My top ten favorite Star Trek TNG episodes

The whole time I've been doing this blog, I've never done this because it's too hard to pick favorites. But I finally sat down and picked my Top Ten favorites.

Okay, my top ten favorite episodes of Star Trek TNG, ranked.
#10 Yesterday's Enterprise, season 3
This is one of the best episodes in my opinion for two main reasons. Firstly, it's the best use of a time anomaly. What this episode does is take a more realistic approach to a change in a timeline. A strange wormhole appears and suddenly everything changes... and nobody notices. Equally as important, nobody notices when the timeline is put right again at the end. The character of Guinan makes it work as she's an alien whose abilities and perceptions were never clearly defined. Even she isn't fully aware of the changes that have taken place. Just vague forebodings that help to convince the characters to take actions that go against their instincts, embarking on a veritable suicide mission to send Enterprise C back to its own timeline where it would inevitably be destroyed as well.
The second reason is that it gave Tasha a more meaningful death. Of course, we find out later that she didn't perish with Enterprise C, but at the the time it corrected the mistake made in the first season of killing her off for shock value. Instead of getting the red-shirt treatment, she gets a hero's sacrifice more befitting and respectful of her character. She deserved that and I love this episode for doing that for her.

 It turns out I have 10 honorable mentions to match my top ten favorites, so I'll throw one in every day that I post a top ten episode. These aren't ranked.
Ensigns of Command, season 3
I love this episode. It doesn't quite make the cut of "favorite" but it's a great Data episode and it has an underlying theme of communication that appeals greatly to me. Season three is where TNG started to loosen itself from Roddenberry's original vision and started adding splashes of color to his black and white world. A fine speech doesn't always fix everything and diplomacy isn't always easy as both Data and Picard learn. Sometimes a more forceful means of conveying your message is necessary. The best part is the end where Picard totally owns that Sheliak captain on his own terms. It's a lot of fun from beginning to end and definitely an episode I'd pick if I was trying to sell someone on Star Trek.