My Top Ten Favorite Star Trek episodes, ranked

My Top Ten favorite Star Trek TNG episodes, ranked.
#6, The Inner Light, season 5
This episode utilizes one of my big bugaboos about alien races having "mind control" technology and no other comparable military technology, or in this case space travel capabilities. I also have to assume that the real Kamin must have been in on the creation of the probe's programming since it's his life that Picard's free-form hallucination takes on, and yet there's no indication of this happening in Picard's experience as Kamin. However, in this case it was the best way to handle a story like this, so I willingly and happily overlook the sci-fi flaws of this beautiful episode.
The Enterprise encounters a probe which makes a connection with Picard and throws him into a state of unconsciousness on the bridge. Meanwhile, in his mind, he's living the life of a man on a dying planet. Unwillingly at first, since he can't shake his identity off instantly. However, this is where the episode takes an unexpected turn. A seasoned Star Trek fan would expect Kamin-Picard to be solving the mystery of his new placement on Kattan within a few hours or days, inadvertently teaching lessons to all the people in town about space travel, how to save their planet, and even finding a way to meet with them for real. But that's not what happens. Instead he accepts his new identity and life believing his vague memories of space exploration to be dreams brought about by illness. Over the course of Kamin's long life, Picard gets the whole domestic and civil experience, wife and kids, joys and woes - a life he'd not chosen for himself in his real world, which is why it's so emotional when at the end he realizes that all of "his" life was a memorial to the extinct planet and their plea to be remembered. I mean, it's the reason we procreate and pass stories and history down through the generations anyway... it's as close as we come to eternal life on Earth. The memories would be with Picard forever.
I consider this episode to be an improvement on "The Paradise Syndrome" in which Kirk, with amnesia, takes on the life of a medicine man and marries with intent to start a family. That life is tragically taken from Kirk and Spock helps him to forget in the end. But in this episode, Picard is allowed to live his alternate life out naturally before he's gently removed back to reality where he then has to live with those memories. And even the writers realized afterwards how an experience like this could deeply change a character even though all they were looking for was just a good hour of T.V. It's every bit as invasive and life altering as his experience of the Borg assimilation. Instead of taking his life as the Borg did, this probe gave him an additional life to cherish, and it's also a lot to work through psychologically. The image of Captain Picard living as an average, "nobody" type of man who is not a leader of anything significant or fulfilling any kind of "chosen one" role had a more powerful impact than anyone could've expected for both the character and the audience. And it wouldn't have worked as well for any other character.

I also 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.
The Gambit, season 7
This episode was so much better for displaying Picard's passion for archaeology than Captain's Holiday. This episode is action packed. They don't spend a lot of time on dialogue and there's no need since the story is pretty straight forward. It leaves you breathless almost from beginning to end. You know Picard can't really be dead but it's an interesting twist when he turns up as a part of the mercenary crew and not a hostage. The name he's using while posing as an archaeologist is enough to give the episode an emotional hook that they don't even have to waste time explaining since Picard's beloved and recently departed mentor, Galen, is still fresh in our memories from The Chase in the previous season. It's another glowing demonstration of how the characters have grown together and work smoothly as a team without having to give a wink and a nudge to make their intentions known to each other and without a need to telegraph to the audience what they were doing like the episode, Allegiance. These interactions are another affirmation of how Wrath of Khan changed the way stories were written. It had all the intensity of an action movie, like Starhip Mine, with a plot that undergoes a couple of twists and ends up exploring the darker side of Vulcan's past as Picard becomes involved in a plot to rebuild a destructive telepathic weapon. It's a really cool episode in the 7th season when you could tell that they were running thin on ideas.
They say the producer felt a little bad about doing this one because it breaks Roddenberry's rule of "no space pirates." But the best work was done outside of Roddenberry's rules. The show would never have matured and we wouldn't have had the deep complexities of DS9 if they followed Roddenberry's rules. It's kind of hard to take "no space pirates" seriously anyway when that's essentially what the original concept of the Ferengi was in the early seasons. This was a great little adventure. And it was more Indiana Jonsey than piratey.One of my personal favorites.

My Top Ten Star Trek TNG episodes, ranked.

