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The Next Generation (TNG) Guest Reviews

Season 1 - Season 2 - Season 3 - Season 4 - Season 5 - Season 6 - Season 7

 

Season 1

Encounter at Farpoint Stardate 41153.7: Synopsis in main TNG listing

This was not a bad episode, however it does have a sense of silliness that reminds me of TOS. The first 15 minutes seemed rushed like a TAS episode, and then the last hour seemed to drag on. The actions of Picard appear rushed and rash to me in the beginning of the show. After only 15 minutes since the opening credits we already see the ships saucer separating. I found much of "Encounter at Farpoint" difficult to understand compared to most Star Trek episodes (although I admit I do have Auditory Processing Disorder). Fortunately, TNG soon develops into a much better show than what we see in "Encounter at Farpoint".
Character Development started out well in the TNG pilot. We already know about Riker's Incident on the USS Hood, about Dr. Crushers past and her son, about Geordi's blindness and VISOR, and about Lieutenant Yar's crappy childhood. We don't know much about Worf yet, but we learn a lot more about him later in TNG and DS9. The appearance of Dr. McCoy was a very nice touch that gave a connection between the new TNG and TOS.
Remarkable ship: The USS Hood appears to be an excelsior class starship. It was only right before this in ST:TSFS and ST:TVH where the excelsior class was a new starship. However, in "Encounter at Farpoint", it is portrayed as old since it is so small compared to the large galaxy class USS Enterprise-D
Remarkable character: Admiral McCoy makes an uncredited cameo appearance at the end of part 1. It is nice to see the old doctor with his familiar personality (and complaints about Vulcans). I have one question though: Do all humans in this time period live to be in their 130's?
Nitpicking: This is the only episode where Troi wears the short skirt uniform similar to that seen in TOS. For the rest of the season she wears a much different outfit and a much different hairstyle. What was wrong with her appearance in this episode?
Rating: 5 (Chris)

The Naked Now Stardate 41209.2: Synopsis in main TNG listing

Let's get drunk everybody! Sorry for the bad pun, but everytime I watch this episode I think it was a bad idea to recycle a storyline from TOS for the first regular episode of TNG. What I find really annoying about "The Naked Now" is that it also follows the same chain of events as "The Naked Time". The science station and the collapsing planet are replaced by the science vessel and the collapsing star, the crew gets literally drunk by the "polywater intoxication" and Wesley locks himself in engineering the same way Kevin Riley did. Add to that the stellar core fragment that threatens the Enterprise while her engines don't work. At least these last fifteen minutes of the episode create some suspense, everything that happens before is just a bad copy of the TOS episode. I also find it strange that Data is affected by the polywater and Worf is not. Agreed, Klingons should have a much higher alcohol tolerance than humans but Data is an android! Furthermore, since we do not really know the characters of TNG by this point in the series I think it was a bad decision to show them acting "out of character" so soon. A bad start for TNG, unfortunately.
Nitpicking: There has been actual research about the existence of polywater which has come to the conclusion that it does not exist. Today the concept of polywater is often used as an example of pathological science.
Remarkable quote: "Data, I'm only going to tell you just once: it never happened." -Tasha Yar
Remarkable dialogue: "And there was a rather peculiar Limerick being delivered by someone in the shuttlecraft bay. I'm not sure I understand it. ‘There was a young lady from Venus, whose body was shaped like a--’" - "Captain to security! Come in!!" - "Did I say something wrong?" - "I don't understand their humor, either." -Data, Picard and Worf
Remarkable set: The famous "pool table" has not yet been installed in Main Engineering.
Remarkable ship: The Tsiolkovsky is a re-use of the USS Grissom from Star Trek III. Oddly enough, it looks a lot bigger...
Remarkable fact: We see Chief Engineer Sarah MacDougal, the first of several during the first season of TNG.
Rating: 2 (Timm)

Code of Honor Stardate 41235.2: Synopsis in main TNG listing

I have several problems with this episode which reminded me a lot of TOS. A vaccine is needed from a non-aligned world to cure the population of a Federation planet and the culture on this planet is portrayed as a stereotypical bunch of traditional Africans with some strange concepts of honor. For me, this almost borders on racism. I also found it very strange that Picard ordered photon torpedoes to be detonated above the planet's surface as a kind of "sabre rattling". This clashes with his later statements about being able to take the vaccine by force which the Prime Directive and the regulations of Starfleet and the Federation explicitly forbid. In my view, this is one of the few positive aspects of this episode because it shows us how much Picard cares for the Prime Directive and that he would not act like Kirk did several times. Tasha also gets a bigger role here, unfortunately it will be her last until "Skin of Evil". The guest characters are very one-dimensional, especially Lutan. The way how power is transferred from Lutan to Hagon is also a bit silly, this would work in a small tribal community but not in a large-scale planetary civilization. Altogether, this is another example of the shaky start TNG had.
Remarkable quote: "These I understand." -Yar, examining the combat weapons
Remarkable dialogue: (referring to the practice of "counting coup") "That is from the obscure language known as French." - "Mr. Data! The French language was known on Earth to represent civilization!" -Data and Picard
Remarkable scene: The Ligonian delegation is greeted in one of the cargo bays. Quite a strange place to receive foreign dignitaries.
Rating: 4 (Timm)

