Star Trek: The Next Generation (TV Series) Disaster (1991) User Reviews

Conflict and teamwork put to great use

[Mr-Fusion · 8/10 · 13 April 2017]

'Disaster' is by no means a yawner; there is a lot going on here. The ship is broken, the crew is separated throughout the decks and systems go haywire left and right - it's just one crisis piled onto another. And even though there are tense moments, there are also little bits of humor here and there.

It works because the characters (and their players) work well together, even outside of routine. Picard's not good with kids, but he's forced to adapt; Worf isn't a doctor, but Keiko's having that baby regardless; and Troi isn't used to a leadership role, but rank forces her to man the bridge (nice use of Ro as her aggressive adviser). Even the subtle image of the Enterprise adrift, with no power is eerie (we never see the model without its lights on; was not ready for that).

Out of catastrophe, a great episode emerges.

8/10

Disagreeing with "Good" re: Troi's rank.

[voicemark-24504 · 9/10 · 8 October 2019]

Among the "Goofs" in the reviews of this episode, one writer claims that Troi would be "out ranked" because she has a "psychologist". However, in the episode, itself, O'Brien has a line of dialogue which speak directly to this issue. He states very clearly - to Ro, in fact - that Counselor Troi "carries the rank of Lieutenant Commander", thereby outranking Ensign Ro.

Picard and the Kids

[Hitchcoc · 8/10 · 31 August 2014]

There are so many things going on in this episode that it must have been an editor's nightmare. Nevertheless, they balance it nicely. The most interesting event involves Picard, who has been forced to give a tour of the ship to three elementary school science fair winners. As they go about their business they get caught in a turbolift with their lives in danger. They must trust the grumpy Picard, who has always had a hard time with children, with their lives and safety. They must exhibit great bravery when he is injured, doing things they never thought themselves capable of. Numerous other events have put the Enterprise in danger, leading to Deanna Troi taking command of the ship. She and ensign Ro are in continuous conflict. Rank seems to take precedence over competence, but she does have that Betazoid thing going and that serves her well. There are even more things going down along the way, and in a master storyteller's way, it all gets sorted out. I will not spill the details, however.

When everything can and does go wrong.

[russem31 · 25 April 2006]

ST:TNG:105 - "Disaster" (Stardate: 45156.1) - this is the 5th episode of the 5th season of Star Trek: The Next Generation.

During a break period onboard the Enterprise, the ship is seriously damaged when it collides with a quantum filament. There are no communications, power failures occur all over the ship, trapping the crew in different sections.

For example, Picard again must come face to face with his discomfort around children (when they are stuck in a turbolift together, with Picard seriously injured). This is also the episode that Molly is born to Miles and Keiko O'Brien with the help of Worf (since Dr. Crusher is stuck in a cargo bay with Geordi). Data (well, his head only) helps Riker get to Engineering. And, Counselor Troi must take command of the ship for the first time - and if she makes the wrong decision, everyone might perish.

A great action episode, highlighting dramatic tension among the various crewmembers.

Trivia note: Dr. Crusher tries to recruit Geordi into singing in front of an audience.

Earthquake in space!!

[gritfrombray-1 · 10/10 · 28 June 2007]

This started off on a warm family oriented note in Ten Forward and the O'Briens discuss possible names for their near due baby. The Captain has the somewhat to him, daunting task of giving three young children on a tour of the ship. Picard clearly being uncomfortable around kids!! Brilliant writing. The ship is rocked by what seems to be a collision with something and is damaged. Geordi and Beverly are trapped in a Cargo Bay and have to use some dangerous tactics to stay alive! Poor Picard is trapped with the three kids in the turbolift and is quite unable to cope at first. He eventually wins their friendship and trust. Riker and Data leave Ten Forward to establish control of the ship in Engineering, encountering an energy field on the way. Riker and Data's head reach Engineering. On the Bridge Troi, now in command as she carries the rank of Lieutenant Commander argues with Ensign Ro as the ship is in danger because of a problem in Engineering and Ro believes they should separate the ship, leaving the Stardrive behind. Troi stands firm and orders power be diverted to Engineering. Picard and company escape up the Turboshaft and reach a door. Riker and Data repair the problem in Engineering, much to Ro's surprise. Worf is left with a fish out of water situation and delivers Keiko's baby in one of the series funniest scenes ever. With ship getting back to normal the three children present Picard with a gift for keeping them safe and he promises to finish their tour, starting with the the Battle Bridge, which he had said he could not do earlier. A real gem of an episode

