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Graeme McMillan

WIRED Binge-Watching Guide: Star Trek: The Next Generation

If the original Star Trek proved that space was the final frontier, it also suggested that maybe it was a frontier too far for mainstream American television. It got canceled after just three years. Apparently, a lot can change in two decades: When Star Trek: The Next Generation debuted in 1987, it launched not only a series that would last for seven glorious seasons, but an era of television dominance for the franchise that would stretch out for decades to come.

We're here to fix that. If you're one of those folks whose never experienced the joys of Captain Jean-Luc Picard (Patrick Stewart), Commander William T. Riker (Jonathan Frakes), Lt. Commander Geordi La Forge (LeVar Burton), and—yes—even Wesley Crusher (Wil Wheaton), now is the time to get familiar. Get ready to rock your very own "Shut up, Wesley" jokes—here's WIRED's binge-watching guide for Star Trek: The Next Generation .

Number of Seasons: 7 (178 episodes)

Time Requirements: If you watch a couple of episodes a day every day it'll take you just over three months. Sure, there are times where that might seem like a little bit too much, but Starfleet isn't for the weak-hearted.

Where to Get Your Fix: Netflix, Amazon Prime, Google Play, iTunes

Best Character to Follow: The answer to the question of which character you'll follow throughout the series' long run really depends on what you want from the show. Do you want the straightforward Star Trek experience? Then you should stick with Picard, the man in charge of this version of the Enterprise, or Lt. Commander Data (Brent Spiner), playing the Spock role in these proceedings. But perhaps you're looking for something a little more off-base. In that case, Riker provides both the self-aware over-the-top acting and a refusal to take the show too seriously that made the original so appealing. You also might also want to follow Counselor Deanna Troi (Marina Sirtis), who provides a horrifyingly clear lesson of the ways in which gender equality really hasn't reached the fictional 24th century just yet.

For our money, though, the best characters to follow are the recurring guests that pop up throughout the show's run: Chief Miles O'Brien (Colm Meaney), before he ships off to Star Trek: Deep Space Nine , for example, or Ensign Ro Laren (Michelle Forbes). Hell, even following omnipotent know-it-all Q (John de Lancie) has its charms. But if you're looking to follow one of the regular cast no matter what, then it really has to be Lieutenant Worf (Michael Dorn). Not because he's the show's most interesting character (he's not), but because you can always tell roughly where in the series' run you are based upon the length of his hair, which slowly grows over the course of the whole thing.

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Seasons/Episodes You Can Skip:

The easiest, and shortest, way of putting this is "just avoid the first season altogether, and prepare to have a bumpy ride through the second, as well." The first year of The Next Generation is almost legendarily uneven, with more poor episodes than great ones, and some downright terrible ones thrown in for good measure. Things improve in the second year, but the show doesn't really hit a sustained run of good stuff until Season 3.

That said, if you're determined to watch as much of the show as possible, here are some episodes that you really will want to avoid.

Season 1: Episode 3, "Code of Honor" There's probably some way to describe this episode without using the phrase "a surprisingly racist piece of trash," but we're not going to waste time looking for it. Quite how nobody involved in this production realized they were making an episode wherein an all-black alien planet was depicted as tribal savages is baffling, but if only they had...

Season 1: Episode 8, "Justice" If ever there was an episode to make you convinced that the addition of a teenage Wil Wheaton to the cast was not the wisest of moves, this might be the one. Teenage wunderkind Wesley Crusher accidentally breaks the rules of an alien planet by crushing flowers and launches a diplomatic incident. Kids, amirite?

Season 1: Episode 14, "Angel One" Hey, here's a great idea: What if you tried to make a parable about the inhumanity of apartheid, but changed it from racism to sexism and then made the women the sexists? If your response is "that sounds like a terrible and potentially offensive idea," then congratulations: You're more farsighted than the people in charge of the first season of Star Trek: The Next Generation .

Season 2: Episode 18, "Up The Long Ladder" The Next Generation record when it comes to comedy is, admittedly, more than a little spotty, but no comedic episode is worse than this one, which has to have been created as the result of a dare along the lines of "I bet you can't create an episode based on space stereotypes about Irish people, who end up being the punchline to a joke about their need to keep breeding." Yes, it really is as bad as that sounds, amazingly.

Season 2: Episode 22, "Shades of Gray" Almost definitely the least favorite episode of Next Generation aficionados, "Shades of Gray" commits a cardinal sin for any television program: It's essentially a clip episode. Worse yet, it's the clip show that finished off the show's second season. Based on the tackiness of this, it's impressive that this show returned for Season 3 at all, never mind doing so in such a strong manner creatively.

Seasons/Episodes You Can't Skip:

The strange truth about Star Trek: The Next Generation 's appeal is that, once it hits its stride in the third season, it's remarkably consistent throughout the rest of the series. What that means in practice is that, once you reach the third season, you pretty much know what you're going to get for the next five years' worth of programming, for better or worse. That said, there are still some peaks to be found in there, like these episodes.

Season 3: Episode 26 and Season 4: Episode 1, "The Best of Both Worlds"/"The Best of Both Worlds Part II" The first of the show's big season-finale/season-opener two-parters, and easily the best, "The Best of Both Worlds" brought the crew of the Enterprise against an unstoppable foe and... watched as they lost. Or, at least, that's how things got started; the second half offers a far more satisfying climax that suggests resistance may not be entirely futile after all.

Season 4: Episode 5, "Remember Me" One of the things that later-era Next Generation did particularly well was do-over high-concept episodes: ones that seemed to be based around one big idea, only to slowly let on that something else is happening after all. "Remember Me," which opens with members of the crew disappearing one by one with no one remembering them except for Crusher, is one of the best.

Season 4: Episode 24, "The Mind's Eye" Sure, the idea of "What if one of our heroes got brainwashed by the bad guys?" sounds like it's something you've seen before, but this episode manages to play everything just right and create a surprisingly unsettling psychological drama in the process. Geordi, you always seemed so nice before...!

Season 5: Episode 2, "Darmok" Based around a suitably high-brow idea (communicating with aliens who can only speak through metaphor), what makes "Darmok" so engaging are the performances of Stewart and guest star Paul Winfield as the two stuck trying to bridge the language gap. For those who aren't into that kind of thing, there's always the first on-screen appearance of Ashley Judd, playing Wheaton's on-screen love interest. (Let that sink in. We'll wait.)

