Sarek" and "Relics," are the best
TOS Crossover Episodes - Did They Work for You?
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"Sarek" would have worked as well with another aged Vulcan as the guest star. It's a very TNG style episode that just happens to feature Spock's dad. There is no nostalgia factor. "Unification Part 1" is a good first parter and the Sarek scenes give the episode an emotional touch.
"Unification" and "Relics" are episodes that I liked A LOT more on recent rewatch than I did originally. I think part of that is just being older myself and finding the themes more emotionally resonant now. Part of that is "Unification II" is one of the first 5 Trek episodes I ever saw (without seeing part one), and was consequently fairly baffling to me, and it continued to feel disjointed even after I filled in the missing pieces in the backstory and caught it again on rerun.
I think the criticisms of "Unification" are certainly valid, they just don't bother me personally that much anymore... when I think of those episodes, I think of a lot of fantastic scenes. Every interaction of Picard and Spock. Troi and Riker working the Zakdorn administrator of the shipyard. The suspicious restaurant owner that Picard and Data meet on Romulus... it's such a short, modest scene, but it tells you so much about their society. Everything in the Star Wars cantina is fun. Data's response to Sela's lament that she doesn't get to do much writing in her job. And I like that Spock's big goal is not accomplished... in the end, he just has to keep slogging away at it. Basically, it works for me now as a big quest filled with great character work.
I realize I have not actually seen "Sarek" since the 90's. It was only in the last few years that I started rewatching TNG (random episodes when the mood strikes, never in order), and I've just never clicked on that one. I should remedy that...
If anything, I would have liked TNG as a whole to do even more of these types of episodes. Not significantly more, it was a good instinct to not go back to this well excessively, but I think one or two more would have been the perfect amount for my tastes. (And that wouldn't have necessarily had to be "Here's Chekhov!" or "Here's Uhura!", it could have been more like "The Naked Now" [only good] or DS9 "Crossover" -- revisiting a specific planet or challenge faced by the TOS crew, seeing what the aftermath of their actions were and how that now poses new challenges for TNG crowd)
I think the criticisms of "Unification" are certainly valid, they just don't bother me personally that much anymore... when I think of those episodes, I think of a lot of fantastic scenes. Every interaction of Picard and Spock. Troi and Riker working the Zakdorn administrator of the shipyard. The suspicious restaurant owner that Picard and Data meet on Romulus... it's such a short, modest scene, but it tells you so much about their society. Everything in the Star Wars cantina is fun. Data's response to Sela's lament that she doesn't get to do much writing in her job. And I like that Spock's big goal is not accomplished... in the end, he just has to keep slogging away at it. Basically, it works for me now as a big quest filled with great character work.
I realize I have not actually seen "Sarek" since the 90's. It was only in the last few years that I started rewatching TNG (random episodes when the mood strikes, never in order), and I've just never clicked on that one. I should remedy that...
If anything, I would have liked TNG as a whole to do even more of these types of episodes. Not significantly more, it was a good instinct to not go back to this well excessively, but I think one or two more would have been the perfect amount for my tastes. (And that wouldn't have necessarily had to be "Here's Chekhov!" or "Here's Uhura!", it could have been more like "The Naked Now" [only good] or DS9 "Crossover" -- revisiting a specific planet or challenge faced by the TOS crew, seeing what the aftermath of their actions were and how that now poses new challenges for TNG crowd)
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I disagree with that. The mention of Sarek not being able to show Spock or his wife any affection wouldn't mean much if we hadn't been previously acquainted with them.
I agree that the Spock/ "Journey To Babel" connection adds to it. The story depends on Picard knowing and respecting the Ambassador and the audience knowing Vulcans; seeing such a revered figure lose control was the emotional backdrop of the episode.
I really like the Sarek episode. I'll probably get a lot of flak for this, but I don't care for Unification. I think Nimoy/Spock was really good, but the whole Picard/Data disguised as Romulans infiltrating the Romulan home world thing makes me cringe a bit. Picard and Data look AS Bad as Romulans, as Kirk did in the "Enterprise Incident." And to top it off, we get to see Tasha Yar's Romulan daughter again...Yayy!!
I like Relics okay. I wish Geordi wasn't such such a jerkface to everyone all the time.
Trials and Tribble-ations was fun and well produced. A quality episode, imo.
Flashback, I thought was a good episode also. The story was a little strange, but the Sulu scenes were very well done.
I really wish Shatner's acting fee wasn't so high, then we would have finally gotten a Kirk crossover episode on Enterprise.
EDIT: Oh yeah, Generations. A hugely hyped movie. I saw all of TNG first run as a little kid, and saw Generations in theatres when I was 10 or 11. I really liked it at the time but I haven't seen it since then.
I like Relics okay. I wish Geordi wasn't such such a jerkface to everyone all the time.
Trials and Tribble-ations was fun and well produced. A quality episode, imo.
Flashback, I thought was a good episode also. The story was a little strange, but the Sulu scenes were very well done.
I really wish Shatner's acting fee wasn't so high, then we would have finally gotten a Kirk crossover episode on Enterprise.
EDIT: Oh yeah, Generations. A hugely hyped movie. I saw all of TNG first run as a little kid, and saw Generations in theatres when I was 10 or 11. I really liked it at the time but I haven't seen it since then.
The trouble with "Unification" is that.... well, it set itself up as, ironically, a show that was self-prophesized to be EPIC, but wasn't. To be sure, it wasn't the first time TOS characters had appeared on TNG. But this was Mister Freakin' Spock! Arguably *the* most iconic Star Trek character of all time bar none! But what got presented to us were two middle-of-the-line episodes that had some cute character moments, but didn't really capture the zeitgeist that they hoped they would. I say this respectfully, but Nimoy's performance isn't at his best here either, he clearly wasn't invested in the material he was being given, and it shows on screen. I strongly suspect he only did it because Rick Berman presented it to him as a way to cross-promote Star Trek VI, and as producer on that movie Nimoy thought it couldn't hurt.
As much as "Generations" was an anti-climax as a story (and it was, make no mistake about it), at least they managed to wring something out of putting Jean Luc Picard and James T. Kirk on screen together, even if it was just the Odd Couple aspect of the two of them being very different characters while making an omelette together.
"Unification" doesn't even give us that much. 
Curiously, I'd say that "Relics" manages to be everything that "Unification" wasn't: a joyful celebration of both TOS and TNG by all concerned, feeling like they were actually invested in making this the special event they wanted it to be. It bridges the two shows beautifully, celebrating their differences while solidifying the things they share in common, and it provides James Doohan with perhaps some of the best material he ever got as Scotty. It's a gem.
As much as "Generations" was an anti-climax as a story (and it was, make no mistake about it), at least they managed to wring something out of putting Jean Luc Picard and James T. Kirk on screen together, even if it was just the Odd Couple aspect of the two of them being very different characters while making an omelette together.
"Unification" doesn't even give us that much. Curiously, I'd say that "Relics" manages to be everything that "Unification" wasn't: a joyful celebration of both TOS and TNG by all concerned, feeling like they were actually invested in making this the special event they wanted it to be. It bridges the two shows beautifully, celebrating their differences while solidifying the things they share in common, and it provides James Doohan with perhaps some of the best material he ever got as Scotty. It's a gem.
Relics felt kind of forced to me. Unification had fantastic part one and letdown part two.
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