Jammer's Review
Star Trek: The Next Generation
"Disaster"
Air date: 10/21/1991
Teleplay by Ronald D. Moore
Story by Ron Jarvis & Philip A. Scorza
Directed by Gabrielle Beaumont
Review by Jamahl Epsicokhan
The random spatial anomaly of this week hits the Enterprise, leading to shaking cameras that go on for longer than usual and cause all the lights to shut off. Uh-oh. The ship is dead in space, and the characters are trapped in various parts of the ship with no communications, each facing their own individual crises. The title says it all: It's a disaster movie on the Enterprise.
Here's an episode that plays like a collection of half-baked C-stories rolled into a single show whose tepid premise was used to justify the summation of its parts. The result is the ultimate procedural hodgepodge. (1) In what must've been his worst nightmare, Picard is trapped in a turbolift with three children (whose early whimpering proves especially unconvincing). (2) La Forge and Crusher are trapped in a cargo bay with a radiation leak that could cause some containers with volatile chemicals to explode. (3) Worf is trapped in Ten-Forward with a pregnant Keiko O'Brien, who is going to give birth imminently, making Worf the reluctant midwife. (4) Riker and Data must crawl through Jeffries tubes to get to engineering, leading to Data's head ultimately being detached. And, perhaps most frighteningly, (5) Counselor Troi is in command on the bridge.
Many of these pieces employ the usual disaster cliches (Keiko giving birth is especially well-trodden), and there's a notable lack of tension and conviction throughout. But perhaps most problematic here is the depressing realization that Troi is so utterly useless. Putting her in command proves painfully contrived, as the story demonstrates how she's the only bridge officer who doesn't speak Trekkian technobabble — begging the question (rank be damned) of why she would take command in the first place. Both O'Brien and Ro have to walk her through what's happening in the early going. (O'Brien is the very definition of competence, and Ro, while abrasive, is at least someone you know will have your back. Troi, on the other hand — sigh.) Troi gets more decisive as things proceed, but the early hemming and hawing is so overplayed that her transformation into The Decider isn't believable.
I'm honestly not even sure how the ship ultimately gets repaired. The episode basically resolves each of the vignettes and then stops, with everything suddenly returned to normal. TNG has done far worse (an episode where Picard says, "I shall appoint you my executive officer in charge of radishes," can't be all bad), but move along, nothing to see here.
Previous episode: Silicon Avatar
Next episode: The Game
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50 comments on this review
Yes Troi being in charge is a conceit but I personally didn't mind it.
One word: Starbase
BTW, if you want to convince yourself Troi is useless, fine. But that doesn't change the fact that she's hot & became more interesting as the show went on.
I agree with Derek. No matter how many times I watch it, I always laugh out loud to Worf's "You may now give birth" line.
Man I love TNG.
But Troi is just awful. Next to the Ferengi in DS9 and most of the Voyager crew, she's easily the worst Trek character.
And let's not forget, no matter how cliched Keiko's giving birth was, it led to a great character moment years later.
But did anyone else want to smack that Jay Gordon kid for insisting that his name is not "Jay?"
As for Worf, he probably has his two greatest lines in the entire series here. "YOU CANNOT"!!
"Congratulations, you are fully dilated. You may now give birth"
This episode was one big wink.
I'm starting to think that Jammer hates TNG, too. In his review of "Muse,' he referred to "Darmok" as "a TNG classic," yet he gives the episode a mere 3 stars. How it's not as 4 star worthy as, say, "The Visitor," is something that baffles me.
(Rolling my eyes.)
Secondly, for other people on the post supposing he hates TNG, I think that's fairly ridiculous. Why would anyone spend the hours watching all of the episodes and then spending more hours reviewing them if they hate the show to begin with.
Regarding "Darmok" I don't think it's difficult to acknowledge an episode as a "classic" even if you don't care for it personally. I can say WEST SIDE STORY is a classic film, even though I'm not a fan of it myself.
Also, MadBaggins said something along the lines of Jammer rating average TNG lower than average VOY even though TNG is the better show. I agree that TNG is the better series, but I don't think you can necessarily accept Jammer's rating scale across different series. For example, he gave "Timeless" 4 stars, his highest rating. I do think "Timeless" is a better than average VOY episode, but compared with other 4 star episodes from different Trek shows I don't VOY holds up. VOY featured more average or middling episodes than TNG so if VOY happened to feature a better than average episode for themselves I get the higher rating, but I don't match every three star TNG episode with every three star VOY episode and think they perfectly match.
I don't know if any of the previous paragraph made any sense, but I think you just have to take the rating scale for each series and apply it specifically for each series.
But in the end it's all a matter of opinion. I'm sure there are tons of episodes people disagree on for whatever reason. For example, Jammer enjoyed Joel Grey's guest performance in VOY: "Resistance." I didn't. But that doesn't mean I hate VOY.