Where No One Has Gone Before Stardate 41263.1: Synopsis in main TNG listing

In contrast to the previous episode this one starts off rather bad. Kosinsky is just an unbearable character and it is a miracle how he ever managed to graduate from Starfleet Academy in the first place. As soon as the focus is placed on his mysterious assistant the episode gets a lot better. The first warp test flight goes badly wrong and the ship is whisked away to another galaxy. The special effects are quite nice as well as the scenes afterwards when nobody is interested in Wesley's observations. He is treated like a kid, and rightly so. Only after the next flight that brings the Enterprise to a completely unknown place the mystery is unveiled and in a very convincing manner. I liked the character of the Traveller a lot and even Wesley is not as annoying as usual. I also like that the special effects do not become dominant and the strange encounters many of the crew have shed some light onto their characters.
Remarkable error: The unknown area is claimed to be the end of the universe but Picard states in his log that the Enterprise is apparently over 1 billion lightyears away from our galaxy. Although this is a huge distance it is not the end of the universe which is much bigger.
Remarkable dialogue: "Where is this place?" - "Where none have gone before, sir." -Picard and Data
Remarkable scene: During the two unusual warp jumps several images of nebula and galaxies are visible on the viewscreen, indicating that the ship clearly crosses intergalactic distances.
Remarkable set: The "pool table" appears in Engineering for the first time.
Remarkable fact: The subspace message the Enterprise sent to Starfleet Command from Galaxy M33 should arrive on Earth around 2415.
Rating: 6 (Timm)

The Last Outpost Stardate 41386.4: Synopsis in main TNG listing

This episode starts off quite well with the Enterprise pursuing the ship of the mysterious Ferengi, followed by the strange energy loss and the failed attempt to escape. Unfortunately, after that the episode somehow looses its pace first with Picard's very arrogant sounding transmission to the Ferengi ship and after that with the appearance of the Ferengi themselves. Although they were planned to become a new enemy for the Federation in TNG their whole characterization and presentation in this episode makes them just ridiculous. The very obvious studio-bound planet set does not help either. The appearance of Portal is a nice surprise because he is presented in a way that makes you believe that he really is one of the last remnants of a once powerful empire. This at least saves the episode from going completely down the drain.
Nitpicking: Of course, later episodes of TNG, DS9, VOY and ENT will completely mess up the notion of this being the first contact between the Federation and the Ferengi.
Remarkable quote: "Again your alien images shock us!" -DaiMon Tarr to Picard
Remarkable prop: The "energy whips" of the Ferengi are quite impressive. I wonder why they never showed up again.
Remarkable ship: The Ferengi Marauder looks quite alien and seems to have an extendable neck and several over extending parts. I also wonder why this ability of the ship never showed up again either.
Remarkable fact: The Tkon Empire must have been really powerful. It is odd that Picard, a noted expert in archaeology, has apparently never heard of it.
Rating: 4 (Timm)

Datalore Stardate not given: The Enterprise arrives at Omicron Theta, the world where Data was discovered. After beaming down, they discover a hidden lab, belonging to the famous Dr. Noonien Soong; it contains a bunch of nifty blinking red tubes, as well as a disassembled Data-like android. The Enterprise puts him back together, and pretty soon the reason why he was deactivated becomes evident. Not only is he one nasty android, but he also was responsible for luring the Crystalline Entity to the Omicron colony, wiping out all life on the planet. In order to facilitate his evil plans, he knocks out Data and starts impersonating him, hoping to feed the Enterprise crew to the Entity as well. Luckily, Wesley figures out the truth in time, Data's revived, and Lore is beamed into space. The Enterprise warps happily away.

By the standards of Season One, this is really a good episode. It has an interesting plot, makes good use of the characters, and is overall a fun and entertaining episode. Brent Spiner acts his socks off in the persona of Lore, and Data, of course, is as good as ever. Unfortunately, it's marred by a few sloppy touches; for one thing, once more Wesley is the only one to discover Lore's blatantly-obvious deception...as a result, all the adults come off as complete idiots, while Wesley gets another mark against him in the "genius kid" category. But, other than this, and a few other touches, it really is a good and enjoyable episode, and far above and beyond some of the other Season One offerings.
Episode quotes: "Shut up, Wesley" -Captain Picard and Dr. Crusher
Rating: 6 (Nathan)

We'll Always Have Paris Stardate 41697.9: While trying to contain the disturbing effects of an experiment with time gone wrong, Captain Picard has to deal with a very personal issue.

There are two aspects that I like very much about this episode. Firstly, the time distortions are presented in a very convincing manner without too much special effects and the first part of the episode where the Enterprise is taking her time finding the place of origin of the distortions is very suspenseful. The music helps very much as well. The second part is the insight we get into Picard's character. His interaction with Jenice, who came over as very likeable and sympathetic, is just what one would expect nowadays from two people who have been in love once and meet again years later. Good to see that some things about human nature have not changed at all. The first holodeck sequence also shows that Picard is uneasy when it comes to dealing with his own feelings, something that gives his character more depth. I think this is basically a character episode and in that perspective it works very well.
Remarkable error: When programming the holodeck Picard tells the computer the time of day twice: "1500 hours, 3 o'clock." I think the computer should know what 1500 hours means. ^_^
Remarkable scene: Data, split into three versions of himself, sealing the temporal rift with antimatter
Remarkable set: The future skyline of Paris looks very impressive.
Remarkable fact: Considering Riker's line in "First Contact" about most major cities on Earth destroyed in the Third World War, Paris must have been lucky to avoid destruction since the Eiffel Tower is still standing as are several old buildings. The city could have been rebuilt though.
Rating: 8 (Timm)

