History Recap / StarTrekTheNextGenerationS5E5Disaster

* CrazyEnoughToWork: Geordi's idea to decompress the cargo bay, both putting out the plasma fire and dumping the explosive stuff. Not only does it work, it also averts ExplosiveDecompression. ([[SpaceDoesNotWorkThatWay Crusher does, however, screw up by telling Geordi not to exhale;]] [[RealityIsUnrealistic in reality, holding your breath in a vacuum could rupture your lungs.]])

* {{Foreshadowing}}: The events here play a large role in Troi taking the promotion exam in [[Recap/StarTrekTheNextGenerationS7E15ThineOwnSelf "Thine Own Self"]].

* YouAreInCommandNow: Troi is forced into command on the bridge after Lt. Monroe is killed. Despite her rank as Lieutenant Commander, she has no idea what she's doing. Neither does she seem to understand the basics of how the ship works. The events of this episode are the main reason she takes the bridge officer's exam in [[Recap/StarTrekTheNextGenerationS7E15ThineOwnSelf "Thine Own Self."]]

* FeelingTheBabyKick: Keiko O'Brien and her husband Miles are in Ten Forward, where she offers to let Riker and Worf feel her baby kick. Later they are trapped in Ten Forward when the titular disaster happens. Worf ends up being midwife to the child's ScreamingBirth.

* YouAreInCommandNow:
** [[DeconstructedTrope Deconstructed]] with Troi, who is forced into command on the bridge after Lt. Monroe is killed. Despite her rank as Lieutenant Commander, she has no idea what she's doing. Neither does she seem to understand the basics of how the ship works. The events of this episode are the main reason she takes the bridge officer's exam in [[Recap/StarTrekTheNextGenerationS7E15ThineOwnSelf "Thine Own Self."]]
** Troi's taking command is the automatic result of an emergency protocol, after the redshirt in command is suddenly killed. While Troi does not have the necessary preparation to command a starship under normal circumstances, she seeks input from other officers with the expertise she needs. Troi also realizes the need to exert her authority and be confident in her decisions, despite Ro relentlessly undermining her. That realization is probably why Troi will choose to pursue further training in command, instead of running fast and far from the bridge once the crisis has passed. Like [[Recap/StarTrekTheNextGenerationS6E13FaceOfTheEnemy "Face of the Enemy"]], this episode is one where we begin to see Troi's potential as a Starfleet officer.

* RedShirt: Lt. Monroe would have been in command of the bridge, but she gets killed, so Troi is left to do the duty.

* DramaPreservingHandicap: Troi's empathic abilities abruptly become functionally useless, preventing her from determining how many people are alive or dead, or where they are on the ship. She knows that there ''are'' people elsewhere who are alive, but not where they are on the ship. The main purpose of this power outage is to preserve the tension over the question of whether or not to separate the saucer section, since if Troi were aware that Picard, Riker and La Forge were all still alive and working on various parts of the problem, she would have just been able to tell Ro to shut up and let the rest of the command staff save the day. (It should be noted that Troi has been able to sense emotions of people on a planet while the ship is ''in orbit'', in another example of her plot-dependent powers.)

The previous mission of the ''Enterprise'' crew was finished ahead of schedule, so everyone has some free time. The main characters are spread throughout the ship doing various activities, with only Picard and Troi on the bridge. Three elementary school kids have won the ''Enterprise'' science fair, and as a reward Picard takes them on a tour around the ship. Soon after Picard and the kids have entered the turbolift, the ''Enterprise'' starts to shake violently, all power on the ship is lost, and the lift falls down. It turns out a [[TechnoBabble quantum filament]] has hit the ''Enterprise'', resulting in a total power failure: even the communicators are down. The crew members are stuck in different departments of the ship, and they all have to figure out what to do without knowing what the others are up to.

On the bridge, it turns out Troi is the most senior officer still alive. She has to decide how the bridge crew, which currently includes Chief O'Brien and Ensign Ro, should react to a potential engine meltdown, which could destroy the whole ship. After restoring power to the terminals in Engineering, Ensign Ro realizes that the warp core is about to explode and pressures Troi to separate the saucer section to save as many people as possible. Troi insists on waiting until the last moment to give the rest of the crew every opportunity to save themselves.

