Disaster - Peak TNG
- Thread starter Richard S. Ta
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Season 5 TNG... "Darmok" and "The Inner Light" aren't just the best of that season, they are among the best of the franchise. With the former, few episodes truly capture the full spirit of what STAR TREK is all about and represents in the way that "Darmok" does. For the latter, one of the most emotionally moving episodes the franchise ever did... very few others can match it, and "THE VISITOR" is the only one that unquestionably beats it.
Finding a number three is difficult because that opinion will change almost weekly. But for me, it comes down to "Silicon Avatar", "Hero Worship", "Power Play", "Ethics", "The Outcast", "The First Duty", and "I Borg". All for different reasons. (The Data ones are obvious because... well, if you know my posting history, you know why.
)
Finding a number three is difficult because that opinion will change almost weekly. But for me, it comes down to "Silicon Avatar", "Hero Worship", "Power Play", "Ethics", "The Outcast", "The First Duty", and "I Borg". All for different reasons. (The Data ones are obvious because... well, if you know my posting history, you know why.
)
Never a fan of this one. 45 minutes of me watching Picard watch a movie, with various cut-ins of Riker acting like an idiot.
My wife is not a fan, either. She loves Sir Patrick Stewart's performance, but she feels it was a truly hideous thing to be subjected to. I get the argument, and I somewhat agree... but damn, I always end up shedding several single man tears when he clutches that flute and starts playing.
I always wondered why the people who sent the probe, set it to deactivate after one use, and didn't send any technical information. Once Picard the Robot dies, pretty much their entire culture dies with him.
Considering how old that probe was, and who knows what happened to it during all those years floating in space, it may have only had enough power left to do it once.
It just always felt very odd to me, and left the episode on a very unsatisfying note.
I love "Disaster"! I enjoy it because everyone acts like actual, real people (pretty much), and I find myself far more interested in these interactions and the individual small stakes problems (well, the Enterprise turning into a "horrendous space kablooie" is threatened, but we all knew it wouldn't happen as TNG was in the TV schedule the next week) than the episodes with overwrought action or mawkish sentimentality. Troi is my favourite TNG character, so seeing her thrust into a position of such responsibility was fantastic (and I love that it's kind of followed up on in season 7's "Thine Own Self".
In fact, I have just realised that "Disaster" is rather like a precursor to my favourite Trek series, LDS (only with "Upper Deckers").
In fact, I have just realised that "Disaster" is rather like a precursor to my favourite Trek series, LDS (only with "Upper Deckers").
So… do you like it or not?…
Pretty much loathe it. Season 5 was getting more contrived and lazy in its storytelling. The Treknobabble really began to take off this season, long before VOY became infamous for it. So many better Troi-centric stories exist.
That said, season 5 does have a few great stories, but "Disaster" felt like they were just rushing the script out the door. (I know it's a hectic process, but the "inhale" scene being bad enough, but with Geordi not seeing the bulkhead goes too far beyond established character traits to believe. The ideas are there but the execution was way too jarring when it didn't need to be. )
Season 5 did have great episodes like Ensign Ro, Powerplay (even with the music),and The Next Phase (yep - this one too has flaws, but none took me out of the story and the suspension of disbelief didn't get broken whereas in "Disaster" it had...)
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I'd wanted to mention that one in my first post, as that episode too had a crew outside their comfy zone, but got caught up more in everything else (and had already strayed too far anyway, ha!).
But "Arsenal" didn't go overboard with treknobabble, kept the subplots pinpoint sharp, where they needed to be, and it was far easier to buy into the situation shown. Solid plotting and theme. Some called the end of the episode "cheesy" as everyone nods in that corny cutesy way, but said episode has a flair of authenticity as well as the action/adventure that's easier to roll with when compared to a knock-off of "Dynasty" with people bickering as draaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaama! But kudos to "Disaster" as Troi, who had to tell Geordi where the crew gets its confidence from in "Arsenal", forgot her own advice - which can happen in real life, too. That said, I'd still rather be under Geordi's command. Then again, it'd be corny if Troi acted the same. Dunno. Either way, it gets back to the same problem a lot of season 5 feels like it has:
Season 5 tried, perhaps often, to redo old episodes but with a different twist (e.g. "Masterpiece Society" = "Pen Pals But With a Cynical Twist When Saving The Planet", "Darmok" = bits of "The Ensigns of Command" (complete with shades of "Arena", and the language barrier stuff wasn't as compelling as a language solely of metaphors just simply can't work, never mind "The Ensigns of Command" didn't need 43 minutes (or even 4.3 minutes) to explain the differences in communication and did it better as well), "A Matter of Time" = a warped take on "Time Squared but Without Robin Williams to Bolster It", etc) and "Disaster" is no exception: Only this time it's Troi who's put in the hot seat. Except Geordi's character study felt more authentic, and is a great example of "after school special" for all the budding young leaders out there in the audience.
Yep, I now know my weekend rewatches. "Arsenal", probably the other episodes on that season 1 disc, and at least some portion of "Disaster".
