Episodes that got better or worse after repeated viewings

[Pikirk_Janesisko]

I was rewatching TNG recently, got as far as season 5. I started appreciating episodes that I never liked very much, while there's some that didn't aged well for me. Do you have any episode that you started liking it or dislike it after repeated viewings?

I'll start...
"The Nth Degree" was one that didn't clicked for me at the first time. However, the more I watched it, the more I started to like. It's a fun episode but I used to find it really dumb until I decided to give a chance.

On the other side of the coin, it's "Unification" I and II. Back then I thought it was great, but now I don't like it very much. The filler plot on the Enterprise is unsuffurable but even the scenes with Spock feels flat and uninteresting to me. A missed opportunity to bring him back, and I was wondering why I even liked "Unification" in the first place.

 

[Laughing Dragon]

Actually, I don't think the first season was particularly worse on repeated viewings for myself, anyway.

 

[Mojochi]

Yesterday's Enterprise is one of those episodes we all look back on fondly, & it was one that was very surprising at the time, & there are solid moments in there that make it a good episode, definitely a notable one, but on repeated viewings, the Tasha moments, which comprise a lot of the run time, just don't hold up, & drag it down quite a lot for me. It's basically an amazing premise that gets spent on what is essentially a character being brought back from death to have a romance of the week. Guinan, Picard & Garrett are way more interesting, & are relegated to being the background for Tasha & Castillo

Whereas, Timescape is almost a forgettable episode, that I barely remembering having any impact at all when I 1st saw it, but I often go back to watch it, because it's got some good activity, that makes for good viewing. I kind of feel the same way about The Next Phase

 

[at Quark's]

The last outpost.

Don't get me wrong, I always thought the planetbound part was crap, and I still do; and therefore I remembered the entire episode as crap, but on rewatching I noticed that the first part of the episode (on the ship) is actually well done imho, with a nice buildup in how they introduce the Ferengi and the uncertainties of the TNG crew about them.

Well, except for that silly chinese finger puzzle Data gets stuck in.

 

[Pikirk_Janesisko]

Whereas, Timescape is almost a forgettable episode, that I barely remembering having any impact at all when I 1st saw it, but I often go back to watch it, because it's got some good activity, that makes for good viewing. I kind of feel the same way about The Next Phase

I agree with this. Timescape it's good. I think overall, season 2 isn't as bad as I remember. I would put it on the underrated side if wasn't for the really awful episodes like "Up the Long Ladder" or "The Outrageous Okona". "Contagion" is another one that I used to dislike it but on my rewatch I really enjoyed it.

 

[gakelly]

Watching Cause and Effect and Time Squared...they seem like the same episode. I thought they were cool when I was a kid, but now that I am older, I think they are both awful episodes.

 

[Farscape One]

For me, a better way to articulate my feelings is certain characters come off better on rewatches.

Pulaski is a perfect example. When it was first aired, I hated her. Her berating of Data REALLY soured me, because he was my favorite character.

As I got older and rewatched more often, I took a step back and realized just how much she actually grew in that one season she was in. She started off thinking he was a walking calculator, until she gradually not only respected him as a person, but was fully on his side when he was in contact with Sarjenka in "Pen Pals". She even goes so far as to say the little girl is important to him, and that is reason enough for her.

I ended up really appreciating and loving her character as an adult. In fact, I daresay she got the best development of all the TNG leads in 1 year than almost all of them got in 7.

(And I truly love all the leads, but the nature of the episodic format really did hurt them in actual development. DS9 learned the lessons of what TNG didn't do very, very well.)

 

[Laughing Dragon]

For me, a better way to articulate my feelings is certain characters come off better on rewatches.

Pulaski is a perfect example. When it was first aired, I hated her. Her berating of Data REALLY soured me, because he was my favorite character.

