In a nutshell: Commander Ford goes home to help the family business, and learns that they have unwittingly defrosted an aquatic dinosaur, which is killing both marine life and people. SeaQuest comes to the rescue.

And, ooh, we get a Commander Ford episode. And, if we attempt to overlook the plot flaws and the thawed out dinosaur, it's not a bad episode in terms of learning about our regulars. We learn a lot about Ford's family background, here, and we get a couple of class Ortiz moments.

We begin at the Ford-Freeman Aquaculture centre – this name being something of a spoiler that the episode will revolve around our XO, Commander Ford. We see two divers collecting a soil sample from the seabed near a large underwater industrial plant of some kind, and it is odds on they are either Up To No Good, or Doomed.

We quickly learn that they are merely doing their jobs. Back up in their small boat, they complain about a fellow industrialist dumping chemicals and polluting their agriculture, and the Girl Diver decides to go back down with a camera to catch them in the act, after seeing something on the radar.

They are clearly Doomed. And sure enough, the Girl Diver is attacked by something large and all teeth. Up above, the Guy Diver yells her name (Jedda) and is horrified to see the remains of her dive suit floating to the surface, but then the boat is also attacked, and he falls in. Doomed.

After the credits, we see Commander Jonathan Ford in the fitness centre on seaQuest. He gets a call on the internal communications link. It is Ortiz. Why is he running communications again? Anyway, Ortiz tries to get him to take a call from home. Ford doesn't even reply. Ortiz calls him several times, switching in frustration from a formal 'Commander Ford' to a wheedling 'Jonathan'. No response. Up on the bridge, it seems that O'Neill is in command, which is presumably why Ortiz is on communications. O'Neill comes over to see what is wrong, and Ford finally acknowledges the call – has he just been worn down, or did it take a fellow officer instead of a mere non-com to persuade him? Ford is often like this with Ortiz, friendly on the surface but very much playing the superior.

Anyway, it is his father calling. He doesn't want to take the call, and Ortiz is stuck in the middle. Mr Ford Sr. has been on hold for some time already. Ford finally agrees to take the call on a secure line in his own quarters. He leaves the gym. O'Neill is amazed that he wants a secure line to talk to his father; Ortiz comments that they have a 'special relationship'. How does he know? Is he just guessing? Ortiz goes back to Mr Ford to tell him Cmdr Ford is on his way; but Mr Ford has vanished now leaving only the view of a lovely beach, all white sand and blue water. Ortiz looks wonderfully frustrated trying to get Ford Sr. back now that his son is willing to talk to him. Clearly, all the Fords are awkward so-and-sos.

Piccolo is in the fitness centre, taking a bite out of what looks like a sausage on a stick. On the view screen an image of a lovely beach appears, all white sand and blue water. Did Ortiz press the wrong button? Mr Ford appears in shot, and he and Piccolo exchange some confused and wary words, before Ford takes the call in his quarters and closes the other line. Piccolo then is scared out of the gym by some non-speaking extra who looks like a body-builder and I can only imagine has the sole function on board of running the gym. He gives his sausage on a stick to Dagwood, telling him to 'put it back where he got it'. Dagwood is confused by this, and carries the stupid thing around for the rest of the episode. Have I mentioned recently that I don't like the too-stupid character of Dagwood?

The conversation between Ford and this father is very revealing. Mr Ford is clearly a very wealthy businessman who wanted his son to follow in his footsteps; Jonathan instead chose to join the navy. There is a younger brother, Ben, but Mr Ford doesn't seem to think that much of him despite Jonathan's attempts to get him to give Ben a chance. Mr Ford tells Jonathan about the loss of his research workers, Rick, and Jedda, and from his horrified reaction it seems that Jonathan knew them well. Mr Ford Sr. seems to blame his chemical dumping rival, Sea Mine. Jonathan points out that the UEO can't get involved in business affairs, but his father asks him to come home for a few days to help out, and he reluctantly agrees. We also get a brief glimpse of the brother, Ben – enough to see that he is frustrated by his father's preference for his older brother and doesn't see any need for Jonathan to be summoned like this.

