10 Best Star Trek: The Next Generation Episodes 

I think that's my #2 (Behind Inner Light). One thing that's taken for granted is the universal translator, that all these alien species use language in the same way (words + syntax) as humans. Darmok says "Why does that have to be the case?" and shows us that it doesn't. It's genius.

I actually didn't care much for that episode the first few times I saw it. But it grew on me. I'm pretty sure they reused the alien ship from that episode several times on DS9.

Darmok and Jalad on the ocean

@@justinstrong8189 Darmok & Jalad getting drunk 🍺🍷on the ocean. 😁

I think about getting that t-shirt nearly daily

As a army veteran myself, I get that...I feel that...salute battle

@@danielland3767 I think it's something only people indoctrinated in the (US) Military Code of Conduct will truly understand.

@@NMiller_ agreed, at some point you defy your own logic when your mind seems gone. You slip into thos defiant like state & just go their, purely to piss off whomever it is...lbvs

Excellent point. That’s extra scene and admission of weakness is what sets TNG and other Trek series apart from other science fiction. They aren’t invincible superheroes traversing the galaxy.

@@tanman99 you are right, just heroes that even at their worse they are completely defiant. It also shows how working with a political adversary can be touchy & delicate process. Both sides could have "publicly" denied all knowledge of that operation. What would have been great to see is the retaliation that Starfleet & Section 31 (I believe to be the equivalent of CIA) would have done. Especially since Section 31 operates more independently then CIA does.

Thanks for the info. I didn't know that

Yep. Jellico was very competent. He was just very different from Picard.

yeah, i mean he DID save Picard, and you can NOT underestimate his victory in getting Troi in a f'ing uniform.

I like Jellico! He was an amazing captain.

Even when Ronny Cox gets to play a competent lickable character he’s seen as an antagonist.

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That one's my least favorite. Which is funny since I'm usually for mental health issues portrayed more accurately in media.

Frame of Mind was such a mindfuck... first time I saw it I just freaked!

@@jstaversky This is why i love it so much. i love episodes, that go really deep and make you feel uncomfortable and give you chills. And Jonathan Frakes did a hell of a performance. You could feel, how he slowly lost his mind. I wish, we had more episodes like this. there are only a few episodes, that go so dark like Frame of Mind.

That was flipped on _Voyager_ when the Doctor beams away for a minute and two years elapses for him. :^D

Inner Light is also my personal favorite. It's beyond beautiful. But I can also understand how he can rank YE and BoBW higher, simply because Inner Light is less "Star Trekky".

Wonderful, lovely episode. Very bittersweet.

Ro: Preemptive Strike Worf: Sins of the Father - by far Riker: A Matter of Honor Giordi (sort of): The Enemy Pulaski (sort of): Elementary Dear Data Data: Most Toys the others are correct lol

Data - The Measure Of A Man

Frame of mind is such an amazing episode

That would not be advisable.

@@J0HNJ0RDAN The idea of ST:TNG without Data. Frightening!

I have always felt Jellico doesn’t get respect he deserves. Riker and all the senior officers were acting like a elementary school kids with a substitute teacher instead of star fleet officers and just adjusting to the new captains policies. At the end of the day Jellico got his assignment done.

Yes, Jellico was skilled and succeeded (and the militaristic-authoritarian appeal is evident) and though I can appreciate the point of being better suited for the mission, 'being more hot-headed and no-nonsense' is not a recipe for winning the long game. Those traits were character flaws (When did the 'slimey double-talk' of the Cardassians ever manipulate Picard?). In addition, to say that the blunt instrument of Jellico is a precursor to Sisko undermines The Sisko's complexity; he had more than a hammer in his tool box (His tactics in the episode "In The Pale Moonlight" was an outlier, as intended). Though it was refreshing to see other dynamics and tactics, Jellico was reckless and not only jeopardized the mission, but also Picard's life in captivity, and all-out war. Over-praising Jellico ignores the values of Star Trek and misses the point of the episode. ..."There are FOUR LIGHTS!" Shots fired; pew pew!