Feel free to disagree, but I just think it's silly to believe someone would invest this much time and work into a review site (regardless of the show) if he or she actually hated it.
And the notion that I somehow "hate" "Darmok" because I "only" gave it three stars is just silly. I actually LIKE "Darmok." But I don't like it as much as a lot of other TNG episodes. Ergo, three stars instead of four.
As for the claim that I "hate" TNG (or even Voyager, for that matter) is ridiculous. If I hated any of these shows I wouldn't have reviewed them. I would've stopped like I did at the end of the second season of Andromeda.
JAY KAY.
For example, if he used Voyager or perhaps even other Trek grading scale in his BSG reviews, I guess around 75% of all episodes would have to get 4 stars ;)
Either that, or he'd have to invent a fifth star.
It's hard to rate an episode like this I think. It's pretty stupid, it isn't about anything, it takes itself WAY to seriously and yet is offensively casual at the same time. Yet...the moments which work are so hilarious it's hard not to recommend an episode like this.
In college, I took one Shakespeare course on comedies/histories and one on tragedies. While it was necessary to mention and even dissect the opposing dramatic means in both classes, it was extremely helpful on the whole to keep them separate. If such a division of episode types exists for TNG, I think that would help in justifying ratings like 3 stars here.
I dig the very 24th century goodwill going on here, but I'm not too happy to find it confirmed that Jammer's reviews are on the whole a reflection of what he likes and doesn't like. I will grant DS9 episodes (which as I series I pretty much hate) their 4-star dues when they're good (which occasionally they are) even though I can't bring myself to like them. It makes the whole effort of reviewing seem like an exercise in realising one and Jammer have the same tastes.
It's not like I pick certain themes and say, "moral plays on TNG are all boring" and "everything dark and gritty on DS9 is great."
"And the notion that I somehow "hate" "Darmok" because I "only" gave it three stars is just silly. I actually LIKE "Darmok." But I don't like it as much as a lot of other TNG episodes. Ergo, three stars instead of four."
I took this to mean that your evaluation of an episode's quality is subject to the whims of your own personal reactions rather than attempted objectivity. I don't think it's unreasonable to assume that personal taste can account for half a star or at most a star and a half, but....let me put it this way; how do you think people would react if you gave "City on the Edge" less than 4 stars?
Oh c'mon Elliott, you really don't mean that, right?
It seems to me that the first criterion a reviewer has to take into account is exactly that -- personal reaction. We are all human beings, we like what we like. I for one prefer it that way; otherwise you can end up with those bogus critiques where it's obvious that the reviewer doesn't really like/dislike a certain show/movie/whatever but feels obligated to adjust his opinion to be in line with an intangible "objective consensus".
In fact, that's a pretty common fan behaviour where you can see them desparately trying to convince themselves of a greater truth.
I also think that Darmok is among the very best Star Trek has ever produced. It reminds me of LeGuins masterpiece Left Hand of Darkness in its timeless beauty and humanism. But hey, if Jammer thinks otherwise, it's silly trying to show him the error of his ways.
BTW, your DS9 hatred is really spinning out of control. No need to be on some crusade against it.
I meant every word I said.
That reviewers feel obligated to adjust their ratings to accomodate something objective is not "bogus" ; of course a reviewer cannot divorce himself from his humanity (no one is a Data), but the attempt at objectivity is a responsibility of informed opining. Personal rections are worth mentioning absolutely and can factor marginally into one's evaluation, but should never eclipse the analysis.
I am not so much on a crusade against DS9 as one in favour of VOY--I think DS9 was the inferior incarnation and I'm definitely in the minority, but DS9 advocates seem to be much more vocal on this site so I feel the need to speak a little more loudly in compensation.
Troi may have the highest rank (LtCmdr) of everyone left on the bridge, but she is a godamn psychologist, for crying out loud, she is not a part of the chain of command.
In any real world organization, Ro would be in charge, seeing as how O'Brien isn't an officer.
May seem like a nitpick, but I just couldn't buy the rest of the episode when the whole plot hinges on such a nonsense.
Oh god, now I remembered Beverly Crusher commanding the Enteprise in Descent :shudder:
There were women in Ten Forward when Keiko was giving birth (including one wiping her forehead) so why did Worf need to be the one to deliver the baby? Guess writers thought the contrast would provide more humor.
And it's too bad Riker didn't think of detaching Data's head at the hearing that decided he was a human being etc. It would really have been difficult to convince anyone that Data was nothing more than a computer in the shape of a man!
@Angel
Being considered attractive =\= useful. :)
At any rate, this score is a bit lower than I'd personally provide. It's a two-and-a-half star over here: Troi's incompetence is grating and the one-on-top-of-the-other cliche syndrome, irksome.
