Friday August 10 |

Title: Disaster
Season: 5
Episode: 5

Hold on this is a long one.

In Disaster the Enterprise collides with a quantum filament that disrupts all systems aboard the ship, including communications, setting up the conditions for a warp core breach. The story follows 5 different plots that help to develop several characters.

The bridge is isolated from the rest of the ship leaving Counselor Troi in charge.

Due to her lack of technical knowledge she seeks guidance from Ro and O’Brien both of whom place immense pressure on her to make difficult decisions. A weak antimatter-containment system threaten to destroy the entire ship if it is not dealt with, but the crew on the bridge are unable to do anything about it. Ro insists that everyone in the drive section of the ship is probably dead, and tells Troi to separate and save the saucer. O’Brien wants to do anything possible to save anyone who might be alive in the drive section. Troi eventually asserts herself and gives who ever might be alive in the drive section a chance to survive. They route power to a console in engineering, cross their fingers, and hope for the best.

Capitan Picard and 3 children become trapped in a damaged turbo lift

Picard also deals with his discomfort in relating with children. As a child, Picard was consumed by work—both in his family's vineyard and winery, and with his own studies to meet his dream of becoming a starship captain. His own childhood lacked a sense of fun, immaturity, and emotional response, and since most children have these qualities, he has difficulty dealing with them. At first, Picard tries to be authoritative but this immediately causes the children to become more upset, eventually he makes a game of the situation, he “promotes” each af the children giving each a rank. He makes the oldest child, Marissa, he number one (first officer). Eventually Picard and the children make it out of the turbo lift safely. At the end of the episode it is evident that Picard is more comfortable with children.

Lieutenant Commander Jordi Laforge and Doctor Crusher are trapped in a cargo bay with the threat of an explosive thruster compound.

La Forge and Crush become trapped inside a cargo bay while discussing La Forge’s possible participation in a ship production of The Pirates of Penzance. After the collision, they find that a plasma manifold has ruptured and has begun filling the cargo bay with radiation threatening to destabilize the thruster compound and cause a fatal explosion. Unable to access tools to put out the first, La Forge and Crusher decide the best course of action is to depressurize the cargo bay, evacuating the thruster compound while putting out the plasma fire at the same time.

Data and Riker, isolated from the bridge, assume no one is in control of the ship and head to engineering.

Riker and Data suffer a number of difficulties trying to reach engineering. Data's body must be used as an insulator to block an electric current; Riker detaches his still-functional head and carries it the rest of the way. Once they reach engineering, they find only one operable console and discover that it is being fed power from the bridge (thanks to Troi's decision to route power there). They realize the antimatter-containment system is weak, and Data manages to re-establish it just in time.

Worf finds himself having to help Keiko O'Brien deliver a baby in Ten Forward

When Keiko goes into labor, Worf is forced to deliver her child, though he is uncomfortable in the role of midwife and has only basic medical training. He helps her deliver a healthy baby girl whom the O'Briens name Molly.