What was your favorite episode of Star Trek: TNG?

[RealSNR]

Okay okay okay... quit calling me late to the party. I do this with every popular show out there-- I start watching after it's been off the air for at least a few years. I did it with Frasier, Red Dwarf (although there are new episodes being made) and now I'm doing it with the Star Trek franchise. Back off. I know there are Star Trek fans on this forum, and if you've noticed my posting style (although I have no idea why you would) a lot of my posts are Star Trek-centric. This is why:

My job in the past few months had late hours, so I'd get home and be able to watch one episode per day at 1 in the morning. But man, it was great. I just turned it on one day and started watching and never stopped. Anyway, the series has run its cycle now. I've seen all seven seasons plus the movies (except for Insurrection, which I'll get around to eventually). I've also seen the new one by JJ Abrams. At the moment I'm slowly progressing through DS9 and a handful of the original series.

But until I get through it all, I know TNG is pretty much the only series beloved by ALL Trek fans, not just some.

Here are my personal top 5 episodes in no particular order. I couldn't rank them accurately.

1. "The Most Toys" (S3E22)- There's nothing incredibly powerful or ground-breaking about the plot or the way it was written. But it's very dramatic and quite colorful, which I think is what Star Trek is all about. I kind of have a weakness for Data-centered episodes, and this one is particularly good. It's odd, esoteric, and particularly intense considering he's being held captive as an object in a collection of toys, when really he's the being with the highest code of ethics on the entire rogue ship

2. "The Silicon Avatar" (S5E4)- Perhaps the most tragic of all the TNG episodes. I mean, TNG does this all the time where something bad happens but it ends on a hopeful note- Tasha Yar's death, Worf's vengeance against Duras, etc. Not in this one. It ends on a tragic note, with the doctor now only left to her own madness and questioning of her actions for the rest of her life.

3. "Yesterday's Enterprise" (S3E15)- This episode is on most peoples' lists. I normally hate causality/time travel shit in sci-fi movies/stories. It almost never works out. Here it DOES work out and it's absolutely brilliant. People claim that Picard's decision-making is totally irrational and not at all what a starfleet officer would even consider. Well guess what? He's Picard, and when his back is to the wall he often makes decisions that violate starfleet regulation/the prime directive. And it's not THAT unrealistic. He knows what Guinan is capable of and he also knows that the Federation is going to lose the war. May as well send Tasha Yar back, right?

4. "The Chase" (S6E20)- This is one of those episodes that years from now will be considered genius in a Jules Verne kind of way. This is exactly what science fiction is all about- create a universe and try to explain it. If/when humans discover life elsewhere in the universe we're going to have to answer some real tough biological questions. In the Star Trek universe, this one does a brilliant job of it. I was totally blown away. That takes some real creative-ass minds to think of that kind of shit.

5. "I, Borg" (S5E23)- I chose this borg episode instead of The Best of Both Worlds mainly because it exposes a different side to the story instead of just "We need to find a way to kill the borg nao!" And that different story is: "When we DO find a way to eradicate the borg, are we going to have the balls to do it?" Picard's actions in this episode come up time and time again later in the series/movies (especially First Contact, obviously) and here is one of the most questionable decisions he makes in his entire career as captain of the Enterprise. And yet it's so well-written that viewers of this episode more often than not finding themselves siding with Picard, even though they face a fictional race/character who is more violent, hated, and ire-raising than Nazis.

These are just some episodes I brought up. I'm not bringing up more incase this thread dies quickly. I've already wasted enough time typing this out as it is.

[BigRedChief]

Originally Posted by Guru

I also liked the one where Picard lives an entire lifetime in just a few minutes.

The Inner Light?

The one where he plays the flute. Some of the best tv ever done.

Picard clutching that flute to his chest at the end of the episode and starting to play it, was very powerful TV. His acting chops certaintly helped.

[Deberg_1990]

Originally Posted by Deberg_1990

heh, yea....that was around 1990 or so right? Pre internet era....you know, before spoilers, when you actually had to wait until something was broadcast or shown in theaters to know all the secrets. It was painful.

Originally Posted by ClayWhit

I think the reason most people had that reaction to Best of Both Worlds is Patrick Stewart.