Season 5: Episode 24, "The Next Phase" For a character so often in the background of stories, La Forge certainly got some great spotlight episodes to show off his chops. In "The Next Phase," he gets to see his own funeral after an accident is believed to have killed some of the Enterprise crew—except that they're actually still alive, but invisible and intangible to everyone around them. (Yes, the use of "phase" in the title is a pun.)

Season 6: Episode 4, "Relics" A handful of faces from the original Star Trek showed up in this second series from the franchise, but none so effectively as James Doohan, playing Scotty as a man literally out of time and unsure about his place in the universe. Both funny and touching, this episode—written by Ron Moore, who'd go on to run Battlestar Galactica years later—is a charming celebration of Star Trek as a whole, and the differences between the original series and Next Generation at the same time.

Season 6: Episodes 10 and 11, "Chain of Command, Parts I & II" Picard gets tortured and interrogated behind enemy lines and his replacement decides that the Enterprise crew has been far too relaxed in its behavior until now. Next Generation might have been a serious show, but it was rarely a dark one—which makes this two-parter a welcome break from the norm and far more effective as a result.

Season 6: Episode 12, "Ship in a Bottle" Another fun episode that isn't all that it appears to be, "Ship in a Bottle" is probably the best of the series' Holodeck episodes, exploring the limits (and lack of limits, from a certain perspective) of the show's virtual reality playroom in a way that went beyond the "our characters play dress up" method it traditionally opted for. What is reality, anyway...?

Season 7: Episode 15, "Lower Decks" After six-and-a-half seasons of showing what the upper echelon of Enterprise staff gets up to, "Lower Deck" flipped things up and gave us an adventure as seen by the grunts: the ones who don't really know what's going on. For those looking for an episode in which everything is explained away easily and ends happily, this isn't going to do it for them, but if you've been wanting more of an idea of how the Enterprise works, then this really is a pretty good place to go.

Season 7: Episodes 25 and 26, "All Good Things..." The show’s final episode (a two-parter) is, impressively, one of its strongest, looking back at the earliest days of the series as well as the far-future of the characters while simultaneously retroactively imposing a structure and coherence on the last seven years that hadn't been there before. Part fan-service, part nostalgiafest and part solid episode, All Good Things..." let the show go out on top. It's something that, let's be honest, is a rarity for most shows that go on this long.

(For those who are continuity-conscious, you can't skip "Encounter at Farpoint" (Season 1, Episode 1) or "Skin of Evil" (Season 1, Episode 23) and "Q Who" (Season 2, Episode 16), either. Also, way back in 2012 , WIRED readers picked their own favorite episodes, so check that list out as well.)

Why You Should Binge:

After a rough start, Star Trek: The Next Generation proved to be a worthy successor to the original show, eschewing Star Wars -esque action and escapades in favor of television that tried to be thought-provoking and entertaining in a more cerebral manner. In the process, it became a phenomenon that didn't just set the tone for the next three Star Trek shows, but also for a lot of science fiction that followed for the next decade or so. There's a lot to enjoy in this series, and enough of it to find yourself getting sucked into the minutiae in the best ways. Before too long, you too will find yourself believing that the only way to order tea is to demand "Earl Grey, hot," and be unable to rise from a chair without self-consciously tugging down your sweater.

Best Scene—"I Am Locutus of Borg. Resistance is Futile"

The first half of the "Best of Both Worlds" two-parter has a great cliffhanger that the show never quite lived up to ever again: The Captain of the ship has been kidnapped and turned into one of the emotionless enemy, and his second-in-command has given the order to fire! How could anything be the same again after this? (Spoilers: They find a way.)

The Takeaway:

Binge-watching a show that defined the childhood of so many nerds and ne'er-do-wells? Make it so.

If You liked Star Trek: The Next Generation You'll Love:

Both of the Next Generation spin-off shows, Star Trek: Deep Space Nine and Star Trek: Voyager play with the core DNA of the show in different ways and come up with twists on the formula. Just remember that, while the show inspired a raft of sci-fi shows in the early '90s, none of them are worth your time or attention. No, not even SeaQuest DSV . Trust us on this.

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Star Trek: The Next Generation – Watch & Skip List for Season 4

Apr 21, 2020 | DailyRandomSh*t , featured , Media Reviews/Reflections | 0

The Star Trek TNG watch list continues for Season 4. As before, episodes to watch are Bold and Italic . Wow, this season begins with the powerful conclusion of Season 3’s cliffhanger, The Best of Both Worlds. There aren’t any real clunker episodes (like the earlier seasons), just some episodes that less good than others. Also, there is a stronger through-line or fall-out from big events like what happens in the season opener, The Best of Both Worlds, Part 2. There is also a stronger theme of family difficulties and strengths. I found a ST:TNG watch-list posted on Wired that might be interesting . I’m finding it a little difficult to decide which episodes to skip for this particular season. If you are a Star Trek fan, what do you think of my list?

• “ The Best of Both Worlds ” (Part 2)
• “ Family “
• “ Brothers “
• “ Suddenly Human “
• “ Remember Me “
• “ Legacy “
• “ Reunion “
• “ Future Imperfect “
• “ Final Mission “
• “ The Loss “
• “ Data’s Day “
• “ The Wounded “
• “ Devil’s Due “
• “ Clues “
• “ First Contact “
• “ Galaxy’s Child “
• “ Night Terrors “
• “ Identity Crisis “
• “ The Nth Degree “
• “ Qpid “
• “ The Drumhead “
• “ Half a Life “
• “ The Host “
• “ The Mind’s Eye “
• “ In Theory “
• “ Redemption ” (Part 1)
• Wikipedia: Star Trek: The Next Generation: Episodes
• WIRED Binge-Watching Guide: Star Trek: The Next Generation

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Star trek: the next generation - 10 filler episodes you can skip to save time.

Star Trek: The Next Generation is arguably the best Star Trek ever, but there are some episodes from its seven-year run fans can skip to save time.

Star Trek: The Next Generation  is one of the most popular and critically acclaimed television series of all time. But it's not perfect, struggling in its early seasons to find an identity separate from that of the cultural monolith that was the original series. As a result, a fair number of episodes can be skipped by fans looking to save some time watching or re-watching the entire series.