As I got older and rewatched more often, I took a step back and realized just how much she actually grew in that one season she was in. She started off thinking he was a walking calculator, until she gradually not only respected him as a person, but was fully on his side when he was in contact with Sarjenka in "Pen Pals". She even goes so far as to say the little girl is important to him, and that is reason enough for her.

I ended up really appreciating and loving her character as an adult. In fact, I daresay she got the best development of all the TNG leads in 1 year than almost all of them got in 7.

(And I truly love all the leads, but the nature of the episodic format really did hurt them in actual development. DS9 learned the lessons of what TNG didn't do very, very well.)

I love Data too and I hated how she cut him down but I learned to accept her as time went by and definitely in Pen Pals she came to respect him for valuing the life of that alien girl because she said HER emotions were involved in her own decision making and she ended up being on his side. And that was Kates big thing against Data is that he would be cold and unfeeling. Anyway, she was supposed to be a McCoy to Data's Spock but it was harder to accept her because she seemed to treat Data as a second-class citizen but McCoy was just hot air.

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I wanted to find the clip when she told Data he was doing a good thing by helping her but I could not but I got this ...

 

[Oddish]

As I got older and rewatched more often, I took a step back and realized just how much she actually grew in that one season she was in. She started off thinking he was a walking calculator, until she gradually not only respected him as a person, but was fully on his side when he was in contact with Sarjenka in "Pen Pals". She even goes so far as to say the little girl is important to him, and that is reason enough for her.

Dr. Pulaski's value to the series is often understated. Consider this: https://www.denofgeek.com/tv/star-trek-how-dr-pulaski-helped-the-next-generation-find-its-feet/

 

[suarezguy]

I think "Manhunt" marginally improves on repeat viewings, after getting over the weirdness that it is such a low-key but full-blown comedy. "The Enemy" and "The Emissary" also improve in that initially parts of them (mostly the initial friction) seemed a bit one-note repetitive, that seems more OK or at least not as damaging.

 

[Mojochi]

Second Chances gets both better & worse on repeat viewings. It gets better in that it's just a run of the mill doppelganger episode at 1st glance, but the more you delve into it, they really turn the trope on its ear, exploring the truths of age & experience, making the duplicate not extraordinary in some way, like The Enemy Within, or Time Squared, & then just letting the guy live on in the universe at the end

It gets worse, because normally a doppelganger episode favors the main character over the duplicate, but in this case of retrofitting the gimmick, Tom is the more sympathetic character. Will doesn't come off well at all, & I think that owes to Frakes' choices as an actor. Frankly, even Deanna isn't at her best in this one either. She really just exacerbates the difficulty of this situation... At least as a counselor, tasked by Picard to make the guy feel comfortable, welcome & to see to his well being. Basically, everything Picard told them to do for the guy, they couldn't have fouled up worse, short of letting him fall to his death at the end.

 

[Oddish]

I actually liked "Homeward" at first. Then I realized just how deplorably it assassinated Captain Picard.

 

[Pikirk_Janesisko]

For me, I initially hated The Drumhead, but later on, I appreciated what the story was trying to convey to the audience. My dislike for Nora Satie soured the entire thing for me upon my first viewing of it years ago. I truly could not stand the way she acted and pulled Worf into her thrall the way she did, and it seemed like Picard's hands were tied. What happened to poor Lt. Tarsas drobve it over the edge for me!

In one way or another, the episode did its job since Satie was so unlikable that made you dislike the whole thing. I'm glad you enjoyed now, since it's probably my favorite TNG episode!

"Captain's Holiday" is one on rewatch that does not hold up. The fact that Picard was willing to give the Tox Uthat to the Vorgons until the ending makes him look stupid. The whole episode feels inconsequential and I don't really buy the Picard and Vash relationship. And I used to really like this one.

