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[mango drank]

RLM keeps dropping TNG countdown videos, and I figured I'd poll GAF's nerd hivemind on their own favorite episodes. My top 5:

1. Deja Q (season 3): after Data and Picard, Q is probably my next favorite character, and this is his best episode. Q finding himself humbled is a situation ripe for absurdity, and this episode has some hilarious lines.
2. Remember Me (season 4): the Twilight Zone-style episodes of TNG are some of my favorites. There's something so eerie about this one, and it gets more and more bizarre as the episode progresses. The ending is lame, but I love everything before that.
3. The Nth Degree (season 4): this feels like a companion episode to Deja Q, but flipped on its head: a milquetoast character is suddenly omnipotent. Barclay dunking on everyone and stealing their girls is gold.
4. Parallels (season 7): again, Twilight Zone TNG is best TNG. One of the few Worf-focused episodes I actually like.
5. Future Imperfect (season 4): yup

 

[Ballthyrm]

1. The Inner Light : a whole life in an episode, great concept, better execution
2. Darmok : can we communicate with people who aren't us ? what does it really take ? i think it is a great philosophy and show what Star Trek is about
3. Tapestry : win without risk, triumph without glory as we say in France
4. Lower Decks : let's make an episode without the main characters that happens to be the best episode of the season
5. Sarek : great characterisation of an alien culture and superb acting, redcon at its best.

 

[Tranquil]

 

[Tesseract]

from memory my favorites are the ones that got fairly dark like when picard had to kill himself or the crew was sleep deprived such that data was the last man standing

 

[dispensergoinup]

The ones where Data has emotions turned on and he goes wacky.

 

[Men_in_Boxes]

Any episode where Warf gets his ass kicked. Warf sucks.

 

[StreetsofBeige]

I never followed the series, but my bro loved it. If I sat with him watching it, the episodes I did like were any show with that Q guy.

The Q actor had a really good script to banter back and forth with Picard. And it's funny how he was this uber god who could snap his finger and have anything happen but always toyed with humans when he could solve anything for them.

 

[Tschumi]

Legend.

This is damn hard. I'm certain I've missed a host of great ones.

1. The measure of a man. It's forever relevant, it was truly moving, it was really well acted, and it came in the first 'real' season. A federation scientists drops round to pick up Data for some casual, possibly terminal, experiments that'll boost his career forward a few decades. Data protests. The scientist questions his right to protest. And so Data's validity as a sentient being is put on trial - with Riker obliged to act as prosecutor. Fire. Fire. Fire. Shook me to the bone.

2. The Inner Light. Again, hugely moving, just brain exploding. A probe briefly takes over Picard's brain and he is transported to another time and place. No more spoilers except to say I'm certain the live-a-life game in Rick and Morty was directly influenced by this. Just imagining what it would do to you to go through that, I kinda half suspect Picard was never fully sane again.

3. Darmok. I hate this episode, and love it in equal measure. If there were more Darmok memes in this world, this world would work better. HIS EYES OPEN.

4. Ship in a Bottle. Just like in the Sir Arthur Conan Doyle novels, Moriarty is the best villain of the lot. An AI creation which was expressly programmed to be capable of beating Data, the dude's just too exceptional to function. In the end, he doesn't even get beaten.

5. Qpid. Q's episodes are always pretty good - I like the one where he's human for a [time] in particular - but this one was the most fun. Picard is Robin Hood (or Robinhood as he annoyingly pronounces it) and the rest of the crew are 'Merry Men' (except Worf, who protests)... It's just great.

6. Time's Arrow I + II. Data's disembodied head is discovered deep beneath the surface of earth, and time travel happens in the nick of time for the crew to head back to 1800s US to meet Mark Twain (impossibly, and to my mind rightly, genius and lovably obstructive) and solve the mystery. Spans the 5th and 6th seasons, a really fun cliffhanger.

7. The Survivors. Happening early in the 3rd season, a colony has been wiped out somehow and the Enterprise investigates - finding only 2 of the 11,000 colonists still alive. More than this, the couple's lovely future-modernist house and square of green grass is the only exception on a raging firestorm of a planet. How is this house still there? How is it preserved? It's a really intersting mystery that keeps you guessing.

8. A Matter of Perspective. Still in season 3, and this is TNG's homage to Akira Kurosawa's Rashomon. Riker has been in close contract with a mysterious scientist moments before his death, which came just after Riker teleported away. The anecdotal evidence of Riker, the scientist's wife, and other sources is related in turn at a court set up to try the Commander. Riker's natural charisma and flintiness, combined with his self-assured no-nonsense leadership method, seems to have landed him in hot water - but how hot?

9. Genesis. Coming in the last season, this extreme concept episode asked what would happen if the Enterprise devolved somehow. Worf becomes a murderous carnivore (what else?) others become other things.

10. Tin Man. This one was a tad on the nose, a tad melodramatic, but it was nice for them to bring in a one-time main character like they did and try to build a suspenseful mission. Definitely rises above the traditional star trek formula better than many.

ps. wouldja lookatdat, i went and done 10. ewps!

 

[mango drank]

2. Remember Me. Again, hugely moving, just brain exploding. A probe briefly takes over Picard's brain and he is transported to another time and place. No more spoilers except to say I'm certain the live-a-life game in Rick and Morty was directly influenced by this. Just imagining what it would do to you to go through that, I kinda half suspect Picard was never fully sane again.

I think you're getting Remember Me mixed up with The Inner Light, fella. Other than that, those are some solid ones. The Survivors is another one of my favorites. And man, I'm realizing I haven't watched some of the ones on your list in 10+ years.

 

[Tschumi]

I think you're getting Remember Me mixed up with The Inner Light, fella. Other than that, those are some solid ones. The Survivors is another one of my favorites. And man, I'm realizing I haven't watched some of the ones on your list in 10+ years.

You're right, I'll edit that.. remember me was pretty good too,a huge switcheroo

 

[Tranquil]

Any episode where Warf gets his ass kicked. Warf sucks.

That's every episode he's in.

 

[#Phonepunk#]

great thread! i will have to think about this.

 

[rykomatsu]

In the Pale Moonlight
Duet
Far Beyond the Stars
The Sound of Her Voice
The Visitor

Am I doing this right, GAF?

All kidding aside...

Deja Q when seen in the context of ST Enterprise' Borg episode, I think it was a really interesting star trek universe continuation, particularly with the time loop originating from First Contact movie.

Inner Light showing Picard that there are things worse than death especially after living an accomplished life.

Best of Both Worlds, Part 1 stands out for me since I was watching it as a kid and probably the first time I saw a cliffhanger...brings back fond memories of rewatching episodes I had taped while waiting for the next season to see what happens to Picard.

Ensign Ro & Lowe Decks I think for similar reasons...second chances being provided (forced by Guinan to flawed characters, resulting in redemption. I wish both To Karen and Sito Jada had a role in DS9 (I think Forbes was originally offered the Kira role). Looking back, I wonder if Ensign Ro's initial redemption had an impact on Sito Jaxa being given a second chance by Picard. Maybe it's a connection that's made up in my head, but both were egregiously flawed from Picard's POV yet, I like to think that Picard also grew as a person for this difference in treatment to happen where Picard went out of his way to bring Jaxa onto the crew

 

[mango drank]

In the Pale Moonlight
Duet
Far Beyond the Stars
The Sound of Her Voice
The Visitor

Am I doing this right, GAF?

(Sound of Her Voice and Duet are two of my fav DS9 eps)