Serial 1: First Contact
Picard, Riker, Worf, Data, Crusher, Troi, Laforge, Ogawa, Doctor

We've spent a whole season away from TNG (except for pesky Worf, who can't stay away from Deep Space Nine), so it's fun to see them in action again. In what's easily the best TNG movie, the crew follows the Borg into Earth's past, where everyone's favorite assimilators (unless you're a Cyberman fan) attempt to keep Earth's first contact with Vulcans from taking place.


Episode 3: Scorpion
(Janeway, Chakotay, Tuvok, Kim, Kes, Torres, 7of9, Doctor, Paris, Neelix)

What could possibly frighten The Borg? Why, a mostly terrible new alien race from another dimension who The Borg just can't seem to assimilate. This new enemy is such a threat that The Borg and the crew of Voyager must team up to stop them.


Episode 4: The Gift
(7of9, Kes, Janeway, Doctor, Tuvok, Chakotay, Kim, Torres, Neelix)

The newest member of Voyager is A Borg! And it's up to the rest of the crew to teach her how to be more human. It's somewhat Data-ey, but with more  potential murder than holodeck detective work.


Episode 5: Trials & Tribbilations
Sisko, O'Brien, Bashir, Worf, Dax, Odo, Kirk, Chekov, Scott, Kira, Uhuru, Spock

This may be my favorite episode in the whole franchise. Filmed like a TOS episode, the crew of Deep Space Nine goes back in time to keep the Klingon villain from "The Trouble With Tribbles" from changing history.  There are a few scenes from the original TOS episode spliced in, and a lot of fun non-interactions between the two casts.


Episode 6: Affliction

Why do The Klingons look so different between The Original Series, the Next Generation/Deep Space Nine era, and Discovery? Well, the crew of The Enterprise is back to try and answer that question as best as possible.


Episode 7: A Year Of Hell 


Episode 8: Message In A Bottle


Episode 9: Begotten
(Odo, Kira, O'Brien, Keiko, Bashir, Quark, Sisko, Worf)

Quark finds a baby changeling, and gives custody of it to Odo, causing him to rethink his relationship with the doctor who raised him. Alsowhile, Kira is having O'Brien and Keiko's baby and it is awwwwwwwwwwwwkward for everyone.


Episode 10: One
(7of9, Doctor, Janeway, Paris, Torres, Kim, Chakotay)

When radiation from a nebula threatens the lives of everyone else on the ship, 7of9 becomes the crew's favorite member as she and The Doctor team up to save the ship.


Episode 11: Drone
(7of9, Doctor, Janeway, Torres, Kim, Paris, Chakotay, Tuvok, Neelix)

Borg, Borg, Borg! There's a whole new Borg on the ship, and 7of9 wants to raise him. You'd think this would be too similar to "Begotten" to put in this season, but you'd be wrong, the story goes in a completely different direction. Until it goes exactly the same way.


Serial 2: In Purgatory's Shadow/By Inferno's Light
(Sisko,  Garak, Kira, Bashir, Dax, Odo, Worf, Gul Dukat, O'Brien, Nog, Rom, Martok, Jake)

The standoff with The Dominion gets a whole lot tougher when Gul Dukat leads The Cardassians into an alliance with The Dominion to take on Starfleet. There's a changeling spy on Deep Space Nine, AND Worf and Garak get trapped in a Jem'Hadar prison. This is the episode that cemented Garak as my favorite Cardassian, and soured me on Gul Dukat.


Episode 14: Call To Arms
(Sisko, Gul Dukat, Odo, Kira, Rom, Ziyal, Quark, Jake, Garak, Worf, Martok)

Sisko comes up with a plan to blow up the wormhole and stop the seemingly inevitable war with the Cardassians and The Dominion. Spoiler Alert: It's not enough to prevent the war. Unrelated Spoiler Alert: This would have( been one of my favorite episodes, but there is a gigantic Deus Ex Machina moment that undercut the crux of the episode's tension.


Episode 15: Sacrifice Of Angels
(Sisko, Gul Dukat, Odo, Kira, Rom, Ziyal, Weyoun, Quark, Jake, Garak, Worf, Martok)

The Dominion War is truly underway, and it's about to go horribly awry for both sides.


Episode 16: Waltz


Episode 17: Flesh


Episode 18: Hope And Fear

To watch all of The Star Trek franchise, it would take you nearly a month of no-sleep-marathoning. Nearly 550 hours at this point. Twenty-four days. AND THEY'RE STILL MAKING MORE. You don't have that kind of time.

I've attempted to put together a much more condensed series of Star Trek. Dividing it into ten episode seasons. For the most part, these are My Favorite Episodes. I've left out some that are historically important episodes, in favor of things that I found fun to watch. If you're a Trekkie or Trekker, or just consider yourself a fan, I may have left off your favorite episode. Sorry. But this is more a list for people like me, who had seen an episode here and there, were interested in seeing more, but don't want to invest in the whole 530+ hours. I'm doing it, so others don't have to.

With the ending of TNG, we are left with two atypical Star Trek series: Deep Space Nine, which takes place mostly on a space station near a wormhole, and Voyager, which is your typical federation starship, but lost on the opposite side of space from the federation, and made up of a crew that is half federation, and half Maquis terrorist. These are both brilliant conceptual twists on Star Trek. Sadly, Voyager never delivers on its potential. I'm not saying that it's terrible, I'm saying that the Maquis/federation angle is never fleshed out as well as the space station angle of Deep Space Nine.