@@luker093 I thought Deanna Troy tried to undermine Jellico in that episode. By stating that he actually lacked confidence, that made him look bad in front of the senior officers. Jellico may have had doubts about his course of action, but, he stuck to his game plan. He did get the Cardassians to release Picard.

Agreed. I love Riker but he acted like a spoilt brat in that episode, jelico was a very excellent captain. The narrater seemed like he never actually watched this episode.

I love when Captain Jellico and Geordi are in the shuttlecraft talking about Titan's turn and then when they're in the nebula and you hear the proximity alarm going off and Geordi asks Riker do I want to know how close that was and Riker with that stern no the readout I believe was like 1000 kilometers or less

Da dadaaaa dadadadaaa daaaaa dadaaaaaaaaaaaa

Yesterday's Enterprise: A tight and well-written script, pace, acting, and direction. Not an ounce of 'fat'. It flows smoothly, logically with excellent vignettes throughout the episode. (And, a wonderful prelude to Sela in Redemption 1/2 .. also two of my favorites episodes.)

Relics. Geordi was more dickish than usual though. He had more patience with "Broccoli" than with a legend, made no sense.

"...forget it, I wrote it. A good engineer is always a wee bit conservative, at least on paper."

@@alexpayne5914 Thought so ever since it came out. Wonder if Burton thought so as well and 'fought against it'. A rewrite of sorts.

Time's Arrow

@@Rockhound6165 Yes!! Thank you & Happy New Year 🎊🎉🎈

For some reason it gets hate 🤷🏻‍♂️

and Jack London (Call of the Wild author).

All of the holideck episodes are unique...

Mine too. It was so well written and acted that you cared deeply about these characters......

The Inner Light is more than Science Fiction

@@karlojara Agreed! It's a great story all unto itself. My favorite of TNG.

What's it about though

Great episode but my personal favourite is tapestry

Also, he said in the video that Data planted a self destruct command in the borg. Not at all true. He planted a sleep command, that resulted in an error in the borg that resulted in the ship self destructing...big difference! Did this guy even watch star trek?

I agree, refreshing to see Picard humble

Lol he’s mentioned in the spiderverse crossover

Spider Barclay was awesome and I love that episode but it really wasn’t one of the best. I just love it because it’s such fun-Troy as an amphibian 😄

Deanna troi needs to clear her schedule

It was a good one.

True best acting by far

Definitely in my top 10 for all series. Sisko is my favorite Capitan.

LOL! Love these 'in-group' snips at these posts.

I wonder if that scene (Troi's lack of uniform) was put in to make him negative. Didn't work for me.

He was probably the most talented actor on the show.

For sure. Stewart raised the bar for all Star Trek actors especially the captains.

@@MackerelCat I completely agree with you. A lot of the other TNG actors were good in their own right. But Patrick Stewart was the most talented. He really brought the Picard character to life. 😁

The scene of Picard and Worf singing Gilbert and Sullivan while trying not to burn up in a shuttlecraft is my favorite tip of the hat to Stewart's stage career.

@@dskyyksd Yes. I think I know what you're talking about. In the movie Insurrection when they were trying the dock with Data's shuttle ?

Beautiful story. Paul Winfield was wonderful.

Darmok and Jalad... on the ocean

This made me laugh

Shaka, when the walls fell...

His arms wide

This is my new favorite episode "the distance between suspicion and rampant paranoia is very much shorter than we think", something like that. One of the best lines in all of Star Trek.

Yes that is where it begins and I do not like what we have become. You open these proceedings to the public yes Captain spice don't like being in the light. Another great episode

Drumhead was a great episode, and better than at least two or three on this list, IMO.

@@mrspaceman2764 And very real today.

Sideshow Bob

Strictly speaking time does not pass inside a transporter buffer. As seen in the episode with Scotty and the Dyson Sphere. I'd say its more like being stuck on a planet called Risa, trying to spend your time productively and thus reading a good book and the locals keep interrupting you.

He did play that flute often afterwards.....

Yes he even talks about it in the episode Lessons they're in a section of the ship with his flute and she has the piano and the acoustics are reflecting off of the hull

Well said.

