History Recap / StarTrekTheNextGenerationS5E10NewGround

* TickingClock: Worf and Riker have three minutes to rescue Alexander. We cut back to the bridge a few times as their time diminishes.

* TheMainCharactersDoEverything: Worf is one of the four people working on the soliton wave experiment even though he's the security chief, not an engineer or scientist. He never actually has anything to say about it.

Helena explains to Worf that she and her husband, Sergei, are getting too old to continue caring for a child, so they wish to leave Alexander in Worf's care, explaining that he "needs his father" to help temper his behavior. Worf reluctantly obliges and takes Alexander to Miss Kyle, the ship's primary school teacher, to enroll Alexander for classes, where it becomes clear that Worf knows painfully little about his son, not even his birthday.

Dr. Ja'dar briefs the senior staff on the upcoming propulsion system test: a soliton wave would be generated on the surface of the planet Bilana III and envelop a test ship, which would ride along the wave to achieve warp velocity without the need of a warp drive, with the ''Enterprise'' following behind the test ship, remaining close behind to deal with subspace interference from the wave to monitor it. The test would conclude at Lemma II, where a scattering field would be generated to dissipate the wave.

** [[JerkWithAHeartOfGold Bratty Half Pint With a Heart of Gold]]: Despite being in pain and barely conscious during the climax of the episode, Alexander still pleads with his father and Riker to save the endangered animals the Enterprise is transporting.
* CharlesAtlasSuperpower: Despite already normally being presented as extremely strong, Worf is capable of lifting a piece of debris that would usually require Data to move when he needs to save his son.

* {{Foreshadowing}}: Geordi is almost giddy at witnessing the soliton wave test, calling it a historical moment akin to seeing Chuck Yeager break the sound barrier or Zefram Cochrane fire up the first warp drive. [[Film/StarTrekFirstContact Later on in the series]], he actually does ([[TimeTravelTenseTrouble did?]]) get to take part in the latter.

Alexander is taken to sickbay, where he recovers from a hairline fracture in his tibia. Alexander apologizes to Worf and promises that he will behave at Klingon school. Worf, finally coming to accept fatherhood, explains that Klingon school would be challenging, but should Alexander accept, he can undertake an even greater challenge by remaining on the ''Enterprise'' and learning how to be a good son while Worf takes on the challenging of how to be a father. Alexander accepts Worf's proposal, with Worf thinking Alexander's mother would be proud of them both.

* HilariousInHindsight: Geordi is almost giddy at witnessing the soliton wave test, calling it a historical moment akin to seeing Chuck Yeager break the sound barrier or Zefram Cochrane fire up the first warp drive. [[Film/StarTrekFirstContact Later on in the series]], he actually does ([[TimeTravelTenseTrouble did?]]) get to take part in the latter.

* CharlesAtlasSuperpowers: Despite already normally being presented as extremely strong, Worf is capable of lifting a piece of debris that would usually require Data to move when he needs to save his son.

* BrattyHalfPint: Alexander, who steals toys and starts fights while claiming other kids started it.

* ThisIsGoingToBeHuge: Geordi begins the story by talking about how the soliton wave is going to change spaceflight forever and render warp drive obsolete. One destroyed test ship and very nearly an EarthShatteringKaboom later, the technology is understandably never mentioned again.

Helena explains to Worf that she and her husband, Sergei, are getting too old to continue caring for a child, so they wish to leave Alexander in Worf's care, explaining that he "needs his father" to help temper his behavior. Worf reluctantly obliges and takes Alexander to Mrs. Kyle, the ship's primary school teacher, to enroll Alexander for classes, where it becomes clear that Worf knows painfully little about his son, not even his birthday.

At Troi's suggestion, Worf decides to step back from his duties to attempt to connect with Alexander. He accompanies him on a field trip with Mrs. Kyle's class to the Bio Labs, which goes poorly for both father and son when Alexander takes a model of an indigenous animal of Corvan II and lies about it. Worf lectures Alexander about how dishonorable his actions are for Klingons. To demonstrate his point, Worf tells Alexander about Kahless and Morath, two brothers from Klingon mythology who fought bitterly for several days after Morath told a lie and dishonored his family: for Klingons, to lie is to dishonor one's family, and Alexander's lie dishonored Worf. Alexander promises his father that he will not lie again.

Afterwards, the soliton wave experiment commences. At first, the experiment seems to work out, as the test vessel achieves warp velocity after becoming enveloped by the soliton wave, with near-total power efficiency. Unfortunately, the experiment begins to go horribly awry, and the test ship is destroyed by the soliton wave. Unfortunately, their problems extend beyond the destruction of the test ship: the soliton wave is still travelling to Lemma II. If the wave reaches the planet, it would cause devastation on a massive scale.

