Star Trek: The Next Generation 2.20

The Emissary

The Enterprise is sent to intercept the T'Ong, a Klingon vessel whose crew is expected to come out of deep sleep within a matter of days. The crew of the T'Ong went to sleep while the Klingon Empire was still at war with the Federation. A special emissary is sent to help the crew of the Enterprise deal with the situation. Her name is K'Ehleyr. She is half human and half Klingon. She and Worf have a history and he is not happy to see her again.

Captain Picard assigns Worf to work with K'Ehleyr. He objects to the assignment but quickly rescinds his objection after it becomes clear that his objection to working with her is purely personal. Worf works with K'Ehleyr but they fail to agree on the best course of action. She returns to her quarters and, frustrated with how things are going with Worf, smashes a glass top table. Counselor Troi recommends a workout in the Holodeck.

K'Ehleyr visits the Holodeck and uses Worf's workout program. She finds it to be too easy. She tells Worf as much after he joins her on the Holodeck. He increases the difficulty level. Together they fight off various creatures until all have been vanquished. Then hey talk and then there is a commercial break.

Worf wants them to be married, after the commercial break, but K'Ehleyr refuses. She likes Worf but marriage to him isn't what she wants, at this time.

The Enterprise catches up to the T'Ong. The crew of the T'Ong is awake and opens fire on the Enterprise. Captain Picard isn't sure what to do but Lieutenant Worf has an idea. The Captain agrees to his idea and allows Worf to present himself as the commander of the Enterprise. The situation is defused. K'Ehleyr leaves to take charge of the T'Ong but before leaving she and Worf have words.

Thoughts

All of the regular members of the crew (except Wesley) were in this episode but this was mostly Worf's episode.

It is pretty heavily implied that Worf and K'ehleyr had sex on the holodeck. That's what happened during that commercial break, before he proposed.

This was an excellent episode. I really enjoyed it. It isn't flawless but there's a lot to like here. Suzie Plakson, the actor who played K'Ehleyr was great. Her facial expressions conveyed so much. The Klingon makeup on her, unfortunately, wasn't anywhere near as good as that on Worf. The moments between her and Worf are what make this episode as good as it is. They definitely had on screen chemistry. 

Notes

This is the second of three episodes in which Suzie Plakson appeared. She played a different character in the first episode in which she appeared but she returned in her third appearance to once again play K'Ehleyr. She appeared in one episode of Voyager, playing a different character. 

Diedrich Bader had a small part in this episode as the tactical officer. It is his only appearance in an episode of Star Trek. I thought he looked familiar but I didn't recognize him. This was a few years before he was on The Drew Carey Show. Batman: Caped Crusader is just one of many shows I've watched in which he has voiced one or more of the characters.

Thomas H. Calder wrote the story upon which Beimler and Manning based their teleplay. It is the only writing credit he has according to IMDb. Hans Beimler and Richard Manning wrote the teleplay. This is at least the ninth episode of 19 that they worked on together that I have seen. 

This is the third of 25 episodes of this show that Cliff Bole directed. I have seen at least 10 of those episodes. He also directed episodes of Deep Space Nine and Voyager.