Almost too many things going on in this episode. But still a good watch

[kfo9494 · 8/10 · 16 March 2014]

In this episode the Enterprise hit some big quantum disturbance and the ship is badly damaged. Power and communications are knocked out and no one knows if there is life support on other levels of the ship. Now the crew, which are marooned on different parts of the ship, have problems they must face in order to save the ship and keep alive.

Counselor Trio is the the highest ranking officer on the bridge and will have to face a dilemma about sacrificing others to save a few. Captain Picard is along in an elevator with three needy kids. Doctor Crusher and Geordi are in a section that is leaking radiation. Riker and Data will try to gain control of the ship by interfacing Data's electronics to the ship's computer. And Worf is in hot water when Keiko goes into labor in a different part of the powerless ship.

There are many things going on in this episode. In fact perhaps too much - as some interesting situations had to be squeezed in order to return to another part of the story. Some situations were entertaining, like having Trio making hard decisions which was against given advise. Some were less interesting as in the Crusher and Geordi problem. But overall this episode held the viewers attention as we were right in the middle of each person's conundrum. Good watch.

Troi - Suddenly in The Big Chair

[XweAponX · 10/10 · 10 September 2013]

And she has to depend on two people: Chief O'Brien and Ensign Ro to give her two diverse points of view.

Picard is on the Bridge awarding three children who were the "Science Fair" winners with a complementary tour of the ship- But not The Battle Bridge and Torpedo Bays.

These kids: Marissa, Jay Gordon and Patterson - Whose names are almost the same as the real names of the child actors - Are the highlight of this episode.

The ship hits a quantum filament while:

1) Picard is in the Turbolift with the Children.

2) Crusher and La Forge are in a Cargo Bay practicing "Gilbert and Sullivan"

3) Riker, Worf, Data and Keiko O'Brien are in Ten-Forward and Keiko is ready to have a baby any second

4) Troi is on the Bridge which is under the command of Lt. Monroe (Jana Marie Hupp) and Miles O'Brien is there doing a Transporter Simulation.

These vignettes play out in each of these areas: And Lt Monroe is killed, leaving Troi in charge of Ensign Ro who has crept onto the Bridge from the Turboshaft, and Miles O'Brien.

This is akin to a NYC 3-day power outage - There is NO power anywhere on the ship, and the ship is in confinement protocol: All Bulkheads and TurboLifts are shut and each section of the ship stands alone.

It is not bad enough that Picard, who is uneasy with kids, is trapped in a Turbolift with Three kids who are frightened... But his ankle is broken and so is the Turbolift.

Riker and Data try to get down to Engineering via a maze of Jeffery's Tubes leaving Worf to play Midwife to Keiko!

And Crusher and La Forge are sharing the Cargo Bay with... A Plasma Fire!

This is all that needs to be said, really. As someone else has said, this is Murphy's Law in all of it's glory: Everything that can go wrong, does.

Troi has a devil and an angel in her head: Miles who is sworn to obey anyone who is in command, and Ro who is an Ensign, being TRAINED for Command, and therefore the one who will present Troi with all of the hard choices. The Hard Choices a person in Command has to make in such a situation. This same scenario is given to Troi in Season 7, Episode 16 "Thine Own Self" - And ironically, she does not remember what The First Duty is, as it is revealed to her here like a slap in the face.

Picard has to deal with these kids - And despite his fear of Children, he gets a grip on it, giving each of them a rank and some Pips off of his collar. This is the only way he knows how to do it, and it works. That, and singing "Frere Jacques" while dismantling a control console and using the Fibre Optic Cable as a safety line as they crawl out of the shaft and up.

This is the first and only time the inside of a Turboshaft is shown, and a Turbolift from the outside. It reminds me of the Air Shafts in the Floating City in "Star Wars" The Empire Strikes Back."

Meanwhile, Riker and Data come to a Dead End. Data has to throw his head into it, but finds a way to get to Engineering.

