It's a Disaster!

[Sophie74656]

Just rewatched the episode Disaster and it's definately among my favorites. Every character has something going on, and what makes it interesting is that many of thenm are stuck in a situation that is completely out of their norm. Crusher working on an engineering issue, worf is birthing babies, picard is stuck with kids. Troi is in command on the bridge. None of them are comfortable in these roles and that's what makes it great. For me the most intersting bits are about Picard and Deanna. Picard is stuck with kids, something he hates, and he has to rely on them. I loved the part where he gives them his pips.

Troi is also great. While she has a rank of lt commander she appears to have little knowledge of protocols. But she's smart enough to acknowledge this and accept suggestions from someone who knows what to do.

Definately in my top 10

 

[Shikarnov]

"You may now give birth."

 

[Paradise City]

Michelle Forbes was good in this as well.

 

[Sophie74656]

The only thing I really don't get is why they were so convinced the baby was a boy. We have technology today that can pretty accurately tell gender of a baby before it's born. So how can so many years in the future they be wrong about that?

 

[Finn]

Troi was still a Lt. Commander at the time. She wasn't trained to take command.

 

[Mutai Sho-Rin]

The only thing I really don't get is why they were so convinced the baby was a boy. We have technology today that can pretty accurately tell gender of a baby before it's born. So how can so many years in the future they be wrong about that?

My wife an I intentionally chose not to know our babies' genders wanting to save it for the moment of birth. It was simply a personal choice.

 

[Sophie74656]

My wife an I intentionally chose not to know our babies' genders wanting to save it for the moment of birth. It was simply a personal choice.

I get that. But what I meant was that it came off that they chose to find out and were told incorrect

 

[Sophie74656]

Troi was still a Lt. Commander at the time. She wasn't trained to take command.

But she didn't seem to know basic things that obrien and ro knew

 

[Finn]

Because those things were part of their jobs, not Troi's. Rank does not equate knowledge and training.

 

[DonIago]

I did find Troi's ignorance of the implications of antimatter containment failure a bit hard to believe (easier if you assume it's also an explanation for anyone turning in for the first time), but otherwise I think this episode is a fair bit of fun, and while it's not explicit to the episode, I like that some of what came up here carried through into later episodes.

 

[SpyOne]

On balance, I really like this episode, but while watching it decades ago I realized it contains a big logical flaw: Geordi is the one person in the crew who would never accidentally touch something hot, because the fact that it is hot will be obvious to him long before he touches it. He can see that it's hot.

(And to those who say that maybe he tuned his vision to de-emphasize infrared and emphasize something else, I'll remind you that a) he was aware something bad had happened, and b) his earliest childhood memory is of being trapped in a fire. That sounds to me like someone who would routinely check infrared before touching something in any crisis.)

But as I said, aside from the point bugging me I really like the episode.
Worf gets to be funny, Troi gets a taste of command, Picard gets to master a new challenge , and Ro makes strides in the journey she sadly never got to complete to becoming a likable character.

 

[at Quark's]

The only thing I really don't get is why they were so convinced the baby was a boy. We have technology today that can pretty accurately tell gender of a baby before it's born. So how can so many years in the future they be wrong about that?

Don't forget that the Star Trek universe seems a whole lot more bizarre than our mundane Universe. Wormholes, switches with parallel universe counterparts, .... anything could be going on inside the womb unobserved!

 

[Sophie74656]

I did find Troi's ignorance of the implications of antimatter containment failure a bit hard to believe (easier if you assume it's also an explanation for anyone turning in for the first time), but otherwise I think this episode is a fair bit of fun, and while it's not explicit to the episode, I like that some of what came up here carried through into later episodes.

This is why she decides to take the command test

 

[Mojochi]

I can buy Troi seeming to be ignorant of science & engineering stuff, but it's that she seemed clueless about emergency protocol too. Everyone on the ship ought to be clued in to that kind of stuff, just like everyone in the hospital where I work needs to know some stuff about emergency situations too. We have annual compliance shit we have to refresh, even the housekeepers & cafeteria workers... where to go... what to do... how to help, etc...

