An easy first elimination for me is "Rascals".
This made the crew look like completely inept. A group of Ferengi in a pair of old Klingon Birds of Prey captures the Federation flagship!!!
No. Just no.
Having said that, it is ironically the one episode of TNG where they cast all the children perfectly.
And not to be outdone by
that, a little over a year later an old BoP cripples and destroyed the big "D" too!
Taking out "True Q".
There were much better uses of Q in TNG.
Very true, but I never met a Q story I didn't like... at least for TNG.
Even considering how the setup of this story rips off "The Wizard of Oz" so much, that even relatives in Kansas and the cause of their death being a tornado - it's almost the equivalent of teenagers filming themselves ripping off a convenience store!
Speaking of allegories, "True Q" also discusses being one's self regardless of what others think. It's not unlike "Encounter at Farpoint", what with Picard's "let's be damned" speech of intrigue, even if "Farpoint" is
generally more watchable (often due to the music alone).
That said, "Farpoint" doesn't have Q turning anyone into big barkin' doggies, so chalk one up for that:
A few fun points about that scene:
1. good blue-screen effect for Fido
2. Beverly doesn't even notice the change
3. Bev
was right about needing accurate time counts, but that aside...
4. Amanda Q was drooling about Riker just before the clip starts about his facial hair
A scene loaded with many subtle moments.
Q may be good, but he didn't snap his fingers to replace the dire muzak with something genuinely compelling. Also note the tear Amanda releases, visible on blu-ray but barely visible on DVD, never mind bunny ears antenna reception circa 1992. This is not unlike 'Hide & Q" when Riker is given Q powers and is tempted to use them. This episode's difference is that she's part Q, sidestepping a direct interference from the omnipotent trickster, and being more reminiscent of "Charlie X" but done a bit better.
(Notice that vertical strip of static, an unintended byproduct of the original SD mastering: It's not as grating as the 7-column color test bar permeating scenes in "The Arsenal of Freedom", which you'd mistake as a local tv station signal received from bunny ears antennae until you realize that - oops - you're watching the DVD - but it's all good.
)
What otherwise amounts to an elongated take on Lord Vader's line of "Search your feelings, you know it to be true" to Luke scene from
The Empire Strikes Back - but in a more obscure and made-it-it's-own style without feeling like a rip-off. Now
that is a neat little ironic twist, which made for a more engaging episode as a result. It's like how Doctor Who took "Frankenstein" and made "Morbius" from it, but not in such a blatant rubber stamp way. But I blabberdoodle...
However, I just like the other episodes left more.
