What is your favorite episode from each season?

Humor me. I'm sure this has been asked a 1000 times.

I haven't seen every episode of TNG yet so I won't provide mine yet.

Trying to get some ideas of which ones to check out in each season. Currently doing a rewatch but just bouncing around randomly from season to season since every episode is pretty much a reset and you can jump in at any time.

Can't wait to get some ideas for my next viewings. Thanks in advance.

 

(Because it'd be boring otherwise, I'm going to omit Q and/or Borg-related episodes)

Season 1 - 11001001
Season 2 - Contagion
Season 3 - Yesterday's Enterprise
Season 4 - The Nth Degree
Season 5 - Cause and Effect
Season 6 - Schisms
Season 7 - The Pegasus

 

What Borg ones besides BoBW and what Q episodes? I like Q but I had no idea how huge he was among fans. I was always more interested in enemy races like the Klingons, Romulans, and Cardassians in individual episodes.

 

I would say Q Who, BOBW Part 1, BOBW Part 2, Tapestry, All Good Things otherwise.

 

Season 1: Encounter at Farpoint--I don't like Q in the second half and Troi is unwatchable in this episode. But Q's speech about mankind is at the heart of the episode for me. It's a very interesting debate.

Season 2: The Measure of a Man (really hard not to pick Q Who?)--I think Patrick Stewart is at his finest, as is Brent Spiner in this very rich and thoughtful episode.

Season 3: Who Watches the Watchers?--I don't mind alien-of-the-week stories. I thought this one was particularly powerful and I wasn't about to waste my pick on BOBW, part I when I'm sure other people are capable of picking that one.

Season 4: First Contact--This is probably my favorite episode in the series. Season 4 is my favorite, but the wonderment of the scientist, Picard at his diplomatic best, the fear that would grip our society and the effect of space travel on our culture, it speaks to me on so many levels.

Season 5: Ensign Ro--Michele Forbes does some fantastic acting in this episode. She really gives a heartbreaking performance. It was hard just to choose one from this season as well. I wanted Darmok here.

Season 6: Chain of Command--Head and shoulders the best episodes of the season. Yes, I am including them both. Stewart and Warner shine.

Season 7: Parallels--Basically, every storyline we didn't do, was included in this episode. Themes and possibilities, from the peacefulness of the Bajorans to the effect on the Star Trek universe if we had stayed at war with the Borg past BOBW, is covered in this episode. It's so much fun to play with the universe like that.

This would've been easier to do if I wasn't limited to picking one per season, if I could just pick and choose my favorites across the seasons. However, I played by the rules.

 

I like Parallels, but by then, it appeared Braga could only make good episodes if a space distortion or a mindscrew was involved. After Cause and Effect, episodes like Parallels felt stale to me.

 

The whole season was horrible, in my estimation, and it started in the 6th. The acting was needlessly plodding, especially from Patrick Stewart. The long pauses, the b-rate dialogue, and the focus on the characters (without adding depth) and making them a family (instead of people doing their job), was cheesy and not well played. They were creatively dead, at that point. I don't expect too much out of the episode. Even All Good Things...is not one of Stewart's finer performances.

So I judge it against other episodes of that season. They had some strange, new worlds that didn't have any type of symbolism behind it at all. Like "Genesis." Reginald Barclay, already established, acts like a caricature of himself. We know he's nervous, he plays a cameo nervous scene. There is nothing new here. There's no link between what he becomes and what his personality is, who his character is. Instead of doing that, they do what makes sense in their background. Riker is from Alaska? Neanderthal.

This show jumped-the-shark with Tapestry. It lost its nerve, its storytelling, its acting. But the uniforms were well pressed.

 

Season 1 : Where No One Has Gone Before - This is one of those Season 1 episodes that really isn't all that hindered by "early season weirdness". I love it for being one of those Star Trek outings that makes you feel like "you know, the universe is just really gosh darned massive and bizarre and beyond my understanding, and it makes me feel tiny... but I want to know more."

Season 2: The Outrageous Okona - HA HA! Just kidding.

Season 2: Contagion - It's a pretty rousing adventure yarn. Nothing more, nothing less. Yeah, I know, picking this over Q Who and Measure of A Man is heresy. W/E.

Season 3: The Defector - It's episodes like this that make me regret how little the Romulans showed up in TNG. This is IMO, one of their best bad guy showings in the whole franchise. Riveting episode.

Season 4: The Wounded - Hard to pick over The Drumhead, but this is a great episode with a lot of stuff going for it. And the scene with O'Brien and Maxwell towards the end always propels me into a feels avalanche.

Season 5: Darmok - Gilgamesh and Enkidu, at Uruk.

Season 6: Frame of Mind - More like Frakes of Mind, amirite? Eh, I got nothin'.