The Neutral Zone Stardate 41986.0: Synopsis in main TNG listing

This episode combines two different storylines which are (at least not until the very end) not directly related to each other. On the one hand the Enterprise has to deal with the apparent return of the Romulans to interstellar politics and on the other hand there are the three people from the 20th century. Actually, I think this second plot thread is more interesting because it is quite fascinating to see the cultural clash between the 20th and 24th century. I particularly liked Sonny Clemonds who seemed to have the least problems with adjusting to the "future". It was also nice to see Clare Raymond trying to find her place in this new time with the help of Deanna and I even understood the desperate Ralph Offenhouse who in my opinion will have the hardest time in coping with this evolved human civilization that no longer really cares for money and wealth. Nevertheless, seeing the Romulans for the first time in TNG was also really impressive, they came over as very arrogant and self-centered but were also able to listen to reason when Picard mentioned a form of cooperation. It is a shame that the original story idea (the first appearance of the Borg which would have triggered a Federation-Romulan alliance) was not pursued. I think it would have been very interesting. After all, this is a nice ending for the first season of TNG.
Remarkable error: Although the old cryosatellite is said to be from the 20th century it seems to have artificial gravity.
Remarkable quote: "Welcome to the 24th century." -Picard to an unconscious Clare Raymond. "The challenge, Mr. Offenhouse, is to improve yourself... to enrich yourself. Enjoy it." -Picard to Ralph Offenhouse.
Remarkable dialogue: "What do you invest in?" - "We invest in ourselves." -Ralph Offenhouse and Picard
Remarkable ship: The Romulan Warbird, an impressive and intimidating design!
Remarkable fact: Later episodes of TNG will contradict the notion that the Romulans had remained in almost total isolation for fifty years.
Rating: 8 (Timm)

 

Season 2

The Child Stardate 42073.1: Synopsis in main TNG listing

This episode is quite a favourite of mine for various reasons. First of all it gives Marina Sirtis some very emotional scenes to play (the birth of her son and his later death). It is nice to see that Deanna finally gets a bit more to do than telling Picard that someone is hiding something. The next positive aspect is the new doctor. I know that many fans loathe Dr. Pulaski and I agree her quarrels with Data and her fear of the transporter reminds one very much of our good old Doctor McCoy. Nevertheless, she is introduced as a strong character, overriding protocol to speak with Deanna about her unusual pregnancy when she is supposed to report to Picard and making it clear to Worf that sickbay is her domain. The introduction of Whoopi Goldberg as Guinan is very carefully handled and subtle enough. The other plot line of the episode with the transport of the deadly virus specimens is a bit unremarkable but it is nice to see that Geordi finally has a position that fits his character a lot better in my view. One thing that I disliked was Riker's first reaction to Deanna's pregnancy. He was reacting more than jealous... had they not already broken up and were just friends? But this is just a minor letdown in an otherwise very nice season opener.
Remarkable scene: The opening scene with the Enterprise and the Repulse was great, also the shuttlecraft leaving the shuttlebay. The music for that scene was also very nice.
Remarkable station: The Regula 1 lab is re-used as Science Station Tango Sierra
Rating: 7 (Timm)

Where Silence Has Lease Stardate 42193.6: The Enterprise is trapped in a void. Suddenly the sister ship U.S.S. Yamato appears, but it's only an illusion. The whole scenario is part of a plan of an alien named Nagilum, who wants to study human reactions to death. When Nagilum announces that it will kill half of the crew in deadly experiments, Picard orders the self-destruction. Just before the ship explodes, Nagilum interferes and says it has learned enough just by watching the crew's preparations to die and releases the ship.

This for me is a standout episode in a more inconsistent season than most. Worf spends a full 45 minutes suffering from the Klingon equivalent of hypertension after an impressive holodeck combat simulation that opens the episode. Picard, facing the gruesome prospect of a third of his crew being killed in an imaginative variety of ways by a giant face in an eerie purple haze in space. The tension is geared up from the moment the void in space envelops the Enterprise. A calm crew tries to escape, but when a subspace beacon signal gets louder even though the ship is traveling away from it, the atmosphere changes. The easy destruction of a fabricated Romulan Warbird convince Picard that all is not what it seems, before the timely appearance of what appears to be the Enterprise D's sister ship, the Yamato. Riker and Worf beam over only to find an eerily echoey abandoned ship and they meet on the bridge, but the turbolift door opens to another bridge, leading Worf to lose his cool. The two beam back to the Enterprise, Picard orders full stop and an imposing green face appears on the main viewer, explaining the purpose of trapping the Enterprise. In a move that Janeway would later do every episode of the first season, Picard engages the self-destruct sequence only to abort it once the ship is released.
This, with "Contagion", "Time Squared" and "Q Who", remains one of the best four episodes of a series still unsure of its identity.
Unfortunate death: The helmsman is wearing a red shirt. Therefore he dies, practically sucking his thumb. Cause of death? Indigestion by the looks of it.
Remarkable quote: "As the rat said, 'You can keep the cheese, I just want out of the trap.'" - Geordi reverting to his cheesy season one persona
Remarkable quote: "A simple 'yes' would have sufficed, Number One." - Picard to Riker after deactivating the self-destruct
Remarkable scene: Worf wrestling with a door because "a ship has one bridge."
Remarkable ship: The USS Yamato. NCC 1305-E. Who would want to serve on her? Wrong registry, too many bridges, destroyed by a computer virus. Pretty unfortunate.
Remarkable fact: Picard reverts to his rarely referenced French origins when facing death. Erik Satie's piano piece Gymnopedie #1 is playing in his quarters. Sacre bleu...
Rating: 9 (Luke Moore)