The turbolift containing Picard and the children plunges several stories before its safety stop kicks in, but not before Picard's ankle is broken. They're stuck inside, and Picard has to figure out a way to get them out before the safety stop breaks, and they all die. Picard recruits the children to be part of his new "crew" and enlists their help scouting the area. He decides that the children have to leave him behind and find safety on the escape ladders, but his little girl first officer informs him that the children refuse to leave him behind, so he leads them to safety singing "Frere Jacques."

On the bridge, O'Brien confirm that the ship is saved, and RO admits that Troi was right, but Troi states that she could just as easily not been.

A short while later, everything is more or less back to normal, and Picard receives a visit from his child crewmates, who present him a plaque in thanks for saving them. As he turns to leave, he gives the bridge to "number one," and both Riker and the little girl first officer state, "Aye, sir!" [[EveryoneLaughsEnding Everyone laughs]].

* ArtisticLicenseMedicine: Hoo boy. The "advice" Crusher gives Geordi just before he decompresses the cargo bay is not only wrong, it's ''dangerously'' wrong: if he had followed her advice to "resist the urge to exhale" he would've died. The proper way to handle even a very brief decompression is to exhale and completely empty your lungs so they don't pop from overpressure, the exact opposite of what Crusher said to do.

* BottleEpisode: Everything takes place on the (crippled) ''Enterprise''.

* FourLinesAllWaiting: exaggerated with ''five'' plotlines.

* IWillOnlySlowYouDown: Picard to the children when he breaks his ankle.

* LetMeGetThisStraight: [[MakesSenseInContext "You want me to take off your head...?"]]

** Second, Picard tells the children to leave him behind, as he'd only slow them down; they refuse. [[note]]Just as well, as Picard would have died for nothing worse than a broken ankle.[[/note]]
* NegativeSpaceWedgie: A "quantum filament," whatever the hell that is,[[note]] It's ''definitely'' [[CallBack nothing like]] a [[Recap/StarTrekTheNextGenerationS4E10TheLoss cosmic string]][[/note]] upending and disabling the ''Enterprise'' like a rogue tidal wave.

** [[DeconstructedTrope Deconstructed]] with Troi, who is forced into command on the bridge after Lt. Monroe is killed. Despite her rank as Lieutenant Commander, she has no idea what she's doing. Neither does she seem to understand the basics of how the ship works. It really doesn't make sense that, as part of the Medical structure and not Command, she would take command of the bridge just by being ranked higher, but it makes for some good CharacterDevelopment (for example, the events of this episode is the main reason she takes the bridge officer's exam in [[Recap/StarTrekTheNextGenerationS7E15ThineOwnSelf "Thine Own Self"]]).

The episode splits into five different subplots:
# On the bridge, it turns out Troi is the most senior officer still alive. She has to decide how the bridge crew, which currently includes Chief O'Brien and Ensign Ro, should react to a potential engine meltdown, which could destroy the whole ship.
# Data and Riker try to reach the engineering section via the ship's maintenance shafts.
# In the damaged turbolift, Picard's ankle is broken, and he has to figure out how to get the panicked kids out of there safely.
# La Forge and Crusher are stuck in the cargo bay, where a plasma fire threatens to blow up some hazardous chemicals.
# And in Ten-Forward, O'Brien's pregnant wife Keiko goes into labor, with the hapless Worf forced to act as a midwife.

This was the final episode to air before ''Franchise/StarTrek'' creator Creator/GeneRoddenberry's passing.

The previous mission of the ''Enterprise'' crew was finished ahead of schedule, so everyone has some free time. The main characters are spread throughout the ship doing various activities, with only Picard and Troi on the bridge. Three elementary school kids have won the ''Enterprise'' science fair, and as a reward Picard takes them on a tour around the ship. Soon after Picard and the kids have entered the turbolift, the ''Enterprise'' starts to shake violently, all power on the ship is lost, and the lift falls down. It turns out a [[TechnoBabble quantum filament]] has hit the ''Enterprise'', resulting in a total power failure: even the communicators are down. The crew members are stuck in different departments of the ship, and they all have to figure out what to do without knowing what the others are up to. The episode is now split into five different subplots.

On the bridge, it turns out Troi is the most senior officer still alive. She has to decide how the bridge crew, which currently includes Chief O'Brien and Ensign Ro, should react to a potential engine meltdown, which could destroy the whole ship. Meanwhile, Data and Riker are trying to reach the engineering section via the ship's maintenance shafts. In the damaged turbolift, Picard's ankle is broken, and he has to figure out how to get the panicked kids out of there safely. La Forge and Crusher are stuck in the cargo bay, where a plasma fire threatens to blow up some of hazardous chemicals. And in Ten-Forward, O'Brien's pregnant wife Keiko goes into labor, with the hapless Worf forced to act as a midwife.

