Disaster

DVD, TNG S5 (Disaster)

Not expecting much from this I was very impressed indeed, perhaps more than I had a right to be, but so much is contained in the story, so many great ideas and great moments, and best of all, seeing all these characters put in life-threatening or uncomfortable situations outside of their expertise, and watching them triumph and come through: Troi having to make what may be life and death command decisions; Riker having to deal with Data's head; Worf assisting Keiko give birth to little Molly; Picard stuck in a turbolift with some children; Dr. Crusher stuck in a cargo bay with Geordi - sorry, I meant with a plasma fire emitting radiation… All of these positions would be fine for other people, if you moved the complement around, but Picard, for example, has always had an aversion to children, but is shown to have moved on from that by his diplomatic and sensitive handling of his three subordinates.

It began after his terrible Borg experience when he returned home to Earth and met his nephew. I think he let go of a lot of baggage on that visit. Wesley Crusher has probably been the single most positive youthful impression on the Captain. Over the years he got to know the young man and even became proud of him in a Fatherly way, and his loosening up from the stiff and starchy officer of early seasons has really come through in the last couple of seasons. The other most important storyline was Deanna's - we learn she has the rank of Lieutenant Commander, though she clearly never expected to find herself in a command position as she doesn't know all the procedures. But she listens to the ideas of Ensign Ro and the experience of Chief O'Brien and makes her choices without looking back. I love the way she sits in the Captain's chair after standing up to Ro, who is almost on the verge of insubordination, in line with her character, and who sees Troi's lack of confidence and wants to push harder for what she thinks is the best course of action. It's also really big of her to admit she was wrong once Troi's way is proved right.

O'Brien too, holds up admirably, working away despite the thought that his wife and unborn child may have perished. In reality Keiko is Worf's problem, and the gruff Klingon, the least likely person you'd have expected to perform midwife duties, is actually very helpful, doing the right things, but also getting Keiko riled enough that she finishes the job! And his line "You are now fully dilated to ten centimetres. You may now give birth" is an all-time classic! Riker and Data's story isn't quite as compelling, but the image I had of Data's headless body stumbling sleepwalker-like towards the charged current as Riker carries his head under his arm, was priceless. I only wish it had happened! That we don't get to see the Commander detach Data's head and carry it along is one of the few missing pieces that might have elevated the episode even higher, but it's still such fun to see the android's head sitting on a worktop, plugged into the ship's computer (and Riker connects something wrongly giving Data cause for polite complaint!).

Crusher and La Forge's case is quite interesting, as is the pairing (with a humorous opening where we don't quite know what the Doc's trying to convince him to do, and his weak performance of Gilbert and Sullivan!), but the ending was a little rushed and I wanted to see them holding on for dear life, like in last season's 'Remember Me' in which Crusher was sucked off the ground. Still, it's good to see them work together and win the day. The whole episode was a tour de force for the crew, cast and recurring characters, and could only have been bettered with the addition of Guinan (she must have been trapped somewhere else on the ship), the naming of Molly, Riker carrying Data's head, and seeing how Picard got up out of the turbolift (with a long shot of them climbing, their singing drifting distantly down). In short, there was very little to fault, and it was the complete opposite of its title.

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