People were emotionally attached to the character of Picard.

What a great actor...

If this episode was broadcast in todays age, we all would have known about what happens 3 or 4 months in advance.

[Crush]

Originally Posted by frazod

DS9 was generally pretty lame until Worf joined the cast. Then they got dark and bloody and it rocked pretty much constantly until the end. Sisko had a mean streak that sort of set him apart from the other series leads. I liked it.

Indeed.

As for DS9, Dukat announcing that the Cardassians were voluntarily joining the Dominion is one of the greatest "Oh Shit" moments in TV history.

[Hammock Parties]

"The Sons of Soong have joined together...and together, we will destroy the Federation."

Another great cliffhanger line.

[keg in kc]

Originally Posted by Deberg_1990

If this episode was broadcast in todays age, we all would have known about what happens 3 or 4 months in advance.

Hell, there probably would have been a production copy on torrent sites months before it aired. It's made television very hard to watch these days. You always know what's coming.

Though I think at the same time that's what makes the really good shows these days stand out.

[Frazod]

Originally Posted by SNR

You know what it also is? It's the music score. There's something about the crescendo after Riker delivers that line (very well, might I add, considering Frakes is a method-acting whore) and the fade to black and the font and text of "TO BE CONTINUED..." I can't quite put my finger on it, but I do know that if Ron Jones didn't write the music the way he did it wouldn't be as hair-raising as it is.

That was one of the best sequences in any TV or movie, ever. The camera panning slowly around towards Riker, Shelby whipping around waiting for his order.... and then the single word command, perfectly delivered. damn. Doesn't get any better than that.

[keg in kc]

Rare flashback for me this thread is sparking (I don't remember a whole lot, generally - brain like swiss cheese...). But I was such a nerd back then. I used to have a book with blueprints of the Enterprise D.

[RealSNR]

Originally Posted by Predarat

I did not like the episode where Riker fell for that bi sexual tranny alien or whatever that was, he was a mans man. Always getting the ladies.

I LOVE this scene in Best of Both Worlds. Riker's probably my favorite human character

[Frazod]

Originally Posted by Crush

Indeed.

As for DS9, Dukat announcing that the Cardassians were voluntarily joining the Dominion is one of the greatest "Oh Shit" moments in TV history.

He was another one of my favorite recurring characters. It really bummed me out when he went 100% dark side. But it did make for some great drama.

Too bad DS9 isn't broadcast regularly the way Next Generation is. I don't think I've seen the later episodes of DS9 more than a couple of times each. My favorite episodes of NG I've watched... hell, dozens of times.

[keg in kc]

I always liked him because he played a trombone. This was back in my own trombone playing days. I haven't touched the thing in almost 15 years now.

[Deberg_1990]

Did anybody like Voyager? I think thats when Star Trek "jumped the shark"

[Frazod]

Originally Posted by keg in kc

Rare flashback for me this thread is sparking (I don't remember a whole lot, generally - brain like swiss cheese...). But I was such a nerd back then. I used to have a book with blueprints of the Enterprise D.

Heh. I have the blueprints and technical manuals from both the original series and NG.

[Frazod]

Originally Posted by Deberg_1990

Did anybody like Voyager? I think thats when Star Trek "jumped the shark"

**** Voyager. Do Gooders Lost in Space.

[keg in kc]

Originally Posted by Deberg_1990

Did anybody like Voyager? I think thats when Star Trek "jumped the shark"

Not much.

I really liked Enterprise at the end. They fixed that series just in time to get it cancelled. The last season was not far behind some of the best of TNG and DS9.

The key factor, I think, in all their best runs being conflict.

But there's one other factor that I think killed Enterprise, and that was the lame-ass theme song. I don't think series with lame-ass theme songs ever survive. I still think Firefly would have made it without the country theme (although I like the song).

Good shows always seem to have good music. Or maybe I'm just biased. Or maybe I just forget the bad music.

[Frazod]

Originally Posted by SNR

I LOVE this scene in Best of Both Worlds. Riker's probably my favorite human character

It's really too bad that Shelby wasn't in any more episodes. IIRC Elizabeth Dennehy had no interest in doing anything else.