* ArtisticLicenseMilitary: In RealLife, a therapist like Troi would not be in command of a warship. Virtually all militaries distinguish between "staff" and "line" officers to exclude specialists like Troi from the chain of command. Ensign Ro, the highest-ranking line officer, should be the one in charge.

* DramaPreservingHandicap: Troi's empathic abilities abruptly become functionally useless, preventing her from determining how many people are alive or dead, or where they are on the ship. She knows that there ''are'' people elsewhere who are alive, but not where they are on the ship. The main purpose of this power outage is to preserve the tension over the question of whether or not to separate the saucer section, since if Troi were aware that Picard, Riker and La Forge were all still alive and working on various parts of the problem, she would have just been able to tell Ro to shut up and let the rest of the command staff save the day. (It should be noted that Troi has been able to sense emotions of people on the planet while the ship is ''in orbit'', in another example of her plot-dependent powers.)

* FishOutOfWater: Nearly everyone is faced with a situation beyond their expertise and comfort zones: Troi must make life-or-death command decisions, Picard must comfort and guide three scared children, and Worf must ... deliver a baby. Crusher and La Forge find themselves trapped in a cargo bay, away from their respective vitally important posts in Sickbay and Engineering. At least La Forge is somewhat in his element, devising an outside-the-box engineering solution to his problem. Riker, usually most at his element in dealing with people by supporting and commanding them, is teamed solely with the member of the crew who has no need for emotional support and left crawling around in the ship's guts trying out technical solutions. Data, normally capable of doing almost everything himself, has to rely on Riker to even move him around and, moreover, has to give guidance and instruction to someone who's not entirely familiar with the subject.

* FourLinesAllWaiting: There are five situations going on simultaneously in the aftermath of the collision with the filament: Troi, Ro, O'Brien and a few extras on the bridge, Picard and the kids in the turbolift, La Forge and Crusher with the fire in the cargo bay, Riker and Data getting to Engineering, and Worf and his adventures in midwifing Keiko's labor.

* PoorlyDisguisedPilot: Slightly. Producers were developing ''[=DS9=]'' at the time and had pegged O'Brien and Ro to be part of the cast. Their interactions here were to see how the two characters would play off of each other. Producers were satisfied, though Michelle Forbes ended up turning down being on the spinoff.

* ArtisticLicenseMilitary: In RealLife, a therapist like Troi would not be in command of a warship. Ensign Ro, the highest-ranking line officer, should be the one in charge.

* MadeOfExplodium: The quaratum in the cargo bay where Geordi and Crusher are trapped is normally stable, but not in the presence of radioactive plasma fires.

The previous mission of the ''Enterprise'' crew was finished ahead of schedule, so everyone has some free time. The main characters are spread throughout the ship doing various activities, with only Picard and Troi on the bridge. Three elementary school kids have won the ''Enterprise'' science fair, and as a reward Picard takes them on a tour around the ship. Soon after Picard and the kids have entered the turbolift, the ''Enterprise'' starts to shake violently, all power on the ship is lost, and lift falls down. It turns out a [[TechnoBabble quantum filament]] has hit the ''Enterprise'', resulting in a total power failure: even the communicators are down. The crew members are stuck in different departments of the ship, and they all have to figure out what to do without knowing what the others are up to. The episode is now split into five different subplots.

* FishOutOfWater: Nearly everyone is faced with a situation beyond their expertise and comfort zones: Troi must make life-or-death command decisions, Picard must comfort and guide three scared children, and Worf must ... [[OneOfTheseThingsIsNotLikeTheOthers deliver a baby]]. Crusher and La Forge find themselves trapped in a cargo bay, away from their respective vitally important posts in Sickbay and Engineering. At least La Forge is somewhat in his element, devising an outside-the-box engineering solution to his problem. Riker, usually most at his element in dealing with people by supporting and commanding them, is teamed solely with the member of the crew who has no need for emotional support and left crawling around in the ship's guts trying out technical solutions. Data, normally capable of doing almost everything himself, has to rely on Riker to even move him around and, moreover, has to give guidance and instruction to someone who's not entirely familiar with the subject.

