Disaster
Picard hates kids. That is one of the first character traits we learned about him. Think about his reaction when Wesley came on the bridge in the first episode. this is one of the few traits that isn't supposed to be messed with. So as a good writer, the writer for this episode decided to put Picard in a position where he had to deal with kids in an emergency without being able to pass them off.Let's step back to the beginning, and I'll do my best to avoid talking about the rest of the episode since I want to talk about it when I do my list for the rest of the crew.
As a reward for winning the science fair, three young children are given the opportunity to tour the Enterprise with Captain Picard. No one seems excited about that idea, except maybe Counselor Troy.
So the three kids are Marissa, Jay Gordon, and Patterson. The tour starts off awkwardly with Picard explaining where they will go on the tour and telling one of the boys that they will not go to the battle bridge. Instead he informs them that they will be visiting the hydroponics and the astrophysics labs.
(I will talk about the rest of the episode when I do my Top 12 for the rest of the crew, but for now I just want to focus on Picard and the kids.)
Patterson planted radishes in special dirt and they came up weird. Jay Gordon studied a bug with a very short life cycle. Marissa doesn't get a chance to tell about her project because something happens to the ship and sends the turbo lift crashing down the tubes. (We find out in the next scene that it is a quantum filament, but that isn't what we are talking about right now.)
So here we are in a moment Picard couldn't have even dreamed about dreading-stuck in a broken turbo lift with a broken leg with three kids.
He has to figure out a way to get the kids out of the turbo lift and to safety, so he promotes all of them. He takes off his command pips and distributes them to the children. Marrisa becomes the first officer, Jay Gordon is dubs science officer, and Patterson is made executive officer in charge of radishes. The trio work together to open up the hatch of the make their way up the shaft to a safe location. Initially, Picard insists that the children can climb on their own, but after hearing the complaints of the crew, Marissa insists that they stay together. Picard works with the kids to climb out of the shaft, and when they start to feel afraid, he gets them to sing "Frere Jaques" as they climb.
After the Enterprise pulls itself together, Picard sees his child crew again and they give him a plaque that they made to thank him for getting out of trouble. Picard informs the children that they will restart the tour on another date, and the tour will include the battle bridge. As the children are leaving the bridge, Picard gives an order to Riker, addressing him as "Number 1" and he and Marissa both say "Yes sir."
Important elements of this story (or at least parts that I like):
- Marissa starts off as a shy little girl, but develops confidence in herself when she become first officer. She even starts giving orders.
- Jay Gordon insists on being referred to as Jay Gordon rather than just Jay.
- Patterson takes pride in his accomplishments with radishes.