Great episode. The Troi/Ro stuff is fantastic.
It’s been lovely reading varied viewpoints on this.
I don’t want to start a thread for every one that I watch, but if one stands out like this I will.
I do agree with this. Crusher said: The wall is hot! so Geordi says ‘where?’.
Hello, VISOR?
I wonder if they originally had another character in mind to pair with Crusher? It’s certainly an odd omission.
I also agree with what someone stated upthread. The Crusher/Geordi plot is the weakest thread in the story overall.
I don’t want to start a thread for every one that I watch, but if one stands out like this I will.
I do agree with this. Crusher said: The wall is hot! so Geordi says ‘where?’.
Hello, VISOR?
I wonder if they originally had another character in mind to pair with Crusher? It’s certainly an odd omission.
I also agree with what someone stated upthread. The Crusher/Geordi plot is the weakest thread in the story overall.
I mean, I can rattle off some theories as to why Geordi's not noticing the wall until Bev does, like he's currently occupied, or due to the increased radiation they're being exposed to, yada yada yada, but they're really just excuses.
I rewatched this last night...
...I don't loathe it and found a few set pieces to be good...
True, Worf as makeshift OGBYN had some terrific comic relief. "Now is not the time, grr!" Keiko's retort was perfect...
A shame about Monroe being killed off because plot and stuff...
Not having them trapped in a planet but ran into a spatial anomaly was a good shakeup and impetus for the problems.
How did Picard jump up and over the turbolift with his broken ankle? His arms aren't Rambo's and with only one usable foot he's not going to be able to jump as high as before... (Yet another plot moment that makes zero sense. That, or I went to go pee and forgot to hit the pause button...)
That said, Picard having to deal with children WAS nicely handled...
...and I laughed when they showed him talking before the disaster took place as the camera was putting some emphasis on the deck indicator panel, which was running slower than a turtle doing a 100-yard dash in January while stuck in a vat of molasses. The intent was to visually convey the passage of time from Picard's mental POV and I loved it. The girl's mutiny bit was genuinely charming as well, defying Picard's wanting to stay behind in rather a thoughtful scene. So this episode isn't as bad as I'd remembered it...
But I still can't buy into the Data/Riker stuff, at all.
And Geordi/Crusher -- You're right, maybe Geordi was likely a last-second character swap, or they forgot Geordi was an actual character on the show until the last minute, said "Whoops!", and brought him in as best they could before final script submission. Otherwise, it's beyond sleepscripting to have put Geordi in that position. On the plus side, for all the talk of character traits being forgotten in modern shows and so on, it happened in TNG too. Plus, without modern computer software to track character scenes but only a typewriter or basic word processor circa 1990... creating, editing and whipping out 26 episodes per season is no small task. Final Draft, Studiovity Screenwriting, et al, should make things a lot easier... except those didn't exist back then...
The story really is about about "Ro vs Troi" with O'Brien as referee -- that's where it shines, and that's where my real liking of any set piece comes in. Ro is both hot to trot on getting the ship fixed by being unconventional, which is awesome as otherwise everything would have gone boom boom and all their body parts would be whizzing through the cosmos forevermore and the story would still have 30 minutes to go or whatever, but later she is antsy to separate the saucer for the sake of it when Troi was sufficiently certain that people are alive down there.
Also, if neutrinos can be detected by the ship and tricorders and everything else, and then considering how those fritters have less mass than any filament or string or shoelace or whatever else is hovering in space and somehow can't be detected because of their mass... is the >100-meter filament really weighing less than a electronvolt (net!)? Granted, cosmology isn't my thing... just glad there aren't many floating in the cosmos like hairs getting caught in the drain or else the notion of space travel becomes truly depressing... so glad that the damper controls didn't fail when everything else had or else we'd be watching gooey pancakes dripping off the walls for 43 minutes before the end credits rolled. I know, "eww"... or for the sheepish it's "ewe"...
So anyway, the music score in this one is better than in "Power Play", which is a shame as the latter deserved good music...
But the ending was a bit pat and tidy. The idea of holding off to the last second is sage, and ideally O'Brien would have mentioned number of minutes or seconds based on the existing rate of decline of the field strength, or how rapidly it would plummet if another major system shut down.
Honestly, Ro's the unsung hero of this piece, or started to be. Which the story didn't want since it's always about the clique being right no matter how contrived (Troi in this episode, Crusher in "Ethics", etc.), Then again, I liked how Ro could be right on a big thing but misjudge another. That's keeping it real and multilayered, and Ro's been one of my favorite characters anyhow. Still, how she knew almost as much as O'Brien with Engineering, how come she's just piloting the ship? She could be co-chief with Geordi. Considering how they rock as a double-act in "The Next Phase", I think the show lost a possible direction.
But given the choice, I'd still want to rewatch "Arsenal" again. It all feels less contrived, oddly.
...I don't loathe it and found a few set pieces to be good...
True, Worf as makeshift OGBYN had some terrific comic relief. "Now is not the time, grr!" Keiko's retort was perfect...
