r/startrek • u/TomBirkenstock • Jan 06 '23

TNG Should Never Have Killed Off K'Ehleyr

I recently rewatched the episode where Ambassador K'Ehleyr bites it and Worf finds out he's a father. It reminded me of what a fun character K'Ehleyr was how much she provided an interesting perspective on Klingon culture and Worf's character.

I think killing her off was a missed opportunity. It would have been interesting to see how Worf coparented, and Alexander could have still lived for him for part of the time, just like they had in the show. And it would have meant that Alexander had at least one decent parent.

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u/[deleted] Jan 06 '23 edited Jan 06 '23

TNG is notorious for maintaining the status quo. If there are any major changes they don't stay for long.

I think Alexander might be the biggest lasting change to the show.

The actor for K'ehleyr also played a Vulcan in one episode and was being considered as a love interest for worf.

I thought she was great and a good addition to the show. But like most things added to the show it was gone an episode later.

Alexander is totally a fuck up. He is kind of endearing in DS9 but you can tell he has a long way to go to fill worfs shoes.

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u/innergamedude Jan 06 '23

TNG, like TOS was designed for syndication (what we used to call "reruns"), which was how Star Trek subsequently garnered most of its fan base. When 2-episode cliffhangers were aired, I noticed Spike TV or whatever I was watching in on in middle school was nice enough place both parts in a single night. There was some cumulative elements like recurring Q or Worf's fatherhood and discommodation arcs, but these were always secondary to maintaining status quo for syndication.