I first tuned into TNG back in 1987 with the premiere of "Encounter at Farpoint."
With that being said, and being one of the few ex-pat Americans to be posting on a Trek message board all the way here from South Korea, here are my reviews:
"Encounter at Farpoint" (TNG) -
It's a good introduction to the TNG cast with a great adversary to kick off the first episode. Patrick Stewart still had a few seasons left in him to become comfortable with his role, but Jonathan Frakes got off the ground running with Riker and Brent Spiner showed promise of what was to come for Data with his initial portrayal of the never-aging android. I was impressed with the updated special-effects and the upgraded sets compared to the original show. Highlights included Q's grid, the saucer separation sequence, and the cameo by DeForest Kelley.
"Hide and Q" (TNG) -
A good parable to Jesus Christ's temptation by the devil while he was fasting in the desert for 40 days. The visuals pretty much tell the entire story without even needing the dialogue. Frakes does a solid job here as Riker as he holds his own against de Lancie and Stewart. This was the episode that introduced Picard's Shakespeare tome. Highlights for me included the scene where Q turns into Data and Riker giving gifts to his crewmates -- including turning Wesley into a youngman who looked nothing like him by the time of Star Trek: Nemesis.
"Q Who?" (TNG) -
The first appearance by the Borg. "The Best of Both Worlds" 2-parter improved upon this initial episode, but this episode has surprisingly held up over the years compared to the "Descent" 2-parter and all the Borg episodes presented on "Voyager" and "Enterprise." With all the failed attempts at assimilating Earth, who knew they actually had a Queen and a transwarp hub?
"Deja Q" (TNG) -
This episode is par for the course for the excellent 3rd season. Another fine outing which showcases de Lancie's fine, thespian talents. The whole plot about the planet almost being destroyed was just a maguffin, but then again so were pretty much most of Q's episodes from here on end just to find reasons to bring him back to the show. Personally, that Corbin Bersen cameo would have worked better had it been John Tesh!
"Qpid" (TNG) -
A nod to The Adventures of Robin Hood, which wasn't half-bad. At least Stewart was in the spirit of things, and de Lancie did his usual best playing the dastardly villain, but everyone else looked like they'd rather be somewhere else...
"True Q" (TNG) -
Besides Olivia d'Abo ("Schwing!"), the rest of the episode was utterly forgettable. Dreadful. Skippable. And Q's shadowy boss was more of a "WTF?" than a genuine sense of awe and mystery...
"Q-less" (DS9) -
Q did not work on DS9. They really got off on the wrong foot with Q aboard the station meeting "Benji" and the gang. To put it succinctly, when you think of DS9 episodes like "The Wire," "Rapture," "In Purgatory's Shadow/By Inferno's Light," and "In the Pale Moonlight" come to mind. Definitely, not this one.
"Tapestry" (TNG) -
Every single Q episode without the word Q in the title has been a homerun for me and this definitely qualifies as one of those gems. A good moral lesson for young and old, alike.
"All Good Things..." (TNG) -
A tour-de-force final episode. Sure, the writers borrowed liberally from Kurt Vonnegut's Slaughterhouse-Five, but I could not think of another source material that would have better served as a model for a finer final episode.
"Death Wish" (VOY) -
"Voyager's" best Q episode. Finely written. Definitely worth checking out, eventhough Q really could have just snapped his fingers and sent USS Voyager back home had he wanted...but UPN obviously stepped in (as always).
"The Q and the Grey" (VOY) -
Things just became silly with the introduction of the Q weapons made of US Civil War-era muskets. I didn't much like the backdrop of that historical era as an analogy for the civil war erupting in the Q Continuum. Again, Q definitely could have gotten the USS Voyager back home, but the writers copped out for obvious reasons. Things became just progressively silly with this episode, and de Lancie's Q probably would have been better-off had he had only a solo "Voyager" outing.
"Q2" (VOY) -
de Lancie's son show's promise as a budding actor, but nothing about this episode was particularly redeemable. In the end, like the Borg, the character of Q was milked dry just for the sake of ratings. Now, what almost killed off the Paramount Corporate Trek Cash Cow? GREED!
