‘Star Trek: The Next Generation’ Retro Recap – ‘Birthright, Part I’

Written by John Edward Betancourt

There are a great many aspects of family life that modern society cherishes and rightfully so. After all, family is special and having a healthy relationship with our parents and our siblings, is critical to our growth and formation as an adult and that is why so many preach the importance of a healthy family unit. So that impressionable children can grow into productive and wonderful members of society. But what’s fascinating about our obsession with family life… is that our belief of what it should look like, does not reflect reality. Since there are so many families out there that shatter because mom and dad cannot come to amicable terms and refuse to work on their problems, and there are plenty of parents that abuse or neglect their children and sometimes… even the perfect family unit is hollow in nature.

Because a father or a mother is detached or missing and therefore are unable to function with their family unit, creating a gap in their child’s growth, forcing them to either seek out the lesson they missed or stumble upon it later in life and we continue to let it happen, since there is little support for these issues. But while there are no easy fixes for these issues… it is important to recognize the plight of people that came from those various environments, so they don’t feel alone in the world and understand that it is never too late to feel complete as a person and believe it or not, the next episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation explored just that in its next episode. A feat that ‘Birthright, Part I’ accomplishes by having the Enterprise swing by Deep Space Nine for an important meeting with the Bajorans and while they are there, Doctor Julian Bashir and Lieutenant Commander Data cross paths and decide to work on an experiment together.

One that involves toying with a device discovered in the Gamma Quadrant and while they are in the midst of unlocking its secrets, Data is hit with an energy discharge and slips into a strange place where he seemingly has a vision of sorts. Which features a brief hello from Dr. Noonian Soong before Data is returned to the land of the conscious and this has a profound impact upon him. Because while his systems were indeed offline, his neural network was working in some fashion and that motivates Data to understand this vision and explore it. To the point where he creates artwork regarding this vision and is even compelled to outright recreate it. Which is a move that allows for him to reunite with his father in this strange space between spaces and learn, that this is actually a dream. Something his father had always hoped he would achieve in his quest to become more human.

Which made for a beautiful storyline for certain, one that saw Data grow in a unique manner, to the point where he planned to dream more often. But how this relates to the theme is what matters more. For Data here, is in essence the young man that never knew his father growing up, never learned the important lessons he should have from dear old dad and having him go on this journey of self-discovery and learn to dream really does offer some powerful commentary. The kind that informs us that a person that missed out on such lessons isn't incomplete or different, just without that particular knowledge and they should do whatever it takes to seek it out and expand their mind and soul, and this story also goes places that science fiction and storytelling in general rarely does... and this episode deserves our awe for that. Because this is brave storytelling through and through, the kind that explores an aspect of family we shun because it doesn’t fit the mold.

But what truly makes this episode stand out, is that Data's journey isn’t the end of this exploration. For Worf’s initial arrival on Deep Space Nine leads to an important conversation with a merchant that reveals that Worf’s father, Mogh, might have survived Khitomer and his quest to find resolution regarding his own father, sets the stage for a Part II. But before we dive into that, we simply must offer praise to this brilliant tale for going places that most stories avoid like the plague, and for even tossing in a little fan service along the way. Since James Cromwell, who guest starred multiple times on the show and played Zefram Cochrane in First Contact, shows up as the merchant here and… Alexander Siddig (as Siddig El Fadil) pops up as Dr. Julian Bashir, giving us a DS9/TNG crossover event and that was just amazing. If anything, this is just another episode that was ahead of its time since no one in the 1990s was looking at the family unit and the relationship between fathers and sons in this light and it is wonderful to know that TNG told it like it is in this instance and had more to say about it and its further ruminations, are where we will pick up, next time.

---