Star Trek: The Next Generation-- "Hero Worship"

Remember our mantra that trek never does children well? Yesterday’s episode was a step in the right direction. Alexander was and will continue to bea brat, but the emphasis was more on Worf’s growth as a parent. His failures as a father offer explanation for Alexander’s emotional problems. But in “Hero Worship,” we go back to the old standby--a kid has been orphaned and the crew has no idea how to handle it

Come to think of it, kids becoming orphans are abandoned by their parents altogether is a common running theme from Charlie X, Kirk’s nephew, the kids from “And the Children Shall Lead,” Jeremy from “The Bonding,” Worf, technically Data, and Riker being left by his father at fifteen. I really should have mentioned Jeremy yesterday as an added irony to Worf’s behavior. He added Jeremy to his house after he was orphaned, so he seems to think more of him than his own son. I shall not go so far as to say he has fully embraced Gene Roddenberry’s notion of human superiority over aliens. Heh.

Call me cold hearted here, but I would be more sympathetic to poor, orphaned Timothy if it was not so obvious he is lying from the get go. He claims his ship was invaded and everyone but him was killed by aliens in helmets. There is no evidence whatsoever of weapons discharge which is always mentioned when such tragedies are being investigated. Obviously, there was no invasion, yet the crew takes it seriously right on up until the climax.

When timothy takes a shine to Data, particularly his lack of emotion, Data is advised to play along with Timothy’s imitation of him. Not because they want to get the truth out of him, but as a psychological tool in his grieving process. It is not until the Enterprise is about to suffer the same cosmic wave thingy that destroyed timothy’s ship he admits what happens and learns his accidentally bumping a panel did not cause everyone to die. He is the catalyst for saving the Enterprise, so his psyche gets a boost.

I sun negative here, but “Hero Worship” is not a horrible episode. It is just illogical. I am curious how encouraging timothy to suppress his emotions over his parents’ deaths is a good idea. I am not a psychologist, but are they not encouraging him to bottle up his pain so it explodes in some incredibly unhealthy way down the line? He already has a couple temper tantrums in the episode. It is only going to get worse. “Hero worship’ also calls into question the logic of allowing children on starships in deep space. Why does no one ever question that when, say, the Borg are about to assimilate the ship/ how many kids died at Wolf 359? One wonders.

Rating: **(out of 5)