This next post is going to be quite near and dear to me due to the personal effects this type of subject has had on my life: Suicide.
Yes, I will be discussing Season 5 episode “Ethics”. Please note: Sensitive Subject ahead. Caution is advised!
I have heard mixed feelings on this episode, and for good reason. It has a sensitive topic with different points of views and depending on where you stand, you can either love or hate this episode. I happen to love it, and it is actually in my top 5 favorite episodes of TNG. Suicide is a sensitive topic and should not be taken lightly. I, for one, tried to commit suicide when I was 13 years old. I was in a difficult place in my life where I felt there was no way out, and the emotional and mental pain was too great for my teenage self to handle. As you can see, I survived my attempt, and I have known plenty in my family/friends who have survived their attempt as well; I also know some who did not.
Why would an episode that is touching so close to home be in my top 5? It is because everyone had their own opinion on why this was right or wrong, and in all honesty, EVERYONE was right. Let me break it down for you:
WORF: Worf injures himself when a barrel shatters his spine beyond repair. He is a Klingon who holds his beliefs in his culture in high regard. Were there times he didn’t fully accept the culture? Absolutely, but in this instant, since it was he who was dealing with the injury, he knew how his fellow brothers would see him. Dishonor is huge in Worf’s eyes, and he was already discredited due to a lie in the Empire about his family, and so no longer being seen as a Warrior in their eyes was the final straw. Assisted suicide (Hegh’bat as it is called) was a proud honor as a Klingon; they welcomed death with eyes open and at their own hand, was a way of a Klingon still being in control.
RIKER: His position in this episode was probably the toughest as Worf asked him, as a friend, to help him with the Hegh’bat. Riker is mortified with this request, and he was rightfully so. Riker’s belief is not to disregard life as meaningless. Riker’s ethics are to stand up and fight, not give up, which is what Riker felt Worf was doing. Could Riker be blinded by the actual request as a ceremony and something important in the Klingon Empire? Of course, but Riker isn’t Klingon and can’t accept it as no big deal, especially when it is a near and dear friend of his.
TROI/ALEXANDER: I added these two together because this was something they were literally going through together. Alexander is new to the ship, lost his mom, lost his home, and now has a father who is asking to die. I can’t even imagine what a child would be thinking at this moment. Confusion? Anger? Sadness? all of the above? For a child who knows nothing about his Klingon heritage (Remember, he is only 1/4 Klingon and 3/4 Human), he needed to feel safe and comforted, and that is where Deanna comes in. Deanna has been a part of his life since he returned to the ship, in order for him to get adjusted easily. It makes sense for Deanna to almost play the “Mother” role for him, especially when his father didn’t want to see him because of his shame. I feel bad for Deanna because she is kind of caught in the middle of all of this. It wasn’t like Worf was taking her advice, and she had to do what was best for Alexander, but how do you do that when the father won’t listen? And let’s not forget, she was asked to take care of Alexander if the surgery does not go well. That is a huge undertaking for her, but in normal Deanna fashion, she takes it in stride as (again) always puts Alexander first in this regard.
CRUSHER: Oh, I have plenty to say about the good doctor. We all know Beverly takes the Hippocratic oath very seriously, to a point she has gone one-on-one with the captain over the Prime Directive. She said, “The first step in good medicine is to not make the patient any worse,” and she is right. She is trying to find ways for Worf to deal with his injury because, in her mind, many can live a good life even with a severe injury like his. What she doesn’t take into account is that Worf is not Human, he is a Klingon, and like many cultures (even on Earth), have different and sometimes pretty raw traditions. Beverly is also against not only a cultural difference but a difference of opinions with another fellow Doctor. Dr. Toby Russell comes to help Beverly with Worf’s condition, but her strategy is unethical in our good doctor's eyes. Dr. Russell wants to do an extreme surgery in which replicating Worf’s spine and replacing it would be his best option for being back 100%, while Beverly’s methods will only help Worf 60%. Is Dr. Russell right to try this? Absolutely. Worf is going to kill himself if he is not 100%, and so, in Dr. Russell’s eyes, what does he have to lose? He has a chance to gain all his mobility back, and she gets the data she needs for her research. Seems like a win-win: Except to Beverly.