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While some of its most skippable episodes hold some fascination - mostly in how they ever got to air - they hold nothing of consequence in terms of lore or character development that fans will miss out on. Many of them have been utterly forgotten by the series itself, which never looked back after finding its equilibrium in season three with some of the best Star Trek episodes ever made.

Up A Long Ladder

Star Trek is generally viewed as progressive in its representations of others but "Up A Long Ladder" is just one of a few blunders early in its run. Its stereotypical depiction of Irish people - here rendered as the Bringloidi - is utterly mystifying, especially given the presence of Miles O'Brien.

The episode is not as funny or sexy as it thinks it is and wastes the real talent it has in its guest stars, including Rosalyn Landor. It can be skipped along with a lot of early season two entries for more considered and accomplished episodes in the back half.

The second season of the series was beset by the 1988 writer's strike, leaving the show scrambling to use older and rushed scripts. That resulted in "The Royale," which has Data, Riker, and Worf go to a gambling planet right out of 70s sci-fi.

The show is an easy skip thanks to its lack of tension or drama, as well as a tired premise - the crew finds evidence of an earlier human space expedition - that had been done and would continue to be revisited in Star Trek even after this.

"Angel One" is an episode that might be required viewing for those interested in the worst costumes in Star Trek history, but otherwise it's easy to skip. The episode fails to capitalize on the idea of flipping gender roles, instead focusing on the romantic interests of Commander Riker.

The B-plot of the episode has Captain Picard literally catching a cold and nothing happens in the show of any consequence, meaning fans won't miss anything if they skip right past it in the show's mostly forgettable first season.

"Justice" is one of a number of first-season episodes that fans can skip without any worry of missing anything. It treads very familiar ground, with the Enterprise visiting an alien world of human-type people who are mostly defined by their lack of clothes.

RELATED:  Star Trek: The Next Generation - 10 Major Flaws Of The Show That Fans Chose To Ignore

The series is still searching for its identity at this point, recycling a lot of ideas from the original series and amplifying some of its worst traits, making this episode instantly forgettable and easily skippable.

"Sub Rosa" will never be confused for one of the best Beverly Crusher episodes of all time . Despite an ambitious attempt at telling a Gothic ghost story, the execution falls apart and this episode ultimately adds up to little, making it an easy skip.

This seventh season episode tries to add more history to Beverly's background and family history but results in some strange story choices that make it discordant with much of the rest of the series, especially in its standout later seasons.

The Masterpiece Society

"The Masterpiece Society" is in many ways a typical Star Trek episode in that it tackles a challenging issue - in this case, genetic engineering - through a sci-fi lens. The results aren't exactly "Space Seed", one of the best Star Trek episodes in history, that tackled the same subject.

This fifth season episode fails to capitalize on its premise by generating much of any conflict or compelling characters, making it one of a handful of episodes from an otherwise knockout season that fans can easily skip to save time.

Night Terrors

The fourth season of the series is where The Next Generation truly comes into its own, but every episode isn't essential. "Night Terrors" is a mid-season episode attempt at horror that ends with a laughable effect of Deanna Troi floating on an obvious wire.

It's routine in that Troi often experiences strange visions, dreams, or feelings from alien forces - and she did just a few episodes earlier in "The Loss," a superior episode that does a better job of integrating an alien threat with Deanna's power.

Code Of Honor

"Code Of Honor" would rank among the worst episodes of any Star Trek series. This very early episode from the first season pits the crew against the Ligonians, who were terrible stereotypes of African people in 1987 and are even worse now.

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Star Trek is renowned for its diversity but this episode is one of its biggest misfires and an instant pass for fans old and new looking to find the best episodes of what would become one of the greatest science fiction television series of all time.

Imaginary Friend

"Imaginary Friend" arrives sandwiched between some of the best episodes of Star Trek: The Next Generation ever , but it's an easy pass for fans looking to save time. The story focuses on a young girl named Clara whose imaginary friend turns out to be an alien entity.

The episode is one of the weaker efforts of season five and completely inessential to the stories of any of the major characters and has strong echoes of other, better episodes, like "The Bonding," Ronald D. Moore's first episode from season three.

Shades of Gray

"Shades of Gray," the final episode of the second season, is entirely skippable as it's mostly other episodes. The only clip show in the history of the series, it replays most of the first two years of the show as Riker undergoes a medical procedure on his brain.

The episode was a cost-saving measure and somewhat typical of television shows in the 80s, but it's completely inessential for Star Trek: The Next Generation fans looking to save some time going through the entire run of the acclaimed series.

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Star Trek Best Trek

Star trek: the next generation.

The Next Generation jumps several decades into the future after The Original Series and The Animated Series . It features a less untamed galaxy with more worldbuilding establishing the Federation and its neighbors, along with more recurring faces and story arcs.

The ideals hinted at in those previous series - truth, freedom, equality, cooperation, and so on - are much more clearly the founding principles of the Federation and what Starfleet is working to protect. If The Original Series imagines a humanity that has progressed technologically and expanded into space, The Next Generation imagines one that has also progressed culturally and solved things like prejudice, poverty, and war.

Episodic or serial?

Mostly episodic. There are a couple of arcs and several two-part episodes, and a number of significant events get referenced or have interesting consequences. But most episodes are fairly standalone and the characters and their relationships stay largely unchanged. The show is best experienced in order, but jumping around is workable too.

Idealistic or cynical?

Idealistic. While there are moments of darkness and some tragic events, this is a show where sticking to your principles pays off and good defeats evil. Additionally, the Federation itself is largely presented as a utopia.

Worth watching?

Oh my, yes. Along with Deep Space Nine , this is a strong candidate for the best Trek series and the best embodiment of the franchise’s values. The things that make people love Trek are at full force here. And there’s a reason that this show’s captain is the only character in Trek to get their own series .

Unfortunately, it does have a rocky beginning. The first season is full of cheesy episodes, weak pacing, and inconsistent characterization. But there’s a lot of worldbuilding that comes back later and is useful to know. Most of the episodes I recommend watching in this season lay a foundation or set up later story arcs; for any episodes that set up useful information but aren’t quite worth watching notes are provided so you can just read those instead. If you find this season unbearable, don’t feel bad about skipping ahead - the show gets much better and most of what you need to know will be explained to some degree in the episodes where it comes back. But if you can stick it out, you’ll be rewarded - several later episodes are considerably more enjoyable if you’ve seen these early ones.

