Star Trek: The Next Generation

I don’t know if I could be considered a Trekker or a Trekkie or neither, but I watch a lot of Star Trek. I just completed my collection, and now own all seven seasons of Star Trek: The Next Generation on DVD. I’ve spent many nights in the last couple years watching the series, just as I did when I was in high school.

For those of you unfamiliar with Star Trek: The Next Generation, or ST:TNG, it first aired in 1987 and was the first spin-off of the original Star Trek, a science fiction series created by Gene Roddenberry and first introduced on television in the sixties. Although the premise and universe are the same, all the characters are new and the events supposedly take place eighty years after the original Star Trek. The cast includes some great actors, especially Patrick Stewart and Brent Spiner; two of the best things about the show. Although there are some great episodes, there are also some absolutely horrible and incredibly ludicrous ones.

For anyone interested in watching the ST:TNG series but not as willing to waste as many hours as I did sitting through the bad episodes to get to the good ones, I have compiled a list of the episodes I recommend. In doing so, I have noticed some of my biases which affect my choices. For example, I really get annoyed by the episodes which use the "molecular pattern stored in the transporter buffer" to bring somebody back to life or make them younger or older or turned back into a human, etc. I mean, c’mon; if "Our mortality is what defines us," as Picard claims in the movie Generations, then why are they cheating death all the time by creating what are essentially clones of themselves? Another thing that drives me crazy is the pitiful ship security, which consists of Worf (and Yar in season one) and two extras who are probably going to get wounded or killed. (I’ll admit that I love it that whenever you see an extra on an away mission, you know they won’t make it back.)

Season One
Early on, the cast, writers and directors were feeling their way through, trying to figure out everyone’s roles and personalities. Only the special effects and make-up teams seem to have it together from the beginning. Season one should be watched with the realization that it gets better.

(1)“Encounter at Farpoint” The pilot is probably one of the all-time best episodes, and a perfect introduction to much of what is great about ST:TNG, including Q and the ethos of the program.
(2)“Where No One Has Gone Before”
(3)“The Battle”
(4)“Hide and Q” I wish someone would give me near omnipotence!
(5)“The Big Good-Bye”
(6)“Datalore” First of many great episodes where Brent Spiner plays multiple roles.
(7)“Coming of Age” This episode sets up a very unsatisfying episode called “Conspiracy.”
(8)“The Arsenal of Freedom”
(9) “We’ll Always Have Paris”

Honorable Mentions:
“Haven” Lwaxana Troi is refreshingly quirky.
“Home Soil”

Probably Not Worth Mentioning:
Yar gets killed in “Skin of Evil.”
The Romulans are sort-of introduced in “The Neutral Zone,” the season finale.

Season Two
The characters and their roles are much more developed this season. The ship is given a social center, Ten-Forward, run by Guinan, played marvelously by Whoopie Goldberg. LaForge is given the job of Chief Engineer. Riker grows his beard. The Second Season is unique in that the doctor is not the lame Beverly Crusher but the edgy and opinionated Katherine Pulanski. I am possibly the only ST:TNG fan that prefers Pulanski to Crusher, a fact that I attribute to her being distrustful and even demeaning to Data at the beginning of the series, an infraction which no ST:TNG fan can bear.

(1)“The Silence Has Lease”
(2)“Elementary, My Dear Data” I’m a huge Sherlock Holmes fan.
(3)“A Matter of Honor” I love the Klingons. This is the first time you get to see them in their natural habitat.
(4)“The Measure of a Man” A great episode.
(5)“Time Squared” Get used to the fact that if a temporal distortion is involved, the Enterprise is gonna blow up.
(6)“The Icarus Factor”
(7)“Q Who” Resistance is futile…. A must-see.
(8)“The Emissary”
(9) “Peak Performance” Forget that it’s logically impossible to beam anti-matter.

Honorable Mentions:
“Loud As a Whisper” I really like this episode but probably it’s over-the-top cheesy.
“The Dauphin” This one is definitely way cheesy, but it has a great premise, is well-written and you get to see Worf try to fight some weird moster-thing.

Probably Not Worth Mentioning:
Data kicks ass at craps in “The Royale.”

Season Three
A very inconsistent season, with some great and some horrible episodes.

(1)“Evolution”
(2)“Ensigns of Command”
(3)“Booby Trap”
(4)“The Defector” I love the ending.
(5)“Deja Q”
(6)“Yesterday’s Enterprise” Not only is this one of the best ST:TNG episodes, it also sets up an entire plotline in later seasons.
(7)“Sins of the Father” This episode also sets up a key storyline.
(8)“Allegiance”
(9)“The Most Toys”
(10)“Sarek” Spock’s father.
(11)“Menage a Troi” Can’t pass up a title like that, can you?
(12)“Best of Both Worlds, Part I” THE episode. Not only is it an awesome episode that finally had everybody talking about ST:TNG, it set the stage for the two great seasons that follow.

Honorable Mentions:
“The Survivors” I want to like this episode, but it is predictable and the main character’s abilities are inconsistent.
“Deja Q”
“Captain’s Holiday”

Probably Not Worth Mentioning:
Data creates a short-lived and creepy daughter in “The Offspring.”
Barclay (played by Dwight Shultz, best known for his role of Murdock on The A-Team) is introduced and creates some funny holodeck characters in “Hollow Pursuits.”

