Episode 'Disaster'

[Nakita Akita]

when Troi and O'Brien and Ro and the other guy and the dead woman, are stuck on the bridge after the ship encounters the quantum filament, Troi is the ranking officer after the one woman gets killed.
I watched the episode and thought how it would seem after being placed in such a position, it would dawn on her how ridiculous her outfits are.
She looked like an over developed 12 year old dressed in Jammies, complete with the little bow in her hair.
No wonder Ro kept questioning her authority!
Is it just me or do others feel that This should have been her turning point of becoming an actual officer and dressing the part?
What was the reason for her body bareing outfits?

 

[JesterFace]

Maybe Troi's outfits were more suited for her duties as a councelor outside bridge duties. Apparently she didn't see a reason to be more official on the bridge and Picard didn't demand it.

Let's also remember, maybe that's half Betazoid 24th century fashion, might look silly now for us year 2017 humans, but maybe what she was wearing was the hottest thing around at that time.

 

[Nakita Akita]

Maybe Troi's outfits were more suited for her duties as a councelor outside bridge duties. Apparently she didn't see a reason to be more official on the bridge and Picard didn't demand it.

Let's also remember, maybe that's half Betazoid 24th century fashion, might look silly now for us year 2017 humans, but maybe what she was wearing was the hottest thing around at that time.

Lol, I'm pretty sure a lot of people thought it was the hottest in 1987-1993

 

[Mojochi]

Silly outfits aside, I think it ought to have been a turning point in realizing how underqualified she was to even be on the bridge. If everything happening has to be explained to you like a layman, why exactly is everyone answering to you again? Even if things are going well, how do you not get a worried feeling, if you look around & see 1 lieutenant, 2 ensigns & a non-com? You should realize you're the ranking officer in any situation

I love this episode, but I think what's hilarious about it, is the name. Worf had a dilemma. Riker & Data had issues. Geordi & Bev had a problem. Picard had a crisis, but Troi? That shit was the disaster

 

[Amaris]

I do like that this episode spurred Troi to study up and get her qualifying Bridge officer certification later on. I still think Marina Sirtis was so underused in that show. She was capable of so much more than being the cosmic cheerleader, and explainer of the obvious.

 

[JesterFace]

Lol, I'm pretty sure a lot of people thought it was the hottest in 1987-1993

Some say that fashion goes in cycles... Her style was hot stuff around 1987-1994 and again in the 24th century...

 

[Lance]

I've seen people theorize that the jumpsuits and flowery dresses were maybe supposed to be a kind of 'smart casual' outfit, ie that she tended to dress down because in her role as counsellor it may have been off-putting to junior officers to be psyche-analysed by somebody wearing a uniform and with three pips. Personally, I think it was very confused thinking. She had a uniform in the first episode, but then got put in the jumpsuit thereafter. Better if they'd either kept the uniform, or maybe made her 'civilian staff' rather than Starfleet from the start, as that would've at least made the casual clothing somewhat easier to take. Her rank was never in question. She was a Lieutenant Commander right there at the beginning, rank pips and all.

 

[Mojochi]

The issue for Troi is that her therapist function always seemed to overshadow her other function, which was as the command crew's cultural attaché & social advisor. I can sort of see why, in therapy sessions, she might dress casually to create a more comfortable environment, but the bridge isn't that environment. On the bridge, her primary function is as the ship's cultural/social advisor, & dressing like a civilian undermines that position imho

I pity the character & actress some, because that truly is an interesting & unique role, which to her detriment, was woefully underplayed. After Picard, she was easily the best mediator/negotiator on the whole ship. Add in the fact that her role on the show, as the resident "ear to bend", was almost stripped too, once they added Guinan to the cast, & it nearly gutted the character of any useful impact. They played down the cultural advisor aspect, to the point where she didn't even look like a crew member, & then her only other function as the personal advisor was robbed by a friendly bartender too. What a gyp.

 

[Ar-Pharazon]

I think the first time Troi wore a uniform was when Jellico demanded she did. Then it was the more prevalent outfit after that.

Realistically, she should have worn the uniform while on bridge duty, then the bunny-suit would've been more acceptable while being a crew counselor.

 

[Tosk]

I think the first time Troi wore a uniform was when Jellico demanded she did.

She wore a uniform in Encounter at Farpoint.

 

[at Quark's]

If everything happening has to be explained to you like a layman, why exactly is everyone answering to you again?