Good point, Jelico was way more aggressive the Picard. Picard was more "I'll let you do this, but I need you at your best" which is what the crew gave him. Jelico was moreso "I know you are the best, but you will look like the best". Maybe to show that they where the best crew in the Federation & look like it from jump. Picard had a "lure them in & make them look like a ass" type leadership. Jelico had a "I'll put the fear of God in them so they won't challenge us" type leadership. Jelico also had no time to explain this to the crew which is why I think Picard was not abrasive to Jelico as his crew was. Picard understood both means of leadership & respected it. I'm also pretty sure that most of Jelico crew of any ship would say "he is tough but fair across the board" which sounds like Jelico. He seems tough, but once you realize he is tough on EVERYONE then you can respect him & ask how he did it later.

Yes! I didn't like him much at first but .. after a few viewings I gained more respect for him.

Tony Todd was in three: TNG, DS9, and Voyager. All good but .. damn! he was just stunning in The Visitor.

I like "there's plenty of letters left in the alphabet" (closing of "Generations"). Maybe should be more like "Counselor, you need to go back to flight school!"

Hallie Todd was wonderful.

I totally agree. It's so sad that Data can't feel dad for the loss of his daughter.

Interesting. Thought same thing. (George C. Scott) James Sloyan. Also played Bejoran scientist Mora Pol.

Agreed. The penny flute solo from this episode is an absolutely beautiful piece of music. Also a very very good episode.

I know, right.

Same.

Yes, that is a good one, too! Not the stupid torture episode that should never even have been included in the show.

Tapestry was better than a couple of these, to be sure.

And Family

@@roccofregoti8061 First Obligation = First Duty? Also not sure what Traitor is.

@@OldUKAds Probably The Defector.

Love seeing the appreciation for Lower Decks.

@@OldUKAds yeah, the one about the accident in Starfleet Academy. The Traitor is about the Romulan defector which appears in this countdown.

I don't know how you could be so mistaken. 😁

I just realized that 4 out of the 5 are tragedies.

Enterprise is my favourite of them all

Just not the racist one, Code of Honor

Real easy to see how Marc Alaimo got the part for Dukat. A shoe-in.

But the ten here are great, if you put that in one has to come out.

"His hands....moved faster than I could see". I cry every time.

That episode is notable for being the directoral debut of Jonathan Frakes.

Same here, that was the one for me too, and I felt it was only ever topped by The Inner Light. The Lower Decks is another episode that often gets lost in the shuffle as well.

The Offspring and Lower Decks were both great episodes. This list has to be longer!

"Get's you right here" makes me chuckle every time I see it...

And now they got John Delancy to come back for Picard season 2.

Actually if you think about it thank you have been in Star Trek since it's existence you first see them in where no man has gone before in the original episode although they were in called The q they weren't actually given a name and then of course in the opening pilot for the next generation and appearance in Star Trek deep space nine where he fights Cisco in a boxing ring and he shows up one time in Odos office I believe and then of course you see him Star Trek Voyager he makes at least three appearances one of the episodes is called Q2 I believe that is where they meet his son now all grown up and I think they just very briefly mention of being an Enterprise

My background in grad school was linguistics ... way back when. Just did/do so much background on the linguistic/socio-linguistic aspect of language and myth.

I played it several times within a year of the show. Friends asking for it were so glad I watched ST: TNG with such dedication!

Those are my top 2 as well.

@@lindenstromberg6859 They're such human episodes told with earnestness. Really touching. You don't see that very much.

It’s my favourite TNG episode too. Should definitely be here.

I've seen that episode so many times that I understand the Tamarian language.

Shaka, when the walls fell.

Lol, which one

@@danielland3767 The TNG episode "Lower Decks", after which the series was named.

@@roberthunter5059 my knowledge of the ep didn't go that far, but what was the ep about? I've seen it a few times but keep forgetting

LOL

I agree

And Sisko Picard Janeway Kirk are the best 4...

You are right... If you replace Sisco with Kirk and change the order to Janeway, Picard, Kirk.....