Season Four
This is a great and consistent season. Almost every episode (except “The Loss”) is good.

(1)“Best of Both Worlds, Part II” A great conclusion to a brilliant set-up.
(2)“Family” An episode that doesn’t take place in space, and the logical follow-up to “Best of Both Worlds.”
(3)“Brothers”
(4)“Suddenly Human” An intense and even controversial ending.
(5)“Remember Me”
(6)“Reunion” Continuation of two episodes, “The Emissary” and “Sins of the Father.”
(7)“Future Imperfect”
(8)“Data’s Day”
(9) “The Wounded”
(10)“Clues”
(11)“The Drumhead”
(12)“In Theory”
(13)“Redemption” The season finale, continuing the plotline from “Reunion.”

Honorable Mentions:
“Remember Me”
“The Mind’s Eye”

Probably Not Worth Mentioning:
Wesley has one last dramatic assignment before leaving for Starfleet Academy in “Final Mission.”

Season Five
This season is almost as good as season four.

(1)“Redemption II” A brilliant episode that ties together several previous episodes and demonstrates a vivid understanding of Worf’s psychology, even drawing parallels/contrasts between he and Data.
(2)“Darmok” So species can supposedly talk to each other via an invention called a Universal Translator, one of those things they had to come up with to make the television show possible. This episode acknowledges the impossibility of such an invention.
(3)“Ensign Ro”
(4)“Disaster”
(5)“Unification I” Welcome back, Spock.
(6)“ Unification II”
(7)“Cause and Effect” Fun one.
(8)“I Borg” Great premise that is explored thoroughly in Star Trek: Voyager. Stupid idea that you could destroy the Borg by introducing them to a paradox. C’mon!
(9)“The Inner Light” Patrick Stewart showing what he can do.

Honorable Mentions:
“Conundrum” When Troi beats Data at Chess at the beginning, you know it’s going to be an unbelievable premise, but there’s something intriguing about it. Also, I like Ro way better than Troi, and wish they had pursued this plotline (in regard to Riker) further.
“The First Duty” gives us a look at Starfleet Academy and takes an interesting look at loyalty.

Probably Not Worth Mentioning:
The Crystal Entity from “Datalore” is destroyed in “Silicon Avatar”
Alexander returns in “New Ground”
We find out how Guinan met the crew in “Time’s Arrow,” the season finale.

Season Six
For some reason the show takes a drastic downward turn. Possibly they were too busy with Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, a spin-off which started the same year. Transporter Chief O’Brien becomes a major character on Deep Space Nine, and it’s weird that it isn’t addressed in ST:TNG.

(1)“A Fistful of Datas” Hilariously dumb.
(2)“Chain of Command, Part 1” Thankfully, Troi is made to wear a normal outfit, and continues to do so for most of the rest of the series.
(3)“Chain of Command, Part 2” 1984….
(4)“Ship In A Bottle” The conclusion of “Elementary, My Dear Data”
(5)“Tapestry” This follows a plotline from a frustrating episode called “Samaritan Snare” from season two.
(6)“Birthright, Part 1”
(7)“Frame of Mind”

Honorable Mentions:
“Rascals” is pretty stupid but entertaining nonetheless.
“Birthright, Part 2” I guess you’ll want to see how Worf’s plotline from Part 1 turns out. (Data’s plotline continues in “Phantasm,” a bizarre but non-sensical episode in season seven.)

Probably Not Worth Mentioning:
Scotty from the original Star Trek shows up in “Relics”
“The Chase” tries to explain why most of the aliens the Enterprise encounters look like us. I think it’s really because they use human actors to play the aliens.
A clone of Riker, who plays a role in Deep Space Nine, is discovered in the disturbing episode “Second Chances.”
In the season finale, “Descent,” we find out what has happened to Data’s brother Lore, last seen in “Brothers,” and Hugh from “I Borg.”

Season Seven
The downward spiral continues….

(1)“Gambit, Part 1”
(2)“Gambit, Part 2”
(3)“Attached” The truth between Picard and Crusher comes out.
(4)“The Pegasus”
(5)“Homeward”
(6)“Journey’s End” Wesley’s life takes an unexpected turn. The episode explains the catalyst for the formation of the Maquis, which will be the main storyline at the beginning of Star Trek: Voyager.
(7)“All Good Things…” An appropriate series finale.

Honorable Mentions:
“Parallels” A clever episode that sets up a short-lived (and I think ill-conceived) relationship between Worf and Troi.
“Lower Decks” It’s nice to see the ensigns treated as almost human for a change. Of course they’re still cannon fodder….
“Preemptive Strike” introduces the Maquis. I always like Ro.

Probably Not Worth Mentioning:
“Descent (Part 2)”, brings the final demise of Lore, and Data gets back the emotion chip that Lore stole in “Brothers” that Data will install in the first ST:TNG movie, Generations.
We find out warp drives damage space in “Force of Nature.”
Data's "mother," who predictably turns out to be another android invented by Noonien Soong, is found in “Inheritance.”