#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.
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