The second season is where the series starts to show its true potential, but it was also hampered by a Writer’s Guild strike. As a result, the season opens with a recycled script, features some excellent episodes but some stinkers as well, and ends after only 22 episodes. (Surprisingly, the fact that the finale is essentially a clip show was actually due to budget overruns, not the strike.) The good news is that the second season’s best episodes are legitimately good and there’s fewer bad episodes that turn out to be important later, so you can be more confident that the episodes I say to watch are genuinely worth watching on their own merits.

Season three is where the show really hits its stride. From there on out, each season features some of the show’s best episodes and even the few I suggest skipping are mediocre at worst. Starting in season three, if you don’t feel like checking the guide you can just watch all the episodes and you won’t often go wrong. Even the seventh and final season, where the writers seem to be running a bit short on ideas, has plenty of great episodes and a strong finish.

Note: This guide assumes you want to enjoy most of the show and just skip the worst of it. If you’re looking to save more time and just see the absolute best that The Next Generation has to offer, there are other more aggressive guides out there.

Anything else that should be watched first?

No hard requirements, but it wouldn’t hurt to have seen some of The Original Series .

A few episodes directly reference events or characters from The Original Series and you can better appreciate how The Next Generation ’s expands and improves on its legacy if you’ve seen where it all began.

What should be watched after this?

If you want more of this crew, there are also four feature films . Some of them are worth watching.

Then you should head on to Deep Space Nine .

( Picard is a significant jump ahead and tonal change so I’d recommend waiting on that.)

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Star Trek: The Next Generation - Episode guides, brief reviews and ratings

The truth is that, had Paramount executives not taken a chance on rebooting Star Trek in the 1980s (decades before the term “reboot” was commonly applied to the revivification of entertainment franchises, no less), Star Trek could well have died after The Undiscovered Country . Instead, TNG’s seven-year run included story lines and episodes that one-quarter century later still resonate in the public consciousness: stuff like “Darmok”, “The Inner Light” and “Best of Both Worlds.” Remind yourself of just how great TNG was with a perusal of our episode guides.

Star Trek: The Next Generation – Season 2 episode guide

Star Trek: The Next Generation – Notable episodes

Season 1 – crew getting its feet wet; no one but Stewart is really comfortable with his/her character. Writers too are unsure … after “Encounter at Farpoint” (episode #1), the only notables are “Datalore” (#13), which introduces Data’s “brother” Lore and thus allows the great Brent Siner to flex those acting muscles a bit, and “Skin of Evil” (#23), which features the death of Lt. Tasha Yar.

Season 2 – The tone is set for the remainder of ST:TNG’s run in episode #9, “The Measure of a Man”; in this episode, a hearing is held regarding Data’s individuality as a sentient being, a hearing which often evolves into questions of existence and consciousness. Intelligent stuff here, is balanced by the excellent character development throughout the season, culminating in “Peak Performance” (#21). The real notable in this season, though, has got to be “Q Who” (#16), featuring the first appearance of the Borg.

Season 3 – The character of Guinan is introduced in season 3, as the twists and turns come fast and furious. The alternate-universe episode “Yesterday’s Enterprise” (#15) has simply got to be among any ST’s fan’s top 10 TNG stories and was among the first to truly take advantage of this wacky new continuity thing. Of course, season 3 is perhaps most remembered for its cliffhanger ending in “The Best of Both Worlds” (#26), which vaulted the Borg (and Riker) to new levels of badassery.

Season 4 – Starting tremendously strong with “The Best of Both Worlds”, “Family” and “Brothers”, season 4 kicked the “head trip” episodes, i.e throw a character into an insane situation and divulge the details slowly, into full gear with stuff like “Remember Me” (#5) “Future Imperfect” (#8) and “Clues” (#14). We also get the introduction of Romulan baddie Sela, the very embodiment of plot twist, in “The Mind’s Eye” (#24). Throughout the season, Lt. Worf and his family’s relationship with the Klingon Empire is continuously revisited until the season’s concluding episode, “Redemption, Part I.”

Season 5 – Season 5 of TNG saw the introduction of Ensign Ro Laren (in episode #3) and the return of some guy named Spock (“Reunification,” #s 7-8). Again typically strong stuff, this season contains several popular favorites, including “Darmok” (#2) and “The Inner Light” (#25)

Season 6 – With Jeri Taylor joining the production team as co-producer (and presumably the principals’ salaries getting raised), seasons 6 and 7 of TNG tended to focus on smaller-scale stories ranging from the incredibly dark “Chain of Command” (#s 10-11) to the laugh-a-minute “Tapestry” (#15), the latter of which is dominated by scenes featuring only Picard and Q. The season-ending cliffhanger concludes with part one of an intriguing-sounding team-up of Lore and a group of Borg in “Descent.”

Season 7 – The conclusion to “Descent” may have been anticlimactic, but the conclusion to the TNG series sure wasn’t. ST:TNG finished strong, closing out with the excellent “Preemptive Strike” and “All Good Things”, three episodes’ worth of twisty character development and head trip, respectively.

Den of Geek

Star Trek: The Next Generation Essential Episodes

These 25 Star Trek: The Next Generation stories are the series’ unmissable episodes…

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This article comes from Den of Geek UK .

Leading the charge back to television for the Star Trek franchise, and paving the way for three further series to follow, Star Trek: The Next Generation ‘s seven seasons had some very high points, and a couple of very low ones (that some would simply call “Season 1….”, not that I’m one of them.)

These are the top 25 “must-watch” episodes, not necessarily the top 25 for quality, or indeed my 25 favorites, but the 25 stories that give you the best flavor of the series and its relatively unplanned story arcs. Just don’t forget that, like The Original Series , The Next Generation is a product of its time, and as such certain issues that writers wanted to bring to the screen not only necessitated allegory, but sometimes stretched it thin so as not to raise issues with censorship.

read more: The Original Series — How it Changed From Pitch to Execution

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If you only ever watch 25 stories from Star Trek: The Next Generation , these are the ones to do it with, at least in my opinion. The only rules in place are that they have to be from the TV series (no films), and multi-part episodes count as one story (even if an episode is pretty much an epilogue). If you get a chance, try to watch the majority of all 7 seasons at some point… but by the Great Bird of the Galaxy avoid Shades Of Grey (S2). And Justice (S1)… A “10 episodes to avoid” might have legs actually… But I digress.

