New Ground (TNG episode)
Encyclopedia
"New Ground" is an episode of the fifth season of Star Trek: The Next Generation
Star Trek: The Next Generation
Star Trek: The Next Generation is an American science fiction television series created by Gene Roddenberry as part of the Star Trek franchise. Roddenberry, Rick Berman, and Michael Piller served as executive producers at different times throughout the production...

. The episode has an average rating of 2.6/5 on the official Star Trek
Star Trek
Star Trek is an American science fiction entertainment franchise created by Gene Roddenberry. The core of Star Trek is its six television series: The Original Series, The Animated Series, The Next Generation, Deep Space Nine, Voyager, and Enterprise...

 website (as of September 20, 2007).http://www.startrek.com/startrek/view/series/TNG/episode/68526.html

Overview

Worf
Worf
Worf, played by Michael Dorn, is a main character in Star Trek: The Next Generation and in seasons four to seven of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine. He also appears in the films based on The Next Generation. Worf is the first Klingon main character to appear in Star Trek, and has appeared in more Star...

 has to quickly learn about parenting when his son Alexander Rozhenko arrives to join him on the Enterprise
USS Enterprise (NCC-1701-D)
The USS Enterprise is a 24th century starship in the Star Trek fictional universe and the principal setting of the Star Trek: The Next Generation television series...

.

Plot

In the beginning of the episode La Forge is excited about the first trial run of soliton
Soliton
In mathematics and physics, a soliton is a self-reinforcing solitary wave that maintains its shape while it travels at constant speed. Solitons are caused by a cancellation of nonlinear and dispersive effects in the medium...

 wave transportation technology, that the Enterprise will be assisting. La Forge notes that witnessing the Soliton wave transportation would be like witnessing Zefram Cochrane
Zefram Cochrane
Zefram Cochrane is a fictional character in the Star Trek universe. Created by writer Gene L. Coon, the character first appeared in the 1967 Star Trek episode "Metamorphosis", in which he was played by Glenn Corbett. James Cromwell later played Cochrane in the 1996 feature film Star Trek: First...

 engage the first warp drive
Warp drive (Star Trek)
Warp drive is a faster-than-light propulsion system in the setting of many science fiction works, most notably Star Trek. A spacecraft equipped with a warp drive may travel at velocities greater than that of light by many orders of magnitude, while circumventing the relativistic problem of time...

. He later does this in Star Trek: First Contact
Star Trek: First Contact
Star Trek: First Contact is the eighth feature film in the Star Trek science fiction franchise, released in November 1996, by Paramount Pictures. First Contact is the first film in the franchise to feature no cast members from the original Star Trek television series of the 1960s...

. His excitement is not met by either Data or Worf. Worf receives a communication from his human mother who requests to visit with his son Alexander. On arrival Alexander reveals that it was not intended for him to go back.

In Ten Forward Worf's mother explains that Alexander is too much of a burden on them. After enrolling Alexander in school, Worf finds many new problems with the arrival of his son. Alexander soon lies and steals during a school field trip.

During the science experiment of the wave transportation, the Enterprise experiences a distortion and is damaged and the test ship explodes. The wave exponentially increases in power and speed, and is on a collision course with a colony at Lemma II.

Alexander continues to cause problems in school and Worf is forced to review his parenting habits. He decides to send Alexander to a Klingon school, believing that it's what's best for Alexander. However, Alexander feels he is being rejected by Worf.

The Enterprise manages to dissipate the wave with photon torpedoes. Alexander is saved from a damaged area of the Enterprise by Riker and Worf. Afterwards, Worf lets Alexander stay on the Enterprise, saying, "Klingon schools are designed to be difficult. The physical and mental hardships faced by the students are meant to build strength and character. However, if you wish to face a greater challenge, you may stay here with me. It will not be easy—for either one of us—but, perhaps we can face the challenge together."

"I accept your challenge, Father," Alexander answers. "I will stay."

Production notes

Director Robert Scheerer
Robert Scheerer
Robert Scheerer is an American film and television director, actor and producer. His most notable work includes directing Star Trek: The Next Generation, Star Trek: Deep Space Nine and Star Trek: Voyager. He has received three Emmy Award nominations for directing Fame...

: "Brian [Bonsall] was very nervous the first day, but he loved the makeup and he's a very bright boy. The first day both of us were kind of feeling our own way, seeking a common ground, and from the second day on it was just a joy. And Michael [Dorn] just grows by leaps and bounds on the show every year."

Actor Michael Dorn: "I've been very lucky. Worf has been busy. He had a mate, lost her, has a son, adoptive parents and real parents that were killed, and he was paralyzed for a while. I've been very fortunate where they have touched on a lot of Worf's character."

Producer Rick Berman
Rick Berman
Richard Keith “Rick” Berman is an American television producer. He is most famous for his work as the executive producer of several of the Star Trek series, Star Trek: The Next Generation, Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, and Star Trek: Voyager; and, several of the Star Trek theatrical productions, and...

: "I thought it was well done, but it doesn't stand out for me. Our greatest desire is to have shows where either the A-B story stands so well alone that they can be intermingled the way the two plots on LA Law are, or the A-B story have a reason to intermingle with each other. Then there's the other event where a show is strong enough to have one story with the science fiction and character drama. The shows that I find most disappointing are the shows where we have a wonderful character piece and a weak science fiction story. It's a wonderful character development piece of drama and some parasite, or some dripping goo or some asteroid disaster that's looming has to be forced into the story. We do our best to avoid those, but sometimes they happen."

External links

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