Beverly wears her heart on her sleeve, and since it is a patient she is close to, this hits too close to home for her, and her emotions may be getting in the way of seeing the bigger picture here. Is Beverly wrong? No, but she needs convincing to do exactly what Worf needs. Que in Picard:
PICARD: The good Captain is an advocate for Worf. Unlike his colleagues, Picard knows just how important his Klingon culture is to him. If this is what he was told to do in the event of a severe injury, this is what he is going to do, whether Riker or Crusher likes it or not. He has to help Riker decide to assist Worf, and he has to help Beverly see what is best for Worf. This causes Riker to examine the ceremony and figure out a way to politely turn down Worf without disrespecting him. Crusher takes a bit more convincing from Picard; she even states she will post guards 24/7 before she allows him to commit suicide. Picard said she can not hold him hostage forever just because she can’t agree with his method. Crusher ultimately agrees to allow Dr. Russell to do the surgery...
As you can see, everyone is going through some kind of hard time with this situation. Suicide is such a touchy subject, and it isn’t viewed as an honor. Some see it as cowardliness, some see it as a last resort... wherever you stand on the subject, it doesn’t come lightly. I do know that when we lose someone we love, pain and sorrow are usually what happen to those who are left behind, even if the one who was suffering is no longer in pain. No one wants Worf to die; they all love him! But it is interesting to see how each approaches the situation differently: Riker & Crusher on one side and Troi & Picard on the other, while Dr. Russell is taking advantage of the situation.
As everyone knows, the surgery was NOT successful, and I felt this scene was key for Crusher, Troi, and Alexander (even Dr. Russell). Dr. Russell is shocked to see that her methods did not work and is almost shattered to see her research just go down the drain. No matter how people see Dr. Russell, her determination to save lives with this new procedure is awe-inspiring. It may take years, and it may take some lives lost, but her ultimate goal is to save lives in the future (even if her ways can be seen as unethical, her passion is not). Crusher stole the scene here because you can see the defeat in her eyes. She knew it wasn’t going to work, and she hated herself in that moment, feeling she should have gone with her gut. She slaps the table and begins to cry. She then has to tell Alexander the horrible news, which will not be easy for the doctor. As a fellow friend of mine on Twitter said, “In this moment, Crusher is most likely having flashbacks of when Wesley was told his father was dead, and she is having a hard time. Plus, she knows Alexander and Worf, and this is just too hard for the good Doctor.” -- She is crying when she lets Alexander and Troi know, and even though they bring Alexander to see Worf, the poor child breaks down because now he feels alone. (Fast Forward: Worf’s redundancy of organs ends up saving his life. So it is safe to say that Dr. Russell’s procedure is a success for the Klingon Empire.
Even though Worf did survive, Beverly couldn’t really congratulate Dr. Russell for the success; In all honesty, it was pure luck. If Worf didn’t have such a complex anatomy, he would have died. Dr. Russell would rather risk people's lives in the name of research. Unfortunately, lives are lost in the name of research, but I think Dr. Russell cutting corners is what Beverly hates the most. Like she said, “You gambled, and he won” -- Everyone went through emotional distress in this episode, and it is going to take a while for each of them to recover.
So the ending has a happily ever after, but most people who deal with suicide do not. This episode isn’t about mental health, but it does bring the subject of suicide to light. It is a topic I felt hadn’t really been open for discussion until just recently. We have lost so many to suicide, and it makes me wonder just what is going on in the Healthcare System to help those who are suffering from mental health issues. We are told to pop a pill and go on our merry way when not everyone is built from the same cloth; just because pills help some people doesn’t mean it helps all. We need more avenues. We need more research. We just need more! Mental Health is no joke, and so many deal with it secretly; I, for one, am a “I’m fine” kind of girl, even though deep down I wish I weren’t alive. So maybe you can understand why I love this episode: It gets people talking. That, for one a good step in the right direction...
