When he took over Star Trek: The Next Generation, Michael Piller strongly advocated for each episode focusing on an individual crew member. Episodes would drift away from familiar surroundings, and allow most of the regulars to slip out of focus.Īs with most aspects of the series, this was really drawing upon (and expanding) earlier episodes and frameworks. Deep Space Nine was very fond of this sort of storytelling template, especially in its final years.
Indeed, Once More Unto the Breach could be seen as a spiritual companion piece to Soldiers of the Empire and Sons and Daughters, both episodes of Deep Space Nine that dared to widen the show’s perspective beyond the title location and the regular cast to focus on a cast comprised largely of one-shot guest characters. Given that Moore would be the writer most responsible for developing the Klingons from an iconic alien species into a set of three-dimensional characters, it makes sense that the Klingons would gravitate towards a more operatic style that could be summarised as a hybrid of “barbarians, Vikings and motorcycle gangs.” As such, it makes sense that Once More Unto the Breach should pitch itself as a sweeping Shakespearean epic, right down to a great Star Trek title borrowed from Henry V. Many of Moore’s best scripts could be easily adapted for the stage, featuring relatively tight ensembles delivering long dramatic monologues about simmering emotions Family, Doctor Bashir, I Presume, In the Pale Moonlight. However, Moore’s style over the course of the Star Trek franchise has always tended towards a stage quality. Moore is an infinitely adaptable writer, who can do everything from the wacky comedy of In the Cards to the political intrigue of The Defector. Moore has tended to write towards that theatrical style. “Qo’nos really does have the best drama schools.”
William Shatner is perhaps the most obvious example, but there are countless others Patrick Stewart, Avery Brooks, Christopher Plummer, Anthony Rapp. The Star Trek franchise has a long history of hiring actors with theatrical backgrounds, reinforcing this stagy style.
There has long been something very theatrical about the Klingons, from the raw passion associated with the species to the simple fact that most Klingons enunciate so loudly and clearly that they might as well be playing to those in the cheap seats. It is about all of these things in a very overt manner, willing to place its themes front and centre in a way would seem ham-fisted with human characters. Once More Unto the Breach is a story about many things about what it means to grow old, about the casual indifference of a rigid class structure, about resentments that metastasise over a lifetime, about what it means to be a legend, and about whether truth ever transcends mere facts. Once More Unto the Breach is a very Klingon story, in that it is a very broad and operatic narrative that deals with grand themes in a sweeping manner.
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