would call underrated.
JGoss
2024-03-28 20:46:47 +0000 UTCI just realized about K'Ehleyr's wardrobe changes. She didn't have room for any luggage with her in the probe. Either the ship has a store or she used a replicator.
KatWithAttitude
2024-03-28 20:40:26 +0000 UTCLove the full circle from "Klingons never bluff" to a Klingon bluffing other Klingons.
Alan Thompson
2024-03-28 20:39:22 +0000 UTCSuch an underrated episode. 🖖
Jon1701
2024-03-28 19:25:54 +0000 UTCI think so. Even when it's a Troi/Crusher or Troi/Pulaski scene, they're usually talking about Picard or Riker.
JGoss
2024-03-28 19:23:15 +0000 UTCI love K'ehleyr so much!!!
Kristina Weber
2024-03-28 19:03:33 +0000 UTCWhat’s really funny is I never think about that…. But during that scene I also noticed this. It’s got be the first time in Star Trek right?
Josh (Target Audience)
2024-03-28 18:55:35 +0000 UTCLiterally bar for bar
Josh (Target Audience)
2024-03-28 18:54:23 +0000 UTCI think the implication is that Worf and K'heylar had sex the first time they met 6 years ago.
Collin Freeman
2024-03-28 18:53:24 +0000 UTCVery nice.
Collin Freeman
2024-03-28 18:46:16 +0000 UTCIt will be fun to see if you can identify other roles that Suzie Plakson plays across Star Trek. I won't spoil them, but it will be interesting to see if you spot them when watching. There are a lot of actors who play multiple roles/races across the various Star Trek series, so I always like to see if people can identify them or not. Let the search begin! lol. :-)
Mark Moran
2024-03-28 18:44:19 +0000 UTCWhen I first saw this episode, I thought there was no record of the Klingon's mission was because they were actually a peace envoy to the Federation and were therefore kept secret. That might have been a nice twist.
Collin Freeman
2024-03-28 18:28:06 +0000 UTCOr she states something completely absurd. They go the entire episode under the valid assumption that the Klingons will attack once they awaken and she chimes in "they could have been on a scientific voyage!" Yes, Deanna, in a cloaked warship on a covert mission.
JGoss
2024-03-28 18:26:44 +0000 UTCI like how Josh noticed all alien species never seem to bluff. That phrase reminded me of Spock to Commodore Decker in Doomsday Machine.
Collin Freeman
2024-03-28 18:14:44 +0000 UTCDuring the K'Ehleyr and Troi scene, I realized something for the first time ... this episode passes the Bechdel test. It's a scene with two female characters who are talking about something other than a man. As Alex might joke: "WOKE GARBAGE!" 🤣
JGoss
2024-03-28 18:10:24 +0000 UTCPulaski figured it out a couple episodes ago!
JGoss
2024-03-28 18:05:18 +0000 UTCEvery time I go back to TNG I'm stunned to discover that Worf has so much in common with Spock in that they both spend most of their energy focusing on emotional restraint.
badvertised
2024-03-28 16:27:13 +0000 UTCLove your reaction. This is one of my favorite episodes.
Szledje
2024-03-28 16:20:18 +0000 UTCWho would have guessed that Worf is such a romantic?
KatWithAttitude
2024-03-28 15:50:58 +0000 UTCI always loved the holodeck scene. "Not much of a program...." "........Computer....Level 2..." Great episode that goes into the Klingon culture when it comes to relationships. Especially when one is half human and (similar to Spock) has to deal with the extreme differences in emotional/mental control. Sadly now I have to wait 10 hours to watch it, but Woohoo!!