And Crusher and La Forge have a make wind of the situation, killing two birds with one Cargo Hatch.

But as this plays out and Worf helps Keiko give birth to Molly O'Brien, Troi has to decide: Does she need to separate the Saucer Section, or hope that someone in Engineering gets her "Message in a Bottle?"

I loved these kids, and Marissa at least continued her career beyond childhood. One of them (Jay Gordon) Trained to become an Aviator and Patterson, well he vanished just like Brian Bonsall. I remember at least one contest on the back of a cereal box where the winners would have a role on ST:TNG - And I always wonder, when seeing Children in TNG, if these kids won the role that way?

Needless to say after the performance these kids gave as actors and characters, they earned a tour of The Battle Bridge by Picard.

One accident causes many separate dramas

[Tweekums · 8/10 · 22 June 2015]

When the Enterprise hits a 'quantum filament' it suffers damage that causes the ship to go into lockdown; all bulkheads are sealed and the turbo-lifts stop working. Adding to this all communications are down. This means various crew members are trapped in isolated in different parts of the ship and must deal with different problems. Capt. Picard is trapped in a damaged turbo-lift with three frightened young children; he must make them his 'crew' to help them help themselves to safety. On the bridge Counsellor Troi finds herself in charge as she, Ensign Ro and Chief O'Brien must decide what to do when they learn that the warp core confinement field is failing; do the hang around trying to figure a way to get a message to those who can fix it or do they separate the saucer section and save the hundreds of people in that, the most populated, part of the ship. Riker and Data are crawling through ducts to get to engineering, Worf is helping Keiko O'Brien give birth in Ten-Forward, which has been turned into a makeshift sickbay. Finally Geordi and Dr Crusher are in a cargo bay where a plasma fire threatens to cause an explosion! All very dramatic considering it was meant to be a rest day!

At first I thought this might be an embarrassing episode; Geordi practicing singing and the captain taking children on a tour of the ship wasn't a promising start… thankfully once disaster struck things got interesting. Each of the groups must deal with a different problem; the variety of problems are interesting and in some cases fairly dramatic. The children trapped with Picard were believable scared rather than overly precocious meaning that they were sympathetic rather than annoying. Data's solution to one problem was both inventive and entertaining… so much to that I won't post details here! Marina Sirtis does a solid job as Trio; nicely capturing her character's discomfort as she is forced into command and is forced to take a decision that could cost many lives or even lose the ship. With all the drama going on some light relief is provided by Worf acting as a midwife. Overall an entertaining episode that shows several characters acted outside their comfort zones.

Decent.

[planktonrules · 7/10 · 22 November 2014]

The Enterprise hits something called a 'quantum filament' and the ship is messed up...real bad! Several folks are killed and the ship's emergency bulkheads kick in and cut off the various parts of the ship from each other--and they cannot communicate. So, various familiar crew members are now scrambling to gain control of the ship and save it. Picard is unexpectedly is caught in a turbolift with some children, so he makes them his 'crew'. Troi is on the bridge and ends up having to take control. Warf is stuck with a pregnant Keiko...who's about ready to give birth! Eventually, of course, they're able to straighten things out and the day is saved.

This is a cute but inconsequential episode. Cute because it was nice seeing the Captain with kids, as he's always so uncomfortable around them--but he does manage to bond with them and overcame his awkwardness. Worf's also quite cute as a very uncomfortable midwife!

You may now give birth

[snoozejonc · 9/10 · 5 August 2021]

Enterprise is badly damaged with crew members trapped in various sections of the ship.

This is a very enjoyable episode with some nice irony and great character moments.

'Disaster' does what it says on the tin and pays homage to the disaster movie genre. Any fans of movies like 'The Poseidon Adventure' and 'Towering Inferno' should appreciate its story. The suspense does not work as well as it does in those movies because we know everything will work out for the show's characters and the production values in Star Trek are much lower.

Where it succeeds for me is in two areas. Firstly, I get a real sense of the size of the Enterprise. It depicts that getting from the bridge to engineering or Ten Forward is a huge undertaking without the help of technology. At the same time it portrays how much technology is relied upon and how insignificant people can feel when out of their depth in certain situations.