A Matter of Honor Stardate not given: Synopsis in main TNG listing

This episode is by no means a 'wow', but it has several positive aspects to it that are often overlooked. For one, this is the first time a Federation officer served on a Klingon ship. Just that idea is fascinating. But the episodes of Star Trek that shows us just how complicated characters and aliens are are the best. Klingons aren't just mindless, blood thirsty killers anymore. They laugh...who would've guessed?
Remarkable error: When Ensign Mendon sees the organism on the BoP, the concentration appears to be on the left side of the neck. When the Enterprise begins to repair the damage, the beam is concentrated on the right side of the neck.
Remarkable quote: "Let them charge into their destruction!" (Captain of Klingon BoP referring to the Enterprise)
Rating: 6 (Norm)

Shades of Gray Stardate 42976.1: Synopsis in main TNG listing

Of all the second season episodes that left me wondering why they bothered with a new series (I was not initially a fan of TNG when it first started), "Shades of Gray" has to be the worst. First of all, I have grown to detest "clip shows" (NBC's Family Ties used this cost-saving measure numerous times in its later seasons) on general principal. It is a tactic often used when a production can't get enough scripts shootable in time to make their designated number of ordered programs, or when the budget has been seriously compromised. This episode is most likely a result of the latter, seeing as how virtually 70% of the screen time is taken up with these recycled clips, centering on Riker's memories. It is so obvious that they were trying to fill time. They could have made the episode so much better if they had at least created a few pre-Enterprise sequences of Riker as a boy in Alaska, or on previous assignments during his youth. As it stands, it is so predictable that, towards the end of the episode, they jam-pack as many "tense moments" into the last few flashbacks, they play more like an MTV video without the benefit of a mediocre band as a soundtrack.
I do understand the budgetary necessities that cause such shows to be produced, but honestly, a friendly retrospective hosted by one of the cast members on an empty set would have been far more enjoyable. I've seen better clip montages on You Tube, quite frankly.
Remarkable déjà vu: The last few montages in Riker's flashbacks contain so many repeats of sequences already shown in the episodes, you get the feeling that they really were scrambling to fill minutes by the time the episode was over.
Rating: 0 (E. Adam Thomas)

Shades of Gray Stardate 42976.1: On an away mission on Surata IV Riker is infected with a parasite. Dr. Pulaski begins a treatment, but he falls into a coma. Deanna who senses Riker's romantic dreams while the parasite is growing concludes that negative emotions might stop the growth. She and Pulaski begin stimulating negative memories like Tasha Yar's death and other sad moments, and the organism is eventually slowed down and disappears.

The thing about this episode that I like is the short joke between Picard and Riker when he wakes up from his coma. Ignoring that, it's just a recap of the two years of TNG that have already happened, with crappy script writing and bad medical technobabble in between.
Maybe the one OTHER thing that saves this even a little is that it's the last episode of the second season, and they're making a huge fuss over Riker. If I didn't already know better, I would have considered that he was going to die at the end of the episode. But of course, he doesn't, which makes the whole episode pointless (unless you don't want to watch the first two seasons and want a handy recap, although I suggest you DO watch the first two seasons because some of the episodes are pretty good).
Remarkable facts: This episode only took three days to shoot, while most take a week. Only three sets were used in the filming of this episode. This episode is the only one to feature virtually all the major characters, from Picard to O'Brien.
Remarkable quote: "My great-grandfather was once bitten by a rattlesnake. After three days of intense pain, the snake died." (Riker)
Remarkable dialogue: "Of course I know who I am. I'm Captain Jean-Luc Picard of the USS Enterprise." - "I'm delighted that you're feeling better... Captain. The Admiral and I were worried about you." - "Captain, I do not believe you have the authority to promote me to the rank of Admiral." (Riker, Picard, Data)
Best scene: Closing credits
Rating: 1 (Hon. David Kulessa)

 

Season 3

Yesterday's Enterprise Stardate 43625.2: A temporal rift throws the immediate predecessor to the Enterprise D, under the command of Capt. Rachel Garrett, 22 years into the future, altering history. When Picard is advised by Guinan that an egregious alteration to current events has occurred, Picard faces the unenviable decision of asking the Enterprise-C to return to their own time, and face certain destruction at the hands of the Romulans in order to repair the timeline.

This episode ranks right up there with TOS's "The Doomsday Machine" as one of my all-time favorite episodes. There are so many bold differences in the look between the Starship Enterprise D, redressed as the Battleship Enterprise-D, that it really does give one a sense of vertigo. The tension is high, and most of the characterizations are inventively altered to a very subtle degree. I found it especially interesting that, in this new version of reality, Picard and Riker have a somewhat more adversarial relationship.
It is a bit distracting that the romance between Tasha Yar and Lt. Costello seems to take such an abrupt jump to center stage. The relationship between them was a nice touch, and helped intensify the feeling of tension to a degree, but it was so heavy handed, it was almost screaming "New Upcoming Plot Twist!!!"
A few minor quibbles; The plot seems rushed throughout. I honestly think this episode may have been served better, from a dramatic standpoint, as a two-parter. Besides the obvious guilty pleasure of granting viewers the opportunity to explore more of this alternate universe, it would have made the numerous events in the episode feel less rushed and contrived.
Nevertheless, this is a beautifully executed story, both dramatically and visually!
Nitpicking: At the end of the episode, when Guinan is talking to Geordi in 10 Forward, he still has black cuffs on his sleeves, consistent with the uniforms in the alternate universe.
Remarkable ship: The U.S.S. Enterprise NCC-1701-C. I thought the design was very clever, especially seeing as how, when glimpsed briefly during the previews the week before the episode premiered, the angle shown almost made it look like the TOS Enterprise. Way to get a fan's heart racing there, guys!
Remarkable set: The Bridge of the Enterprise-D sported several exciting differences, including a single command chair, instead of a "committee" row of chairs. Also, the first (and only) appearance of addition tactical/systems bridge stations along the sides of the main bridge on the Enterprise D on the series. This expansion would be seen again in "Star Trek: Generations".
Nitpick #2: I was a little disappointed that, just for added effect, they didn't make Worf the captain of one of the Klingon BoPs. There are probably continuity reasons for this, but it still would have been a nice touch.
Rating: 10 (E. Adam Thomas)