Season 7: Lower Decks - Unique not only to TNG, but to the franchise as a whole. We get to see a bunch of schmucks who don't have character shields, and its pretty compelling stuff.

 

Season 1: Conspiracy
Season 2: The Measure of a Man
Season 3: Sarek
Season 4: Night Terrors
Season 5: Cause and Effect
Season 6: Chain of Command
Season 7: The Pegasus

Pretty hard to choose some of them over others I could have picked just as easily

 

S1: Arsenal of Freedom

I like this episode both because it's the best early use of the ensemble and because it's tactically interesting the way they fight against the drones.

S2: Q Who

Introduction of the series most terrifying villain.

S3: Yesterday's Enterprise

One of the early episodes that gave depth to the universe.

S4: Redemption

The culmination of the major Klingon/Romulan stories from the entire season and one of the most tactically interesting episodes. I like it in two parters where they have more room to put in interesting interchanges and scenes which don't directly drive the story, as those are often the funnest scenes.

S5: Disaster

Very underrated episodes and also one of the best ensemble episodes.

S6: Tapestry

My favorite of the series, just a beautiful and funny introspective Picard ep where Stewart and Delancie have the best repartee they have in the series.

S7: The Pegasus

One of the best morally challenging episodes of the series that manages to be moral without seeming preachy or simplistic. Also had some great dialog like that interchange between Picard and the Romulan ("What a coincidence! We are also conducting geological surveys") and some great visual design.

 

S1: Conspiracy. More riveting than any episode of that season
S2: The Measure of a Man. The premise might be a bit sticky, but the execution was outstanding
S3: The Defector. One of their most thought provoking episodes in general
S4: The Wounded just beating out The Drumhead, probably because Bob Gunton is magnificent
S5: I Borg. Maybe the only ensemble episode that hits deep with every character
S6: Chain of Command. People have been arguing one way or the other on this episode ever since
S7: The Pegasus. With half a season left in the series, they accomplished what their best & brightest couldn't in 6 and a half before it. They made Riker interesting

 

1. The Neutral Zone
2. Q Who
3. The Best of Both Worlds
4. The Wounded
5. Darmok
6. Relics
7. Lower Decks

 

1. The Neutral Zone
2. Q,Who?
3. The Offspring
4. In Theory
5. The Inner Light
6. Birthright part 1
7. Thine Own Self

 

^ "The Offspring" was my runner-up for season three. I actually wrote it out, and backspaced over it.

 

Season:
1. Where No One Has Gone Before
2. Measure of a Man (extended)
3. Yesterday's Enterprise
4. Best of Both Worlds I and II
5. Darmok
6. The Chase
7. Parallels

 

Season 1: 11001001
Season 2: Measure of a Man-Extended Edition
Season 3: The Defector
Season 4: So many but I'll go with an underrated one, The Mind's Eye
Season 5: Ensign Ro
Season 6: Chain of Command II
Season 7: All Good Things... or Preemptive Strike

 

Season 1: Conspiracy
Season 2: Q Who?
Season 3: The Defector
Season 4: First Contact(very hard choice)
Season 5: The Inner Light
Season 6: Tapestry
Season 7: Phantasms

 

I had thought of Best of Both Worlds. But thought of it as a general favorite rather than a more personal favorite.

 

Season 1: We'll Always Have Paris. I am a Star Trek fan first and foremost because of the atmosphere in TNG. This episode greatly demonstrates the power of a good soundtrack and a sound story. Really enjoy this one.

Season 2: God, it just has to be Q Who. The Borg before they were ruined were just a ruthless and relentless villian introduced with some fantastic dialogue from DeLancie. The "bloody nose" speech has to make a top ten list as far as soap box speeches go.

Season 3: This season kind of just blends together somewhat but I'll go with Yesterday's Enterprise. This one kind of jumps out in the middle of a vanilla season.

Season 4: Family. We see that the end credits from BOBW aren't going to be enough to shake the impact left on Picard by his encounter with the Borg. The Worf B story wasn't all that great but Picard had some great moments here.

Season 5: Ensign Ro. Great character that we never quite got to see fulfill her potential storywise. The novels take good care of her but Forbes was great in this role.

Season 6: Tapestry A quintessential Q episode. He is a pain in the ass but usually leaves the crew with some sort of insight that proves to be beneficial. This time he isolates his interests to Picard and the road not taken. Love it.

Season 7. Dark Page This season gave hints of the show being in it's death throes but this one was a standout to me. Barrett buckles down and gives a solid performance that shows us some significant character development for Lwaxana.

 

Season 1: Skin of Evil
Season 2: The Measure of a Man
Season 3: The Offspring
Season 4: Family
Season 5: Darmok
Season 6: Ship in a Bottle
Season 7: Lower Decks