Firekrys FWO
2024-03-28 15:47:49 +0000 UTCPeople say season 2 sucks, I submit this episode, one of the best of the entire series. They spiked deep into an artery of Klingon blood and sprayed it all over the ship from the holo -deck, transporter room to the bridge
Thicketdweller
2024-03-28 15:47:28 +0000 UTCAlthough I always knew it was good, “The Emissary” is an even better episode than I had remembered, and on this rewatch rises to fourth place in my ranking of TNG Season 2 episodes, ahead of “Elementary, Dear Data.” Suzie Plakson (K’Ehleyr) previously played Dr. Selar, the Vulcan Enterprise physician in “The Schizoid Man.” Tracy Tormé, the scriptwriter of “The Schizoid Man” (who was a man, by the way), had wanted Dr. Selar to become a romantic interest for Worf, although there is no indication of this in that episode. Of course, Plakson was a suitable actor to play a love interest for Worf due to her height (6’2”). (Two meters is about six feet, so K'Ehleyr must have found the probe an extremely tight squeeze.) Robin Curtis (Saavik in Search for Spock and Voyage Home) was the first choice to play K’Ehleyr but was unavailable due to a movie role. (Incidentally, I was surprised and pleased that apparently neither Alex nor Josh realized that Selar and K'Ehleyr were the same actress. Multiple people had been insistent about sharing this spoiler after Alex and Josh watched "The Schizoid Man;" some of them may have deleted their comments, but I was still concerned that Alex and Josh might have read others.) Lance LeGault (Captain K’Temoc) was the narrator of "Quantum Leap." His best-known role was on the 1980s TV series "The A-Team"; among other roles, he also appeared in the "Battlestar Galactica" episodes “The Lost Warrior,” “The Man with Nine Lives” and “Baltar’s Escape,” and in the classic 1981 Army comedy "Stripes" with Bill Murray and Harold Ramis. Georgann Johnson (Admiral Gromek) later succeeded Jane Wyman in the role of the title character’s mother on "Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman." Given the chaotic production of TNG Season 2, it is a coincidence, but a pleasant one, that Worf’s calisthenics program appears both near the beginning of the season and near its end, complete with the creature that looks like Skeletor. Near the end of TOS Season 3, Alex and Josh mentioned that a significant difference between their experience of watching the show and that of its original audience was that it was not interrupted by commercial breaks. This difference is more significant in "The Emissary" than in any other Star Trek episode the Target Audience has seen thus far: having to wait through the commercials at the end of Act 3 makes it more immediately obvious that Worf and K'Ehleyr are having sexual intercourse (and that this is what K'Ehleyr means by her hilarious first line in Act 4, "Some calisthenics programs are better than others"). Alex and Josh's comments about Worf's experience on the holodeck are highly insightful: it is entirely possible that Worf was a virgin prior to this episode, and that his previous discussions of sex were merely theoretical. An alternate possibility is that Worf has never had sex *with a Klingon* before; he may have found women of other species who were physically capable of sex with him. It may be that Worf is only obligated to marry someone with whom he has sex if that person is Klingon. Alex's mental arithmetic concerning Klingon history is also quite accurate: 75 years prior to this episode brings us back into the TOS movie era, when the Klingons already had bumpy foreheads, as we see with the crew of the T'Ong. Note that, if you pay close attention to what Worf says to K'Temoc, only one word is a lie: applying the title "Commander" to K'Ehleyr, who is a Federation emissary but not a member of Starfleet and does not have a paramilitary rank. Worf never claims to have the rank of Captain or to be the permanent commander of the Enterprise, only that he is in command at that moment (which is true); he never says that the Klingons won the war with the Federation, only that the war is over (which is also true). This is, I believe, the first episode of TNG which neither begins nor ends with an exterior shot of the Enterprise. I have seen an online review of “The Emissary” that gives it the highest possible accolade: that it is like a Season 3 episode come early. “The Emissary” is not as good as “A Matter of Honor,” “The Measure of a Man,” or “Q Who,” but it is an excellent episode, and this level of excellence will become more commonplace in Season 3. If you want a preview of what TNG will be like next season, you could do worse than watch “The Emissary.”
Anthony Bernacchi
2024-03-28 15:26:19 +0000 UTC21:35 You know one of the worst things you can say to someone who's upset? "You're upset." No shit, sherlock. This is why Troi is such a maligned character... and then you see Guinan basically doing her job almost effortlessly in previous episodes. A good therapist gives you the comfort and open-endedness to let the truth fall from you. When you state point blank that someone is in a bad mood, you can harden them and make them irritated. I love the way Suzie shits her voice around. She's got some of tha told school Lauren Bacall type seduction to her tone. Let's a little of that rasp into the way she talks and just oozes a... raw primal femininity. It's easy to see why Worf is so torn up by her. It actually physically hurts when she says things along the lines of "You don't feel anything" because its so clear that he feels DEEP.
Steven Johnson
2024-03-28 14:58:29 +0000 UTCI knew you guys would love this one.
Monty Crawford
2024-03-28 14:54:22 +0000 UTCGot a bunch of these 😉
Ee'char
2024-03-28 14:35:36 +0000 UTCIt's Good Thursday!!
StonyD
2024-03-28 14:24:20 +0000 UTCSuzie Plakson was also the Vulcan doctor in The Schizoid Man.
Turtleboy
2024-03-28 14:21:10 +0000 UTCI sense that you are being sarcastic
Josh (Target Audience)
2024-03-28 14:05:51 +0000 UTCI would LOVE to see a TNG episode where it's just a 45 minute poker game!
tyranusfan
2024-03-28 14:05:45 +0000 UTCThings that never happen in Star Trek #16: Troi states something other than the blindingly obvious
Ee'char
2024-03-28 14:02:29 +0000 UTCSomething to watch on the train ride home ❤️
Glenn Johnson Barnes
2024-03-28 13:32:27 +0000 UTCJust in time for my lunch break ❤️
SinocTheHodgeheg
2024-03-28 13:01:23 +0000 UTCWoohoo, it’s one of those take an early lunch break type of days. I’m watchin this
OmniRaider
2024-03-28 13:00:57 +0000 UTC