Tin Man Stardate 43779.3: Synopsis in main TNG listing

I don't really like this episode for several reasons. First, Tam Elbrun is a very annoying guest character. Granted, his condition is far from being easy and must cause him severe stress but since negative thoughts and emotions are even more distressing for Betazoids (as we know from Deanna) why does he act in such an unpleasant manner? By that he just provokes more and more negative thoughts about him. He enjoys Data's company (for obvious reasons) but even Data cannot really figure out Tam's character. The second annoyance in this episode are the Romulans. After their impressive re-introduction in TNG: "The Neutral Zone" they are reduced to nothing more than stereotypical villains in this episode. Their whole behaviour reminded me a lot of the one-dimensional Klingons we saw so often in TOS. The third thing is Gomtun itself. Do not get me wrong, the idea of a race of living spaceships that live in symbiotic relationship with their crews is very interesting but in this episode it is entirely wasted. If the Romulans would have been absent from the script and Elbrun would have been a more likable character it might have worked but as it is this episode is way below average.
Remarkable error: Data and Elbrun are beamed over to "Tin Man" although dialogue has established that the Enterprise is 18 minutes away at full impulse. That is roughly equal to 81 million kilometres - way beyond transporter reach.
Remarkable quote: "The Romulans claim anything that is in their field of vision." (Worf)
Remarkable scene: The supernova looks the same like the one in TNG: "The Naked Now".
Remarkable ship: Gomtun aka "Tin Man". I especially liked the sounds inside the ship and its energy wave weapon.
Remarkable fact: The Romulans are monitoring the telemetry of Federation probes... what happened to encryption protocols and codes?
Rating: 3 (Timm)

The Best of Both Worlds I/II Stardate 43989.1 to 44001.4: Synopsis in main TNG listing

Probably the best in the entire TNG series except for a few others. The tension was great. I had goosebumps when the Borg abducted Picard. One of my favorites of all the episodes I have. The big explosion at the end is #4 on my Favorite Big-Ass Explosion list. Great episode.
Errors and nitpick: When the away team beams down at the beginning, they are standing around the big hole, but O'Brien says they are in the center of town when Riker asks about it. Shouldn't he say the outskirts? -- When they are blabbing in the observation lounge, look at the screen on the wall. If you notice, the little control thing keeps moving around. -- If you watch the Borg deaths carefully on the Borg ship in Part Two, they are the same as the ones in Part One.
Rating: 10 (R. Baker)

The Best of Both Worlds I/II Stardate 43989.1-44001.4: The Enterprise is sent to investigate what appear to be Borg attacks on Federation outposts. Lt. Commander Shelby joins the crew to investigate. After it is confirmed that the attacks were indeed caused by the Borg, a cube shows up and chases the Enterprise into a nebula. Around this time Picard is abducted and assimilated by the Borg. Commander LaForge then comes up with a weapon that could destroy the Borg using the main deflector dish, but the Borg cube has to be out of warp, which is difficult because the cube is on a high warp course for Earth. Shelby then leads an away team to the Borg cube which includes Data, Worf, and Crusher. The mission is to drop the cube from warp and to retrieve Picard. They are successful in stopping the cube but not rescuing Picard. The Enterprise then receives a message from Locutus, the borgified Picard. Riker decides he has to use the weapon now, so he orders Worf to fire. The weapon is ineffective and the cube continues on to Earth. The Enterprise is crippled and can't pursue. When the Enterprise resumes course for Earth, they come across the remnants of eleven wrecked starships at Wolf 359, destroyed by the Borg. The Enterprise catches up to the Borg and the crew is able to recover Picard. Using Picard's links to the collective, Data is able to order the Borg to "sleep', then the Borg cube explodes. The Enterprise saves the day, again. Crusher then returns Picard to normal.

"The Best of Both Worlds" is the best two-parter in TNG. The famous line spoken by Locutus still gives me chills. The first part was beautifully written, but part two did not live up to its hype. Patrick Stewart and Jonathan Frakes did a spectacular acting job. I again suggest these episodes to everyone. For those of you who haven't seen it yet, you don't know what you're missing.
Quote: "I am Locutus of Borg. Resistance is futile. Your life as it has been is now over. From this time forward, you will service...us." -Locutus
Another quote: "Mister Worf...fire." -Riker
Rating: 10 (Nathaniel Scripa)

 

Season 5

Silicon Avatar Stardate 45122.3: Riker and an away team witness an attack of the crystalline entity that wipes out the vegetation of a whole planet and kills several people, including Riker's acquaintance Carmen Davila. Dr. Kila Marr, whose son was once killed by the crystalline entity when Lore lured it to Omicron Theta, comes aboard the Enterprise. She is very hostile towards Data, until she learns that he has the memories of all killed settlers and is even able to imitate her son's voice. When the Enterprise encounters the entity, Marr takes revenge by destroying it with a graviton pulse that was supposed to be a means of communication.