With that being said, and being one of the few ex-pat Americans to be posting on a Trek message board all the way here from South Korea, here are my reviews:
"Encounter at Farpoint" (TNG) -
It's a good introduction to the TNG cast with a great adversary to kick off the first episode. Patrick Stewart still had a few seasons left in him to become comfortable with his role, but Jonathan Frakes got off the ground running with Riker and Brent Spiner showed promise of what was to come for Data with his initial portrayal of the never-aging android. I was impressed with the updated special-effects and the upgraded sets compared to the original show. Highlights included Q's grid, the saucer separation sequence, and the cameo by DeForest Kelley.
"Hide and Q" (TNG) -
A good parable to Jesus Christ's temptation by the devil while he was fasting in the desert for 40 days. The visuals pretty much tell the entire story without even needing the dialogue. Frakes does a solid job here as Riker as he holds his own against de Lancie and Stewart. This was the episode that introduced Picard's Shakespeare tome. Highlights for me included the scene where Q turns into Data and Riker giving gifts to his crewmates -- including turning Wesley into a youngman who looked nothing like him by the time of Star Trek: Nemesis.
"Q Who?" (TNG) -
The first appearance by the Borg. "The Best of Both Worlds" 2-parter improved upon this initial episode, but this episode has surprisingly held up over the years compared to the "Descent" 2-parter and all the Borg episodes presented on "Voyager" and "Enterprise." With all the failed attempts at assimilating Earth, who knew they actually had a Queen and a transwarp hub?
"Deja Q" (TNG) -
This episode is par for the course for the excellent 3rd season. Another fine outing which showcases de Lancie's fine, thespian talents. The whole plot about the planet almost being destroyed was just a maguffin, but then again so were pretty much most of Q's episodes from here on end just to find reasons to bring him back to the show. Personally, that Corbin Bersen cameo would have worked better had it been John Tesh!
"Qpid" (TNG) -
A nod to The Adventures of Robin Hood, which wasn't half-bad. At least Stewart was in the spirit of things, and de Lancie did his usual best playing the dastardly villain, but everyone else looked like they'd rather be somewhere else...
"True Q" (TNG) -
Besides Olivia d'Abo ("Schwing!"), the rest of the episode was utterly forgettable. Dreadful. Skippable. And Q's shadowy boss was more of a "WTF?" than a genuine sense of awe and mystery...
"Q-less" (DS9) -
Q did not work on DS9. They really got off on the wrong foot with Q aboard the station meeting "Benji" and the gang. To put it succinctly, when you think of DS9 episodes like "The Wire," "Rapture," "In Purgatory's Shadow/By Inferno's Light," and "In the Pale Moonlight" come to mind. Definitely, not this one.
"Tapestry" (TNG) -
Every single Q episode without the word Q in the title has been a homerun for me and this definitely qualifies as one of those gems. A good moral lesson for young and old, alike.
"All Good Things..." (TNG) -
A tour-de-force final episode. Sure, the writers borrowed liberally from Kurt Vonnegut's Slaughterhouse-Five, but I could not think of another source material that would have better served as a model for a finer final episode.
"Death Wish" (VOY) -
"Voyager's" best Q episode. Finely written. Definitely worth checking out, eventhough Q really could have just snapped his fingers and sent USS Voyager back home had he wanted...but UPN obviously stepped in (as always).
"The Q and the Grey" (VOY) -
Things just became silly with the introduction of the Q weapons made of US Civil War-era muskets. I didn't much like the backdrop of that historical era as an analogy for the civil war erupting in the Q Continuum. Again, Q definitely could have gotten the USS Voyager back home, but the writers copped out for obvious reasons. Things became just progressively silly with this episode, and de Lancie's Q probably would have been better-off had he had only a solo "Voyager" outing.
"Q2" (VOY) -
de Lancie's son show's promise as a budding actor, but nothing about this episode was particularly redeemable. In the end, like the Borg, the character of Q was milked dry just for the sake of ratings. Now, what almost killed off the Paramount Corporate Trek Cash Cow? GREED!
