‘Star Trek: The Next Generation’s’ 15 Best Episodes
A look at the 15 best episodes from “Star Trek: The Next Generation” to celebrate the show’s 30th anniversary.
A look at the 15 best episodes from “Star Trek: The Next Generation” to celebrate the show’s 30th anniversary.
Season 5, Episode 26 and Season 6, Episode 1:
Possibly the goofiest “Next Generation” story not involving a holodeck, “Time’s Arrow” kicks off with the bizarre discovery of Data’s severed head in a cavern beneath San Francisco. A time-travel adventure ensues, the highlight of which is a scene-chewing performance by Jerry Hardin — Deep Throat on “The X-Files” — as Mark Twain, who follows the Enterprise crew back to the 23rd century.
– Dan Holloway
Season 6, Episode 4:
“TOS” regular James Doohan reprised his role as Montgomery “Scotty” Scott. In the episode, Scotty has been trapped for 75 years on a vessel that crashed on the outer shell of a Dyson sphere, surviving only through a brilliant feat of engineering. The episode saw Scotty realize that he is woefully out of date with modern starships and has little hope of catching up at his advanced age. But he nevertheless proves that old tricks still work when you know what you’re doing.
– Joe Otterson
Season 5, Episode 23:
The most personal in scale of the episodes about the machine-humanoid hybrids who would hound Picard and crew through the series, “I Borg” is a rare episode that puts LeVar Burton’s Geordi La Forge front and center. Burton excels as La Forge forms an unlikely bond with a captured Borg who, under La Forge’s care, begins to show signs of individuality, thus dissuading Picard from using him as a weapon against the Borg collective.
– Dan Holloway
Season 7, Episode 15:
By the seventh season of “The Next Generation,” viewers were extremely familiar with all of the Enterprise’s top officers. We knew their flaws and foibles, and though their actions were usually admirable, we knew they were far from perfect. So it was a stroke of genius to do an entire episode from the perspective of junior officers who viewed their superiors in an entirely different light. As personnel evaluations were carried out, a set of younger characters were put through their paces by the ship’s elite, whom their juniors viewed with a mixture of fear, admiration, hero worship, and anxiety. By this point in the show’s life cycle, Picard and the rest of his team had very little to prove. But the literal next generation of officers had a lot to prove, and “The Lower Decks” ably explored the bonds among those characters, as well as their hopes, fears, and ambitions.
— Maureen Ryan
Season 1, Episode 23:
This Season 1 episode has the rare distinction of featuring the death of a member of the Enterprise bridge crew, Lt. Tasha Yar. In reality, actress Denise Crosby asked to be released from her contract. On the show, Yar is killed by an alien being known as Armus, who is comprised of the evil parts of an ancient race. The final scene, in which Yar delivers a pre-recorded, heartfelt goodbye to her shipmates, features several memorable lines.
– Joe Otterson
Season 3, Episode 16:
“What if a sentient android had a child?” That’s a fairly standard premise in science fiction, but it was brought beautifully to life in this episode, which embodies all the things that “Star Trek” does well when it’s firing on all cylinders: It asks a morally important question and in a well-paced hour, and it watches the answers play out among characters worthy of the viewer’s attention. The TV career of René Echevarria, who wrote “The Offspring” on spec, was essentially launched by this moving hour, in which Data introduced the Enterprise crew to a daughter he had created in his own lab. There were a few humorous moments about the way, but thanks to the sensitive direction of Jonathan Frakes, the ending of “The Offspring” is about as moving as anything “The Next Generation” ever did. As Lal and Data, Hallie Todd and Brent Spiner did exceptional work.
— Maureen Ryan
Season 3, Episode 13:
John de Lancie brought a sense of guile and mischief to “TNG” with every appearance, but this episode was something different. After being stripped of his powers by the Continuum, Q is forced to seek refuge on the Enterprise. He grapples with the very idea of being human, all while forming a funny yet touching relationship with Data. The episode ends with Q granting Data the first laugh of his android life.
