By Chris Snellgrove
| Published
There’s a fair argument that no Star Trek character ever grew more than Worf, who began The Next Generation as a flunkie and ended the show as a security chief whose decisions affected the entire Klingon Empire. Later, he transferred to Deep Space Nine and ended up getting married before playing a critical role in events that saved the entire Federation from the Dominion. Ironically enough, though, Worf actor Michael Dorn hated the script for “The Enemy” because this TNG episode kickstarted his later character development by emphasizing how brutal Klingons can really be.
Michael Dorn Didn’t Like “The Enemy”
If you haven’t watched the episode in a while, here’s what you need to know: Dr. Crusher is trying to save a dying Romulan and discovers that Worf is the only suitable donor for the blood this enemy alien needs to live. However, Worf still hates the Romulans for killing his father and shocked audiences and fellow characters alike by refusing to donate, which became a moot point when the Romulan refused treatment and croaked. Originally, Michael Dorn hated “The Enemy” script because he thought donating to the foe “was the honorable thing to do” and worried “people would look at Worf as a murderer.”
As recorded in Captains’ Logs: The Unauthorized Complete Trek Voyages, Michael Dorn initially disagreed with the writers and producers behind “The Enemy.” He was specifically annoyed at how “the producers felt that Worf was getting to be too Human…just a guy with a big head” and how they jumped at the “wonderful opportunity” to showcase that the Klingon “is not bound by the same morals as we are.” As mentioned before, Dorn worried that audiences watching at home would be distraught that his character was some dishonorable murderer serving on a ship full of Starfleet goody-goodies.
Normally, we’d defer a Star Trek actor when it comes to their character…like, who the heck could possibly understand Worf better than Dorn, who played the character across three different shows and four different films in the franchise? In this case, though, the producers were completely correct: the entire appeal of Worf is that he isn’t human, allowing us to see various situations and characters through his distinctly alien eyes. Michael Dorn may have had his misgivings, but Worf’s willingness to let a Romulan die in “The Enemy” is completely consistent with Klingon culture and values and gives us great insight into this warrior race.
And for those of you who are about to attack us with your replica bat’leths, you should know that the actor agreed with this assessment after the episode came out. Michael Dorn eventually admitted that “The Enemy” did a great job of showing us Worf’s different sides. Sure, he may like to drink prune juice and make moony eyes at the Betazed counselor, but at the end of the day, his character is all too happy to let a Romulan die rather than sully himself by donating blood to an enemy.
If we had to guess, Michael Dorn probably came to appreciate “The Enemy” because it was the first truly great episode to dive into the culture of the Klingons, a race who had been one-note bad guys in The Original Series. Later on in this same season, we’d get a meaty Klingon storyline about Worf’s father that sets up an entire arc for our favorite security chief and ultimately leads to a Klingon civil war. We may never have had any of those great stories, though, if the TNG writers and producers hadn’t gone out of their way to show just how alien Worf could be.
