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Top 10 TNG Episodes

Masks will never be a favorite of mine, but I don't put it toward the bottom like a lot of fans do.

I'm never a fan of Spiner being all hammy.
Me neither, sadly he brought that aspect into those dreadful movies. His version of Data in the movies annoyed me dearly.

Again, I'm happy to see some contrarian opinions, and not the usual "Best of Both Worlds, Yesterday's Enterprise" shout-outs. I really like "Time Squared," "We'll Always Have Paris," and "Captain's Holiday." Even "A Matter of Perspective" and "Devil's Due" are total guilty pleasures and fun to watch.
It would've been nice to get a "Like":biggrin:
 
Honestly, its a revolving door for me. There are so many TNG episodes I could choose my top 10 based on the mood I'm in. For this thread, and it will change again when this conversation drops in again, in no order:

Haven

We'll Always Have Paris

The Icarus Factor

Time Squared

The Dauphin

Up The Longer Ladder

Pen Pals

Captain's Holiday

A Matter of Perspective

Devil's Due

I'm sure not many fans have those in their Top anything list but these episodes on my list were based on how I felt. They're character driven stories and from my perspective I thought they were moving stories. Devil's Due was a hoot of an episode; Picard once again has to deal with an adversary who is confident and sure of herself, there were times I had questions he was asking amongst the crew about the current dilemma, and they were all valid and the ending had a nice touch. If you dismissed my listing, I would ask to take a look at them again, probably not in my order. Maybe try one of these episodes along with the ones you really like, just to cleanse the palette, but give them another chance. They're really good episodes IMO.

The Dauphin is good. I might be in the minority but I quite like most of the Wesley episodes. When the Coming of Age, Bough Breaks, Evolution, The Game, The First Duty are all good.
 
The Dauphin is good. I might be in the minority but I quite like most of the Wesley episodes. When the Coming of Age, Bough Breaks, Evolution, The Game, The First Duty are all good.
I love the Wesley episodes, I grew up watching the character grow up and in retrospect I believe the producers made an effort by developing changes with him and he became an extraordinary individual. The Game was one of my favorite Wes episodes it was like Invasion of the Body Snatchers on Star Trek. Good stuff.
 
No one else likes "The Price”-- ? I enjoy the romance episodes. The sexual attraction is convincing, the ethical questions between Troi and Devinoni Raal are intricate and complex.
The Perfect Mate -- another very sensual one no one likes? Famke Janssen with Picard – how far did they go
Captain’s Holiday – perfect adventure for Picard’s wannabe archeologist side
11001001- loved Minuet speaking French
The Outcast –sad but brilliant oblique exploration of a gay relationship
Emissary – the intense holodeck encounter with Worf
Family – Picard’s fight/reconciliation with his bro is so satisfying, even if they look totally unrelated
Disaster – fun watching Picard learn how to talk to kids
Next Phase
Starship Mine
 
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All good episodes. I remember thinking how awesome it was K'Ehleyr arriving by probe was in the Emissary. Family was a key character development episode for Picard.
 
When the Bough Breaks was actually a decent presentation of Wesley because of how grounded he was. He didn't have dizzying time-bending ship-saving power... he was a kid who wanted to go home, and get his friends home. And he came up with a practical way to do it. I don't think it would have worked with a people who were utterly desperate to preserve their own existence, but it was an action that made sense, and that a smart kid could come up with.

That episode was pretty third-rate (tweaking the ending would have moved it up to second), but that wasn't on Wes.
 
When the Bough Breaks is an all around bad episode but I will agree it brings out the best in Wesley, organizing protest against kidnapping.

My top ten:
Tapestry
All Good Things
Q Who
Best of Both Worlds
Chain of Command
Frame of Mind
Redemption
Deja Q
Gambit
The Pegasus
 
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.
Ditto for me on Sarek. Mark Lenard was such an amazing actor. It’s a shame we didn’t get to see more of him on Star Trek.
 
A friend asked what my Top 10 were and I had to think about it. What would be among your Top 10?
For me it's as follows, 1). The best if both worlds 2) Yesterday's Enterprise 3) Relics 4) Family 5) Clues 6) Disaster 7) The Wounded 8) Timescape 9) The Pegasus 10) All Good Things +a perfect way to wrap up the series even though I hated it at the time). There's just too many great eps here to choose from
 
1. Best of Both Worlds, pt. 1
2. Best of Both Worlds, pt. 2
3. All Good Things...
4. Yesterday's Enterprise
5. Parallels
6. Inner Light
7. Q Who
8. The Chase
9. Redemption, pt. 1
10. Redemption, pt. 2
 
No one else likes "The Price”-- ? I enjoy the romance episodes. The sexual attraction is convincing, the ethical questions between Troi and Devinoni Raal are intricate and complex.