Back on the bridge, and Bridger and Lucas have magically appeared. Bridger is in uniform and therefore presumably on duty, which leaves me wondering why he had O'Neill in charge of the bridge just moments before. Here comes the exposition, as Lucas is having a moan about the effect of deep-sea agriculture in the south Atlantic on the environment – apparently, one of the results of this agriculture is a rise in water temperature, which is slowly melting the ice caps.

Ford comes on to the bridge in time to hear the end of this moan, and spouts off a long spiel about the benefits of deep sea agriculture and how it is sanctioned by the UEO, and I watched him very carefully and couldn't work out if he was being serious or not. He asks Bridger for a few days off, and Bridger instantly realises it is because of his father's business; Bridger points out that industrial disputes are outside UEO remit; Ford mentions the two dead research workers and that his father needs him; Bridger gives him the time off.

Ford waits for a mag-lev in casual gear, looking very, erm, snazzy. This purple top and shiny leather-looking waistcoat is very different to some of his previous off-duty gear. He has to move his bag for Dagwood to mop, and they have a conversation about why Ford is going home. Ford makes the mistake of saying that he 'has to' go home, which gets Dagwood all confused about him not wanting to see his family. Ford then gets wonderfully bogged down trying to explain the complexity of family relationships (that he loves his family, but finds it easier to love them from a distance) to the oh-so simple GELF, who just doesn't get it.

Ford really isn't a good communicator, especially where emotions are concerned. Dagwood finally comes up with, 'we have family to drive us to distraction, where there is a restaurant, where we go to be nice to people who don't have to love us'. Great stuff. Ford gives up even trying, and gets into the mag-lev. He doesn't seem to be carrying his bag, so I hope he remembered which corridor he left it in before leaving the boat.

Next, we are in some kind of waterside bar on shore. Ben Ford is making what seem to be devious plans with a friend and colleague, Pauly, when Jonathan arrives and greets them both enthusiastically, asking after Pauly's mother. It is clear that Pauly works for the Fords, and interestingly Jonathan talks to him in much the same way that he treats Ortiz – a friend who is also very much an underling, slightly patronising. He probably doesn't even realise he is doing it. Ben forces Pauly into a quick exit, 'reminding' him that he has work to do, and the brothers are left alone.

Jonathan and Ben don't look like brothers. There is just no resemblance. Maybe the casting people went for acting abilities rather than trying to match them as brothers as the character works well, but looks wrong. From the brief conversation we see, it is clear that the brothers are fond of each other, but have an awkward relationship. Ben points out that Jonathan is never there, implying that he resents his older brother being wheeled in like this to sort out problems, when it is Ben who has to manage everything the rest of the time. Great, great back story for Ford.

On seaQuest, it is clear that the scriptwriters were trying very hard to tie everything into the same story. Bridger and Lucas are talking to Darwin, who gives them a very vague account of how all the local wildlife are dying because of some large and unspecified predator.

I have to ask – just how close is seaQuest to the Ford plantation anyway? Did they just happen to be in the neighbourhood when Jonathan got the call? Were they on the other side of the world and decide to bring him? Or what? Was the situation in the south Atlantic already so unstable that the UEO had sent them over there to keep a quiet eye on things? I was puzzled.

Pauly is out in a boat and goes diving, attaching a small bomb to what we later learn is a Sea Mine rig. This is presumably what he and Ben were cooking up when Jonathan interrupted them. But his sabotage attempts are interrupted by the toothy predator which killed Rick and Jedda. He tries desperately to get back to his boat, and almost makes it … but is snared and dragged back below the water.

The following morning, Pauly's disappearance is discovered and worried over and Ben gets it in the neck from Jonathan and their father. Then they get a call for 'Mr Ford'. All three Mr Ford's stand there glaring at each other until Jonathan gives up and takes the call (and it is so predictable that Mr Responsibility Jonathan would crack first). It is the owner of their rival, Sea Mine, who recognises and greets Jonathan warmly, but promptly asks for his father. Great detail – all this is great insight into the character of Jonathan Ford and why he is the way he is. The Rival Businessman asks them to come over as he has found something of theirs. He is seriously annoyed.

