‘Star Trek: The Next Generation’ Retro Recap – ‘Disaster’

Written by John Edward Betancourt

Normally when trouble strikes aboard a starship in the Star Trek Universe, there are safety nets to keep the crew safe. For the intelligent engineers of the Federation, installed all kinds of redundancy systems in the event of a crisis… that way the intrepid crews of these ships could easily take control of a bad situation and keep everyone on board safe and secure. Which has allowed for all kinds of horrible and stressful situations to come to a satisfying conclusion, the kind that have left us in awe of what science and engineering could potentially accomplish in the far future and hey, it also makes for some fine drama. But it does leave one to wonder, as to what would happen if by chance, those redundancy systems managed to fail.

Because if that was the case, any semblance of safety would completely disappear, and it could lead to some scary moments for certain and it just so happens that the next episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation decided to explore what that worst-case scenario might look like. For ‘Disaster’ sees the U.S.S. Enterprise strike what is known as a quantum filament and well… that brings about all kinds of trouble. Because not only does it knock main power offline, but it also wreaks havoc upon every system aboard the ship. To the point where communications are offline and turbolifts aren’t working and to top it all off, there’s severe structural damage to the ship and no one has a clue who is alive or dead or the status of the warp core and well, that immediately made for a fascinating and engrossing tale.

Because this was indeed the worst-case scenario for the crew of the 1701-d, since they only had their instincts to rely upon. But rather than drag the audience through a supremely dark tale where the crew struggled, the story instead opted to have them shine as this crisis played out. Because each and every one of them went above and beyond in their situation, and that led to some fascinating vignettes. One of which focused on survival and safety, since Captain Picard was forced to work with three young children to escape an ailing turbolift with a broken ankle holding him back, and it was quite lovely to see him inspire those children to be brave since he’s not exactly a whiz with the kids. Plus, we were also privy to seeing Worf playing nurse in Ten Forward, which brought about some fine levity when Keiko had her baby and Crusher and LaForge brought forth a lovely story of ingenuity and bravery when they were forced to put out a fire using the void of space.

But while all of that did a fine job of reminding us how brave this crew is and how smart they are, their stories paled in comparison to the challenge that Lieutenant Commander Deanna Troi faced in this tale. Because she was the only ranking officer on the bridge when this mess came to fruition and that put her in an incredibly difficult position. For eventually, Chief O’Brien and Ensign Ro, who joined her on the bridge… came to discover the warp core was indeed in peril, meaning that the Counselor turned Captain either had to go with the call to abandon the star drive section and leave lives behind to save others… or enact a difficult gambit to try and offer help to those left in Engineering. And while she chose the latter, and of course saved the ship in doing so… the impact of this sequence is not lost upon the audience. For it serves to remind us that sitting in the big chair is a difficult task for certain, one that means life and death when disaster strikes, and it was quite amazing to finally see Deanna be placed in a role of leadership on this series and make those tough calls in a dynamic and thoughtful manner.

In the end however, this was simply nothing more than an intense ride through and through. One that really did put the crew in grave danger since just about every safeguard imaginable was whisked away by the filament, and this is a story that deserves some serious credit for its originality and push for character growth. Because we’ve never seen a ship in such dire straits in the history of the franchise before and it was quite fascinating to see the crew rise to the occasion in the midst of a crisis this big and truly, some of the characters made leaps and bounds in their arcs. For Deanna Troi transformed from simple ship’s counselor to a seasoned and bold leader and of course, Captain Picard finally figured out how to deal with kids and this really is a great episode for certain. Because it caught all of us by surprise with its depth and quality tension and it really does serve as a fine reminder that space travel is no walk in the park and someday, it will indeed require the finest of officers to take part in it, so that every crew that heads out into the void… returns home. Until next time.

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