5.05 Disaster

Rating: 3

A quantum filament causes major structural damage to the Enterprise. Hull breaches force safety bulkheads to isolate areas of the ship. On the bridge, when the Lieutenant in command is killed, Counselor Troi is the senior officer and has to command, make decisions, and solve heated conflicts with Chief O’Brien and Ro Laren. Riker and Data make for engineering, while Worf attends to the wounded, including Chief O’Brien’s very pregnant wife Keiko. In the cargo bay, Geordi and Crusher deal with a plasma fire and volatile containers. And in the turbolift, Captain Picard is stuck with his most feared nightmare: three scared crying children.

Comments

Multiple locations and quick edits help to add to the tension.

During the birth scene, I was waiting for Worf to draw some comparisons between human and Klingon birth, in order to motivate Keiko further. "Klingon women do NOT scream in pain! When they are ready to give birth, they simply reach in and pull the baby out."

Nits

In the episode The Hunted, Danar steals a pressure suit. Why are there no such suits in Geordi and Crusher’s cargo bay?

Why is there no one in engineering when Riker and Data get there? Surely someone is always stationed there.

Shuttles have their own power source. How come no one attempts to get to a shuttle? It could have been used to beam people out of danger areas and to set up a communications net.

Crusher’s advice that she and Geordi should hold their breath and ‘avoid exhaling’ while the bay is depressurized is dead wrong. The proper procedure to avoid a punctured lung is to exhale all breath from the lungs before depressurization.

Geordi opens the cargo bay doors and depressurizes the bay by pressing buttons on a standard large console. But to repressurize, he or Crusher have to fight unconsciousness and lack of oxygen to crawl across the entire bay to a small panel on the opposite wall. It makes for good drama, but what sadist designed this ship?

Memorable Moments

•    Worf helping Keiko to give birth provides many funny moments, and the delivery scene is handled well. Was that an animatronic baby?

Quotable Quotes

"No one here is going to die. Now STOP CRYING!"
- Picard demonstrating why he is a Starfleet captain and not a child care professional

Keiko: I’m going into labor!
Worf: You cannot! This is not a good time.
Keiko: It’s not open to debate!

Worf: Congratulations! You are fully dilated to 10 centimeters. You may now give birth.
Keiko: That’s what I’ve been doing!

"I believe there are still people alive down there. And I’m going to give them every chance. Assuming they’re alive, they’ll be hoping there’s someone up here who can help them. So we’ll help them."
- Troi, taking control of the situation

Picard: You have the bridge, Number One.
Riker and Marissa (in unison): Aye, Captain.
(It is rumoured that the writers considered having Picard killed in the next scene, just so Marissa could possibly get to the big chair ahead of Riker. :)