I do not generally agree with the progressive utopian philosophy of Trek in general, so there is a running agree to disagree element politically between the two of us. As with any opposites attract friendship, conflicts do arise periodically. Less often, I find a moral or spiritual disagreement that irks me far more than any political issue. Such has happened twice so far in DS9. The first was in “Visionary,” because the concept of the soul was dismissed as one O’Brien casually died in order to be replaced by another, nine minutes older version. The second is in “Sons of Mogh.”Worf’s brother, Kurn, arrives on DS9 in dire straits. Thanks to Worf not supporting the invasion of Cardassia, his family has been dishonored. Kurn has lost everything, not the least of which is his seat on the High Council. He requests Worf kill him in a ritualistic murder so hecan die with honor. Worf accommodates him.
But Kurn survives and recovers. In spite of Worf’s protests it is a matter of Klingon belief, Sisko forbids him fro attempting to kill his brother again. Instead, Kurn must try to find a purpose. He unhappily becomes one of Odo’s deputies, but it is clear after a serious incident with a smuggler he has a death wish. Indeed, Kuen is contemplating suicide even though it would be a dishonorable death.
So Worf decides to have Bashir alter his appearance and DNA structure, as well as erase his memory, so he can assume another identity as the son of a family friend.
There is so much wrong with that, I do not know where to begin.
Forcibly erasing someone’s identity, even in the name of helping them, is grossly unethical. It is a living death which I cannot imagine anyone on Ds9 thinks is better than stabbing Kurn to death again. There are reams of studies discussing the ethics of using thought reform--a kinder, gentler term for brainwashing--in psychology. Completely altering someone is miles beyond that and no one blinked about the morality of it. Klingon beliefs or not, that is cruel.
We also are lead to assume Bashir went along with the idea without question. No doctor would ever do such a thing and keep his license to practice. Again, I do not care what Klingon beliefs say. Bashir’s personal ethics would keep him from performing the procedure. He is acting horribly out of character.
Speaking of acting horribly, Worf denies having any family when asked by Kurn’s newself if he does. Poor Alexander. Worf is one sorry father. He does not een think about his only child, but he is flirting with Dax as of this episode. The guy is a cad.
The -story involves O’Brien and Kira disarming a cloaked minefield near the Cardassian/Bajoran border. The story serves solely to introduce us to the concept of invisible mines and the process of detonating them will play a big part in the series when the wormhole is mined at the start of the Dominion War.
It goes without saying the fate of Kurn ruined the episode for me. It is not that I am a fan of Kurn--I could not care less about him, truth be told--but I cannot get passed the ethics of what happened to him. The solution to Kurn’s dishonor was a crutch at best, horrifying at worst. Deep Space Nie is the edgy Trek. I get that. But it wet too far over the line this time. What was Ronald D. Moore thinking?
Rating: * (out of 5)
