As everyone knows, the first few ventures of TNG weren't the best. So which episdoe did yo ufeel was the first decent one? I thought The Battle was okay, (which amdei t even worse for me that most of the later episodes weren't that good) but my friend thinks that TNG's first decent episode was Measure of Man. So what do you guys think was the first decent episode of TNG?
Which was the first decent episode of TNG?
- Thread starter Tempest
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I didn't get into the show until the second season because I disliked the show title. "The Next Generation" just seemed terribly derivative. A friend convinced me to watch just one episode which turned out to be "The Measure of a Man" and I was completely hooked. The rest is history. Obviously, I have favorites, but there are no episodes I won't willing watch.
Agree.
Also "Arsenal of Freedom" comes to mind. LaForge was in charge...something we don't see in later seasons. (It became more about him not getting dates and being captured or harmed by the villains in later seasons).
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For me 'Conspiracy' (well, the first 20 minutes or so. It dropped off fast for me once they returned to Earth.)
The first one I really liked front to back was 'Contagion'.
The first one I really liked front to back was 'Contagion'.
First decent episode? Encounter At Farpoint was perfectly decent. First good episode, 11001001. First episode up to the standards of later episodes? Elementary Dear Data. First great episode? Measure Of A Man.
Where No One Has Gone Before was very decent. I still think the two best episodes of the first season are 11001001 and Conspiracy.
I'll concede that "Elementary Dear Data" is a good ep. I think I may have actually missed that one the first time it aired and only caught up with it later.
(TNG debuted at a point in my life when I had a lot of other things going on, like trying to launch a new career in a new city, so my TV-watching was a bit erratic. I remember I was cat-sitting for a friend when "Farpoint" debuted and had to drag an old TV set out of her closet to watch it.)
(TNG debuted at a point in my life when I had a lot of other things going on, like trying to launch a new career in a new city, so my TV-watching was a bit erratic. I remember I was cat-sitting for a friend when "Farpoint" debuted and had to drag an old TV set out of her closet to watch it.)
What were you sold?
I had to stop watching a few episodes in. No show so bad and "off" could possibly turn around and make it real and good, I thought. Then I looked in on it partly way through s2, "Pen Pals", and there, the staff was having a conversation about the Prime Directive that actually sounded intelligent. That was a surprise. All the characters had seemed like very tall children in uniforms before this, speaking and thinking simply just to move the simple plot along.
So then I saw "Q Who" (still my favorite) and I had to watch, from then on. Tracy Torme has said that Next Gen peaked in quality at the end of season one. This seems ridiculous at first, but as I went back and saw the ep's I'd missed, very late s1 really did have more to it than the rest of s1, a sort of edge along with the awkwardness, and a sense of weird, incomprehensible danger lurking just offscreen.
Encounter at Farpoint was the only one I liked at all, back then. The idea and visual and message of the ship/starbase was very old-Trek, stronger emotionally than NG became later. Really solid ep's though? "Where No One Has Gone Before", maybe. If not that, skip ahead to late s1, the final few. I'm not completely comfortable with NG until s2 though... another possible "first great one " would be Elementary Dear Data".
One problem is that good stuff is scattered all over, amongst the otherwise bad stories, as well as the good. One scene or even one line can legitimize an ep for me and make it crucial.
So then I saw "Q Who" (still my favorite) and I had to watch, from then on. Tracy Torme has said that Next Gen peaked in quality at the end of season one. This seems ridiculous at first, but as I went back and saw the ep's I'd missed, very late s1 really did have more to it than the rest of s1, a sort of edge along with the awkwardness, and a sense of weird, incomprehensible danger lurking just offscreen.
Encounter at Farpoint was the only one I liked at all, back then. The idea and visual and message of the ship/starbase was very old-Trek, stronger emotionally than NG became later. Really solid ep's though? "Where No One Has Gone Before", maybe. If not that, skip ahead to late s1, the final few. I'm not completely comfortable with NG until s2 though... another possible "first great one " would be Elementary Dear Data".
One problem is that good stuff is scattered all over, amongst the otherwise bad stories, as well as the good. One scene or even one line can legitimize an ep for me and make it crucial.
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Code of Honor was the first really great one. 
Personally, I liked Encounter at Farpoint, but The Battle was the episode that really sold the show to me. I'd put this up as the first really good one. Other early standouts for me are 11001001, Conspiracy, Elementary Dear Data (One of the only holodeck episodes that was actually clever), The Measure of a Man and Q Who.
Personally, I liked Encounter at Farpoint, but The Battle was the episode that really sold the show to me. I'd put this up as the first really good one. Other early standouts for me are 11001001, Conspiracy, Elementary Dear Data (One of the only holodeck episodes that was actually clever), The Measure of a Man and Q Who.
Well, finally someone like me. And the credit for the awesomeness of that episode goes to Patrick Stewart
Agreed, and it was one of the first Star Trek episodes to consider how our heroes appear to those people who lose battles to them. To us, he's the hero who saved the ship - to the Ferengi, he's a butcher. Although this was sadly presented via a moustache twirling villain (well, lobe twirling at any rate), it is still more depth than most sci-fi space battles get.
It also showed how hypocritical people can be when it comes their own - the villain's son sneak attacked/ambushed the Stargazer, and they were forced to defend themselves. Patrick Stewart really sold the emotions in the flashback where he is desperately coordinating his crew and ordering to fire, with the nightmarish view of the crew acting calmly while the whole bridge burns around them.
Plus, the Picard Maneuver.
Plus, the Picard Maneuver.
Last Outpost was pretty good at episode 4..it's not as bad an intro to the Ferengi as is thought today, though it's the T'Kons that really interested me. However, the first real classic episode was episode 5: "Where No One Has Gone Before", which is still in my top 10 list today.
I'm tempted to say "11001001" (S1, E14) might have been the first, but I'm not sure it gets there quite enough. Similarly "The Arsenal of Freedom" and "Conspiracy" (S1, E20).
But the first decent episode is "The Measure of a Man" (S2, E9). Not only that, it's really the first really good episode.
The first truly good episode, in my personal opinion, is probably "The Survivors" (S3, E3). Nary a bad episode in season three, many terrific ones, and a number of classics including "Yesterday's Enterprise" and "The Most Toys".
But the first decent episode is "The Measure of a Man" (S2, E9). Not only that, it's really the first really good episode.
The first truly good episode, in my personal opinion, is probably "The Survivors" (S3, E3). Nary a bad episode in season three, many terrific ones, and a number of classics including "Yesterday's Enterprise" and "The Most Toys".
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