Yes, [REDACTED] Is Back, And Star Trek: Picard Season 3 Gives Him One Heck Of An Introduction
This article contains spoilers for the second episode in season 3 of "Star Trek: Picard."
The third season of "Star Trek: Picard" is reuniting the cast of "Star Trek: The Next Generation" on-screen for the first time in years, and for fans of the walking conundrum known as the Klingon named Worf (Michael Dorn), episode 2 is especially exciting. We've seen some small glimpses via released images of what Worf is looking like these days, decades after we last saw him. The character started on "Star Trek: The Next Generation" before making the journey over to a space station on "Star Trek: Deep Space Nine," and now he's going to be a part of the grim events of "Star Trek: Picard." Each series has explored different elements of science fiction and has given Worf a different role to play, but it will be interesting to see how he's changed after all these years and how that works with the significantly darker tone of "Picard."
Worf is kind of an oddball — he's a Klingon who was raised by humans (in the tundra of Russia, no less), and he was the first Klingon to ever join Starfleet. He loves prune juice and Klingon operas, married a Trill woman, and sort of befriended a whole space station worth of colorful characters, including a Ferengi bartender. So how do you reintroduce that kind of complex and deeply beloved character in a way that fits? You make him as badass as possible, that's how.
The strong, silent type
In the first two episodes of "Star Trek: Picard," Raffi (Michelle Hurd) is revealed to be working undercover in order to figure out who is responsible for stealing the weapons technology used to attack Starfleet, and that doesn't seem to be going very well for her. She's fallen back into some of her old bad habits, including fighting a serious drug addiction, and when she goes to secure information from a Ferengi broker, things don't quite work out. The Ferengi doesn't trust her and asks her to prove that she's not Starfleet by using drugs in front of him. This puts her into a deadly situation, but then a mysterious stranger appears from the darkness and makes quick work of the criminals training their guns on the undercover agent. The quick, fluid movements seemed familiar, but when I recognized the weapon that decapitated the Ferengi, I knew exactly who had rescued poor Raffi.
It isn't until he helps Raffi to her feet and they step into the light that we get to see silver fox Worf in his full glory, but the whole introduction is absolutely beautiful. Not only that, but his first words to her are a stern reprimand, even as the music swells triumphantly behind him: "I told you ... to not engage." Not only did Worf save Raffi from a certain death, he also appears to either be part of Section 31 or working with Raffi undercover in some other way. It's a little mysterious, very dramatic, and all perfectly Worf.
What's next for Worf?
We don't see much more of the stoic Klingon in the episode, as things pivot back to the other characters, but there's certain to be more Worf in the rest of the season. Worf teaming up with Raffi is definitely a big surprise, but it's also a welcome one because the two are likely to butt heads like a pair of Klingons at a ... well, actually, just like a pair of Klingons in general. Both have very strong personalities and convictions, and I can't imagine that Worf, who appears to have become some kind of metal martial arts-practicing monk, would approve of Raffi using drugs. So what should we expect for Worf this season? At New York Comic Con in 2022, Michael Dorn said that people need to expect the unexpected, including the fact that Worf is apparently now a pacifist:
"Worf is on a journey. He's always been on a journey, and I was very fortunate that the producers incorporated both of our ideas about where he was going to go. There's a lot of things that I wanted to keep, and a lot of things that they actually convinced me to change about him. And I think that we will recognize a lot of Worf, and we won't recognize a lot of Worf. Which is wonderful, I love that as an actor."
Season 3 showrunner Terry Matalas described his vision for Worf as something like a samurai with a bat'leth, while Dorn compared him to the "Kill Bill" sensei, Pai Mei, which means we're probably going to get to see him do a lot more butt-kicking despite that whole pacifism thing. We'll have to wait to tune into Paramount+ next Thursday to find out what's happening with Worf, but it's guaranteed to be worth the wait.