I've tried to watch this many a time. I really have. I swear I've seen the first twenty minutes of this episode about five times, and then I fall asleep. I then wake up just after Dr. Marr destroys the entity, to see her being escorted off the bridge looking sad.
My conclusion? This is a VERY BORING EPISODE. After the rather thrilling start with people being vaporised by the entity, the episode crawls to a near halt for thirty minutes. Then, after everyone's gotten bored, there's a one minute finale that I saw coming since Dr. Marr started acting hostile towards Data and went on her speel about how her son died.
This raises the question of how stupid the security measures of Starfleet ships are, in any case. Why, even after Picard even noted that her discomfort could affect her judgment, was she allowed to carry out the procedure? And how can someone like her simply "lock out" the controls to a major system of the ship?
Frankly, I'm glad I fell asleep every time I watched this. It was probably the boring actress they got to play the doctor. I can't stand her.
Remarkable scene: Dr. Marr is seen holding her tricorder upside-down in one scene in the caves.
Rating: 0 (Hon. David Kulessa)

The Game Stardate 45208.2: Synopsis in main TNG listing

"The Game" was the first episode aired after Gene Roddenberry's death and is in many ways predicts the way later Star Trek will go. It is crude, with an rather poorly thought out idea--a game that gives pleasure (of a sexual nature, of course) that is addictive and used as a controlling device?--that should not have been seen on a Star Trek episode.
Still, it was saved from being entirely pointless by Wil Wheaton's acting as Wesley Crusher. As always Wil Wheaton does an excellent job and makes the episode almost worth watching for this alone.
And yet, the episode should have been turned down rather than being approved for filming. It is one of the many, many pieces of evidence showing Brannon Braga's complete inability to write anything that is truly Star Trek in nature, and was only saved from being completely stupid by Susan Sackett and Fred Bronson.
Remarkable quote: "Would you like me to leave the two of you alone?" -Riker to Troi as she eats her chocolate sundae.
Rating: 2 (Matthew Carpenter)

The Game Stardate 45208.2: Synopsis in main TNG listing

This episode has to go down as one of the worst of TNG and Star Trek as a whole. I have never been fond of alien takeover stories in general and this variant is utterly stupid. First of all, Riker has to play the fool who brings the game onboard. Why he fell for Etana in the first place completely eludes me. Secondly, it is very annoying that the entire Enterprise crew falls under the influence of the game. What about Worf? Who could force him, a Klingon, to play such a childish video game that looks extremely dated even by today's standards? Guinan seems to be on shore leave but I guess she would have realized that something is going on to soon. And finally, with Data incapacitated it is AGAIN up to Wesley to save the ship. I could give one point to this episode for the return of Robin Lefler but she alone does not save this example of bad writing and acting. Like I said, this is as low as Star Trek can go.
Remarkable error: After Riker, Troi and Crusher have incapacitated Data, Crusher claims that Data came to sickbay and complained about a malfunction. Actually, Crusher called Data to sickbay with Geordi standing next to him. Geordi is listening to her explanation but apparently does not notice this error.
Remarkable quote: "Your neutrinos are drifting." (Robin Lefler) -Now I hate it when THAT happens ^_^
Remarkable ship: The Ktarian ship is an obvious re-use of the Zalkonian warship from TNG: "Transfigurations". The interior seems to have been stolen from a Romulan warbird, especially Etana's chair.
Remarkable fact: The Enterprise is studying the Phoenix cluster in this episode... I wonder if they spotted Lt. Talby ^^
Rating: 0 (Timm)

Cause and Effect Stardate 45652.1: The Enterprise is caught in a repeating time warp in which the ship is repeatedly destroyed. The crew finally escapes thanks in part to their déjà-vu and Data's programming.

Fantastic! Absolutely fantastic! By far the best non-two-parter in TNG. The story was incredibly well written and the acting was superb. The repeating poker game was a nice touch as well as the voices in Beverly's quarters. Data saves the day again with his programmable neural net. A must see!
Kitbashing: The Soyuz Class is really a kitbash of the Miranda Class, with just a few minor changes to the rear.
Effects: The special effects of the exploding warp nacelle and the eventual explosion of the Enterprise are absolutely breath-taking.
Quote: "All hands to emergency escape pods!" -Riker to crew
Another quote: "All hands abandon ship. Repeat, all hands abandon..." -Picard to crew, cut short by destruction of the Enterprise.
Rating: 10 (Nathaniel Scripa)

I, Borg Stardate not given: The crew mollycoddle a teen Borg back to health. How cute.

Plot holes only.
Sisko went ape over a crashed Jem 'Hadar ship in DS9: "The Ship". He explicitly stated that it amounted to possibly the greatest intelligence find in the past 10 years. In BoBW part 2, Data also points out the merits of preserving the regenerating Borg cube for the purposes of studying it.
So why isn't the Enterprise crew salvaging the scout ship and performing autopsies on the other four corpses?
Rating: 7 (Niall Johnson)

 

Season 6

Relics Stardate 46125.3: After stumbling upon a supposed Dyson Sphere, a superstructure encompassing a star, the Enterprise discovers a crashed Starfleet vessel lost 75 years before. After beaming aboard, Geordi activates the still-functioning transporter, materialising Captain Montgomery Scott into the 24th century. Further investigations lead the Enterprise to become trapped inside the sphere, forcing Geordi and 'Scotty' to work together to assist the Enterprise in escaping. Picard bookmarks the Sphere for Starfleet to study, and allows Scotty the use of a shuttle to leave the Enterprise.

