‘A MATTER OF HONOR’ (TNG)
Please feel free to comment on my review.
In this ‘Star Trek: TNG’ episode, Commander Riker gets to go aboard a Klingon Bird of Prey and find out what life is like as a Klingon officer. This was an interesting, enjoyable episode with the Klingons.
Riker serving aboard a Klingon ship is born out of an officer exchange program with the Enterprise that receives some new crewmembers joining them. One of these is a Benzite called Ensign Mendon.
I liked that scene early on in the episode where Wesley Crusher mistakes Mendon for Mordock. This was when Wesley had taken the Starfleet entrance exam in ‘Coming of Age’ and met Mordock there.
But of course, Mendon isn’t Mordock, although it’s John Putch playing Mendon as he played Mordock in ‘Coming of Age’. I like the joke that the two look very alike and can tell each other apart.
Mendon happens to be a very keen and enthusiastic person who wants to please Picard and the others during his time aboard the Enterprise. But sometimes his enthusiasm gets the better of him.
In the episode, Mendon discovers something about the Klingon Bird of Prey called the Pagh, as it has a patch of strange organic material on its hull. It turns out the Enterprise has this material on its hull.
Mendon does an analysis of the organic material on both ships, but doesn’t bring it to the attention of Picard and the others. This doesn’t please Picard, as he should have reported this problem earlier.
This is part of a conflict of differences to how Benzites do things and how Starfleet do things. Mendon apologises for not reporting. Picard allows him to continue with his analysis of the material.
I liked that scene where Wesley reassures Mendon of the mistake he made. Wesley believes Mendon can use a friend. It would have been nice if more of Wesley and Mendon had got explored.
Anyway, that’s enough of that. It’s time to talk about Riker serving aboard a Klingon vessel. Before he joins the Pagh ship, Riker gets to try out some Klingon delicacies of food which seem so revolting.
The types of Klingon food that Riker tries out are as follows. There’s pipius claw, heart of targ and gagh (which are serpent worms). Picard and Pulaski seem revolted when they see Riker eat this stuff.
Eventually, Riker goes aboard the Pagh ship after being given a transponder by Worf in case something bad goes wrong. Riker aboard the Pagh ship does get tense, especially with the Klingons.
Christopher Collins guest stars as Captain Kargan of the Pagh ship. Kargan is your typical Klingon captain who’s ruthless and wants battle. He doesn’t trust Riker once he is the First Officer of his ship.
Brian Thompson guest stars as Klag, the Klingon Lieutenant. Klag outwardly expresses his distrust of Riker from the start. This leads to a fight between Riker and Klag on the bridge, which did get tense.
I like how Klag grows a respect for Riker whilst he’s serving his time aboard the Pagh. At the end of the episode, Klag comes to realise that Riker understand Klingons after getting hit by Captain Kargan.
I like how Riker interacts with the Klingons aboard the Pagh ship, especially during the dinner-time scene where they’re altogether. Views are exchanged between Riker and the Klingons’ in the scene.
Very soon, the Klingons discover the organic material that’s on the hull of the Pagh ship. Kargan immediately suspects that it’s the Enterprise’s doing and is determined to gun them down in battle.
But Riker uses the transponder given to him by Worf in order to get Kargan off the ship when teleported to the Enterprise. Riker takes command of the Pagh ship and he prevents a space battle.
Colm Meaney guest stars as Chief O’Brien in the episode. He doesn’t have a major part to play in the episode, since he’s there to transport Mendon and other exchange crewmembers on the Enterprise.
‘A Matter of Honor’ is okay as a ‘Star Trek: TNG’ episode. It’s not a great Klingon episode and it could have done with some action. It would have been interesting if the Klingons did attack the Enterprise.
One of the issues of having Klingons being at peace with Starfleet in ‘TNG’ compared to ‘The Original Series’ is that there are less battles. More intriguing stuff with the Klingons will appear later in ‘TNG’.
‘A Matter of Honor’ (TNG) rating – 7/10
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