Jonathan and Ben go over – and learn that he has found the remains of Pauly's boat, as well as the explosive strapped to his rig. He is fuming, but willing to let it go – the implication is that the two firms are long established, and they all know each other well. Jonathan is furious with Ben, telling him to do his own dirty work in future and giving him the job of telling Pauly's mother.

Back at the Ford plantation, Mr Ford puts in a call to Jonathan, who for some reason is out and about in the Stinger. Why did he take the Stinger as opposed to one of the other launches on seaQuest? Can any member of the crew requisition the Stinger for private business like this? Curious. Anyway, Jonathan feels that he should be getting back to the boat, and tells his father he believes Sea Mine have nothing to do with their disappearing staff. Just then a Random Worker hands Mr Ford the camera Jedda was using when she died – it has just been dredged out of the water. He replays the last shot – which is of gigantic teeth and not much else. Panicking, he yells at Jonathan to 'run like hell'.

How exactly is he supposed to do this? He's in a submarine.

Anyway, Jonathan doesn't take him seriously and is bemused by his urgency – until the Stinger is attacked. Jonathan panics completely, which I didn't think was in his character profile. It certainly is commonly believed by the seaQuest crew that Jonathan Ford is as cool as ice – maybe he deliberately cultivates the myth in the hope that they won't ever learn the truth. Or is the panic thing here more to do with being around his family and not needing to be in control? Anyway, he panics, and his father verbally guides him to safety and provides a distraction for the predator (releasing tonnes of plankton into the ocean – what is the environmental impact of this?).

Jonathan makes it safely to shore, but is seriously shaken. He calls Bridger to tell him that the situation in the south Atlantic now officially comes under the auspices of seaQuest. He always likes being able to call Bridger in, and not handle things on his own. Maybe the panic thing wasn't to do with being home. Maybe his father being so, so controlling is the reason why Jonathan aspires to command yet fears it at the same time. He is expected to live up to his father's standards, yet fears being unable to do so?

On seaQuest, and Jonathan is already back in uniform. The Stinger is being brought aboard, and ooh look! The Stinger has taken damage – what realism. Lucas is a little dismayed at the damage (nice touch – Lucas being proprietorial over his creation), but is confident that it can be fixed, and Ford takes back everything he ever said about the expense of building the little craft.

Bridger, Lucas and Dr Smith are sceptical when Jonathan tells them he was attacked by a 200-foot crocodile, but he sticks to his story. Mr Ford is also there, but stays out of the debate until Jonathan appeals to him for back-up, when he condescendingly admits that it was '170, anyway'. Oh, great stuff – more insight into this very interesting father-son relationship.

Lucas has clearly done some research prior to this scene because he promptly calls up an image of a dinosaur-type creature, which Jonathan recognises as what attacked him. The problem is – they have been extinct for millions of years. Lucas hypothesises that the mining and farming in the south Atlantic and resultant melting of the ice caps must have thawed her out – she has been encased in ice all those millennia. He is enraptured by the idea, but the others don't look so pleased. Piccolo finds a trace of crocodile skin on the Stinger, and it is taken for analysis. It looked horribly unreal – minus marks for the props department.

There is a lot more talk about the damage this giant crocodile could do if left unchecked. Ford is all for killing it; Lucas is horrified at the thought. This is a character trait seen in Lucas again and again – to him the science is everything and he does at time put it ahead of its practical impact. The theories and virtual reality are often more real to him than the real world.

On the bridge, O'Neill seems to be in charge again, and he and Ortiz are conducting a search to make sure there are no more prehistoric monsters out there. The scan comes up clear. No more nasties, but just the one is bad enough.

Bridger, Smith, Ford and Mr Ford gather in what I think was the wardroom to discuss the problem. Bridger feels that with a 170-foot crocodile on the loose they have to evacuate the island. Mr Ford is horrified at the idea, and tries to talk him out of it, going on and on about the economic impact of an evacuation on his business. Jonathan's face listening to him is a picture: he avoids meeting anybody's eye, and looks embarrassed at his father's attitude. Bridger and Smith look sympathetic. Nobody speaks except Mr Ford, who gives up, realising that they are right but still not liking it.