A very bittersweet episode of sorts, of course, the star power of having Scotty appear already lends weight to this episode, and his appearance is done in a clever way using familiar technobabble incorporating an even more familiar device in the transporter. Doohan is cheery as you'd expect, but he shines with the more depressing material, sitting on an empty bridge of 'his' old Enterprise, toasting his long gone comrades, being treated with contempt and ignorance by Geordi, coddled by Crusher. It's kind of depressing to see the crew treat him so, but it's a good commentary on how some elderly people are largely disposed of by society once they're no longer seen as useful, which Picard mentions to Geordi. The secondary plot of the sphere feels a bit underwhelming, a structure of this magnitude discovered, the Enterprise accosted inside, only for the station to be abandoned? A bit of a let down, but the final moments are quite exciting, seeing the two Enterprise engineers spare technobabble jargon, and in the end help in the Enterprises escape from the sphere.
Remarkable error: After hearing which ship Riker serves on, Scotty remarks that Jim Kirk pulled the Enterprise out of mothballs to rescue him, of course, Scotty would witness the apparent 'death' of Kirk in "Star Trek: Generations", 76 years before the events of this episode.
Remarkable quotes: "Ah, it's like the first time you fall in love. You never love a woman quite like that again. To the Enterprise and the Stargazer – old girlfriends we'll never meet again." -Scotty, to Picard, "... It is green." -Data, attempting to describe Aldebaran whiskey
Remarkable dialogue: "Take the bridge, commander." - "Oh no... You're the senior officer here." - "Oh, I may be captain by rank... but I never wanted to be anything else but an engineer." -Scotty and La Forge
Remarkable scene: Picard standing on the (albeit holographic) bridge of James T. Kirk's first Enterprise. Who said Picard was a soft, tea-sipping, flute playing Frenchie? He downs a glass of non-syntheholic whiskey and names it without flinching.
Remarkable set/structure: Although a blue screen effect, the empty set of the NCC-1701. The Dyson Sphere.
Remarkable fact: Picard mentions a Constitution class ship is present in the fleet museum, this may very well be the final Enterprise Kirk commanded.
Rating: 7 (Cameron)

Face of the Enemy Stardate 46519.1: Synopsis in main TNG listing

I recently saw this episode for the first time and I found it far more enjoyable than what the description makes it out to be. This episode gives Troi a very unique role that she normally does not have. I found this to be a great follow up story from TNG: "Unification" with mention to Spock's underground movement and "cowboy diplomacy".
N'Vek is a interesting character. He has many of the characteristics of a Romulan, yet is genuinely sympathetic to Spock's underground movement. I find it pleasing that we get to hear about many Romulans who have joined in the unification movement.
Toreth is another interesting Romulan character. She appears like a typical Romulan at first, but is later revealed to have some positive qualities. For one thing, she makes it clear that the safety of her ship is a top concern. She also tries to avoid a conflict with the Enterprise unless there are no other reasonable options. Her distrust of the Tal Shiar is also striking since it is usually assumed that all Romulans are distrusting. This episodes shows a dimension to Romulans that is pretty much absent in other episodes they make an appearance in. I often get annoyed at the countless Trek episodes that depict other races and cultures as being so one dimensional, short-sighted, and uncivilized (i.e. Klingons, Cardassians, Romulans, etc.). This episode pleasantly breaks that tradition.
The plot of this episode also had some pleasant twists that were not too predictable. I also liked how 90% of the episode was shown from the viewpoint of the Warbird rather than the Enterprise.
This episode was a pleasant surprise and I would consider it one of my top 10 favorites of TNG.
Nitpicking: I had wondered at the moment when Troi appeared on the Enterprise view screen as a Romulan, what if Riker shouted out "Deanna!?" Of course, he doesn't say anything.
Rating: 9 (Chris)

Frame of Mind Stardate 46778.1: The story starts out with Riker rehearsing for another one of Doctor Crusher's plays. It is about a man who is in a mental hospital. But then things start going awry. Riker keeps going back and forth between Beverly's play and a real mental hospital. After struggling to figure out what is real and what is a figure of his imagination, Will finally gets back to normal and it is revealed that Riker was on a secret mission and was being brainwashed by aliens. Riker then resumes his duties on board the Enterprise.

This episode is very confusing and you need to watch it a few times until you truly understand it, but I felt that it was time well spent. It is also somewhat creepy. The story was one of TNG's finest and it truly gave Jonathan Frakes an excellent chance to do his best work as Will Riker. The acting was excellent and at times it was hard to tell what was reality and what was in Riker's mind. A definite must see for every hard-core Trek fan!
Memorable quote: "What I need is to get out of this cell, I've been locked in here for days. You've controlled my every move. You've told me what to eat and what to think and what to say, and then when I show a glimmer of independent thought, you strap me down, you inject me with drugs. You call it a treatment!" -Riker
Remarkable set: The set for Beverly's play was the same as the "real" mental hospital in which Riker was being held.
Rating: 9 (Nathaniel Scripa)

 

Season 7

Parallels Stardate 47391.2: After attending a Klingon bat'leth tournament, Worf starts noticing subtle changes to the Enterprise and the goings-on aboard. This reaches a head when his momentary dizziness during a change gets Geordi killed, and subsequently he finds that he is now married to Deanna. After finding out that Geordi's VISOR was the cause of the changes, and that Worf is indeed slipping between different "quantum universes", the crew must find a quantum fissure that will help restore Worf to his natural universe. However, an attack by the Bajorans (who, in this universe, have overthrown the Cardassian empire) throws the plan into chaos, with thousands of Enterprises from other universes appearing. When Worf enters the fissure in the shuttlecraft Curie, however, things return to normal, back when Worf was returning from the bat'leth tournament.