If you are able, I would also recommend watching episodes of The Next Generation in remastered form on Blu-ray, even with the minor changes to the effects shots, as in more than one case this has corrected an actual error. As with most episodes of Star Trek TV shows, the live-action footage was captured on 35mm film, and thus the restoration work done on the negatives looks fantastic in HD.

This list is presented in a viewing order I would suggest, and is primarily in production order as they flow better that way, rather than in a rank order.

Season 1 Episode 23: Skin Of Evil

The episode is memorable for not only killing off a member of the main cast (one not even wearing a red shirt!) but also for the almost inconsequential way in which the death occurs.

read more: Everything You Need to Know About Star Trek: Discovery Season 3

The story sets up quite a bit that comes afterwards, and fortunately comes towards the end of the generally lackluster first season. As such, it’s quite obvious things have settled down and both cast and crew are more confident in what they are doing. I warn you though, this episode has a complete lack of any light-heartedness and is very much a dramatic presentation.

Season 1 Episode 25: Conspiracy

Though the themes of this episode are hinted at in Coming Of Age (season one’s nineteenth episode) this episode also works well as a stand-alone story. Though Coming Of Age isn’t a bad episode by any means, it falls way outside of the top 25. Starfleet seems to have taken a turn for the weird, and an old friend of Captain Picard summons him for a secret meeting. Data also, through the analysis of comm traffic has discovered a disturbing trend in Starfleet orders…

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This is the episode where phasers appear to be a little bit tortuous and not as efficient as they should be (though to be fair in early Next Generation they do look like Dustbusters) and do an awfully good impression of the Veron-T Disruptor (see Season 5’s The Most Toys ). Overall, this is a well-written episode with some effects that look a little… well ’80s now –  exploding meat-pack included.

Season 1 Episode 26: The Neutral Zone 

Data finds a long-lost Earth capsule that literally has the past inside in the form of three easily cured cryogenically frozen patients from the early twenty-first century. The trio attempts to acclimatize to the twenty-fourth century, and the massive change in human culture. Meanwhile the Enterprise is to rendezvous with a Romulan vessel after decades without contact, only for the results of shared data about attacks along the neutral zone to usher in a serious sense of foreboding.

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’80s serial guest star Peter Mark Richman makes the most of his scenes, while the appearance of the Romulans in the form of Commander Tebok, played by Marc Alaimo, who would go on to be not only the first Cardassian we’d see, but then Gul Dukat in Deep Space Nine .

This may be a debatable inclusion in a pure top 25 episodes by quality alone, but the groundwork laid in this episode, for more than one foe of the Federation, is vital to the vast majority that follows in not only Next Generation , but Deep Space Nine and Voyager , too. 

Season 2 Episode 9: The Measure Of A Man

From one episode that is crucial to others but considered purely on its own merits is a debatable entry on this list, to an episode that absolutely belongs in the top 2 stories – and one that rivals even Best Of Both Worlds (yes, I said it!)

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Data is ordered to undergo dismantling so that Commander Maddox of the Daystrom Institute can study him. Data is not comfortable with that and refuses, only to find his final recourse to resign isn’t an option to him as he is seen by Starfleet as property. Cue the best courtroom drama episode of Star Trek ever produced including an astonishing performance from Patrick Stewart backed up by an understated but incredibly potent interaction with Whoopi Goldberg, and superb work from Jonathan Frakes, especially in the Blu-ray exclusive extended versions of the story.

Season 2 Episode 16: Q Who

Q arrives, has a stand-off with Guinan and requests to join the crew of the Enterprise much to the annoyance of Commander Riker and Microbrain (aka Worf). Captain Picard makes the mistake of stating his belief that his crew and Starfleet as a whole is ready to meet whatever is out there. So Q clicks his fingers and throws the Galaxy class Enterprise to the solar system designated J-25 to discover a planet with readings identical to those found in The Neutral Zone . Not only that… but a cube shaped ship enters orbit.

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It turns out that resistance is futile and your biological and technological distinctiveness will be added to that of Trek fandom, as this is one of the episodes that really will grab you – though its direct sequel is still to come.

Season 2 Episode 20: The Emissary

An old flame of Worf, in the form of the half-human, half-Klingon, Ambassador K’Ehleyr, arrives on the Enterprise in a unique way. At the behest of Starfleet Security, the Ambassador is on board to warn and assist the crew of the Enterprise regarding the threat posed by a K’Tinga class Klingon Cruiser, the crew of which have been in suspended animation for 75 years. The crew of the IKS T’Ong are on a secret mission to attack the Federation, and are, of course, unaware that peace has broken out between the former enemies. 

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Susie Plakson’s turn as K’Ehleyr cements her position as a go-to actress for the franchise after her superb debut as Doctor Selar earlier in the season ( The Schizoid Man ) and would go on to reprise this part and manage to take on two further alien races in roles as the female Q in Voyager and Lt. Tarah of the Andorian Imperial Guard in Enterprise , making four in total. No other actor has played a Vulcan, an Andorian, a Klingon, and a Q!

Season 3 Episode 4: Who Watches The Watchers

Foreshadowing Star Trek: Insurrection , a Federation research team has been revealed to the indigenous lifeforms on a planet with a (very) pre-warp civilization, causing a breach of the Prime Directive, necessitating Commander Riker and Counsellor Troi to go undercover as the Vulcan-eque Mintakans to rescue a researcher. Hilarity ensues. That is, if you find Picard being referred to as a God and having people sacrificed to him hilarious.

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This one’s such a good foundation for new viewers as to quite why the Prime Directive is so important in the Star Trek universe that it was drawn upon for the opening sequence of Star Trek Into Darkness . It shows Next Generation at its thoughtful best.

Season 3 Episode 15: Yesterday’s Enterprise

You know something major has occurred when the end of the pre-credit sequence involves Worf being replaced by Lt. Yar… The USS Enterprise NCC-1701-C, the Ambassador Class predecessor to the Galaxy Class Enterprise-D, turns up after going missing and being presumed destroyed for 22 years. Unfortunately Guinan’s extra-normal perception detects that the timeline has changed.

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This story sets up a few things, as well as being downright brilliant in its own right, and is every bit as much a must-watch as Best Of Both Worlds .