* FishOutOfWater: Nearly everyone is faced with a situation beyond their expertise and comfort zones: Troi must make life-or-death command decisions, Picard must comfort and guide three scared children, and Worf must ... [[OneOfTheseThingsIsNotLikeTheOthers deliver a baby]]. La Forge and Crusher find themselves trapped in a cargo bay, away from their vitally important posts in Sickbay and Engineering. At least La Forge is somewhat in his element, devising an outside-the-box engineering solution to his problem. Riker, usually most at his element in dealing with people by supporting and commanding them, is teamed solely with the member of the crew who has no need for emotional support and left crawling around in the ship's guts trying out technical solutions. Data, normally capable of doing almost everything himself, has to rely on Riker to even move him around and, moreover, has to give guidance and instruction to someone who's not entirely familiar with the subject.

* CharacterDevelopment: A subtle example. Picard has some trouble interacting with his three young charges, but he's also come a long way from the first episode (where he thought he was wholly incapable of dealing with children).

* FishOutOfWater: Nearly everyone is faced with a situation beyond their expertise and comfort zones: Troi must make life-or-death command decisions, Picard must comfort and guide three scared children, and Worf must ... [[OneOfTheseThingsIsNotLikeTheOthers deliver a baby]]. La Forge and Crusher find themselves trapped in a cargo bay, away from their vitally important posts in Sickbay and Engineering. At least La Forge is somewhat in his element, devising an outside-the-box engineering solution to his problem. And Riker and Data also get to do technical stuff.

On the bridge, it turns out Troi is the most senior officer still alive. She has to decide how the bridge crew should react to a potential engine meltdown, which could destroy the whole ship. Meanwhile, Data and Riker are trying to reach the engineering section via the ship's maintenance shafts. In the damaged turbolift, Picard's ankle is broken, and he has to figure out how to get the panicked kids out of there safely. La Forge and Crusher are stuck in the cargo bay, where a plasma fire threatens to blow up some of hazardous chemicals. And in Ten-Forward, Chief O'Brien's pregnant wife Keiko goes into labor, with the hapless Worf forced to act as a midwife.

!!Tropes featured in "Disaster":

* ArtisticLicenseMedicine: Hoo boy. The "advice" Crusher gives Geordi just before he decompresses the cargo bay, is not only wrong, it's ''dangerously'' wrong...if he had followed her advice to "resist the urge to exhale" he would've died. The proper way to handle even a very brief decompression is to exhale and completely empty your lungs so they don't pop from overpressure...the exact opposite of what Crusher said to do.

* BeCarefulWhatYouWishFor: In the first scene, Keiko says she wishes her pregnancy was over already.

* CleanPrettyChildbirth: Keiko's baby comes out clean, eyes open, and not even crying.
** Averted in the DVD (and Netflix streaming) version, where Molly is shown crying, naked, covered in placenta, and with a strategically placed umbilical cord still attached.

* CranialProcessingUnit: Riker has to [[ItMakesSenseInContext carry Data's head to Engineering]].

* DeliveryGuy: Worf plays this part to a tee.
* DramaPreservingHandicap: Troi's empathic abilities abruptly become functionally useless, preventing her from determining how many people are alive or dead, or where they are on the ship. She knows that there ''are'' people elsewhere who are alive, but not where they are on the ship. The main purpose of this power outage is to preserve the tension over the question of whether or not to separate the saucer section, since if Troi were aware that Picard, Riker and [=LaForge=] were all still alive and working on various parts of the problem she would have just been able to tell Ro to shut up and let the rest of the command staff save the day. (It should be noted that Troi has been able to sense emotions of people on the planet while the ship is ''in orbit'', in another example of her plot-dependent powers.)

* FishOutOfWater: Nearly everyone is faced with a situation beyond their expertise and comfort zones: Troi must make life-or-death command decisions, Picard must comfort and guide three scared children, and Worf must ... [[OneOfTheseThingsIsNotLikeTheOthers deliver a baby]]. At least [=LaForge=] is somewhat in his element, devising an outside-the-box engineering solution to his problem. And Riker and Data also get to do technical stuff.

* FourLinesAllWaiting: There are five situations going on simultaneously in the aftermath of the collision with the filament: Troi, Ro, O'Brien and a few extras on the bridge, Picard and the kids in the turbolift, [=LaForge=] and Crusher with the fire in the cargo bay, Riker and Data getting to engineering, and Worf and his adventures in midwifing Keiko's labor.

