Top 10 TNG Episodes
- Thread starter Arpy
- Start date
It's been a long time since I've seen the second half of TNG, but I can put together a personal Top 10 of the first three and a half seasons:
- "The Enemy" - I was surprised by how much I liked the scenes of Geordi and the Romulan trying to survive.
- "The Defector" - Another great Romulan story from just a few episodes later.
- "Yesterday's Enterprise" - A glimpse of a grimdark 'Battlestar Enterprise' series that needs to be averted at all costs.
- "Contagion" - A sneaky remake of "The Last Outpost", but so much better.
- "The Best of Both Worlds" - Like, duh.
- "Reunion" - I feel like I might have placed this too high just because of how monumental it is, but it's pretty good.
- "Q Who" - I'm surprised by how many season 2 episodes have made this list.
- "Peak Performance" - Look, here's another one!
- "The Measure of a Man" - And another! I actually prefer the TV edit of this over the extended cut.
- "The Wounded" - I was tempted to give 10th place to "The Survivors" instead because of how awkward the O'Brien and Keiko scenes are, but otherwise it's a great introduction to the Cardassians.
Yeah, it’s really hard, isn’t it? I nearly asked what was everyone’s Top 5!
Here’s my initial list, not in any particular order:
- Darmok
- Who Watches the Watchers
- The Wounded
- Sins of the Father
- Yesterday’s Enterprise
- The Best of Both Worlds
- The Measure of a Man
- All Good Things…
- The Offspring
- The Defector
—Lower Decks
—Family
—Cause and Effect
—The Inner Light
—Conspiracy
…of which the easiest for me to knock off is the popular favorite “The Inner Light.” It’s good, but it’s not No.1 as so many people put it as.
How do you think Reunion is monumental? …you know, as I wrote that it came to me. A lot of the Klingons episodes can blend into each other for me. My God TNG had a bunch of great ones.
Some of my favorites:
1x20 "Heart of Glory"
2x08 "A Matter of Honor"
3x17 "Sins of the Father"
4x07 "Reunion"
4x26 "Redemption"
5x01 "Redemption II"
6x23 "Rightful Heir"
But, yeah, Worf killing Duras is pretty monumental, isn’t it?
Worf loses K'Ehleyr, gains a son, kills Duras, and puts Gowron on the throne in one story. Plus we get to see the Vor'cha attack cruiser for the first time!
Here are 10 standouts for me...
Unnatural Selection - Good Pulaski/Data scenes.
Measure of a Man - Picard and Riker square off, and it's awesome.
Deja Q - Q's snark is awesome.
Sarek - One of the few times Trek made me cry.
Best of Both Worlds - The benchmark.
The Drumhead - Picard stops a witchhunt in its tracks.
Ensign Ro - A strong introduction to a contrary character.
Schisms - The holodeck scene is a standout.
Cause and Effect - The repetition...
Inner Light - Brilliant and mind bending. It's not like regular Trek, but still amazing.
Unnatural Selection - Good Pulaski/Data scenes.
Measure of a Man - Picard and Riker square off, and it's awesome.
Deja Q - Q's snark is awesome.
Sarek - One of the few times Trek made me cry.
Best of Both Worlds - The benchmark.
The Drumhead - Picard stops a witchhunt in its tracks.
Ensign Ro - A strong introduction to a contrary character.
Schisms - The holodeck scene is a standout.
Cause and Effect - The repetition...
Inner Light - Brilliant and mind bending. It's not like regular Trek, but still amazing.
Knock yourself out! It’s great being reminded of so many good episodes. I love this series.
Best character episodes (unranked)
The Offspring
Sins of the Father
Sarek
Redemption
Disaster
Unification
The Outcast
I Borg
Relics
Tapestry
Starship Mine
Rightful Heir
The Pegasus
Best sci-fi (sorry, all of them, unranked)
The Measure Of A Man
Q Who
Who Watches The Watchers
Yesterday's Enterprise
Transfigurations
The Best of Both Worlds
Clues
First Contact
The Nth Degree
Conundrum
Time's Arrow
The Quality of Life
The Chase
Timescape
Parallels
Thine Own Self
All Good Things
Best drama/story/concept (somewhat ranked)
The Inner Light
Darmok
The Drumhead
Encounter at Farpoint
Face of the Enemy
Creepiest (somewhat ranked)
Schisms
Identity Crisis
Frame of Mind
Conspiracy
Night Terrors
Many of these of course fit into several categories, it's really not easy at all!
