By Chris Snellgrove
| Published
As great as the main characters of Star Trek: The Next Generation were, the supporting characters often stole the show. This includes Alexander, the precocious child of the only Klingon in Starfleet. He showed up later on Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, but that show effectively wasted this awesome supporting character because we saw that Alexander became nothing more than a knockoff version of his father, Worf.
Alexander Becomes Worf
If it’s been a while since you watched Star Trek: The Next Generation, you might need a brief primer on the relationship (familial and otherwise) between Alexander and Worf. Despite serving in Starfleet, Worf was very devoted to maintaining the Klingon way of life, and he tried to raise his son the same way. Unfortunately, Alexander is one-quarter human, and between his genetic heritage and being raised on a ship full of humans, he grew up acting anything but Klingon. When Alexander later showed up on Deep Space Nine, though, he had become a Klingon soldier (albeit a rather clumsy one).
There are plenty of reasons Star Trek fans disliked what happened to Alexander on Deep Space Nine, including the fact that he was now nothing more than a clumsy punchline and still had an awful relationship with Worf. However, my problem with this storyline is much simpler. Alexander should never have become a Klingon soldier because it shows that the writers gave up on developing his character into something else other than a crappier version of his father.
A Disappointing Klingon
For this Star Trek fan, Alexander’s evolution (more like devolution) into a Worf clone is particularly disappointing because we rarely get to see Klingons who aren’t warriors. Sure, there’s the occasional scientist here and there, but we mostly see warriors who want nothing more than to die in an honorable manner. Considering that something as vast as the Klingon Empire would need countless other kinds of citizens (farmers, engineers, diplomats, and even writers) that we so rarely get to see, it would have been great to see Alexander explore one of these options.
More pertinently, Star Trek: The Next Generation spent plenty of time establishing that Alexander was completely different from Worf. Quite frankly, his entire arc was leading to him being perhaps the most unique Klingon we had ever seen. By the time DS9 was over, though, he was just another soldier who had gone all in on his race’s warrior culture.
Plus, if Star Trek: Deep Space Nine had Alexander explore a different path, Worf’s beliefs about the Klingon way of life could have been challenged in some rewarding ways. The writers got some great stories out of the inherent tension between Worf’s warrior heritage and the Federation’s hippie ethos, and in TNG, we saw that tension mirrored in his relationship with his son. But by DS9, the family drama was replaced by Alexander trying to walk in Worf’s footsteps, and while a son desperately chasing his father’s approval may be realistic for many viewers watching at home, the whole story reeks of squandered potential.
It’s possible that Star Trek: Deep Space Nine’s writers couldn’t think of another way to bring Alexander back…certainly, it took plenty of creative effort (including disrupting the shaky peace between the Klingons and the Federation) to bring Worf back in a compelling way. But speaking as a fan, I’d rather not see this awesome supporting character come back at all than be absolutely ruined by his return. Plus, the kid was already stuck with Worf as a father…that was punishment enough for a lifetime, and sticking him with awful characterization and forgettable arcs on top of that just seems cruel and unusual.
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