Heart of Glory

"Heart of Glory" is the twentieth episode of the first season of the American science fiction television series Star Trek: The Next Generation, first broadcast March 21, 1988. The story was created by Herbert Wright and D. C. Fontana and was made into a script in two days by executive producer Maurice Hurley. The episode was directed by Rob Bowman.

Set in the 24th century, the series follows the adventures of the Starfleet crew of the Federation starship Enterprise-D. In this episode, the crew rescue three Klingons from a damaged freighter in the neutral zone. Once aboard they befriend Lt. Worf (Michael Dorn) and attempt to hijack the Enterprise so they can live as true Klingons, forcing Worf to choose between them or Starfleet.

The episode explained the backstory to the character of Lt. Worf and Michael Dorn was pleased with the outcome. Rob Bowman thought that the episode worked well. He included an overhead shot on the engineering set which had not been done before on the show and tweaked the ending. Shots of the Klingon starship were reused from Star Trek: The Motion Picture, while the freighter model would be reused as various freighters throughout the various Star Trek television series. Guest stars included Vaughn Armstrong as Korris in his first role in the franchise and only appearance in The Next Generation. He appeared in a further eleven roles in the franchise, including the part of Admiral Maxwell Forrest in Star Trek: Enterprise. The episode was watched by 10.7 million viewers during the initial broadcast, and reviews by critics were mixed.