This is a remarkable episode, but frankly I didn't realise it the first time I watched. I've always loved episodes showing alternate realities and futures, such as TNG: "Yesterday's Enterprise" and VOY: "Timeless", to name a few, and this one seemed to slip by me.
It has a very nice mix of humour and suspense, although I still find one of the funniest parts of the episode to be Worf saying "But.. the cake was chocolate!", almost like he's disappointed. Another would have to be Michael Dorn's wonderful acting after Troi points out that, if she were to be Alexander's Soh-chim, Lwaxana Troi would then be his stepmother. And, of course, Worf finding out that Troi and he are married.
The technobabble of this episode didn't thrill me. The concept that they can just "seal the fissure" and everything will go back to normal doesn't seem all that credible, but then again, I'm not a temporal theorist.
Troi and Worf's relationship in the alternate universe is touching, to say the least. Worf telling Troi that he's never ruled out a romantic relationship with her is probably the nicest thing he ever said (up until some DS9 episodes with Dax).
As always with TNG, I would liked to have seen a bigger variance in the special effects; I doubt all the Enterprises from all those universes would look exactly the same on the outside (especially the one from the Borg-infested universe). There are subtle differences like the colour of Data's eyes and Data's painting which suitably notify us we're somewhere different, without spelling it out to us.
I like this episode most of all, however, because it's finally a GOOD episode focused on Worf. There are very few of these in TNG, and not that many after season 4 of DS9. It gave Michael Dorn a good chance to act more than the lumbering oaf whose job it was to spout the word "Honour", and to disagree with everyone.
Remarkable scenes: Thousands of Enterprises appearing around the fissure. - Worf's surprise party.
Remarkable dialogues: "And then we mated." - "I am not privy to the exact details of when and where your initial coupling took place. I could investigate-" - "No." (Worf and Data), "That would make my mother... your stepmother." - "I had not considered that! ... It is a risk I am willing to take." (Troi and Worf on Lwaxana being his stepmother)
Remarkable facts: In the alternate universe, the bars on the com badge denote rank, just as the pips do. There is a Cardassian helmsman in the alternate universe. This is the first episode to hint that Troi and Worf might have a romantic entanglement in later episodes.
Remarkable guest star: Wil Wheaton as Lieutenant Wesley Crusher
Rating: 10 (Hon. David Kulessa)

The Pegasus Stardate 47457.1: Cmdr. Riker is required to do some major soul-searching when his former CO, Admiral Eric Pressman comes to the Enterprise, searching for their lost ship Pegasus. Romulans have also joined the search for the missing ship, but not in the spirit of co-operation. The Enterprise locates the Pegasus partly materialised in solid rock inside a deep asteroid chasm. Pegasus is discovered to be carrying a prototype phasing cloak, which is recovered and used to rescue Enterprise from the asteroid after the Romulans seal the Enterprise inside. Capt. Picard reveals the cloak to the Romulans, with Pressman and Riker being led off the bridge under arrest for violation of the Treaty of Algeron. Picard later releases Riker from the brig.

This episode definitely ranks among the better episodes. It does a number of things: 1) It delves into a character's pre-show history. 2) It shows a slightly darker tone to certain elements of Starfleet (which would almost be required in as large a quasi-military organisation as Starfleet). 3) It presents a dilemma for Riker we only see superbly done on rare occasions.
I find the concept of the phasing cloak a little hard to swallow for a group that is bound by treaty from developing cloaking technology at all. To shield from detection is one thing. We have seen this done several times in various episodes with Federation craft. But to shift the quantum state of matter so it may PASS THROUGH normal matter is another thing entirely, particularly since we saw in "The Next Phase" that even Romulans had some issues with a phasing cloak. So how could someone comparatively new to the technology develop a more advanced version. Of course, since the Defiant has a working cloak, this technology isn't COMPLETELY untested to Federation engineers.
Pressman seems 'slimy' from the start, which is a fairly obvious sign that he isn't a good admiral (as there seem to be the GOOD admirals and the EVIL admirals). I think some effort could have been made to either have Pressman be more sympathetic or at least less obviously slimy.
A positive note to this episode is the verbal sparring between Picard and the Romulan captain Sirol. The double talk is amusing and it is also fairly believable.
Overall, I like the episode for the mental dilemmas that are placed on the characters. The conflicts that present to the characters are dealt with in a reasonably mature fashion as we ought to expect from Star Trek.
Notable fact: It is Riker's problem of revealing the phasing cloak that is the focus of ENT: "These Are The Voyages".
Uncertain detail: We aren't sure where the Devlin system IS, but it must be outside regular Federation space. The Romulan Warbird decloaks and nothing is mentions about being a violation of the Neutral Zone. Using Bernd's conjectural galactic map, I would place the Devlin system towards the northern edge of explored space a little beyond where Federation space and Romulan space end.
Nitpicking: When Riker is in the brig, Picard enters the code to deactivate the security field. The field destabilises and collapses before Picard is finished entering the code.
Rating: 7 (Brian Hunter)

 


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