Riker has a chance to leave the Enterprise. His leadership and his overall competence has brought an offer of command on another ship. There are two issues. One is the fact that the ship he would go to wouldn't have the spirit of adventure this one does. I assume he may be bored. The other factor is that Will's father is on board and there is no love loss on Riker's part. He is resentful and full of almost childhood hatred. Somehow, the father is seen as indifferent to his son and not adequately affected by the death of his wife, Will's mother. This is a tired old plot where the guy can't speak to his son for more than a few seconds without the son taking off. Riker's father is a handsome, impressive man, highly respected in Starfleet. He apparently also has had some romantic connection to Dr. Pulaski. Of course, we know what's coming.
The second plot is that Worf has been acting distant and silent. It turns out that he is in the tenth year of his age of ascension, and he needs to transition into a warrior. This is done by his surviving a painful ritual where he is subjected to incredible pain by a gauntlet of Klingon warriors with pain sticks. This is supposed to be set up by a family, but since Worf has no family, he must rely on his friends, Geordi, Will, and Data. Of course, Worf would never ask for this since it is a question of honor.
It's an OK episode but not really memorable.
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