Not my favorite, but it was actually an extremely significant episode since it introduced the quadrants
 
Can't think of ten right now, but here's a few:

Cause and Effect (one of the best time paradox episodes)
Power Play (cousins to aliens from ENT's 'The Crossing'?)
Q Who (best Borg episode)
Tapestry (Best Q episode)
The Survivors (very sympathetic)
Where Silence Has Lease (creepy)
Yesterday's Enterprise (one of the best 'what if?' episodes)
 
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Let's see which episodes pop up in my head. Not going to think too long about this.

Darmok- if I had to pick a single episode that 'showcases' the values and feel of TNG, this would be it. Trying to build a bridge to other cultures, using reasoning to find the key. Realising you carry your own culture with you and that it has shaped you as well.
Best of Both Worlds - pivotal episode that changed the game of Star trek for the next 15 years or so
All good things- Awesome finale that in lots of ways illustrates how far the show had come and how characters had changed from early S1

A few that probably would end up in my top 10 but which I'm not entirely certain about
Measure of a man - Good episode, but ponderous; takes itself far too seriously in retrospect (and that's disregarding the obvious plotholes to make this setting possible in the first place)
The Inner Light - Great episode, but I'm not really sure what it has to do with Star Trek as such (except perhaps for the 'connecting with lost civlizations' part)

Beyond that, there's a stiff competition of a rather long list of 'very good' episodes that I can't all put in my top 10.
 
The Perfect Mate -- another very sensual one no one likes? Famke Janssen with Picard

This is one of those I didn't like back in the day and has grown on me over the years. I think Famke is striking and I like her acting in this one.

Starship Mine

Is it right to say this one is generally considered by the fanbase to be in the bottom half of episodes? I agree with you that its higher, but I'm not sure how many we have coming with us on that trip.

Frame of Mind

This was the last episode I saw for the first time. It was a Saturday I missed during the original run and despite watching thousands of TNG reruns over the years, just always missed this one. Until Netflix. Yeah, I got to see three TNG eps for the first time Streaming on Netflix. It was a relatively few years ago and it was sad knowing I was watching a "new" TNG episode for the last time ever.

8. The Chase

This one should get more love than it does. A many lot more.

Where Silence Has Lease (creepy)

Yeah, all about the mood on this one. It was super creepy as a kid.
Haskell's death is Emmy-level shit. That death was hardcore legit. Hell, do they give a Nobel in death scenes? Can the Academy give him a Deathtime Achievement Award?
 
Is it right to say this one is generally considered by the fanbase to be in the bottom half of episodes? I agree with you that its higher, but I'm not sure how many we have coming with us on that trip.

How to fix this one...
1. Replace Picard with Worf.
2. Triple the number of terrorists.
3. Don't bother with the crisis at the party. Just have a few more Data/Hutch bits.

This was the last episode I saw for the first time. It was a Saturday I missed during the original run and despite watching thousands of TNG reruns over the years, just always missed this one. Until Netflix. Yeah, I got to see three TNG eps for the first time Streaming on Netflix. It was a relatively few years ago and it was sad knowing I was watching a "new" TNG episode for the last time ever.

Awww... well, at least it was "Frame of Mind", which I think was pretty good. Hope you liked it.

Yeah, all about the mood on this one. It was super creepy as a kid.

Yeah, i was freaked out by this one in a big way.
 
Wow, this was difficult! :sigh:

So many good episodes to choose from. I had to pick 10 episodes from each season and then start to narrowing it down.

I decided to make it Top 20 since I just couldn't wipe out certain episodes from the list. I did choose the episodes which I for different reasons have watched most during the years.

1 Darmok
2 Conundrum
3 Chain Of Command (part 1 and 2)
4 Ensign Ro
5 The Most Toys
6 Tapestry
7 The Inner Light
8 The Ninth Degree
9 Transfigurations
10 The Vengeance Factor
11 Cause And Effect
12 The Game
13 Datalore
14 The Pegasus
15 Starship Mine
16 The Hunted
17 The High Ground
18 Preemptive Strike
19 The First Duty
20 Masks
 
No one else likes "The Price”-- ? I enjoy the romance episodes. The sexual attraction is convincing, the ethical questions between Troi and Devinoni Raal are intricate and complex.

Whenever I watch that episode these days, I skip over all of the Ral/Troi kissy kissy and get to the good stuff.

Of course, it doesn't help that every time I see Ral I can only think of Lloyd Braun :guffaw:
 
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