Ranking the Episodes of Season Four

I found TNG's fourth season to be its most consistent. There were few super high quality episodes, but almost no bad ones. Nearly everything fell in between decent and darn good.

Season Four Review

The Ugly
Qpid

The Bad
Devil's Due

The Meh
Suddenly Human
The Loss
The Host
Half a Life

The Decent
Legacy
Final Mission
The Nth Degree
Identity Crisis
First Contact
In Theory
Galaxy's Child
Nigh Terrors

The Good
The Wounded
Brothers
Family
Future Imperfect
Clues
The Mind's Eye
Data's Day
Reunion
Redemption Part 1
Remember Me

The Great
The Drumhead
The Best of Both Worlds Part 2

 

Hi all, it's me again - the cure for insomnia! Here's my list:

The Ugly
Suddenly Human - Oh goody, the kid from "Our House" (an incredibly boring and schmaltz-driven from the late-1980s show about a family, which is as exciting as the show's title wasn't) gets to dredge through one of the final season 4 entries that's taken the "fish taken out of water by abduction or whatever" trope so worn out, didn't people get their fix for all this when Picard got borgified? Thankfully the show's format would finally get out of the pit it got stuck into during early season 4.

The Bad
In Theory - The Romulan spy bit is okay. Data's girlfriend is nice but it seems hard to buy into the premise.
The Host - Introduces the Trill, Dax's make-up was better than the plastic goo plastered onto an actor's face. Not sure what subtext was supposed top have the priority. And I know people who support homosexuals but personally feel uncomfortable and not wanting to do it (like how homosexuals who support heterosexuals but find the actual acts to be something they don't want to do). If that's the point of the episode.
Half a Life - ritual suicide when reaching that magical age could have been handled a lot better. Ditto for Michelle Forbes' helicopter hair that's trying to say she's alien but screams "Look at this, don't put a lit match anywhere near it, and try not to do too much corpsing because this is supposed to be a serious episode...")

The Meh
Reunion - this story is to Worf what The Wounded is to TNG itself: The Bringing in the ol' standby of "introduce new character to find new plot avenues, but for Worf let's make 'im a child because we all remember how cool Cousin Oliver was and not because he and K'Ehleyr did it in the Study without the raincoat." It didn't help that K'Ehleyr is killed. On the plus side, just like in "Sons of Mogh", Worf puts Klingon customs over Federation law. The plus is that we see how Picard handles Worf regarding dealing with Klingon customs while in Federation rule. Sisko did the trope rather better, IMHO.
The Wounded - Nod bad, but could have been better? The cast elevate what is remarkably 2D in ways into something better due to their performances. The design and prosthetic for the Cardassians look great, superfluous headgear notwithstanding, but as the show is now trying to expand by introducing new species for analogous parallels to Earth situations, it was the first time in TNG when I felt the show was starting to splutter because it all felt shoehorned, almost like a pilot episode and TNG had already refined drama in its lifespan, this episode feels like a throwback in that regard when it could have had more panache. TNG's use of the Cardassians tended to feel awkward, as with the Ferengi, but DS9 did the miraculous and made both Ferengi and Cardassians properly compelling. Another plus side, the OBrien/Daro scene in Ten-Forward is quite compelling.
The Loss - The whole ship becomes Troi's counselor. Overdone. Had some moments but could have been bad, but wasn't.
Final Mission - a bit on the bland side.
Qpid - had Q's humor and an okay premise, but by the early 1990s weren't there other, or even more modern myths and legends to exploit?
Brothers - Oh brother. A double plot of two kids fighting and Data is abducted. Nice voiceover for the password encryption, and for TNG they didn't change the bulb when going to blue alert. They did a video edit.
Identity Crisis - I remember lots of blue but that's about it.
Night Terrors - I don't remember much of it, just some green fog and Troi floating?


The Decent
Legacy - some massive plot holes aside, it's a fun romp in the spirit of season 1 but not in a bad way.
Devil's Due - always had a spot for this one because it's fun. Marta DuBois steals the show and helps elevate what is actually a mundane plot. Yeah, why she wants Picard doesn't quite scream "SHE WANTS HIM FOR HIS MONEY!!!" and is one of the Phase II stories whose subplot was intended for Kirk but not altered, but it shows people can be "interested" in any physical characteristic.
Family -not my style of episode but if taken as a pseudo-third part to "Best of Both Worlds" it works fairly well.
Clues - rather good, but with hokey ending

The Good
Galaxy's Child - quite a good episode, though obvious plot issues (space whales that can't travel at warp speed end up an insane distance from their stomping grounds) drag it down a little. Liked Lea returning as there's some solid continuity and a great Geordi/Guinan scene.
The Nth Degree - there's only one Barclay story I don't care for, in good ol' season 6
Future Imperfect - Riker's the one taken this week. Good callback to Minuet, the show was dancing around "small universe syndrome" but not fully embracing it. Good plot twists.
The Mind's Eye - really creepy episode that holds up well.
Data's Day - unique
Redemption Part 1 - solid season finale, they were not trying to outdo TBOBW but made it epic nonetheless
The Drumhead - Jean Simmons steals the show, as well as Patrick Stewart in his scenes with her. Solid moral interplay without getting preachy, especially for Simon Tarsis.

