My favorite TNG episode is, oddly enough, one that only I will ever have been able to see in part or in whole, because it is strictly a work of subconsious. I used to dream of it often as a child before I became a diehard trekkie, after which time I only dreamt of it once or twice. The plot is vague, and never completely the same, but I'll try to desribe it as best I can.
It would have aired in season 7, towards the end. It dealt with time travel to the 1990's, and the impression I got from the characters and locales from the 90's setting were very reminiscent of the 1994 film Free Willy (not exactly, but I could see the characters from the film and the dream episode interacting in the same world). This might have stemmed from the first time I dreamt of this as a young child. I recall vividly the away team, consisting of the most human-looking members of the bridge crew (including Captain Picard wearing a wide brim straw hat!
), disguising themselves as tourists at a beach, with tall cliffs and a sandy beach with surfers all around. Again, not sure why this was so important, it just was. Maybe the Enterprise was accidentally flung back in time? Who knows. There was also a young software developer who strongly resembled my real life dad at the time, who managed to provide cover for the away team and who hid them in his small one story house. It might have even been in San Francisco (though my family never lived there). I also vaguely remember something about orca whales who were needed to assist in navigating the Enterprise back to the future, due to the existing ones in the Cetacean labs being disoriented and too weak from the trip back in time to assist.
The more I think of it, it sounds like "The Voyage Home", but with the TNG characters instead. In some dreams it actually is a two parter, but not always. It didn't necessarily feel like "The Voyage Home" though, and that's why I loved it so much. It had a very unique ambient feeling, like nothing I'd ever seen on TNG, the like of which nonetheless did not feel out of place. The TNG cast really shone in the episode, and I remember humor being a key component of the story. Perhaps it was just the TNG version of Star Trek IV, but if that's the worst my childhood brain could come up with, I won't complain. It is a truly wonderful memory, and a dream I hope I will continue to have every once in a while for the rest of my life.
It would have aired in season 7, towards the end. It dealt with time travel to the 1990's, and the impression I got from the characters and locales from the 90's setting were very reminiscent of the 1994 film Free Willy (not exactly, but I could see the characters from the film and the dream episode interacting in the same world). This might have stemmed from the first time I dreamt of this as a young child. I recall vividly the away team, consisting of the most human-looking members of the bridge crew (including Captain Picard wearing a wide brim straw hat!
), disguising themselves as tourists at a beach, with tall cliffs and a sandy beach with surfers all around. Again, not sure why this was so important, it just was. Maybe the Enterprise was accidentally flung back in time? Who knows. There was also a young software developer who strongly resembled my real life dad at the time, who managed to provide cover for the away team and who hid them in his small one story house. It might have even been in San Francisco (though my family never lived there). I also vaguely remember something about orca whales who were needed to assist in navigating the Enterprise back to the future, due to the existing ones in the Cetacean labs being disoriented and too weak from the trip back in time to assist.The more I think of it, it sounds like "The Voyage Home", but with the TNG characters instead. In some dreams it actually is a two parter, but not always. It didn't necessarily feel like "The Voyage Home" though, and that's why I loved it so much. It had a very unique ambient feeling, like nothing I'd ever seen on TNG, the like of which nonetheless did not feel out of place. The TNG cast really shone in the episode, and I remember humor being a key component of the story. Perhaps it was just the TNG version of Star Trek IV, but if that's the worst my childhood brain could come up with, I won't complain. It is a truly wonderful memory, and a dream I hope I will continue to have every once in a while for the rest of my life.
