Disaster

“Do I Know You? You Look Really Familiar!”  I have heard this exact line from three different people over the past four days. One was a check-out cashier at Old Navy, another was the woman who waxed my eyebrows, one was a waiter at Hell’s Kitchen in Minneapolis, the other was a person I saw at a restaurant. Only one of these people did I end up knowing because she was in the pit orchestra for Pirates of Penzance when I was in college 10 years ago. The others I didn’t know but I’m pretty sure that the guy at Old Navy was hitting on me with his comments about looking familiar but I can’t prove it of course. The only problem with that is that he looked like noted character actor Dennis Farina but only with a slight lisp. For the rest, I guess I just have one of those faces that make people feel they know me or have known me for years.

Elliptical Machine: Calories- 657, Miles- 3.90

Weight Lifting- 25 Minutes original Power 90 Sculpt Routine

Disaster

This episode is essentially a homage to the classic disaster flicks of the 1970’s such as Airport, The Poseidon Adventure and The Towering Inferno. The Enterprise experiences a shockwave and the ship is paralyzed in space with the crew scattered around the ship there are five distinct story arcs-

LaForge & Crusher-

Geordi and Beverly are in a cargo bay at the time of the accident and she is trying to get him to participate in a production of the Pirates of Penzance. The accident causes a minor explosion which ignites a fire which is puts off a great amount of radiation in the cargo bay. The cargo bay is home to some jet pack fuel which will blow up when it becomes unstable, which of course is caused by radiation. Crusher and LaForge decide to depressurize the bay in order to dispose of the fire and the fuel. This works and the two survive depressurization of the cabin.

Riker & Data-

Riker and Data are initially in Ten Forward with Worf and Keiko but after the incident they decide to leave so they can get to main engineering. They plan to determine the problem and restart the ships engines when they get to engineering. Along the way they experience an electric field and Data uses his body to absorb the shock. This knocks out most of his systems but his head unit is still functional so Riker carries Data’s head around the ship to engineering. The two are able to repair the warp core and prevent a meltdown.

Worf and Keiko-

Worf and Keiko are left to take care of the wounded in Ten Forward which has become a makeshift triage center. While they are working Keiko goes into labor and Worf is left to help her and deliver the baby. Worf assures Keiko that he knows what to do because he completed an emergency medical class while in the academy. The delivery goes well and the O’Brien family  has been blessed with a little girl.

Picard and the Children-

Picard has agreed to take the winners of the Elementary School’s science fair on a tour of the ship as their prize. Picard has a history of not being at ease around children so the trip promises to be quite the adventure for him. When the accident occurred Picard and the three kids are stuck in a turbo shaft and Picard now must calm the children to get them all to safety. He gives the children roles on his crew and they work together to climb up the shaft and they get out into the hallways. In the end the kids give him a special plaque and he promises to take them on a more in depth tour in the future.

Troi, Ro, and O’Brien-

O’Brien and Troi and one other random officer are the only ones left alive on the bridge after the accident. Soon after Ensign Ro crawls out of a turbo shaft and informs them that they are completely cut off from the rest of the ship. Since she technically is a Lieutenant Commander, Counselor Troi takes command of the Enterprise. O’Brien and Ro are very helpful with Troi but she is completely out of her league and doesn’t really understand a lot of the technical elements to commanding a starship. They find that there is a massive warp core meltdown that will potentially happen and it seems the only option is to separate the ship and cut their losses. Troi refuses to let this be an option and so she keeps the ship together and the ship is saved by Riker and Data just before the whole thing blows up.

The show does a nice job of forwarding the various characters histories through their actions and problems during this disaster situation. Troi seems to get the most attention and this episode is a catalyst for her becoming a full bridge officer and she eventually dons the regular uniform and becomes a full commander. The episode is a lot of fun and is one of  my favorites, though I’m sure it is not really a critically acclaimed episode form the series.