My Top Ten Star Trek TNG Episodes, Ranked
#7 Best of Both Worlds, Season 3 finale
Some say that Measure Of A Man was the first really good episode of the series. I mean, I don't know... maybe. It's on my Honorable Mentions list. But I think Both Worlds may be the first real home-run of the show. There were a lot of good episodes in season 3, including Yesterday's Enterprise. But most of the good episodes in that year were improvements on concepts from the first 2 seasons. That's great and they needed to happen, don't get me wrong. However, this episode was a demonstration of their ability to further develop a concept without reaching over-saturation (which is kind of what had been happening with Data at this point, except his popularity made it okay.) As the first fruits of Q Who from the previous season, they begin to slowly build up their primary nemesis and it continued to break ground giving us the viral phrase, "Resistance is futile." The hopelessness of their first appearance was observable and the helplessness of the crew is measurable in this appearance as Picard is abducted and assimilated into the Borg collective.The character of Picard was always written the best even in the weakest episodes and he was very beloved and respected by now. So giving him over completely to the enemy's side to the point where the crew had to make the choice to possibly kill him was a bold move on the part of Star Trek and made a magnificent cliffhanger. There was actually a question as to whether or not Stewart would come back for the fourth season if you can imagine that ... it's almost as horrifying as the cliffhanger. But he did return and it enabled the writers to evolve the Borg a little more as we learned that Picard's personality wasn't completely gone, but only suppressed. Even though the weekly previews spoiled all of this, it was still a terrible shock when Picard was taken and a huge relief when they were able to communicate with him again and get him back. That's what makes this such a powerful episode. And even though it's a happy ending they don't have Picard playing it off as "all in a day's work" but rather with the dark weariness of someone who has been heinously traumatized. Very real; very relatable. It gave it a lot of depth.
I love this episode because, although the writers had been trending away from mercilessly beating up on humanity in general during this season, this is the first episode in which the human race, and Picard specifically, are unmistakably the good guys of the universe. They're special and able to overcome an overwhelming adversary such as the Borg. In fact, humans are so resilient that a liaison was needed to help take us out. It was very refreshing and just aided in giving the show purpose and direction. It opened up a lot of avenues and cemented for TNG an original antagonist all of its own so that they could grow beyond the political tensions of TOS as Roddenberry envisioned. TNG would never end another season without a two part cliffhanger again and this set the bar almost impassably high. It's a great episode.

 I also 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.
Starship Mine, season 6
Picard as a badass, rogue action hero? Uh... yes, please! It was pitched as "Die Hard on the Enterprise" and that about sums it up I guess. It seems like an idea that somebody would've had in the first season, but if it had been done in the first season it would've been awful. The Enterprise is in for a routine maintenance procedure which is lethal to organic life so they all must evacuate and most of the senior staff is forced to attend a reception they're not interested in. Picard finds a way out of it when he discovers that he can ride the nearby horse trails and returns to the ship to get his saddle before all the systems are shut down. He discovers a small group of people on the ship stealing valuable material from the engine core and can't escape in time to warn anyone, so he spends the episode trying to hinder their progress while cut off from everyone else and unable to use the advanced technologies on board the ship. He's resourceful and quick witted and shows a remarkable capacity for cunning and stealth. Stealth on both ends, because for the theft to work, there needs to be accomplices on the surface of the planet so the rest of the crew at the reception become hostages and they have to work while impeded as well to regain control of the situation. It reaches a nail biting climax as Picard and his crew overcome their enemies and find a way to communicate with only seconds to spare before Picard is killed by the maintenance procedure.
This episode is just wall to wall action. Even the comic relief is fast paced and precise. It showcases Picard at his coolest. I don't have a bad thing to say about it. It doesn't make the favorite's cut because it's a one-off episode, I guess that has no further impact on the characters within. Five stars for fun though. It's one of my personal favorite Picard episodes.

My Top Ten Star Trek TNG Episodes, Ranked

My Top Ten Favorite Star Trek TNG episodes, ranked.
#8 Q Who, season 2
This is a pivotal episode that changed everything for the series. After evolving the Klingons into allies, the show flailed about helplessly for a primary adervsary. The early concept of Ferengi was an unmitigated disaster. Troll-like, garden-gnomish; like children outfitted for Halloween. Cowardly whips and jumping about like nymphs in a Shakespearean play, there was no way to take them seriously as a nemesis. Q himself was only a little better. They probably could've done well with him as the enemy for a while, but at this point he was mostly comical and far too charming. Instead they use him as a catalyst for this adventure and end up not only validating Q as a powerful, formidable character, but they hit upon the turning point that, I think, saved the entire TNG project.
It broke the budget for the second season, but it paid out like a slot machine. Who could fail to be intrigued by a cyborg similar to a Terminator coming aboard the Enterprise, not to attack, but to start downloading all of their data banks as reconnaissance?... in your face reconnaissance that required no sneaking or guile. Their emotionless behavior is mesmerizing. This is the fear they wanted to strike into people's hearts from the beginning with the Ferengi, but they were still thinking along the line of TOS... aggressive war-like races. I'm not sure which writer(s) hit on a cold, machine intelligence as the best way to go, but he, she, or they nailed it. It actually fit in perfectly with the dawning of the computer age here in real life. Out-gunned, the Enterprise runs. And they can't outrun for long either. One of the most intense scenes ever is when they zoom in on the Borg Cube repairing it's damage while it's quickly catching up to them. I think this is another influence of Star Trek II. This is a no-win situation and there really is no doubt about it. They're obviously outmatched and would most certainly be toast quickly and mercilessly. I think this influence is part of what makes this such a great episode. The hopelessness is palpable.
The Borg then evolved over the series which kept it interesting and fun to watch. This is a huge episode and worthy of being in any Top 10 list.