Secondly, the character situations are very entertaining. My favourite scenes involve Captain Picard in the turbolift, Counsellor Troi on the bridge, and most of all, for its comic value, Lieutenant Worf in Ten Forward. The irony of putting most characters in situations where they are highly uncomfortable works wonderfully.

Visually it is excellent, particularly in the scenes involving Riker and Data.

All cast members are excellent especially Patrick Stewart, Michael Dorn, Michelle Forbes and Marina Sirtis.

wreaking havoc

[bkoganbing · 7/10 · 1 June 2020]

This TNG story is the program's salute to the disaster films of the 70s. The Enterprise collides with a'Quantum filament' whatever that is and the Enterprise kist shusdown with lots of casualties.

The regulars are scattered all over the ship. Captain Picard is trapped in a turbo lift with 3 small kids. Riker has to sever data's head to get control of engineering. Dr. Crusher and Geordi have to put out a radiation fire in a cargo bay.

While Chief O'Brien is on the bridge with Ensign Ro and Counselor Troi huis wife is having their baby with Lt.Worf as midwife. No a duty for a Klingon warrior.

The Enterprise makes out better than the Poseidon.

The Enterprise Adventure

[loujg-241-81969 · 10/10 · 30 December 2020]

As a fan of the original Poseidon Adventure, this episode was thoroughly enjoyable. It had all the hallmarks of that movie. Survival tactics, disagreements, comedic moments and great interaction. This could have easily been a two-part episode to flesh out how they recovered and regained control of the ship.

Worf --- Midwife of the century.

[thevacinstaller · 7/10 · 1 April 2021]

I dig the premise ---- Disaster strikes the enterprise and the crew has to work to regain control. I felt like they could have steered into that idea a bit further but I did enjoy what was on the screen.

It was fun watching Troi being put into the pressure cooker and being responsible for the entire crew after Lt. Hottie McHotterson was killed by an exploding console. If I was a nitpicker, I would ponder the question of how Troi does not have any starfleet 'right stuff' training despite being a member of starfleet and on the bridge of the enterprise?

I did not really enjoy Picard hanging out with the kids. That's on me though ---- Kids are not great actors and they insane emotional basket cases. It does seem like Picard has softened from his S1 grumpiness.

Ensign Ro has a few fierce moments and that's always appreciated.

Worf being angry at Keiko's pregnancy for not following the starfleets guidelines completely cracked me up.

Doctor Crusher is ultimately the MVP of the episode for crawling her way to the panel and potentially saving the enterprise?

It's alright but not enough compelling moments to classify it as genuinely great.

Complete Cheesefest

[ShogaNinja · 5/10 · 21 October 2008]

I love TNG but I think this episode is appropriately titled. The crew strikes some phenomenon in space that never gets explained. Then when everything goes out this episode turns into a compilation of decades of bad television plots. First Picard gets the "Stuck in an elevator" plot. Then "Let's deliver a baby" plot with Keiko and Worf. I don't even know what the heck you call the "Deanna having control of the bridge" scenes.. This episode is a complete and utter cheesefest.

Captain Picard HATES children. Hates them. He does not have the perfect answer for them, yet in this episode he handles them like a pro granddad. It's weird and contradictory.

Every so often in long running shows like these we get some filler, and here is a perfect example. No real story development. Nothing was explained. They didn't show how they got the ship back under control really, they just showed that they had averted disaster. The joke at the end about #1 made me want to vomit. I can sum this episode up in one sentence.

Huge miscellaneous problem creates material for a compilation episode of trite old TV plots and disappears unexplained just as fast as it came. fascinating.

Apparently are starting to get a little too comfortable by this point in the series.

A Klingon Delivers a Human Baby makes it all worthwhile

[davepetri · 8/10 · 3 March 2022]

Captain Picard leads a group of children, Data's head saves the ship from exploding, Counselor Troi experiences command but Worf delivering the O'Brien baby steals the show.

Decent episode

[Filmreader · 8/10 · 2 April 2022]

Decent episode.

But I have a question. In cargo bay they don't have small bottles with breathing air for emergency situations ? (to use them in this episode Dr.. Crusher and Geordi )

How did they do it?

[SlimJim39 · 4 March 2019]

OK, now how did those three young children get Pickard out of the turbo lift?