Season 3 Episode 16: The Offspring

Jonathan Frakes graduates Paramount Academy with his directorial debut here, bringing the best out of Patrick Stewart and Bent Spiner in particular, as Data struggles to understand why he has to inform the Captain of his attempts to procreate when none of the other crew have to.

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A great performance from Hallie Todd as Lal which, literally, is the heart of the story, elevates this into the top 25.

Season 3 Episode 17: Sins Of The Father

Mogh, father of Worf is accused of betraying the Klingons to the Romulans, and thus instigating the Khitomer massacre. Starfleet’s only Klingon officer isn’t going to just let it lie, only to find he has a brother he knew nothing about.

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This is the first time Worf interacts with the Klingon High Council, at least on-screen, and comes into conflict with the Duras family for the first time – the actions in this episode would reverberate through Next Generation , DS9 , and into Star Trek: Generations .

Season 3 Episode 23: Sarek

From one father, to another. Ambassador Sarek of Vulcan, whose son is none other than Ambassador and formerly Captain Spock, comes aboard the Enterprise much to the delight of Captain Picard. Unfortunately it seems that Sarek is incapable of visiting the Enterprise in good health, and is suspected of being the cause of heightened tension and conflict aboard ship.

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Once again Mark Lenard is outstanding, and Patrick Stewart’s performance as he grapples with Sarek’s erratic emotional state is a slightly uncomfortable highlight.

Best Of Both Worlds/Family (Season 3 Episode 26, Season 4 Episode 1 and 2)

J-25 turns out to be a solar system not far enough from the Federation, and the readings from The Neutral Zone are forgotten as a single Borg vessel prepares to cut a swathe through Federation territory, with Captain Picard and anyone else in their way becoming little more than collateral damage.

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Guest star Elizabeth Dennehy shines as Lieutenant Commander Shelby, lighting a fire under Riker. The cliff-hanger, Star Trek ‘s first as a season closer, drove fans up the wall for months, with the main story wrapped up in the first episode of season 4 and an epilogue in the second episode of the season, Family , that underlined quite what the Captain went through as Locutus, once again proving who was leading the cast in more ways than one.

Season 4 Episode 7: Reunion

K’Ehleyr returns to the Enterprise with not only the Chancellor of the Klingon High Council in tow, but also her son, Alexander. It turns out that 3 to 4 year old Klingon children grow up really fast as Alexander was conceived during his mother’s last visit to the Enterprise, and he looks like he’s about 5. The episode also returns Duras to the screen and introduces Gowron. Unfortunately Alexander loses his mother, after she investigates Worf’s dishonour and the Khitomer massacre, when Duras murders her. Worf doesn’t take that lying down and ensures that the candidate for Chancellor got the point, dis-commendation or not.

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This story continues Worf’s journey into Klingon culture which doesn’t really conclude until at least DS9’s What You Leave Behind… or perhaps the “canon” 2009 film prequel comic story, Countdown .

Season 4 Episode 12: The Wounded

A veteran Captain of the Cardassian/Federation War, Ben Maxwell has taken it upon himself to launch his Nebula class starship, the USS Phoenix, into a one-ship war against the Cardassian Empire, believing that they are rearming to challenge the Federation once more. A Cardassian Gul (Captain) and two aides join the crew of the Enterprise to stop the Phoenix destroying further Cardassian vessels and outposts.

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This is the first appearance of the Cardassians on screen with Marc Alaimo staking an early claim to the de-facto portrayal of a Cardassian commanding officer, Gul Macet, in advance of landing the regular role as Gul Dukat in Deep Space Nine . We also learn a bit about Chief O’Brien’s background in the process – giving Colm Meaney some decent room to show what he can do.

Redemption (Season 4 Episode 26 & Season 5 Episode 1)

Gowron attempts to take his place as Chancellor of the Klingon High Council but the sisters of Duras, Lursa and B’Etor reveal the deceased candidate’s son and challenge the succession. The result is a Klingon Civil War, and Worf’s loyalties are split between the Federation and his own people. It seems the Duras are also getting help, as they have done before, from another race with cloaked ships. Leave it to Captain Data to sort out the situation.

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Will someone please tell me how Picard isn’t a Fleet Captain or Commodore at this point, when he’s in command of a fleet? Though the season cliff-hanger is nowhere near as compelling as that in Best Of Both Worlds ,  this two-part story serves to delve into Klingon culture and set a few things up for both Next Generation and Deep Space Nine .

Season 5 Episode 2: Darmok

How do you talk to a race that appears to speak in gibberish, even with the universal translator doing its best? According to the Children Of Tamar, the best solution is to beam your Captain and that of the vessel you are trying to communicate with down to a planet with a dangerous creature, give each officer a knife and see if they can work out their differences. Paul Winfield (who also played Captain Terrell in Star Trek II: The Wrath Of Khan ) does a superb job as the Tamarian Captain who communicates with Captain Picard by metaphor – it turns out that knowing the story of the example you’re citing helps quite a bit.

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The late, great Michael Piller remarked of this episode “I just think Darmok is the prototype of what Star Trek should be.” It has also be used by Linguistic teachers as an example of how language can develop while the premise alone in the form of the billing blurb for the episode inspired Russell T. Davies to write Midnight , from the fourth season of Doctor Who ‘s revival.

Season 5 Episodes 7-8: Unification

A bit of Sarek again, as Spock goes undercover on Romulus conducting cowboy diplomacy, prompting Picard and Data to pretend to be Romulans, and get transported to Romulus aboard a Klingon Bird Of Prey. There’s a reference to ear licking. There’s a discussion between Data and Spock. Tasha’s daughter, the Romulan commander, turns up. Jonathan Frakes sings the Next Generation theme tune in a blooper.

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Do I really need to say any more? The great and much missed Leonard Nimoy on Next Generation is all the recommendation this one needs.

Season 5 Episode 17: The Outcast

As potent today as The Original Series ‘ Let That Be Your Last Battlefield , this episode now appears to  tackle gender identity and uses the metaphor of a member of an androgynous race, the J’naii, who leans towards being female as a mirror for the struggle of those who are gender fluid or transgender, though it wasn’t the original intent.

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Riker becomes involved romantically with the female-leaning Soren, only to find such a person is viewed as a throwback in need of therapy by their own people. It’s equally heart-breaking and brilliant. Bizarrely it appears that our wider knowledge of the human condition as a whole has caught up with this episode which was originally conceived to provide an allegory for different sexualities, and was criticised for not being awfully successful in that endeavour at the time. The horror of Soren being forced to undergo mental alteration for her perceived “criminal perversion” of being female rather than without gender, is now all too real.