You are on a ship in outer space, after all. There ought to be some knowledge that is demanded of everyone. You CAN work a computer console, right? Honestly, it wouldn't have taken much to have her entirely alone up there. Ro get's stuck in her turbo lift , & O'Brien get's hurt or dead? Then what would she do, just sit there... on the bridge... doing nothing? Oh wait... I guess there was 1 goldshirt. Maybe he could've done everything

It's not entirely unbelievable that she'd either not know, or have forgotten standard emergency routines, but it was pretty disappointing though. lol. It doesn't ruin the episode though

Every character has something going on, and what makes it interesting is that many of thenm are stuck in a situation that is completely out of their norm. Crusher working on an engineering issue, worf is birthing babies, picard is stuck with kids. Troi is in command on the bridge. None of them are comfortable in these roles and that's what makes it great. For me the most intersting bits are about Picard and Deanna. Picard is stuck with kids, something he hates, and he has to rely on them. I loved the part where he gives them his pips.

You forgot about the unlikely occurrence of poor Riker having to make due being Data's android technician. lol "I'm trying. You need a bigger head" That's exactly how I'd see that situation going

This episode has always been a favorite of mine too. Very well done ensemble piece. Geordi & Bev was probably the weakest plot point, especially since it didn't seem like an engineering problem, so much as a practical dilemma, that I bet they felt stupid about, after having lugged all those containers across the room, only to flush them out the door anyhow

 

[Paradise City]

She was excessively dense in that episode alright. She should've been written like a graduate might behave - just lacking confidence n' stuff but knowing the basics. She basically knew nothing. Anyhow, it was a great episode & Sirtis did well notwithstanding the characterisation she got..

 

[Sophie74656]

With Geordi...when Beverly says the wall was warm, shouldn't his visor have picked that up?

 

[Sophie74656]

I can buy Troi seeming to be ignorant of science & engineering stuff, but it's that she seemed clueless about emergency protocol too. Everyone on the ship ought to be clued in to that kind of stuff, just like everyone in the hospital where I work needs to know some stuff about emergency situations too. We have annual compliance shit we have to refresh, even the housekeepers & cafeteria workers... where to go... what to do... how to help, etc...

You are on a ship in outer space, after all. There ought to be some knowledge that is demanded of everyone. You CAN work a computer console, right? Honestly, it wouldn't have taken much to have her entirely alone up there. Ro get's stuck in her turbo lift , & O'Brien get's hurt or dead? Then what would she do, just sit there... on the bridge... doing nothing? Oh wait... I guess there was 1 goldshirt. Maybe he could've done everything

It's not entirely unbelievable that she'd either not know, or have forgotten standard emergency routines, but it was pretty disappointing though. lol. It doesn't ruin the episode though
You forgot about the unlikely occurrence of poor Riker having to make due being Data's android technician. lol "I'm trying. You need a bigger head" That's exactly how I'd see that situation going

This episode has always been a favorite of mine too. Very well done ensemble piece. Geordi & Bev was probably the weakest plot point, especially since it didn't seem like an engineering problem, so much as a practical dilemma, that I bet they felt stupid about, after having lugged all those containers across the room, only to flush them out the door anyhow

I agree that she should have a basic knowledge of emergency procedures being that she is a bridge officer and a member of the senior staff.

 

[DonIago]

Was she at the briefing in "Contagion" which basically amounted to Antimatter Containment Failure = Ship Goes Boom?

Maybe she was psychically traumatized by the loss of the other ship, or otherwise just not paying attention.

 

[Forbin]

The episode was okay, but I hated that the "problem" was solved during the last commercial. As they went into commercial, everything was still gone to hell and we wondered how they were going to save themselves. When they came out of commercial, it was "Captain's log, everything is fine now," do the tag and roll credits.

That happened a lot on TNG, and it's just poor writing.

 

[Herbert]

I did find Troi's ignorance of the implications of antimatter containment failure a bit hard to believe (easier if you assume it's also an explanation for anyone turning in for the first time), but otherwise I think this episode is a fair bit of fun, and while it's not explicit to the episode, I like that some of what came up here carried through into later episodes.

Out of universe - I think her "ignorance" was played up for the episode. I think it was a deliberate choice for the writer. Makes for a more dramatic and interesting story that way. Admittedly, that's only my speculation but it makes sense to me.

In Universe - I think it's completely plausible that Troi doesn't know the technical stuff. Her rank is mostly ceremonial (until she later passes the command test). Let's face it, she's really only on the bridge because of her empathic abilities.