Review that episode!

[locutus101]

Let's say it: a great episode. Ro Laren feels like she doesn't quite fit among her colleagues in Starfleet, she's uneasy in spite of being acclaimed for her good work at the academy. She gets a mission involving spying on the maquis. She gets hit with Stockholm syndrome big time and when asked to trap the maquis, she decides instead to warn them, betraying star fleet and even more Picard. She's a bit ashamed of her for that. A great script, great performance by all the actors especially the principal ones! TNG ended with a bang with this one and the next.

Speaking of which:

All Good Things

 

[Finn]

Picard find himself old and young and current. Bald in all three timelines, thrown back and forth by Q as some kind of cosmic test. Learns he started it and resets. The 3-nacelled E-D never exists and ends up crashing on Veridian IV.....

Fun episode.

The Naked Now

 

[Paradise City]

A soft replay of the TOS episode of a similar name. This is where everyone including Data gets plastered on some virus they picked up on some ill-fated swinger-ship.. So we have Data telling a rude joke, Tasha corrupting Data's innocence, Picard and Crusher having some sweaty and sultry banter...oh and I almost forgot...Wesley takes over the ship.

I think this is one of the better of what I like to call 'clown episodes' that you get in the first season. Everyone basically lets their hair down and noone takes themselves too seriously. If you can take that on the chin, it's watchable.

Clues

 

[2takesfrakes]

A xenophobic race gets Data to lie - OK? - to LIE to his crew about events they do not remember.

Loud as a Whisper

 

[Finn]

A Deaf mediator shows up. Telepathic interpreters get killed. Gets upset. Troi convinces him to try go for it with hostile aliens all by himself on a planet without support.

I really hated this episode, finding the portrayal of Riva cringe-worthy and the plot very absurd. I really wish they cast someone else (I know the actor is well respected in theatre circles), but I can't think of another deaf actor that signed back in the 80s other than Marlee Matlin.

Violations

 

[Paradise City]

One of these kind of low key episodes that one finds in the 5th season with a relatively predictable outcome. A family of professional memory diggers has a memory rapist in its ranks resulting in a number of the officers.falling into coma, chief among them, Troi.

The Ensigns of Command

 

[2takesfrakes]

Picard exploits a loophole in a treaty that allows the ENTERPRISE the extra time it needs to $ave endangered colonists.

TNG is known, mostly, for aliens looking like Humans with strange noses and foreheads, but there are several aliens in TNG that are completely non-Humanoid and the Sheliak are amongst the coolest of them. I love it when TNG splashes out for outrageous aliens. So say we all, "Bring on the Sheliak!"

The Survivors

 

[locutus101]

Troi gets music in her head and keeps complaining about it... "Pain, pain... Loneliness..." oh wait!
Anyway, a powerful alien gets all nasty and mischievous until he decides to relent. Nothing new, really.

Sub Rosa:

 

[Finn]

Beverly leaves the Enterprise to hook up with her late grandmother's ghost lover. Shades of GHOST. including a sexualized version of a random activity (pottery vs sitting on a chair relaxing)Too bad Whoopi didn't guest star in this one. It ends badly when the ghost possesses Beverly's grandmother's body.

Man of the People

 

[locutus101]

Speaking of possession. Troi gets possessed by the dark side of a man who mistakes her for a mental garbage disposal unit. And she keeps saying "pain, pain..." ... well , not this time. She slashes Riker's face with sharp fingernails (which doesn't matter since Beverly can wipe that clean in about five seconds), she sleeps with young boys, she stabs Picard. Finally, Beverly kills her, in order to save her, the man gets all wrinkly and transforms into a mummy under the amused gaze of worf. Every one's happy. The end!

The Battle

 

[GeordiFan]

A ferangi tries to get revenge on Captain Picard by giving him a headache, reuniting him with the Stargazer, and controlling his mind with weird pokemon ball looking thing. Actually one of the better episodes of season one IMO

Conundrum

 

[locutus101]

An alien with bizarre powers, wipes the personal memories of the entire ship's crew clean, while leaving intact their professional memories. He also tampers with Data's memory and that of the ship. He puts himself as member of the senior staff, but curiously not as Captain, which would have made things easier for him. Anyway, he tries to get the ship to attack an enemy of his who's like him much less advanced technically than the Enterprise (by a century apparently) and that makes one wonder as to how he was able to neutralize the ship's systems and tamper with its computer to begin with, not to mention Data. Anyway, the alien tries to get worf on his side but fails. The alien is defeated and everything gets back to normal. except for the few people that Picard has killed... he apologizes and send a dozen of roses so it's ok. The story doesn't say how Data was able to retrieve his memories but we're not supposed to ask that.
The whole thing is a bit too contrived for my taste.

