best mindfuck episodes?

[empty]

i'm selectively rewatching some of tng, and i realized that i had missed out quite a few episodes the last time i tried to rewatch and from the original run i don't remember that much since i was like 8 years old when it finished.

so... what are some great mindbending episodes, with good twists (no spoilers please), or just far out concepts or ideas in them?

i'm thinking eps like cause & effect, conundrum, future imperfect and stuff like that.

 

[Alrik]

Silicon Avatar, Clues, and A Matter of Pespective might fit the bill.

 

[Geck]

Parallels and Frame of Mind are two more great ones.

 

[Supernuke]

Ship in a Bottle was crazy! I'm pretty sure I still haven't figured that one out!

 

[sonak]

shades of gray

 

[empty]

shades of gray

umm, no thanks

 

[Shatnertage]

"All hands abandon ship. Repeat, all hands abandon..."

There's no way you're not going to watch after that teaser.

I'd throw "Parallels" and "The Survivors" in, off the top of my head.

 

[LitmusDragon]

Schisms

"I've been in this room before."

Also, the language of the alien race in Darmok is pretty "out there" as far as concepts go

 

[Finn]

(no spoilers please)

Not to derail the thread, but it has been nearly 24 years since TNG premiered, and 17 years it ended. Spoiler warnings isn't really necessary. And for those new to Trek, it would be tough to avoid spoilers especially in the Trek forums. Even some of the captions in the Caption It contests could be considered spoilers. If I was new to trek, I'd avoid this place like the plague.


With that out of the way, I agree with the episodes the others picked already.

 

[tomalak301]

This might not be a popular choice, but Eye of the Beholder. Not only has it been mentioned yet, but I think this episode gave me bad dreams for like a week. Peirce was one creepy bastard.

 

[Finn]

^Yes, It left me uncertain which part was real or not, like Frame of Mind.

 

[MHT1138]

I think the two best episodes that mess with your mind are Ship in a Bottle and Future Imperfect

others that haven't been mentioned include
The Big Goodbye- the first holodeck episode they hadn't quite figured the rules out yet
The Royale- because its so weird and surreal
Remember Me- Pretty cool when Beverly figures out where everyone is going
The Minds Eye- The scene with Geordi and O'Brien especially
A matter of Time- cool little time travel episode, plus Matt Frewer is awesome
Realm of Fear- Barclay has a legitimate reason to fear transporting
Dark Page- because of Lwaxana's secret and
The Pegasus- Cool new technology the federation has plus Riker backstory

There you go! check those out and no spoilers

 

[Mojochi]

Worf's decision in The Enemy really messed with my head at the time

 

[USS Excelsior]

Schisms

 

[Cakemixo]

Night Terrors might fit the bill.
Identity Crisis might also.
Frame of Mind works.
All Good Things... at least in the beginning would work.

 

[Art Vandelay]

I'm surprised no one has mentioned Phantasms, Masks and Emergence just yet.

Add to that the already mentioned episodes Parallels and Eye of the Beholder, and a pattern emerges - season 7 had its fair share of surreal episodes.

While these aren't "the best episodes ever" (apart from Parallels, which is rather awesome), I appreciate their inherent weirdness and happily rewatch all of them from time to time.

Runner-up in terms of weirdness is season 2 with Where Silence Has Lease, The Royale and Time Squared.

 

[pimp]

shades of gray

LOL

 

[SPCTRE]

Remember Me

It's certainly a cheesy episode, but I love the premise and Beverly's dilemma.

 

[Kadratis]

Definitely Frame of Mind.

 

[indolover]

Where Silence Has Lease. I to this day don't get this episode, since I don't get what it relates to. Eps like The Drumhead, Tapestry, The Defector, even a weak episode like When the Bough Breaks have some kind of allegorical point to them.

Or is the point "avoid space holes at your peril!!"