Ethics

Maybe one of the worst episodes. The writers couldn't decide whether the story should be about the right to choose one's death or experimental medicine and taking risks to preserve life. In typical poorly conceived fashion, the writers chose to push both agendas, then punish the researcher who made life possible. Another bad episode straight of the the worst Hollywood hack's Powerbook.

I won't rehash the synopsis since that's been well handled already.

But did Starfleet cancel the industrial safety training course at the Academy? How could those barrels be stacked on the second level of the storage rack, and not even be secured? That ship is always bouncing all over the place. Someone needs to get fired.

What could have been a great episode was ruined by one thing....Dr. Beverly Crusher. She was right for not allowing Worfs suicide but her actions regarding an experimental medical procedure were just way over the top. Considering that Worf was not going to ever give in and accept his paralysis, how could she take the position she did? Even Picard was on board. And while her lashing of the visiting doctors actions at the end were likely warranted, her arrogant holier than thou attitude throughout the episode were ridiculous. How many times has she tried crazy ideas to save someone in other episodes? I'd say very many.

Worf's spine is crushed, leaving him paralyzed. He wants to perform a ritual suicide to die with honor, but the self-righteous Crusher and Riker want to force him to live with the disability. Meanwhile, a specialist comes on board with an experimental procedure that could make it possible for Worf to walk again, but she meets constant resistance from Crusher.

For a normally left-wing show, this episode has a strong stench of the right-wing moral police. We're lead to believe that Worf shouldn't commit suicide, because of some moral objection two other characters have (when it's not about their lives). Other reviewers have mentioned "Half a Life" and how the message was not to interfere with another culture with a ritual suicide, but here, the exact opposite message is preached. They're right about the contradictory messages between these two episodes.

The episode reminds me of the Terri Schiavo case. She was in a persistent vegetative state and as per her positions from before going into a coma, she didn't want to be on prolonged life support, but the conservatives decided to stick their nose in and there was a huge polemic where there didn't need to be.

On the other hand, if this episode had focused on the ethics of the specialist using patients as objects of experimentation, it might have had a good message, but in the end, it seems to have been written by a preacher who wanted to push his life-is-sacred dogma even when he's not in church.

This episode feels long, it's boring and preachy. This is a good one to skip.