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Only 10???????????
I do have that kind of list because I like TNG and I like making lists 
1 - “The Royale”
2 - “Time Squared”
3 - “Masks”
4 - “Contagion”
5 - “Conspiracy”
6 - “The Wounded”
7 - “Q Who?”
8 - “Unnatural Selection”
9 - “Future Imperfect”
10 - “Face Of The Enemy”
1 - “The Royale”
2 - “Time Squared”
3 - “Masks”
4 - “Contagion”
5 - “Conspiracy”
6 - “The Wounded”
7 - “Q Who?”
8 - “Unnatural Selection”
9 - “Future Imperfect”
10 - “Face Of The Enemy”
Top 10 favorite episodes... not always an easy-to-pick list. Unlike guitars and noses, as those are easier to pick...
In no order, more subjectively speaking and whatever nitpicks I'd find in them all there's something more to the episode that has it showing up on my list...
...and apart from The Best of Both Worlds:
In no order, more subjectively speaking and whatever nitpicks I'd find in them all there's something more to the episode that has it showing up on my list...
...and apart from The Best of Both Worlds:
- 11001001
- The Defector
- Contagion
- Where Silence Has Lease
- The Next Phase
- Datalore (I'm surprised by this too!)
- Elementary, Dear Data
- Tin Man
- Hollow Pursuits
Evolution (the evolution of the show also starts out with a bang for this new season opener)The Pegasus
Fascinating list. I never liked “The Royale” — too TOS-y, but it’s interesting to see it here. And “Time Squared” is under appreciated, like a lot of earlier episodes.I do have that kind of list because I like TNG and I like making lists
1 - “The Royale”
2 - “Time Squared”
3 - “Masks”
4 - “Contagion”
5 - “Conspiracy”
6 - “The Wounded”
7 - “Q Who?”
8 - “Unnatural Selection”
9 - “Future Imperfect”
10 - “Face Of The Enemy”
Another infrequently mentioned early gem. I may watch this one again later. I’ve been thinking about the Bynars lately. They would have made interesting background characters in Engineering.
I always imagined that something like the Bynars would have been an early step in the evolution of the Borg.
My top 10:
The Best of Both Worlds
The Inner Light
…All Good Things
Contagion
Lower Decks
The Wounded
The Defector
Conspiracy
Darmok
Yesterday’s Enterprise
Honorable Mentions:
11001001
Preemptive Strike
Where Silence Has Lease
The Royale
Family
Q Who
Booby Trap
Frame of Mind
The First Duty
No particular order. I’m sure I’m missing others that are equally as good.
The Best of Both Worlds
The Inner Light
…All Good Things
Contagion
Lower Decks
The Wounded
The Defector
Conspiracy
Darmok
Yesterday’s Enterprise
Honorable Mentions:
11001001
Preemptive Strike
Where Silence Has Lease
The Royale
Family
Q Who
Booby Trap
Frame of Mind
The First Duty
No particular order. I’m sure I’m missing others that are equally as good.
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The first two seasons are my favorites, I guess that’s reflected somewhat in my choices. And I tend to leave the usual fan favorite episodes to others - they often tend to bore me, even. I like the weirder stuff.
The Defector
Contagion
Conspiracy
The Wounded
The Drumhead
Ensign Ro
Chain of Command II
Preemptive Strike
Sins of the Father
The First Duty
This isn't in any order and it probably changes daily. I really wanted to highlight episodes I haven't seen mentioned here in a long time, like Ensign Ro or Sins of the Father.
Contagion
Conspiracy
The Wounded
The Drumhead
Ensign Ro
Chain of Command II
Preemptive Strike
Sins of the Father
The First Duty
This isn't in any order and it probably changes daily. I really wanted to highlight episodes I haven't seen mentioned here in a long time, like Ensign Ro or Sins of the Father.
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