Season 5 Episode 23: I Borg

It’s not a person damn it, it’s a Borg ! Except it is a person, even though it’s a Borg, it transpires. A single-minded Captain Picard is determined to introduce a virus-like problem into the collective using a teenaged Borg an Enterprise away team has rescued from a crash site as the conduit. Guinan, even being one of the last remnants of a race all but wiped out by the Borg, disagrees and convinces the Captain to actually talk to “Hugh.”

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This one is a wonderfully written and executed episode which lays a path for later developments – Borg can indeed become individuals again.

Season 5 Episode 25: The Inner Light

Captain Picard is ensnared by an alien probe which as far as the rest of the crew is aware, forces him unconscious. They are unaware that another man’s life is being experienced by Jean-Luc, which we the viewer get to experience with him.

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Patrick Stewart excels (as he often does) in a great bit of science fiction that won a Hugo award and was nominated for an Emmy. Jay Chattaway’s score for this one is also unforgettable.

Season 6 Episode 10-11: Chain Of Command

Take one Patrick Stewart and one David Warner, put them in a torture room with 4 lights. Put Patrick in chains and make David a Cardassian who is torturing Picard for information, while Dick Jones, ahem, I mean Captain Jellico (Ronny Cox) is running the Enterprise. Some say this is Patricks Stewart’s finest performance as Captain Picard, and considering the actor actually researched with Amnesty International for this role, it’s not surprising. The bold interactions between Jonathan Frakes and Ronny Cox are great scenes.

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Great as the episode is, however, it’s certainly not for the faint of heart.

Season 6 Episode 15: Tapestry

Picard is dead. Q is God. The universe, fortunately, is not that badly designed. Q gives Jean-Luc the option to go back and fix what ails him (his reliance on an artificial heart) by avoiding his injury at the hands of a burley Nausicaan in the first place. Unfortunately it turns out that the result would be a very different man.

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Okay, so this one is basically the Next Generation version of It’s A Wonderful Life , but it also has Q to recommend it, as well as the fact that you learn more about Jean-Luc’s youth and why he laughed when he was stabbed through the back and heart.

Season 6 Episode 21: Frame Of Mind

Riker appears to find himself in an insane asylum on an alien world, with his known history as a Starfleet Commander on the Enterprise seemingly all a delusion… except he appears to be slipping between realities, or are they delusions too?

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Jonthan Frakes is allowed to show his acting chops in this reality-bending tale – and he conveys Riker losing his grip on reality very well. This story does the idea better than Sucker Punch ever could, not to mention a lot earlier.

Season 7 Episode 15: Lower Decks

This one provides a rare glimpse into the lives of junior officers aboard the Federation Starfleet flagship, two of whom are up for promotion. Meanwhile something is going on, involving a rescued unknown from the border with the Cardassian Empire, and the Bajoran ensign who was part of the Nova Squadron cover-up at the academy with Wesley Crusher (see season 5’s The First Duty ).

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This is possibly the most popular episode of season 7 and deserves to be. It gives a different perspective on the daily lives of those aboard the Enterprise. At one point Sito Jaxa (the Bajoran ensign) was due to reappear in Deep Space Nine , and this rumor developed at one point to include Thomas Riker, but alas, it never happened.

Encounter At Farpoint/All Good Things (Seasons 1 & 7)

The trial of the human race that Q instigates in Farpoint is seemingly ongoing, and it appears that Captain Jean-Luc Picard may be the destroyer of humanity itself, in the time-jumping finale to Star Trek: The Next Generation on television.

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Okay, I am cheating here a bit. Encounter At Farpoint in itself, isn’t great, but without it the splendor that is All Good Things makes no sense. Thus you have to watch the first episode of Next Generation for the last to work. However, even with all the introductions and John DeLancie being frankly fantastic as Q, Farpoint doesn’t deserve to be in the top 25 on its own merits… All Good Things really does, though, and as the conclusion to the story that Farpoint starts, forgive me the conceit of putting them together as one story here.

Of course, like any other list of this nature, everyone will have alternative selections and to be utterly fair my ‘almosts’ include some brilliant episodes such as Ensign Ro, Second Chances and The Most Toys . Then again,  Next Generation is my favorite TV show of all time, so there is very little of it I don’t enjoy or wouldn’t show to a friend.

Sven Harvey

Our episode database profiles every episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation . Each episode features background information (plot • trivia • interviews • behind the scenes info • shooting script) and Blu-ray screencaps.

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Star Trek Ranks & Podcast

From @enterprisenxtra.

The Next Generation Episode Ranks

Based on my many interactions with fans over the years, I believe Star Trek: The Next Generation is the Star Trek of choice for most Trekkies. And that is completely understandable. It built on the found of the original series in quantity and scope in a way that no one ever thought possible.

Full disclosure: for a brief moment in time I was one of those knucklehead fans in the late 80's who said, "Star Trek without Kirk and Spock? Never! I'm not watching that." And I didn't. For about two months. Then I caught a couple of episodes at an old girlfriends house and I realized what a mistake I'd made. TNG is my second favorite series to this day, and Picard is my all-time No. 1 Star Trek character.

So what’s number one on my TNG list? Is it an obvious pick like the Best of Both Worlds  or The Inner Light ? Or a deeper cut like Lower Decks or Redemption ? Everything's in play, so scroll down and find out below.