The problem with the soliton wave has grown more grave, with the wave gaining strength the longer it travels. La Forge has two ideas on how to stop the wave: an inverse resonance wave, which would be difficult due to the wave's constantly changing frequency and amplitude; or an explosion detonated directly in front of the wave. At the wave's present velocity, moving around it to intercept was no longer an option: the ''Enterprise'' would need to travel through the wave, which poses dangers of its own to the ship.

The ''Enterprise'' moves through the soliton wave to intercept, which causes some damage to several decks. One of them is Biolab 4, where a fire has broken out and fire suppressant systems have malfunctioned. Picard orders the lab vented, but to Worf's horror, there is one humanoid occupant in Biolab 4: Alexander Rozhenko! With Alexander not replying to messages from the captain, Picard grants Worf leave to rescue his son with Riker in tow. Time is of the essence, though; the soliton wave will catch up to the ''Enterprise'' soon and flood the lab with ion radiation!

Worf finds Alexander trapped under rubble in the lab. With flames roaring around him and smoke choking him, and Alexander hurt and scared, Worf calls upon all of his strength to remove the debris, take Alexander, and escape from the lab just as Picard orders torpedos fired at the soliton wave, dissipating it and saving Lemma II from certain destruction.

Alexander is taken to sickbay, where he recovers from a hairline fracture in his tibia. Alexander apologizes to Worf and promises that he would behave at Klingon school. Worf, finally coming to accept fatherhood, explains that Klingon school would be challenging, but should Alexander accept, he can undertake an even greater challenge by remaining on the ''Enterprise'' and learning how to be a good son while Worf takes on the challenging of how to be a father. Alexander accepts Worf's proposal, with Worf thinking Alexander's mother would be proud of them both.

!!Tropes featured:

* ExtinctInTheFuture: Mrs. Kyle mentions that the white rhinoceros went extinct.
* MamaDidntRaiseNoCriminal: When Alexander's teacher tells Worf that he swiped a model lizard, Worf objects, since stealing is dishonorable. Then, Alexander admits he did it by presenting the lizard to them.

* ThisIsGoingToBeHuge: Geordi begins the story by talking about how the soliton wave is going to change spaceflight forever and render warp drive obsolete. One destroyed test ship and very nearly an EarthShatteringKaboom later, the technology is understandably never mentioned again.

* OhCrap: Worf, when the computer says that Alexander is trapped in a fire.

The ''Enterprise'' moves through the soliton wave to intercept, which causes some damage to several decks. One of them is Biolab 4, where a fire has broken out and fire suppressant systems have malfunctioned. Picard orders the lab vented, but to Worf's horror, there is one humanoid occupant in Biolab 4: Alexander Rozhenko! With Alexander not replying to messages from the captain, Picard grants Worf leave to rescue his son with Riker in tow. Time is of the essence, though; the soliton wave is not far from Lemma II!

The ''Enterprise'' moves through the soliton wave to intercept, which causes some damage to several decks. One of them is Biolab 4, where a fire has broken out and fire suppressant systems have malfunctioned. To Worf's horror, there is one humanoid occupant in Biolab 4: Alexander Rozhenko! With Alexander not replying to messages from the captain, Picard grants Worf leave to rescue his son with Riker in tow. Time is of the essence, though; the soliton wave is not far from Lemma II!

At Troi's suggestion, Worf decides to step back from his duties to attempt to connect with Alexander. He accompanies him on a field trip with Mrs. Kyle's class to Corvan II, which goes poorly for both father and son when Alexander takes a model of an indigenous animal and lies about it. Worf lectures Alexander about how dishonorable his actions are for Klingons. To demonstrate his point, Worf tells Alexander about Kahless and Morath, two brothers from Klingon mythology who fought bitterly for several days after Morath told a lie and dishonored his family: for Klingons, to lie is to dishonor one's family, and Alexander's lie dishonored Worf. Alexander promises his father that he will not lie again.

Worf's son Alexander arrives to live on the Enterprise due to the Rozhenkos not being able to take care of him anymore due to their ages.

Meanwhile, the'' Enterprise'' participates in the trial run of a new propulsion system for starships, which uses soliton waves--achieving warp speed without warp drive.

Meanwhile, the'' Enterprise'' participates in the trial run of a new propulsion system for starships, which uses soliton waves--achieving warp speed without warp drive.

Worf's son Alexander arrives to live on the Enterprise due to the Rozhenkos not being able to take care of him anymore due to their ages.

Worf's mother