Well, truth be told, I've met several "managers" in my time who were at least as ignorant on 'operational details' which actually form the core business of the companies I worked for. They were 'thinking on a higher, strategic level', but just never could explain what that level entailed, exactly, and what insights it yielded, except for some generic phrases I could have found in any management handbook . (This is not to insult any good managers who really knew what they were doing. Also met a lot of those.)

Come to think of it, perhaps they could have used Troi for some social commentary on that.

TROI: No matter the circumstances the Enterprise is in, we have to keep internal operations going, restore her capabilities and maintain a strong strategical presence in this area!
Crewman: How?
TROI: I leave the lower level details in your hands. Now, I'm already late for a conference ....

 

[USS Firefly]

I think the first time Troi wore a uniform was when Jellico demanded she did. Then it was the more prevalent outfit after that.

Another reason why Jelllico was a great captain

 

[Paradise City]

Troi did well all-in-all. She made the tough decisions and she (eventually) asserted herself. I do think you need a certain minimum technical knowledge if you hold the Lt Cmdr rank though and she certainly lacked that.

I suppose the bunny uniform is designed to destress the stressed-out crewpersons that come her way. Maybe some sort kinky Roddenberry holdover thing that Troi gets to sass about in those dresses and bunny pajamas. Dunno. Certainly insofar as optics are concerned, her IQ popped up when Jellico told her to put on some proper clothes.

 

[Ar-Pharazon]

She wore a uniform in Encounter at Farpoint.

Ah yes, the mini-skirt/skant.

 

[Marc]

Troi did well all-in-all. She made the tough decisions and she (eventually) asserted herself. I do think you need a certain minimum technical knowledge if you hold the Lt Cmdr rank though and she certainly lacked that.

only if you're if you're actually in the chain of command.

Crusher was a full commander and later on didn't have any more techincal and command experience until much later on (pretty much after getting stuck in the big chair in Descent).

Remember her comment that normally command would pass to the lowest ensign in engineering before it passed to her.

IOW Troi and Crusher aren't command or engineering staff - they are medical as such their role is to heal people (whether physically or mentally) - not operate starship.

 

[Paradise City]

only if you're if you're actually in the chain of command.

Crusher was a full commander and later on didn't have any more techincal and command experience until much later on (pretty much after getting stuck in the big chair in Descent).

Remember her comment that normally command would pass to the lowest ensign in engineering before it passed to her.

IOW Troi and Crusher aren't command or engineering staff - they are medical as such their role is to heal people (whether physically or mentally) - not operate starship.

Why didn't Ro take command in Disaster then?

 

[Mojochi]

Well, truth be told, I've met several "managers" in my time who were at least as ignorant on 'operational details' which actually form the core business of the companies I worked for. They were 'thinking on a higher, strategic level', but just never could explain what that level entailed, exactly, and what insights it yielded, except for some generic phrases I could have found in any management handbook

Oh, I'm well aware that it occurs, but in institutional command situations, I'd hope not so much, & in this case it's pretty risky

Troi did well all-in-all. She made the tough decisions and she (eventually) asserted herself. I do think you need a certain minimum technical knowledge if you hold the Lt Cmdr rank though and she certainly lacked that.

It's not so much the rank, as the post. No one would think that if this had happened while the head of the botany department just happened to be in engineering, & ended up the highest ranking person on hand, that they should be in charge of deciding how to handle the warp core issue, but this episode really blurs the line of how their rank system works, for me

Why didn't Ro take command in Disaster then?

Because Starfleet has some nondescript "Rank trumps all" way of doing things, where even if it had been Nurse Ogawa on the bridge instead of Troi, she'd have been the ranking officer, as a lieutenant, & she probably knows nothing about anything but NURSING!

Now I could maybe wrap my head around an operational system like, IF each of the crew, holding officer rank, had to have a wide range of cross-departmental training (As we see the junior grade folks demonstrating back before Geordi & Worf head up their own depts.)

But Troi doesn't seem to have any of that, until she finally applies herself to it later on in her career. Just seems like a recipe for disaster to have untrained people facing the potential (However unlikely) of having to command in areas they know nothing

 

[Nakita Akita]

When I was in the Army I worked with Doctors. Army Doctors start off as Captains.
0-3. ( not like Captsin Picard, who would be a colonel in the Army)
But anyway, the medical doctors, would not know say for example artillery tactics.
I'm sure they would want to be in the loop but they would defer, I'm sure to a lower rank in the regard to those tactics.
Other than Troi's jammy outfit with the lil' hair bow, she seemed okay with deferring to the other people but she wanted to maintain her level of rank as to the final decisions.

But if I was in her place, that would have been my last day wearing my cute Jammies with a lil' bow, to work.