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Let’s Watch Star Trek

Deep Space Nine Episode Guide

Season One Emissary: Parts 1 & 2 Rating: 4 – Watch Past Prologue  Rating: 3 – Watch  A Man Alone  Rating: 3 – Watch  Babel  Rating: 2 – Skippable Captive Pursuit Rating: 2 – Skippable Q-Less  Rating: 2 – Skippable Dax  Rating: 2 – Skippable The Passenger  Rating: 1 – Skip Move Along Home  Rating: 1 – Skip The Nagus  Rating: 2 – Skippable Vortex  Rating: 2 – Skippable Battle Lines  Rating: 2 – Watch for continuity The Storyteller  Rating: 1 – Skip Progress  Rating: 1 – Skip If Wishes Were Horses  Rating: 1 – Skip The Forsaken  Rating: 2 – Skippable Dramatis Personae  Rating: 1 – Skip Duet  Rating: 4 – Watch In the Hands of Prophets  Rating: 2 – Watch for continuity

Season Two The Homecoming Rating: 3 – Watch The Circle Rating: 3 – Watch The Siege Rating: 3 – Watch Invasive Procedures Rating: 3 – Watch Cardassians Rating: 3 – Watch Melora Rating: 2 – Skippable Rules of Acquisition Rating: 2 – Skippable Necessary Evil Rating: 4 – Watch Second Sight Rating: 1 – Skip Sanctuary Rating: 2 – Skippable Rivals Rating: 2 – Skippable The Alternate Rating: 2 – Skippable Armageddon Game Rating: 3 – Watch Whispers Rating: 2 – Skippable Paradise Rating: 3 – Watch Shadowplay Rating: 2 – Skippable Playing God Rating: 2 – Skippable Profit and Loss Rating: 3 – Watch Blood Oath Rating: 4 – Watch The Maquis, Part I Rating: 3 – Watch The Maquis, Part II Rating: 4 – Watch The Wire Rating: 4 – Watch Crossover Rating: 3 – Watch The Collaborator Rating: 2 – Watch for continuity Tribunal Rating: 2 – Skippable The Jem’Hadar Rating: 4 – Watch

Season Three The Search Part I Rating: 4 – Watch The Search Part II Rating: 3 – Watch The House of Quark Rating: 3 – Watch Equilibrium Rating: 2 – Skippable Second Skin Rating: 2 – Skippable The Abandoned Rating: 3 – Watch Civil Defense Rating: 3 – Watch Meridian Rating: 1 – Skip Defiant Rating: 3 – Watch Fascination Rating: 1 – Skip Past Tense, Part I Rating: 3 – Watch Past Tense, Part II Rating: 3 – Watch Life Support Rating: 2 – Watch for continuity Heart of Stone Rating: 2 – Watch for continuity Destiny Rating: 2 – Skippable Prophet Motive Rating: 2 – Skippable Visionary Rating: 2 – Skippable Distant Voices Rating: 1 – Skip Through the Looking Glass Rating: 3 – Watch Improbable Cause Rating: 3 – Watch The Die is Cast Rating: 3 – Watch Explorers Rating: 2 – Watch for continuity Family Business Rating: 1 – Watch for continuity Shakaar Rating: 2 – Watch for continuity Facets Rating: 2 – Skippable The Adversary Rating: 4 – Watch

Season Four The Way of the Warrior Rating: 4 – Watch The Visitor Rating: 4 – Watch Hippocratic Oath Rating: 3 – Watch Indiscretion Rating: 2 – Watch for continuity Rejoined Rating: 2 – Skippable Starship Down Rating: 3 – Watch Little Green Men Rating: 3 – Watch The Sword of Kahless Rating: 2 – Skip Our Man Bashir Rating: 2 – Skip Homefront Rating: 3 – Watch Crossfire Rating: 1 – Skip Return to Grace Rating: 4 – Watch Sons of Mogh Rating: 3 – Watch Bar Association Rating: 2 – Watch for continuity Accession Rating: 2 – Skippable Rules of Engagement Rating: 2 – Skippable Hard Time Rating: 2 – Skippable Shattered Mirror Rating: 2 – Skippable The Muse Rating: 2 – Skippable For The Cause Rating: 3 – Watch To The Death Rating: 3 – Watch The Quickening Rating: 3 – Watch Body Parts Rating: 3 – Watch Broken Link Rating: 3 – Watch

Season Five Apocalypse Rising : 4 – Watch The Ship : 2 – Skippable Looking for par’Mach in All the Wrong Places : 3 – Watch Nor the Battle to the Strong : 3 – Watch The Assignment : 3 – Watch Trials and Tribble-ations : 5 – Watch Let He Who Is Without Sin… : 1 – Skip Things Past : 3 – Watch The Ascent : 1 – Skip Rapture : 2 – Skippable The Darkness and the Light : 3 – Watch The Begotten : 2 – Watch for continuity For the Uniform : 4 – Watch In Purgatory’s Shadow: 4 – Watch By Inferno’s Light: 4 – Watch Doctor Bashir, I Presume: 2 – Watch for continuity A Simple Investigation: 1 – Skip Business as Usual: 2 – Skippable Ties of Blood and Water: 3 – Watch Ferengi Love Songs: 2 – Skippable Soldiers of the Empire: 4 – Watch Children of Time: 2 – Skippable Blaze of Glory: 4 – Watch Empok Nor: 2 – Skippable In the Cards: 2 – Watch for continuity Call to Arms: 5 – Watch

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This category includes all episodes of Star Trek: The Next Generation . The episodes are listed alphabetically here. A chronological order of episodes is presented in the series article.

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Can Houston Astros Ace End Up With Yankees?

The Houston Astros top pitcher is viewed as a real option for the New York Yankees.

• Author: Jon Conahan

In this story:

The brutal 8-19 start from the Houston Astros could lead to massive changes by the front office. Frankly, it's been as bad of a season as possible for the Astros and unless things change quickly, those changes might be a necessity.

Given the team isn't even 30 games into their season, it's also fair to not press the panic button yet. After running baseball for much of the past decade, the safe thing to say is that Houston will figure it out. Factor in all of the injuries they've dealt with and the struggles are warranted.

However, if things don't change for the team by July, it could be the end of some of this core. Notably, Alex Bregman , Framber Valdez, and other key pieces will hit free agency within the next two years.

Due to the struggles, is there a chance the Astros trade Valdez, who's been arguably their best pitcher over the past few seasons, to the New York Yankees ?

Adam Weinrib of YanksGoYard listed options for the Yankees to pursue as Jesus Luzardo is dealing with an elbow injury. The left-handed Peru native was viewed as one of the top options on the market before dealing with this injury.

In his list, Weinrib had Valdez as an option.

While it seems unlikely that Houston and New York would ever get a deal done, anything is possible. At the end of the day, if the Astros were going to trade any of their top players, getting the biggest return possible is what they need to focus on. If the Yankees front office is willing to move any of their top prospects, it's something they should think about.

Valdez, who will return on Sunday, pitched in two games before hitting the injury list with elbow inflammation.

He threw in 12 1/3 innings, allowing three earned runs and striking out 10.

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