That's using your head.

[amusinghandle · 8/10 · 7 March 2024]

Would you believe that a TNG episode that has three (!) child actors in it could actually be pretty darn good? Yes.

Normally, it is true disaster when you attempt to shoehorn in 5 sub plots within an episode of TNG but it works for this episode. It's been a long time since Troi got some good material to work with and it was fun seeing her put on the hot seat. I just assumed everyone including the barber had to go through starfleet school to get a spot on the enterprise but --- guess that's not the case.

Worf steals the show with his deadpan delivery and despite my unwavering affection for Ro, I will not be accepting command level input from her aboard my ship for a while.

Picard is true captain material ---- he drafts small children into a cohesive problem solving unit.

This is a good time and a nice change of pace from the political/social/sci fi delicious standard fare we normally get.

Probably the greatest episode of all series ever made!

[paulbehragam · 10/10 · 8 May 2016]

I shagging love this episode! It's super exciting and awesome! The best part about it is how so many things are going on at the same time and what situation each of my favourite characters are in! There's Captain Picard who's stuck in a Turbolift with three kids, who Picard is not known for being very well with kids and I love elevators so this make this really awesome! There's also the bridge with Ensign Ro, Counsellor Troi, and Chief O'Brien; there's the cargo bay with Commander La Forge and Dr. Crusher, whom are not really associated with each other, mostly Crusher and Picard, but still, something different! Finally, there's in 10 forward, Keiko O'Brien who's on labour and just about to give birth to her daughter. Who's there to help her? Not her husband, not a medical officer, but Worf, the chief security officer and is also a Klingon, not a human! That's what makes this episode so awesome! That the characters are in situations where they're not really meant to be there!

This episode is still insanely exciting, but the end scene of where after Picard and his child "crew" leaving the elevator shaft to the nearest open floor, when Marissa, Picard's "first officer", gave him a hug, that hit me in the feels.

This title is the greatest episode of the series and off all ever made! This is most certainly Paul Stompbox revered!

REVIEW 2022

[iamirwar · 7/10 · 12 September 2022]

The crew of the Enterprise have completed their mission to Mudor V and their next assignment is several days away, so they have a few days off. What could go wrong? Babies, Opera and Children??? Please, NO!

It's noticeable that the captain hasn't taken his new jacket off since he got it.

Lieutenant Commander Troi is in the hot-seat... and the bridge has a whole group of new faces in attendance, but they are trapped since a partial quantum filament threw the ship about-abit.

Many of the officers are trapped in ten-forward. Geordi and the Doctor are trapped in a storage area, and the Captain is stuck in a lift with three of the children.

Our five year mission looks like its coming to an end and I still don't like Ensign Ro.

It's a pity that the part of Laren Ro wasn't better developed. The character was far too cold and heartless as witnessed in this episode. Even if a person had suffered greatly at the hands of the Cardassian's, I believe they would still retain a sense of compassion for their own people.

I believe her character was the prototype from which the character of Major Kira was developed. At this stage the character of Ro is far too confrontational, and it doesn't really suit the Star Trek world. The Ro character was created because the producers of the show were so impressed with Michelle Forbes when she played the part of Dara in the Half A Life episode in season four. They wrote the part of Lauren Ro especially for her... but despite this, she only appeared in six more episodes of TNG and it would be two years after she left the cast that she would find her next continuous part, that of Dr. Julianna Cox in Homicide: Life On The Street. Was it her decision not to take a part in DS9, or was it felt that the producers could re-develop the character by creating the new character that became Major Kia.

This isn't a bad episode, but it does remind me of several disaster movies from the 1970s and I really want to be seeing aliens.

I have to believe that Red Dwarf 07; Episode 04, Duct Soup was partly inspired by this episode.

This Episodes Clue: Brother John.

An Earthquake on a Starship

[Samuel-Shovel · 9/10 · 15 March 2020]

In "Disaster" the Enterprise is incapacitated by a quantum filament. On emergency power with all the sections cut off from one another, Troi is in charge of the bridge while the rest of the senior staff have their own fires to put out.

I loved (almost) everything about this one. There are all these different storylines interweaving into each other and it all works together so well. It's well shot, the atmosphere is straight up intense, it moves at a good click. There's not much to dislike here.