 I also 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.
Relics, season 6
Not in my favorites because transporter science is always lovably dubious and the Dyson Sphere was as well. But I love the warm, fuzzy nostalgia with one of the best Star Trek characters ever created. Scotty is still 100% Scotty with Doohan playing him the same way he did throughout TOS and the movies... with that air of melodrama that was so distasteful in the first two seasons of TNG, but perfectly normal when exhibited by anyone from the original cast. Trapped in a transporter to escape a disaster, the crew finds him and releases him. He is bewildered to discover that 75 years have passed. The disparity of years and fifth-wheel dejection he feels is relatable. But he gets to prove himself again as a miracle worker and they couldn't have found a better way to work in the bridge of the original Enterprise on the holodeck.
Of all the transitioning mechanisms between TOS and TNG, this one, after six seasons,was the smoothest. I've made the comparison a lot on how TOS was much more simplistic/immature and it's in this episode that my view is supported. You can see the difference in the attitude of the two different shows. The personality of Scotty represents the playfulness of TOS and how it belonged to a time when stories could be played out like games. Geordi's personality was more serious and represented the way the stories had matured and how the stakes of the games had risen. And it was the most effective passing of the torch between the two if you ask me. McCoy in the first episode was sentimental. The movie, Star Trek Generations, was a nice gesture. But this episode featuring the two engineers of the Enterprises was the best bridge between what was and what was to be.
It was a wonderful send off to the character of Montgomery Scott. So much love for this episode!

My Top Ten Favorite Star Trek TNG Episodes

My Top Ten Favorite Star Trek TNG episodes, ranked
#9 Disasters, season 5
It may seem like a strange pick for a favorite with a predictable, soapy plot, but I loved the sudden change up for all of the characters. Being thrust into positions they wouldn't normally be in like Troi having to take charge of the ship or Picard having to comfort and lead a group of children. Seeing different character pairings like Geordi and Beverly who are often in a group setting but never teamed up to resolve an issue that doesn't fall specifically within either of their expertise. It's always Geordi and Data that are paired. And Geordi would not only feel no awkwardness about using Data's head as a tool, but he'd also know exactly what to do with it, unlike Riker to whom this is an entirely different and unusual experience. And they all have their own issues. Nobody but the bridge crew is aware of the danger to the ship so everyone is just doing their own thing to survive. Including prudish, OCD Worf delivering Keiko's baby which isn't living up to his expectations from the simulated deliveries he'd practiced. I love comedy and it's probably the funniest moment of the series and just one reason why I love to watch this episode again and again. I loved it because it was different and a nice break from the weightier scripts.

 I also 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.
The Most Toys, season 3
Like Ensigns Of Command, it's more of a breaking away from the simplicity of TOS. I'd call this a Roddenberry classic episode because it seems exactly like the plot of a TOS episode, and I'm not entirely sure it wasn't. But it improves on Roddenberry's narrow view of conflict resolution as Data is kidnapped by a high end thief who wants to display him in his personal museum. Data spends much of the episode practicing the appropriate passive resistance to Fajo's displays of power over him. But eventually he reaches a point in which he realizes that the pacifistic response (that Fajo even throws back in his face) is no longer an option and sometimes the use of force is necessary. Sometimes evil needs to be destroyed rather than negotiated with or psychoanalysed. Of course, he doesn't actually have to pull the trigger in the end, but it's a harsh reality that was concluded and it helped to broaden the perspectives that the show would take in the future. I also see it as correcting the response that was given to Armus in Skin Of Evil which was poorly played out. A lot of episodes in season 3 were a kind of reboot of the series that made it better and stronger. This episode is a great example.