‘Star Trek: The Next Generation’ Retro Recap – ‘New Ground’

Written by John Edward Betancourt

Perhaps one of the most important days in a person’s life, is the day that they decide to become a parent. Because just like that, they are now going to work to raise a human being, a life, and that will of course… be no easy task. Which is why future parents put a lot of planning into all things related to their future baby, so that their little one has every chance to grow in a nurturing and healthy environment. All so that they can enjoy a fruitful life, one filled with joy and prosperity and hopefully… they can make their parents proud by leaving a mark on modern society as well. But the word perhaps was used in regard to this all-important decision for one reason and one reason alone, because not everyone out there… sees parenthood as a priority in their lives.
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Because some folks, simply don’t want to have to kids, so the big days that they look forward to, revolve around their career choices and other goals they assembled long ago. And some folks… well they simply aren’t prepared to have children in the slightest and the forthcoming arrival of one is an outright surprise. One where they need to react on the fly to an incredible and outright difficult life change. Because there is no manual for preparing one’s mind for the arrival of a child that you never realized was coming, nor is there any proper way to handle the self-doubt and worry that will come with the tough days and mistakes that will be made once the baby arrives. But a future parent will soldier on, regardless. And that particularly difficult aspect of becoming a parent, serves as the focal point of the next episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation.

For ‘New Ground’ sees Lieutenant Worf get some surprise news from his mother when she and Alexander drop by the Enterprise for a moment. In that, she and her husband are starting to feel the age that comes with the next phase of their life and they’re unable to keep up with the young and vibrant Alexander and they have concerns about the direction of his life since he is rudderless at the moment. Which meant that the time had come for them to hand Alexander over to his father, so that he could know his dad and be raised properly by him and well, therein lie that exploration. For Worf was simply unprepared and unable to cope with becoming a parent in the slightest and he struggled mightily to figure out how to reach Alexander in any fashion and well, that motivated Worf to prepare to send Alexander away to a Klingon boarding school, since he really didn’t think, he was qualified to raise his own son.

Which is a shocking character decision to see play out at first glance, since we know that Worf is a good man through and through, one that holds tight to honor above all else and should rise to the occasion in such matters. But by the end of this tale, it becomes apparent that this behavior relates to fear. For in essence, Worf is terrified in his own special way that he cannot be a good father to his son, and that he will fail at raising him right. Fears that are alleviated when an important moment comes about, one that sees Alexander in danger when the Enterprise is forced to stop a rogue science experience. And coming to understand the fragility of his son’s life, combined with finally feeling that bond that only a father and son share… motivated Worf to keep his son aboard, regardless of the difficulties that lie ahead. Simply because they were family and family does indeed find a way.

If anything, this was quite the unique episode when all is said and done, since this is a topic that really isn’t discussed all often on television in such a frank manner. Since most scenarios that play out in this manner on T.V. are done for laughs or resolved with minimal fuss. So, this episode deserves some serious credit for showing the difficulties of becoming a surprise single parent in the raw and for putting the fears one would go through during such a tough transition time on display and for also pointing out that the best parents eventually come to understand the need for sacrifice and balance when the bond simply kicks in. Which makes this quite an intimate episode for certain, one that lets Michael Dorn shine as an actor since he does a wonderful job of exhibiting a bevy of powerful emotions under the guise of honor. Plus, this episode serves to remind us, that this series really was eager to explore topics that no other science fiction series will bother with. And now that we have come to the end of this intimate journey, another one awaits us, one that revolves our desire to do whatever it takes to avoid dealing with the pain of loss and grief. Until next time.

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