My only complaint is the played out "woman in labor in a dangerous situation" trope. I rolled my eyes when I watched it unfolding. The only silver lining is the comedic element of watching Worf deliver a baby. It almost counterbalances the awful idea to have this subplot in the first place... but not quite.

Still this is probably one of the most underrated episodes of TNG if we're basing it off of IMDb aggregate episode rating. Even if it's not a major, non-essential episode, it's definitely worth a viewing.

Missing scene

[midge56 · 7/10 · 11 March 2016]

I'm a lifelong Star Trek fan. This particular episode bugs me because there is a missing scene on the DVD which I remember seeing on TV. Either on the original airing or the reruns. I'm not sure which.

But I clearly remember seeing Riker running down the Enterprise corridors with Data's head under his arm. This scene is missing on the DVD version. One minute we see Riker preparing to remove Data's head after using Data's body to insulate an arcing electrical charge blocking their path in the Jefferies tube. The next time we see them, Riker already has Data's head setting on an engineering panel. The scene in between is completely missing on the DVD and no one seems to have noticed.

So this Star Trek episode is another case of disappearing scenes. I cannot understand why they cut the scene of Riker running with Data's head. It was less than 10 seconds long so no reason to cut it for time.

My other issue with this episode was Ro's constant ranting that everyone was dead and they should dump the ship and leave without them. Yet, the sensors showed there were sporadic life signs after the solar filament impacts and Troi did say she could sense survivors of whom some were injured... yet they allowed Ro to continue to rant about everyone dead and dumping the ship. Quite frankly, I doubt they could have separated with such extensive damages and power loss... not to mention losing magnetic constriction on the warp core.

Then there was Ro's adding power back to the engineering panel on the bridge. As an engineer myself, all that would do would be light up the buttons. It requires signals from the engineering source in order to read any data on the panel or to perform any functions using the buttons. If those panels were dark, that means they were severed from the signal source connection and sticking power on the panel would not restore the signals or functionality.

Troi was completely pathetic in this episode. The children had more sense on this episode than she did in her complete stupor of what needed to be done on the bridge. She sensed people alive on the ship but was still allowing Ro to bully her around & claim everyone was dead... fortunately, finally finding the cajones to stand up to Ro at the last minute. This episode just confirmed the fact that Troi has no business being a regular presence on the bridge instead of performing her job as counselor to a ship with over 1000 people. Troi acted like no one could command the ship without her prior approval of their decisions. Rarely ever doing her REAL job of counseling patients except for a few episodes. But she certainly has time to stick her nose into everyone's personal business and pry without any restraint, then gives them her unwanted two cents. And if they fail to comply with her opinion she wants to relieve them of their job. It is like having a Soviet protocol officer breathing down your neck. Crusher is almost as bad with her opinions.

I like the episode when the nannites were eating the computer core and the scientist studying the 198 year flashover between dual stars told Troi to "Turn off her beam into his sole". It was about time someone threw some cold water on her.

Then there was the episode where she lost her powers due to a swarm of space plankton headed toward a cosmic string and she became a snappy, self consumed brat. Riker put her in her place by saying she was basically an aristocrat control freak. When you rewatch the series, keep an eye on some of the things she says. Not to mention that awful, faded purple jumpsuit. It was about time when the temporary Captain's replacement ordered her to wear a regulation uniform.

It is clear that Berman and Braga have gone out of their way to destroy Roddenberry's Star Trek.

While it was a great idea to focus on the crew interacting personal stories which was what made Star Trek great instead of mindless battles, it was a dumb idea to hire writers who never watched Star Trek. Writers had no business writing for Star Trek if they had never watched it. Braga had no business writing anything. Braga was the one who came up with that dumb Voyager episode where Warp 10 turned them into giant salamanders despite dozens of prior episodes on every Star Trek series where they exceeded warp 10. So this just goes to show he never bothered to watch the series despite writing for over a decade by then.

It is Berman and Braga (& JJ Adams) who have destroyed Star Trek with their latest twisted movie versions. Not to mention that awful year long arc of Xindi episodes. It is clear they hate Roddenberry and are going out of their way to destroy everything he created. They waited until Majel died to completely destroy it and show their contempt. After hearing Roddenberry's youngest son doing an interview, it was clear with his Xgen attitude that we could not count on him to protect his father's beloved series either.