A shame about Monroe being killed off because plot and stuff...
Not having them trapped in a planet but ran into a spatial anomaly was a good shakeup and impetus for the problems.
How did Picard jump up and over the turbolift with his broken ankle? His arms aren't Rambo's and with only one usable foot he's not going to be able to jump as high as before... (Yet another plot moment that makes zero sense. That, or I went to go pee and forgot to hit the pause button...)
That said, Picard having to deal with children WAS nicely handled...
...and I laughed when they showed him talking before the disaster took place as the camera was putting some emphasis on the deck indicator panel, which was running slower than a turtle doing a 100-yard dash in January while stuck in a vat of molasses. The intent was to visually convey the passage of time from Picard's mental POV and I loved it. The girl's mutiny bit was genuinely charming as well, defying Picard's wanting to stay behind in rather a thoughtful scene. So this episode isn't as bad as I'd remembered it...
But I still can't buy into the Data/Riker stuff, at all.
And Geordi/Crusher -- You're right, maybe Geordi was likely a last-second character swap, or they forgot Geordi was an actual character on the show until the last minute, said "Whoops!", and brought him in as best they could before final script submission. Otherwise, it's beyond sleepscripting to have put Geordi in that position. On the plus side, for all the talk of character traits being forgotten in modern shows and so on, it happened in TNG too. Plus, without modern computer software to track character scenes but only a typewriter or basic word processor circa 1990... creating, editing and whipping out 26 episodes per season is no small task. Final Draft, Studiovity Screenwriting, et al, should make things a lot easier... except those didn't exist back then...
The story really is about about "Ro vs Troi" with O'Brien as referee -- that's where it shines, and that's where my real liking of any set piece comes in. Ro is both hot to trot on getting the ship fixed by being unconventional, which is awesome as otherwise everything would have gone boom boom and all their body parts would be whizzing through the cosmos forevermore and the story would still have 30 minutes to go or whatever, but later she is antsy to separate the saucer for the sake of it when Troi was sufficiently certain that people are alive down there.
Also, if neutrinos can be detected by the ship and tricorders and everything else, and then considering how those fritters have less mass than any filament or string or shoelace or whatever else is hovering in space and somehow can't be detected because of their mass... is the >100-meter filament really weighing less than a electronvolt (net!)? Granted, cosmology isn't my thing... just glad there aren't many floating in the cosmos like hairs getting caught in the drain or else the notion of space travel becomes truly depressing... so glad that the damper controls didn't fail when everything else had or else we'd be watching gooey pancakes dripping off the walls for 43 minutes before the end credits rolled. I know, "eww"... or for the sheepish it's "ewe"...
So anyway, the music score in this one is better than in "Power Play", which is a shame as the latter deserved good music...
But the ending was a bit pat and tidy. The idea of holding off to the last second is sage, and ideally O'Brien would have mentioned number of minutes or seconds based on the existing rate of decline of the field strength, or how rapidly it would plummet if another major system shut down.
Honestly, Ro's the unsung hero of this piece, or started to be. Which the story didn't want since it's always about the clique being right no matter how contrived (Troi in this episode, Crusher in "Ethics", etc.), Then again, I liked how Ro could be right on a big thing but misjudge another. That's keeping it real and multilayered, and Ro's been one of my favorite characters anyhow. Still, how she knew almost as much as O'Brien with Engineering, how come she's just piloting the ship? She could be co-chief with Geordi. Considering how they rock as a double-act in "The Next Phase", I think the show lost a possible direction.
But given the choice, I'd still want to rewatch "Arsenal" again. It all feels less contrived, oddly.
I loved 'Disaster' Troi being like "uh oh I am next in command what do I do?" and then evolving to telling Ro where to stick it for questioning her orders. Then there was Worf delivering Keiko's baby. I don't know if I would call it peak, though.
Which makes me wonder. Would Worf "you may now give birth" and Seven of Nine "fun will now commence" have made for a good couple?
T
Thats funny but it also sounds like what Data may say. Re: Seven of 9.
Pretty much. Some of the ideas are IMHO quite good, but the limitations imposed in the handling (e.g. the probe seeking out just one person to share its story with and then it promptly deactivates, handing out a flute with how much dormant bacterial and other microscopic critters just waiting to thrive again) makes zero sense. Even fantasy has a set of rules that have to make sense, which leads us to the best point: Why doesn't the probe mentally steamroller the entire crew with its telepathic message of galactic brownie baking and all that, if the goal of this species was to announce their presence and condensed history to the universe? It's not like Picard hasn't told things to Starfleet before and wasn't listened to before or since or anything. Now a sequel, where this probe turned out to have been a trap, or to really develop and hone what was said and take it to the next level... there's a season 6 or 7 opportunity truly missed. Oh well, at least he got to play his flute on the love interest of a week and she didn't disbelieve the story of the flute... "Lessons" was good in its own ways, but so much more could have been done with the probe's makers - or make it be a Romulan ruse or pretty much anything...
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