Television Review: New Ground (Star Trek: The Next Generation, S5X10, 1992)

New Ground (S05E10)

Airdate: 6 January 1992

Written by: Grant Rosenberg
Directed by: Robert Scheerer

Running Time: 46 minutes

Throughout the decades of the Star Trek franchise, a significant portion of its enduring fandom has been built upon the enthusiasm of children and youth. This is entirely natural for a saga dedicated to the exploration of the future, one that is fundamentally built on a sense of wonder and discovery. However, when the franchise attempts to exploit this demographic by placing children or youth as central figures within the plot, the results usually leave much to be desired. And the Children Shall Lead, arguably the worst episode of Star Trek: The Original Series, serves as a grim historical precedent. Similarly, the teenage character of Wesley Crusher was frequently cited as the most grating element in an otherwise splendid roster of characters for The Next Generation. While Star Trek: The Next Generation could occasionally navigate themes involving young people with nuance, New Ground, the tenth episode of Season 5, demonstrates that it was significantly easier to miss the mark than to hit such occasions effectively.

The plot commences with the USS Enterprise-D approaching the planet Bilana III to assist in a scientific experiment with the potential to revolutionise space travel. The experiment involves the application of a so-called soliton wave, a technology that would allow ships to achieve warp speed without the use of traditional warp drives. This breakthrough is being led by a local scientist named Ja'Dar (Richard McGonagle=. The procedure will include a test ship which is going to be observed by the Enterprise crew. This development brings immense delight to Geordi La Forge, who is described as being absolutely giddy at the prospect of witnessing what could be a truly historic scientific moment for Starfleet.

In the meantime, Worf is occupied by more personal and distressing issues. His adoptive mother, Helena Rozhenko (Georgia Brown), arrives on the Enterprise. She informs Worf that he and his husband, Sergey, are too old to properly care for Worf’s son, Alexander (Brian Bonsall). Consequently, she suggests that the boy should join him aboard the ship. Worf agrees to the arrangement, only to soon learn that parenting is vastly more difficult than his military and professional duties. Alexander is soon enrolled in the Enterprise school, where Worf discovers that the boy is inattentive and disrespectful. Most horrifyingly to Worf, Alexander is able to lie, a trait unfathomable for someone like Worf, who has wholeheartedly accepted Klingon notions of honour. Worf receives advice from Counselor Troi on how to handle his son, all while contemplating the extreme option of sending the boy to a Klingon school to instil discipline.

The experiment itself seems to succeed beyond expectations initially, but it soon turns sour. The test ship is destroyed, and the Enterprise is damaged in the process. It gets even worse when the soliton wave is projected to hit the planet Lemma II, threatening to destroy it along with the colony residing there. Only the Enterprise can intervene. During the frantic, and ultimately successful, attempts to dissipate the soliton wave, an over-curious Alexander remains stuck in a biolab where he had been observing gilvos—rare animals that the Enterprise had carried to the protected planet of Bentalia. His life, and the life of the gilvo specimens, is ultimately saved by Worf and Riker. The boy is going to recover in sickbay, and Worf decides to keep him on the ship following this traumatic incident.

New Ground is notable for being the last appearance of Helena Rozhenko, a poignant fact because the actress Georgia Brown would die just a few months after the episode premiere due to surgical complications. Additionally, the child actor Brian Bonsall, best known for his work on the sitcom Family Ties, had replaced Jon Steuer, who had played toddler Alexander in the earlier episode Reunion. Bonsall would continue to play Alexander as a recurring character throughout the remainder of the TNG run.

Written by Grant Rosenberg, New Ground was usually dismissed by most fans as one of the more forgettable episodes of The Next Generation. Most complaints regarding Star Trek focused on the characters having family and parenthood issues veering into the realms of soap opera drama. While Worf happened to be one of the most popular and iconic characters, with his arc related to his Klingon heritage being bedrock for the fictional universe building, his relationship with Alexander was handled in an ultra-clichéd and uninspired way. This is a pattern that would remain largely unchanged throughout the series.

The episode was not helped by the B-storyline involving the Enterprise-in-distress. Despite its potentially fascinating nature, the scientific crisis also succumbed to standard cliches typical of the show's later seasons. Even the solid direction by Robert Scheerer and Michael Dorn showing a little more range in playing Worf as a father didn't rescue this episode from sinking into mediocrity.

RATING: 4/10 (+)

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