– Joe Otterson
Season 5, Episode 3:
“Next Generation” was the “Star Trek” series that most obeyed franchise creator Gene Roddenberry’s rule barring conflict between crew members. Michelle Forbes’ Ensign Ro Laren was the character who most broke that rule, never more so than in the episode in which she is introduced as part of a plot to arm Bajoran rebels against the Cardassians. Ro initially clashes with, then earns the respect of Capt. Picard, who invites her to join the Enterprise crew.
— Dan Holloway
Season 4, Episode 26 and Season 5, Episode 1:
When the Klingon Empire is in danger of a civil war, Worf resigns his commission as a Starfleet officer and joins his brother against those who would seek to align the Empire with the Romulans. The episodes offered a fascinating look at life on the Klingon homeworld, and also featured compelling scenes on the Enterprise, which is trying to prevent Romulan interference in the war.
– Joe Otterson
Season 6, Episodes 10 and 11:
Years before military torture was explored in “Battlestar Galactica,” writer Ronald Moore dove into the subject in this two-parter in which Picard is captured by the Cardassians and handed over to a brutal, calculating intelligence officer. The Enterprise, under the command of a prickly new captain, manages to save Picard, who reveals later to Counselor Troi that his tormentor had finally managed to break him.
— Dan Holloway
Season 5, Episode 2:
One way to figure out whether someone is a true “Trek” nerd is to work the phrase “Shaka, when the walls fell” into conversation. If the other person’s eyes light up and they answer “Darmok and Jalad at Tenagra,” you know they understand how special this episode is. In this fascinating hour, Picard must try to understand the allegorical language of the Tamarians, and the entire endeavor ends up being a celebration of language and of the ability to forge a connection with someone whose worldview had otherwise been impenetrable. Professor Ian Bogost wrote a wonderful essay about the episode’s use of language, positing that “Tamarian language isn’t really language at all, but machinery.” When someone can write thousands of words for the Atlantic about an episode of TV, you know it’s done something right.
— Maureen Ryan
Season 3, Episode 26 and Season 4, Episode 1:
There was no “TNG” villain more insidious than the Borg, and this epic two-parter proved it. The cybernetic race begins to make their move on Earth, with only the Enterprise standing in their way. Not even Capt. Picard can stop them, as he is assimilated along the way, with the command crew rescuing him shortly before saving the Earth. The episode also served as a basis for the film “Star Trek: First Contact.”
– Joe Otterson
Season 2, Episode 9:
A classic “Star Trek” scenario puts the characters or an ethical dilemma on trial, and this is one of the best examples of episodes in that category. In this great installment by Melinda M. Snodgrass, Picard squares off in a Starfleet hearing against an officer who wants to take Data apart in order to create copies of him. What is consciousness, what does it mean to be human or sentient, what rights are due creatures who can think — whether they are man or machine? The episode considers all these topics in a typically brisk and energetic fashion. It’s sort of “Law & Order: Human Rights Space Court,” which is actually a TV show someone should commission right now.
— Maureen Ryan
Season 4, Episode 2:
The episode immediately after “Best of Both Worlds Part 2” saw Capt. Picard return home to France to spend time with his brother on the Picard family vineyard. Though the episode contains little action, Patrick Stewart delivered a commanding performance, particularly the scene in which he confesses his deep feelings of doubt and fear following his assimilation. The episode also saw Wesley Crusher get a hologram message from his late father, whom Wes barely remembers.
– Joe Otterson
Season 5, Episode 25:
The winner of a Hugo Award for writer Morgan Gendel, “The Inner Light” opens with Picard being knocked unconscious by an energy beam from a probe found in space. Picard then proceeds to, over the course of the episode, live an entire life — growing old with wife and children — on a faraway planet. As an elderly man, Picard discovers that his new life was a simulation rendered by the probe, the last relic of a culture wiped out centuries ago. The episode is widely credited as the series’ creative pinnacle.
— Dan Holloway