Oddly enough, while I usually don't care for stories involving children in my fiction I thought Picard's end of the deal was surprisingly OK, no doubt in large part because Patrick Stewart could read the phone book and get an Emmy nomination out of it.
Speaking of things that very rarely do it for me, the baby delivery was something I was dreading going back into "Disaster" as an adult. I hate the vast majority of these scenes. And yet the dialogue between Worf and Keiko proved exceptional. Possibly the highlight of the hour. Never, ever thought I'd say that.
I heard once (and I say this with the caveat that I don’t see it on Memory Alpha, so I don’t know if I heard this as a rumour that was in fact false) that this episode was actually a ‘test’ episode to see if O’Brien and Ro would work strongly commanding the ship, as Ro was originally intended to join O’Brien on DS9 instead of Kira. This would explain why those two take ‘charge’ on the bridge for a time. This episode probably had some contribution to the later concept of the Bridge Officer Test that Troi would herself take (which make you wonder – had Lt. JG LaForge already taken this test in the first season when he took command at least one time? And if so, The later episode would suggest the test is only open to Lt. Cmdrs, as the position promotes Troi to Commander.
Back to the episode...did noone else notice the ridiculousness of Georgi LaForge having to ask "where" when Beverly says the wall is hot considering that contraption on his face?
I'm not exactly sure how a review is supposed to be objective either. Other than the technical aspects of the production, or perhaps the originality (or lack of) in the storyline, isn't a review basically describing what you liked or didn't like about something? Was it fun? Was it entertaining? Was it boring and predictable? Does it accomplish it's own goals?
Those are highly subjective. It's all based on opinion. Which I totally get scaling between shows, if you think a series is generally subpar, good episodes seem great in comparison.
Apart from the fun and excitement, this episode ranks among the most illogical ones on TNG, e.g.:
- there is no one in the whole of engineering or an engineer closer to it than Riker and Data?
- no power in engineering or the possibility of getting it without the bridge rerouteing it? Isn't it supposed to be the other way around?
- ensign Black Guy on the bridge trying to get the first turbolift out of there!
- discussion in the dark conference room with only 3 people while ensign Black Guy had to stay on the bridge and every minute counted
- Keiko not getting a more private spot to give birth, like pull a table into the corridor or hack another door while you're there...
- indeed, Geordie not detecting the plasma fire with his visor
- cargobay outer doors, forcefield and environmental control working fine but the door to the hallway is stuck like every other door on the ship.
Still, it was a fun episode
There's no way this is on the same level as The Inner Light, but neither is it so mediocre (such as "Hosts" - at least it is for me) that I would recommend a pass. I would give it 3 stars using Jammer's rating system.
As a side note, of all the subplots, I found the one on the bridge the most interesting and entertaining. You got (at least by what the show potrayed) an incompetent commander, an officer who doesn't follow the rules if she doesn't feel like it, including safety procedures, and you got the straight man O'Brien. As far as I was concerned, they could have made the whole show the interplay between those 3, and I would have been fine with it.
Some episodes I couldn't wait for them to end so I could get them out of my mind (that one with Llaxwanna Troi and Alexander in a mud bath comes to mind), but this wasn't one of those, I was entertained throughout.
I mean... I really like "Disaster". It's the epitome of a so-bad-it's-kinda-good disaster movie, like "The Day After Tomorrow". It contains more than its fair share of stupidity and arbitrary plot points, e.g. Keiko's precipitous and (in)conveniently timed labour, a woefully ignorant and unqualified Troi in command, and the fact that the button to re-pressurize the cargo bay is bizarrely NOT on the same panel that opens the door and *de-pressurizes* it!
But it is fun, much like episodes like "The Royale", "Qpid", "The Ensigns of Command" ("My grandfather is buried on that mountain!!"), "Schisms", and "Liasons". (okay, the last isn't really fun apart from the "Love me!!" line)
I really, really don't understand why people get hung up on star ratings. What does it has to do with *your* enjoyment of the show? Maybe Jammer should add a "for entertainment purposes only" disclaimer, hah!
Worf boredly checking his uniform while they talk baby names.
The immediate analysis that it's a 'quantum filament'.
Ensign Black Guy checks the turbo lift before he checks his injured colleague right next to him. Then again she is a red shirt so he must have known she was dead.
'Stop crying!!!'
Ro's face on learning Troi outranks her.
'Heat? Where?'
'It's like a cosmic string?' 'No.'
Half a million amps?
'You bore that well'. Ultimate compliment from Worf.
'Can't you tell?'
Bay repressurisation takes 0.5 seconds.
'That is not the correct port sir.'
The magic wink.
Gotta love it.
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