Berman & Braga's first new version film turned the Enterprise phasers into a Star Wars sound effects toy show which included a tattooed Romulan murderous killer whose opening line on the view screen after mass murdering victims is a singsong "helloooo". The destruction of planet Vulcan showed us all just how much they respect Star Trek and the fans. They also forgot it did not have a moon when they destroyed Vulcan.

Many of these issues are related to the interviews during the season this episode was written and the beginning of the decline they caused. So I included a few of these issues rather than comment on every episode.

Not great, not terrible

[baryxxx · 8/10 · 4 December 2020]

First thing I noticed is how everything failed on a spaceship, but gravity was still present.

Was dissapointed.

Then I watched Worf assisting a childbirth. This whole episode is worth watching just for the sentence: "You may now give birth."

"Let me get this straight. You want me to take off your head?"

[classicsoncall · 7/10 · 14 February 2024]

So, let's see. The character of Keiko (Rosalind Chao) was introduced in the fourth season episode 'Data's Day' which aired on January 5, 1991. As this story came out on October 19th of the same year, I would say that she and Chief O'Brien (Colm Meaney) didn't waste any time starting a family, if you go strictly by regular Earth time. I don't know if Starlog time would have worked out the same, but I thought that was interesting.

This story had a lot going on once the Enterprise encountered a quantum filament that pretty much locked down everything aboard ship. Captain Picard (Patrick Stewart) was off hosting a science fair winners tour group and got stuck in a turbolift with three youngsters, while Commander Riker (Jonathan Frakes) and Commander Data (Brent Spiner) were trapped in another part of the ship. With Keiko suddenly experiencing labor contractions, Lieutenant Worf (Michael Dorn) was forced to step in to deliver a baby!, while on the bridge, Chief O'Brien (Colm Meaney), Counselor Troi (Marina Sirtis) and Ensign Ro (Michelle Forbes) got down to trying to save the ship from disaster. Since Troi was the senior officer, she had to assume charge and to her credit, managed to step up against the aggressive tactics of Ensign Ro regarding next actions to take. She learned well by observing Captain Picard for five seasons. Meanwhile, Dr. Crusher (Gates McFadden) and Commander LaForge (LeVar Burton) had to deal with a radiation leak in a cargo bay.

Fortunately, in what was a very tense situation, no one lost their head, except, well..., you'll have to watch to find out. Probably the most amazing thing about this episode was Captain Picard's miraculous healing powers. Although he suffered a broken ankle when he fell down in the turbolift, by the end of the day he was good as new!

A Senior Trekker writes......................

[celineduchain · 5/10 · 6 February 2022]

The Fifth Season of TNG contains some remarkably strong episodes while continuing to push the boundaries of what could be achieved within an episodic television format. It is notable for the tragic loss of its creator, Gene Roddenberry, who died on 24th October 1991 at the age of 70. His influence upon the positive depiction of humanity and diversity in Science Fiction endures to this day. Senior Trekker continues to score all episodes with a 5.

Star Trek's homage to the Disaster Movie genre is a highly enjoyable romp which gives everyone in the main cast plenty to do. No one who loves The Next Generation can ever forget Keiko shouting at Worf as she gives birth, Riker unscrewing Data's head or the Captain stuck in the lift with three terrified children.

My own personal favourite scenes, though, are those with Deanna Troi, Miles O'Brien and Ro Laren on the bridge. It was extremely satisfying to see Marina Sirtis's character given some operational responsibility at last and I very much like the way in which the more experienced non-commissioned officer gives her such steadying support while she is being challenged by an upstart junior. Colm Meaney proves yet again that he can work wonders with the most insignificant pieces of dialogue.

Gabrielle Beaumont, a regular Star Trek director, worked very well with the child actors, eliciting natural and memorable performances from each of them. It probably helped that, far from being like the curmudgeonly Captain Picard in real life, Patrick Stewart is known to be charming and generous with all of his co-stars.

I tried this episode out on my eleven year old grandson recently. The pace of the storytelling must be excellent and the situational jokes stand up pretty well because...........he actually put aside his mobile phone for forty minutes.