* JerkassHasAPoint: Ro's idea to separate the saucer and abandon the seemingly lifeless drive section is made out to be heartless, but the threat of a warp core breach keeps it on the table. [[LampshadedTrope Lampshaded]] by Troi, when Ro is proven wrong: "You could just as easily have been right."

* MadeOfExplodium: The poratum in the cargo bay where Geordi and Crusher are trapped is normally stable, but not in the presence of radioactive plasma fires.

* MaternityCrisis: For Keiko.

** Data offers to use himself to absorb an electric current, allowing Riker to pass, which will cripple him, but should leave him repairable later on. Riker points out to regardless if whether or not he'd be willing to sacrifice Data, and he isn't, it would be pointless. Riker wouldn't be able to fix the Warp Core without him as he's not an engineer. Instead Data walks into the current, diverting it, but allowing Riker to detach Data's still-functional head and take it along so he can talk him through what repairs need to be done - and wire him up to the computer just in time to avert the impending explosion.

** Also Troi to the rest of the ship - she won't separate the ship without proof there are no survivors in the drive section.

* ThreeMonthOldNewborn: Molly starts her {{SORAS}} right out of the gate.

** Troi's taking command is the automatic result of an emergency protocol, after the redshirt in command was suddenly killed. While Troi did not have the necessary preparation to command a starship under normal circumstances, she sought input from other officers with the expertise she needed. Troi also realized the need to exert her authority and be confident in her decisions, despite Ro relentlessly undermining her. That realization is probably why Troi chose to pursue further training in command, instead of running fast and far from the bridge once the crisis passed. Like [[Recap/StarTrekTheNextGenerationS6E13FaceOfTheEnemy "Face of the Enemy"]], this episode is one where we begin to see Troi's potential as a Starfleet officer.

* FishOutOfWater: Nearly everyone is faced with a situation beyond their expertise and comfort zones: Troi must make life-or-death command decisions, Picard must comfort and guide three scared children, and Worf must ... [[OneOfTheseThingsIsNotLikeTheOthers deliver a baby]]. At least [=LaForge=] is somewhat in his element, devising an outside-the-box engineering solution to his problem.

* SignificantWardrobeShift: A mild example, but Marissa is dressed in a much brighter red outfit at the end of the episode, after her confidence boost.

* ArtisticLicenseMedicine: Hoo boy. The "advice" Crusher gives Geordi just before he decompresses the cargo bay, is not only wrong, it's *dangerously* wrong...if he had followed her advice to "resist the urge to exhale" he would've died. The proper way to handle even a very brief decompression is to exhale and completely empty your lungs so they don't pop from overpressure...the exact opposite of what Crusher said to do.

** Data offers to use himself to absorb an electric current, allowing Riker to pass, which will cripple him, but should leave him repairable later on. Riker points out to regardless if whether or not he'd be willing to sacrifice Data, and he isn't, it would be pointless. Riker wouldn't be able to fix the Warp Core without him as he's not an engineer. Instead Data walks into the current, diverting it, but allowing Riker to detach Data's head still-functional head and take it along so he can talk him through what repairs need to be done - and wire him up to the computer just in time to avert the impending explosion.

** Data offers to use himself to absorb an electric current, allowing Riker to pass, which will cripple him, but should leave him repairable later on. Riker points out to regardless if whether or not he'd be willing to sacrifice Data, and he isn't, it would be pointless. Riker wouldn't be able to fix the Warp Core without him as he's not an engineer. Instead they disconnect Data's head and toss his headless body into the current, diverting it, but allowing Riker to take Data's head along so he can talk him through what repairs need to be done.
** Second, Picard tells the children to leave him behind, as he'd only slow them down; they refuse.

* ArtisticLicenseMedicine: Hoo boy. The "advice" Crusher gives Geordi just before he decompresses the cargo bay, is not only wrong, it's *dangerously* wrong...if he had followed her advice to "resist the urge to exhale" he would've died. The proper way to handle even a very brief decompression is to completely empty your lungs so they don't pop from overpressure...the exact opposite of what Crusher said to do.

* ArtisticLicenseMedicine: Hoo boy. The "advice" Crusher gives LaForge just before he decompresses the cargo bay, is not only wrong, it's *dangerously* wrong...if he had followed her advice to "resist the urge to exhale" he would've died. The proper way to handle even a very brief decompression is to completely empty your lungs so they don't pop from overpressure.