Despair in the Face of a Mutating Contagion
Plot Beats
The narrative micro-steps within this event
Riker confronts Beverly in her office, urging her to help Deanna; she confesses the cure’s failure and the possibility of mutation in the contagion, signaling a desperate need for new analysis.
Beverly realizes that Deanna’s infection puts everyone at risk; Riker’s grim warning about the collapsing command systems propels action despite Beverly’s desperate pleas to contain the contagion.
Beverly’s despair deepens as she contemplates the futility of escape or cure; the scene fades out on her hopeless face as Riker stresses the dire urgency of restoring command computers to prevent total annihilation.
Who Was There
Characters present in this moment
Urgent and concerned about crew welfare and operational survival, pragmatic in prioritizing ship systems over uncertain medical delays.
Commander William Riker arrives carrying a stricken Deanna Troi into Sickbay and lays her gently beside Geordi. He urgently presses Beverly for help, emphasizes the critical need to restore command systems, and expresses concern about the contagion’s rapid spread and its threat to the ship's survival. His demeanor is focused, authoritative, yet tinged with worry.
- • Ensure medical aid for infected crew
- • Restore command computers quickly
- • Prevent contagion from spreading further
- • Maintain ship’s operational readiness
- • Medical solutions may be too slow or ineffective
- • Command systems are vital to survival
- • The contagion is spreading rapidly among crew
- • Survival depends on immediate, decisive action
Horrified by treatment failure, desolate about worsening crisis, anxious yet determined to find a solution, protective of crew and self.
Dr. Beverly Crusher administers the hypo-spray to Geordi, observes its failure with growing horror, and retreats to her office where she confesses the cure’s ineffectiveness. She reacts with desolation and anxiety upon realizing the contagion is mutated and spreading, engages in urgent dialogue with Riker, and expresses protective concern about infection risk.
- • Administer the cure and save Geordi
- • Analyze and isolate the mutated contagion
- • Protect crew and herself from infection
- • Communicate medical realities honestly to command
- • The old remedy should have worked based on prior data
- • The contagion is evolving and unpredictable
- • Time is limited to find a solution
- • Medical science can still provide answers with study
Implied vulnerability and susceptibility to the contagion, physically weakened and helpless.
Deanna Troi is carried into Sickbay by Riker, visibly stricken and vulnerable, laid beside Geordi. Although silent, her presence as an infected crew member raises the stakes dramatically, symbolizing the contagion’s unstoppable spread and the emotional toll on the crew’s psyche.
- • Survive infection
- • Receive medical treatment
- • Provide psychic insight if possible (implied prior to infection)
- • Medical help is necessary
- • Contagion is a serious threat
- • She is part of the crew’s collective struggle
Desolate and resigned to his condition, quietly fearful, holding faint hope for the cure despite uncertainty.
Geordi La Forge lies strapped on the hospital bed, awake but desolate, quietly expressing his longing for normal experiences like seeing a rainbow, symbolizing his fear and vulnerability. He receives Beverly’s hypo-spray treatment but remains motionless and hopeless, embodying the human cost of the contagion.
- • Seek relief or cure from symptoms
- • Maintain trust in medical staff
- • Endure suffering with dignity
- • Medical treatment might save him
- • His condition is serious and threatening
- • Hope lies with the crew’s medical expertise
Objects Involved
Significant items in this scene
The hypo-spray is used by Dr. Beverly Crusher to administer the historic cure to Geordi La Forge. It symbolizes the last hope for halting the contagion and represents a tangible medical intervention attempting to reverse the infection’s effects, but it ultimately fails, underscoring the evolving danger.
Location Details
Places and their significance in this event
Enterprise Sickbay serves as the critical medical hub where this pivotal event unfolds. It is the setting for administering life-saving attempts and confronting the grim reality of the contagion’s evolution. The space’s clinical precision contrasts with the emotional despair permeating the scene, emphasizing the crisis’ human cost.
Narrative Connections
How this event relates to others in the story
"Beverly's despair over the failed cure echoes through her emotional state, underscoring the gravity of the situation and the urgency of a new solution."
"Realizing the historical cure fails against the mutated contagion escalates the crisis as infection spreads to new crew members including Troi."
"Beverly's despair over the failed cure echoes through her emotional state, underscoring the gravity of the situation and the urgency of a new solution."
"Realizing the historical cure fails against the mutated contagion escalates the crisis as infection spreads to new crew members including Troi."
Key Dialogue
"BEVERLY: The medical records we found say this works almost instantly."
"GEORDI: I've never seen a rainbow, Doc. Sunset. Sunrise. None of those. This is going to help me?"
"BEVERLY: The formula from the old Enterprise didn't work."
"RIKER: We don't have that kind of time."
"BEVERLY: You touched her? Oh, God, you touched me."
"RIKER: If we don't get our command computers back on-line soon, this -- whatever this is -- won't matter. We'll all be dead."