The Great
Remember Me - great little story. Dr Crusher gets the best form of abduction - and it's based in engaging sci-fi tropes instead of a cheesy picket fence family with maudlin moments. And Wesley's the one who did it, all due to perfect(ly bad) timing!
First Contact - great little story, also elevated by Carolyn Seymour
The Best of Both Worlds Part 2 - part twos rarely outdo part one. This one just about manages it due to its action-intense nature as well as being the reversal of the plot from part one.

 

Lots of disagreement, but I'm glad you like Remember Me. I think that one is underrated.

 

I would say the great for me would just be TBOBW Part 2 and The Drumhead. Remember Me was good but isn't THAT good. But I would agree it is underrated.

 

Yeah, in my review of it I said it was one of my absolute favorites when I was younger, but wasn't quite as strong this time around. They reveal the answer too soon.

 

As for me, the best episode of season 4 must probably be "The Drumhead", one of my favorite episodes of all TNG - no, of all Star Trek

I have seen most episodes only once so far, but from what I recall, this is in general an extremely strong season with many great episodes. "First Contact" (rewatched that one just yesterday), "Data's Day" and so on. "Remember Me" is indeed also very cool.

 

I like Season 4 but I wasn't happy with TNG's slow drift away from adventure and jeopardy after season 3. When I first saw a greater abundance of "softer" kinds of shows like "Family", "Suddenly Human", "The Host" and "In Theory", I thought, "what are they doing to my show?!" Perhaps the audience needed a follow up Picard's ordeal but Gene Rodenberry was right when he said "Family" had no jeopardy and was not really Star Trek. TNG definitely lost some of it's edge and weirdness by season 4. Even some of the good episodes could have been improved with less talk and more jeopardy or energy. My biggest complaint with season 4 is the altered sound of TNG. For some insane reason, the heart and soul of TNG, Composer Ron Jones, who added so much gravitas and emotion to every TNG episode he composed for, was fired after his excellent work on "The Drumhead" late in the season. The producers also upped the sounds of the computer noises and ship's hum, which I thought sterilized the atmosphere of the ship.

I also thought TNG lost something of it's family feel when Wesley left.

Still season 4 is highly consistent and rewatchable. I liked it more than I remembered when I rewatched the season on Bluray.

My favorite scene from the season was Data's takeover of the Enterprise in "Brothers"

The Snoozefests
Suddenly Human
In Theory

The Mediocre
Family
The Loss
The Wounded
Q Pid
The Host
Redemption Part 1

The Good
Best of Both Worlds Part II
Brothers
Remember Me
Legacy
Final Mission
Data's Day
Devil's Due
Clues
First Contact
Galaxy's Child
Night Terrors
Identity Crisis
The Nth Degree
The Drumhead
Half A Life
The Mind's Eye

The Classic
Reunion
Future Imperfect

 

The Drumhead was my second favorite of the season. The best purely season four episode. Don't forget to vote!

Good list, although I liked In Theory. I think it's important for Data's character.

I think it's best to mix in the character-driven episodes with action and adventure. Give us something like Family, and then hit us with something like Timescape.

 

Looks like there's a lot of disagreement about the best episode of season four. That makes sense, because I think it was the most consistent.

 

Wow. That's what made it such a daring episode that stretched Trek, and made it more adult. It's a drama. You can do anything. You don't have to stick with a formula! We needed many more like that.
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The first third of season 4 was very good, a building on of what was in season 3. It may be the peak, the most adult Next Gen was allowed to get. Then it gets stale. The remaining 2/3 are unchallenging and predictable. They're holding back, and playing it safe. The ideas are obvious and apparent. The Drumhead, great idea, but the idea is just so obvious that these "evolved" people should not have fallen into the trap.

 

I think a followup to "Best of Both Worlds" was necessary but I don't find "Family" that memorable, aside from seeing Captain Picard slug his brother and get into a mudfight. If the B and C stories on the Enterprise had been more interesting I would have liked it more.

 

Remember Me -- Another Wesley saves the day episode
Final Mission-- Yet another Wesley saves the day episode.

Family is a very underrated episode. You get to see the effects of the Borg on Picard. Very emotional.

 

That was the best part of the episode for sure.

 

At least in that one he was just cleaning up his own mess.

 

My personal fave has always been Future Imperfect. I also really like to rewatch Remember Me from time to time. The only ones I skip when watching is Suddenly Human, Legacy, Qpid, Final Mission.

 

I can rate these based on my own personal scale factor.

Good
Best of Both Worlds Part II
Family
Brothers
Future Imperfect
Remember Me
Clues
The Drumhead
Redemption Part I
Reunion
The Mind's Eye
Galaxy's Child
The Wounded

Bad
The Host
Suddenly Human
Night Terrors
Devil's Due
Final Mission

Meh
In Theory
QPid
Half a Life
Identity Crisis
The Ninth Degree
First Contact
The Loss
Legacy

 

You and I are in close agreement. I think I liked Identity Crisis, In Theory and Night Terrors a bit more, but we're mostly in agreement.

 

Night Terrors is a tough one for me. There are some scenes I really like (Dr. Crusher in the morgue is my favorite scene in the episode) and i think the concept is cool but the whole nonsense with Troi and the lights ruined it for me.

 

The morgue scene was the most chilling scene in the whole series, I think. I also liked the scene where Riker goes back to his quarters and feels some unknown presence there. I thought they pulled that off pretty well.

 

Agreed! However, the turbolift scene with Picard just makes me laugh more then scare me.