Homeward 

In an attempt to preserve a race of people on a planet being bombarded by storms that would kill them, Worf's foster brother violates the Prime Directive, leaving the Enterprise crew in a difficult position.

Director:

Alexander Singer

Writers:

Gene Roddenberry (created by), Naren Shankar (teleplay by)

Stars:

Patrick Stewart, Jonathan Frakes, LeVar Burton

Cast

Episode complete credited cast:
Patrick Stewart	...	Capt. Jean-Luc Picard
Jonathan Frakes	...	Cmdr. William Riker
LeVar Burton	...	Lt. Cmdr. Geordi La Forge
Michael Dorn	...	Lieutenant Worf
Gates McFadden	...	Dr. Beverly Crusher
Marina Sirtis	...	Counselor Deanna Troi
Brent Spiner	...	Lt. Commander Data
Penny Johnson Jerald	...	Dobara (as Penny Johnson)
Brian Markinson	...	Vorin
Edward Penn	...	Kateras
Paul Sorvino	...	Dr. Nikolai Rozhenko
Susan T. Collins	...	Tarrana (as Susan Christy)
Majel Barrett	...	Enterprise Computer (voice)

Storyline

The Enterprise answers a distress call from Worf's foster brother Dr. Nikolai Rozhenko (cultural observer on Boraal II), about sudden atmospheric dissipation which may render the Enterprise inhabitable in hours. In Picard's failed attempt to stop the apocalyptic phenomenon and save the primitive culture, he broke the Federation's prime directive of non-intervention in natural development. Worf is furious to discover that Nikolai has secretly transported a village to their simulation of caves inside the holodeck, but Picard grudgingly accepts his plan to transport them to a comparable M-class planet as their new home. However, Geordi has a hard time keeping the holodeck running because of plasmodic interference-caused damage, so Worf joins Nikolai as a seer with supernatural powers, and discovers Nikolai has another connection with a Boraalan.

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Plot Keywords:

male male hug | male with ponytail | stellar cartography | malfunction | security team | 

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Genres:

Action | Adventure | Mystery | Sci-Fi

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Certificate:

TV-PG

Details

Official Sites:

Official site

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

15 January 1994 (USA)

Filming Locations:

Paramount Studios - 5555 Melrose Avenue, Hollywood, Los Angeles, California, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

Paramount Television

Technical Specs

Runtime:

46 min

Sound Mix:

Stereo

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Scenes were filmed outdoors in the Bronson Caves area of Griffith Park at the time of wild fires which occurred there in November 1993. As a result, cast and crew had to be evacuated for a brief time, which resulted in a reshuffling of the filming schedule, but no props or filming equipment were lost to the fire.

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Quotes

Dr. Nikolai Rozhenko: [Nikolai has illicitly beamed aboard a colony of Boralaans to one of the Enterprise's Holodecks to save them from a planetary catastrophe] You worry too much, Worf. You always did. Everything will work out.
Lieutenant Worf: You have disgraced yourself. And you have disgraced me. And I want nothing more to do with you.

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Connections

Referenced in Star Trek: Insurrection (1998)

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Soundtracks

Star Trek: The Next Generation Main Title
Composed by Jerry Goldsmith and Alexander Courage

User Reviews

Unlike Hitchcoc, I actually really liked this one.

I can understand the review by Hitchcoc and his disliking the show. After all, everyone likes different things. As for me, I really liked this one and thought it brought up some interesting points.

Dr. Nikolai Rozhenko (Paul Sorvino) is working on planet as an observer. The locals believe he's one of them and he's become a part of their community. While this is a bit odd and skirts the limits of the Prime Directive, it gets worse. The planet is doomed and will soon be bereft of all life. The Prime Directive calls for non-interference but Rozhenko is determined to do ANYTHING to insure the continuation of these nice people. But they know nothing of space travel and he cannot simply take them aboard a Federation ship to resettle them elsewhere...and the Prime Directive would indicate that he leaves them. However, against Picard's express wishes, Rozhenko beams the few survivors onto a holodeck simulation that LOOKS like their shelter on the planet below and they THINK they are all still there! Now what? Oh, and to complicate things, Roshenko is Worf's step-brother!!

I liked the show because it stretched the limits of the non- interference policy of the Federation. And, as I watched, I thought the Captain and the crew were incredibly callous (annoyingly so) towards the folks on the planet--so I liked seeing Sorvino, who is not a Starfleet officer, throw the policy out the window! Pretty interesting and well written.