 

[tomalak301]

Episodes that got worse on repeated viewings (But not bad)

Clues - Picard was way too excitable in this one
Best of Both Worlds - Good episode, but it loses some luster after the 10th viewing
Disaster - Not a fan of the kids

Episodes that got Better on Repeated Viewings:

Dark Page - Wasn't a fan of this one on first viewing but it slowly became my favorite Lwaxana episode
Loud as a Whisper - I appreciated the commentary on using a weakness as a strength

 

[Vger23]

Episodes that got worse on repeated viewings (But not bad)

Clues - Picard was way too excitable in this one
Best of Both Worlds - Good episode, but it loses some luster after the 10th viewing
Disaster - Not a fan of the kids

Episodes that got Better on Repeated Viewings:

Dark Page - Wasn't a fan of this one on first viewing but it slowly became my favorite Lwaxana episode
Loud as a Whisper - I appreciated the commentary on using a weakness as a strength

My “favorite Lwaxana episode” is analogous to “my favorite root canal”

 

[Oddish]

"Dark Page" is one of the very few TNG episodes where Lwaxana wasn't totally obnoxious. The other being "Half a Life", which I hate passionately, virulently, and eternally for reasons unrelated to Lwaxana.

 

[tomalak301]

My “favorite Lwaxana episode” is analogous to “my favorite root canal”

She was annoying in most of her episodes, but Dark Page, Half a Life, and DS9's The Forsaken showed a serious side to the character which finally made her interesting.

 

[Qonundrum]

"Disaster" - I used to loathe the "annual candy bar wrapper send-in contest". It's still dreadful in that area, but still fits TNG';s "families on a starship" shtick. What really improved was the decisions of command stuff and Ro/Troi arguing.

"The Bonding" I used to loathe as well. Time must change people because I found it to be more engaging this time. It also has a new take on the incorporeal life form shtick that really works more wonders than anything I originally gave it credit for. It's a great episode for Worf and Wesley and the Aster boy.

I used to loathe "Ethics" for being so contrived... I still dislike some of the conveniences and plot contrivances that are so beneath TNG's highly vaunted status, but the Riker scene was incredibly well thought out and my last rewatch found more intrigue from that subplot more than anything else.

"Yesterday's Enterprise" for the reasons @Mojochi said. The Yar/Richard subplot dragged on longer than my ex when he was championing the noble cause of falling off the wagon while simultaneously making relationship decisions for the both of us. Now there's a TNG B- and C- plot jumble right there...

Season 1... I remember this as far back as 1992. After how dreary seasons 5 and 6 were getting (of which the change of incidental music format was a huge contributor, just look at "Power Play"'s musical misteps for example) and reruns were showing season 1, which was a lot more lively and less soap opera-like, a newfound appreciation did grow for it, even with some of its cornier installments... there's a charm that has had the initial half of TNG improving over time, while the latter half often has not.

You should do a similar post for TOS, BTW...

 

[suarezguy]

I actually liked "Homeward" at first. Then I realized just how deplorably it assassinated Captain Picard.

He had been staunchly, proudly non-interventionist since year 1.

 

[Laughing Dragon]

"Dark Page" is one of the very few TNG episodes where Lwaxana wasn't totally obnoxious. The other being "Half a Life", which I hate passionately, virulently, and eternally for reasons unrelated to Lwaxana.

It became one of my favorite eps of that season and is one of my favorite Troi eps too. Lawaxnas role goes without saying.

"Disaster" - I used to loathe the "annual candy bar wrapper send-in contest". It's still dreadful in that area, but still fits TNG';s "families on a starship" shtick. What really improved was the decisions of command stuff and Ro/Troi arguing.

Troi really asserted herself in that episode. I usually preferred her the detective. I think it set ground for her wanting to stretch herself more in the final season. It was ultimately good.

CLUES is probably my favorite Data episode and I loved it more each viewing. I was meh in the beginning because I didn't feel well first go and Datas career in jeopardy again and his right as a sentient being left me a bit cold by then. But it turned out way different than I expected. It was entertaining anyway and made me see Data in different ways. And Picard.