In Theory

 

[Paradise City]

Another Data-explores-humanity episode as Data tries to romance Lt. Once Off with the mild comic relief that follows on from that and a phenomena of the week that impales crewmen and rearranges furniture. Mildly amusing moment when Data goes around the crew asking for advice and gets to Picard who basically tells him to get lost. It's another one of what I consider to be an adequate but low key episode.

Gambit

 

[locutus101]

Picard goes under cover to seemingly trap archeological artifact smugglers, although he neglects to inform his crew who think he's dead, Riker joins him involuntarily later, so that leaves Data in command of the ship, and worf as first officer who needs to be reminded who's the boss. Anyway they find out that the smugglers were after parts of an old Vulcan weapon, that only works against bellicose people. A peace maker so to speak. Picards tells his people to do the only thing that can defeat the weapon, IE keep a peaceful mind, and he succeeds even with Worf, the bad guy who happens to be a romulan woman is captured. As a joke Data brings Riker to the brig or pretends to. We're not told which.
And ok episode, with its moments.

Second Chances:

 

[2takesfrakes]

Almost a decade prior, as a lieutenant, Riker was assigned to the Potemkin which had a small base on a planet which just-so-happened to have the affect of causing a transporter incident where Riker got beamed up to the ship and remained on the planet, at the same time. The Enterprise revisits the abandoned base, to discover that Riker has been surviving on his own, there - giving him a 2nd Chance at Life (Two, of course, is my favourite number) and with his Imzadi!

There are Commander Riker haters out there, who prefer Lt. Riker (who has since adopted his middle name "Thomas" to distinguish himself) ... but I'm enough of a Jonathan Frakes fan that I simply like the idea of him playing 2 characters, in the same franchise. He's so versatile! Extremely talented and he's done so much with and for the franchise. I consider him even more important than Shatner, in that respect.

The Outcast

 

[locutus101]

A planet of hermaphrodites is alleged to discriminate against gender oriented people. The problem is that it is not clear in what way they are hermaphrodite, in the regular way, all of them would have penises and vaginas and since they are all the same way then it would mean that anybody can go out with anybody. You follow me so far? So how would they know if someone is "gender oriented"? Because they don't use their vaginas as often as their penises? Because that would be the only way! It can't be about whom they would go out with since EVERYONE is supposed to be the SAME way. How can a society that authorizes everything be considered discriminating. How? It's very simple really. Because in that stupid stupid episode, a lot is suggested while NOTHING is actually said. I mean Riker's love interest, I forget "her" name, has both a penis and a vagina, so what's her crime? When having sex with Riker she only uses the vagina? What if Riker said that he was also having homosexual sex with her/him, would that make things OK?
Just forget about this load of crap!

A Matter Of Time

 

[Paradise City]

A quite a watchable episode despite taking place within the unimaginative TNG structure of guest star, planet-in-crisis seasoned with some impassioned oratory by the boss-man.

The crew encounter a happy-go-lucky traveller who claims to be from the future who proceeds to hand out surveys, takes to marching up and down rooms before theatrically exclaiming "I knew it!" and other such antics that mets with a mixed reception from the crew. Troi hates him, Crusher is taken with him whilst he refuses Picard's impassioned plea for input as to whether he's making the "right decision" about the planet-in-crisis below. Of course, it turns out our new visitor isn't all he's cracked up to be.

You can't get better casting than Matt Frewer for the role of time traveller.

Hide and Q

 

[2takesfrakes]

As a test, Q imbues Commander Riker with The Power of Q™ which turns him into a grating asshole, for a good chunk of this episode. Number One's my favourite character on TNG - and in all of STAR TREK - so, I give this episode a miss, wherever possible. It's complete and utter shite. And, despite being a self-contained episode, which could've easily been overlooked in later episodes, this incident was referenced later, by Q himself, I believe ... when he introduced the Borg to the franchise. Just to rub it in ... just to make Riker fans know that the events of Hide and Q are canon ... For All Time ... and for all to see!

Manhunt

 

[locutus101]

A Lwaxana Troi episode... And to add insult to that injury she's even more annoying than usual.

Homeward:

 

[retroenzo]

The episode I've seen so many times get called 'HOMEWORLD'. Nope. Otherwise it's about Worf wearing a silly hat to hide his forehead (although I'm convinced they didn't bother giving him the headpiece underneath) from aliens they've kidnapped and dumped on the holodeck.

Phantasms