Over on the island, we see the Ford plantation packing up and evacuating. Ortiz comes strolling randomly across the beach looking very casual in tank top and one of those funny little hats he wears from time to time. He greets Ben on his way past (presumably having been introduced at some point), and then goes over to talk to Jonathan and update him on the evacuation, which is almost complete. If Jonathan's attitude to Ortiz is generally friendly but superior, then Ortiz' attitude back at him is often cheerfully insouciant, as we see here. Ortiz comments on what a nice set-up the Ford's have got, casually asking just how rich Jonathan is. Jonathan smilingly but slightly frostily remarks that that is a rather rude question, but Ortiz is untroubled by this censure, merely replying that he has a ruder one – why does Ford bother working when he clearly doesn't need to?

It is lightly asked, but the implication is that these two are worlds apart – Jonathan doesn't need to work, he joined the navy because he wanted to – he takes his career seriously, but in one sense it could be seen almost as a hobby as he has always got the family business to fall back on; Ortiz, one suspects, comes from far lower down the social scale and in his world, people work because they need to in order to live: behind his light tone he seems amazed at the Ford's wealth.

Jonathan doesn't seem that bothered by the cheek, and takes gleeful delight in remarking that it's because he enjoys 'ordering guys like you around'. I suspected as much – and it makes sense, given his relationship with his father who is such a strong, controlling figure, that he enjoys bossing people around. The only other person who could get away with talking to Ford like this is Brody, and he seems to come from a similarly comfortable and well-to-do background, so would not find Ford's situation quite so amazing.

Ortiz then clambers into a truck and leaves, and Jonathan sprints across the beach to talk to his dad – pausing for a second to slap the clipboard Ben is working on as a kind of greeting. There's quite a nice scene between Jonathan and his dad where Mr Ford points out how ironic it is that he asked Jonathan to help keep save his business and instead he has been closed down, in the short term at least. He also admits how scared he was when Jonathan was attacked, and how dreadful it would be to lose a child. They then start walking back along the beach. Jonathan goes ahead while his father walks more slowly and notices tracks leading away from the beach, and decides to follow them. Why did nobody else spot these tracks while they were busily wandering back and fore packing up?

Jonathan then has a conversation with Ben and they both apologise to each other. In Jonathan's case this is for running off to the navy and leaving Ben stuck with the 'old man's dreams' – he is amazed when Ben then tells him that isn't the reason that he stays, that he actually enjoys agricultural work, and is convinced that given half a chance he could do a better job than his dad. He has never told his father, though. Ben then sees his father wandering off the beach, and follows him. Jonathan is much slower on the uptake.

Away from the beach, Ben finds Mr Ford staring in horror at the giant crocodile, and runs toward it, waving his arms to distract it away from his dad. Jonathan finally arrives, and he and Mr Ford watch in horror as Ben disappears behind a sand dune, and the crocodile bites down. They believe that Ben has been taken, until they hear him yelling and find him in a crater full of dinosaur eggs.

Back on seaQuest, it seems nobody thought to count how many eggs there were, they just got the hell out of there. Mr Ford and Ben touchingly make up in the middle of the bridge, which is about as public a place as they could have found – surprisingly, the repressed Jonathan doesn't seem too bothered by it. But Dagwood sees them hugging and gives Jonathan a rib-crushing hug, which draws amused grins from Ortiz and some random others. Quite what the point of this was, I'm not sure. Maybe Dagwood is just meant to be cute? Ortiz then gets a call from a UEO reconnaissance helicopter. The giant crocodile has been spotted: she is sunning herself. Is Ortiz manning communications again? Where is O'Neill?

Then with a little group of people assembled in one of the labs, Dr Smith has good news and bad news. She has analysed the skin sample and determined that the giant crocodile is a healthy three year old female. Lucas is appalled by this news, stating that this species 'was known' to live for 120 years and have several clutches of eggs every year. Just how this is known so definitively I'm not sure, as nobody can know anything for certain about an extinct species. Anyway, that wasn't the good news. The good news is that she is sterile – the eggs will never hatch. Jonathan is still convinced that they will have to kill her, and Bridger agrees – with her lifespan and health, she could wreak all kinds of havoc and cause great loss of life. Lucas argues vehemently against this, defending her right to life. Dagwood then wanders in rather randomly, still clutching Piccolo's sausage on a stick although several days seem to have passed. How is Dagwood allowed to wander into presumably restricted areas like this? Anyway, he also defends the crocodile, protesting that they should put her back where they got her. Bridger likes the idea, and they make plans to re-freeze her and return her to the ice flow.

Plans are very quickly made. Darwin the dolphin gets a moment of glory, leaping happily out of the water to tempt the giant crocodile away from her nest and into the water. He lures her closer and closer to seaQuest, taking unnecessary risks that have the watching Bridger very nervous. At one point the crocodile breaks off and goes in a different direction, and Bridger orders O'Neill to keep a WSKR on her. That puzzled me, but it later becomes clear that Ortiz (at the spare centre station) has his attention focused elsewhere: namely, on Darwin, as he is able to keep reassuring Bridger that Darwin is okay. I had to wonder how O'Neill was able to control the WSKRS from his communications station. Are they all cross-wired? Could he assume control of the WKRS from there if he wanted to, usurping Ortiz at his own station? How does it all work?

Darwin gets the crocodile into position, and Ortiz fires at her some kind of dart filled with some chemical or other, and it knocks her out pretty quickly. O'Neill, then gets his turn firing, this time a cable to capture her. They presumably then tow her all the way to an un-melted part of the ice cap, and drop her there. O'Neill then gets to fire again, sending tonnes of ice down on top of her to refreeze her. The immediate flaws I saw in this plan were twofold. First, they had better hope that all those icy rocks didn't crush and kill her. Second, they had better hope that they did their sums right and that the temperature was sufficient to freeze her and not just kill her. Not that it really matters, as they don't want her to come back again. The science in all this is just so, so dodgy.

Nobody suggested studying her. Some of the scientists they met in the first season would have.

Back on the island, the Fords are back in business, and the crater containing the dinosaur eggs is being filled in – apparently as they rot they will make the ground wonderfully fertile. Whatever. Jonathan then says his farewells. He is absolutely staggered to hear that his father has decided to take a year off and go trekking in Nepal – leaving the business in Ben's hands and giving him his long-awaited opportunity to see what he can do. Jonathan congratulates them both and they all leave. Nearby, a group of children are playing football (soccer). One of them retrieves the ball from behind a bush and the camera goes further into the undergrowth to see another clutch of giant eggs, and in a very 'Jurassic Park' moment, one of them is rocking …

The end. For now. Yet again, however, the concept is never re-visited, despite leaving it open like that.

Overall. Well, the actual storyline is pretty poor, and the animation of the crocodile made it worse than it might have been. However, the character stuff was really good – the dynamics of the Ford family were very believable and well acted. There was no sign of a mother, and no mention of her either, implying that she is long gone. Henderson and Brody were missing in action, while we caught only a glimpse of Piccolo. Bridger didn't have a large part, but what he did was mostly in character, and the same goes for Lucas. O'Neill didn't move from the bridge, as usual, but was left in charge quite a bit. How common is this, I wonder?

Ortiz had a few good scenes, interacting mostly with Ford and O'Neill. Dagwood just irritated me. I really don't like the Dagwood character. He adds nothing to the show, and in fact that imbecility actually tends to detract from it. The way he keeps harping on about the crew being a family, that's nice and sweet (bleurgh), and American-style-TV and all, but it just doesn't ring true to the surroundings. This is a naval vessel, and it should act that way. But all too often, it doesn't. It's like the script writers just wrote whatever they felt like, without worrying too much about researching the details and getting them accurate. A big shame. And what an enormous shame the defrosted giant crocodile was deemed necessary – just putting Ford in a situation where he had to deal with his awkward family relationships would have been enough for me. I loved seeing him with his father and Ben: the way they all interacted was beautifully written and delightfully acted.