This season focuses on the show Deep Space Nine, but focuses on episodes that mostly revolve around one of their ships, The Defiant, which is the first cloakable federation vessel. The Defiant gets much use as the federation gets embroiled in a constantly shifting war this season, which introduces new villainous aliens, and upgrades some old school aliens to new adversarial heights.

Episode 1: Jem'Hadar
(Sisko, Jake, Quark, Nog, Odo, Kira, Dax, O'Brien, Bashir)

A father/son bonding trip between Sisko and Jake (as well as Quark and his nephew Nog) goes horribly awry when they are kidnapped by the new Big Bad of Deep Space Nine. Forget the Cardassians, the Jem'Hadar are nonfuckwithable warriors from the other side of the wormhole, and they're about to change the whole feel of the series.


Episode 2: The Search
(Sisko, Odo, Quark, Kira,  Bashir, Dax, O'Brien, Garak)

So, it turns out the Jem'Hadar are just soldiers who work for The Founders, and they are the unfuckwithable adversaries for the season. Starfleet uses their newest ship, The Defiant, to try and track them down. But the Jem'Hadar have other plans. Oh, and Odo ends up finally meeting aliens just like him. 


Episode 3: The Defiant


Episode 4: Improbable Cause/Die Is Cast
(Garak,Odo, Bashir, Sisko, O'Brien, Dax, Kira, Eddington)

It has been inferred since the beginning of Deep Space Nine, that Garak, a Cardassian tailor, is actually a high ranking spy. So when his shop is blown up under mysterious circumstances, Bashir and Odo delve into his past.


Episode 5: The Adversary
(Sisko, Dax, O'Brien, Eddington, Jake, Quark, Kira, Odo, Bashir)

Like Odo, The Founders are all changelings, so imagine the damage they could do if they infiltrated Starfleet and Deep Space Nine. Oh, shit, did that already happen?


Episode 6: Maneuvers
(Janeway, Chakotay, Torres, Kim, Seska, Tuvok, Neelix, Paris)

The closest Voyager comes to making the Maquis/federation conflict work is the character Seska, a Cardassian who was living as a Bajoran. She defects from Voyager before this episode and joins up with the Kazon, who are The Big Bads of the first three seasons of Voyager, but who pale in comparison to The Klingons, The Romulans, The Cardassians The Borg, The Jem'Hadar, The Founders, the spooky children of The Original Series, Tribbles, evil Kirk from the Mirror Universe, a stick of gum that gets caught in your sneaker treads. They're a lame adversary, and they're rarely a threat. Until they get combines with Seska. This also sets up a storyarc that will be in the 5 Bonus Episodes at the end of this post. But this is, by far, the best of the Seska episodes.


Episode 7: Way Of The Warrior
(Worf, Sisko, Odo, Kira, Dax, Garak, O'Brien, Gowran, Quark, Gul Dukat, Bashir)

The Klingons haven't been a big part of Deep Space Nine. Sure, Dax and some of her Klingon friends went on an adventure, and yea, the sisters of Duras were around for an early episode, but for the most part, they haven't been very present. But when Gowran decides The Klingon Empire should protect the wormhole from The Founders, he incites a war between The Klingons and The Cardassians, and it gets so intense that Deep Space Nine recruits Worf from Enterprise to join their crew.


Episode 8: Hippocratic Oath


Episode 9: Meld


Episode 10: Homefront
(Sisko, Odo, Jake, Nog)

What if The Founders reached Earth, which has been a paradise since the beginning of this series (apart from the whole Borg attack in Best Of Both Worlds a few seasons ago, and the whale problem from The Voyage Home)? Sisko, Odo, and Jake return to San Francisco (say that five times fast) to help prepare the planet, only to discover The Founders may already be there. This is a particularly good episode about fear mongering and the loss of freedom due to the fear of terrorism (and this was a pre 9/11 series). It's technically part one of a two-part arc, but the second half undoes the power of this episode, if it existed in a vacuum.


Serial 1: The Basics

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Serial 2: Generations


Episode 15: To The Death
(Sisko, Worf, Dax, Bashir, Kira, Odo, Quark)

After Deep Space Nine is attacked by a faction of the Jem'Hadar, the crew of The Defiant run into another faction of Jem'Hadar who were also attacked. The two crews work together to take down the first faction. There are some great moments of culture examination in this episode between The Jem'Hadar, humans, Klingons, and The Founders. Deep Space Nine was truly the best Star Trek series when it comes to examining how every side in a war is actually The Bad Side.


Episode 16: Broken Link
(Odo, Sisko, Worf, Dax, Garak, O'Brien, Bashir, Kira, Quark, Gowran)

When Odo falls ill, the crew of Deep Space Nine must take a ship other than The Defiant to The Dominion in hopes that The Founders will help him get better. 


Episode 17: Apocalypse Rising
(Sisko, Odo, Worf, Kira, Bashir, O'Brien, Gul Dukat, Gowran, Quark, Dax, Jake)

At the beginning of the season, it seemed like The Jem'Hadar were the all powerful enemies, but it turned out that they just serve The Founders. Then the Klingons got involved. Then we went to Earth and it looked like maybe The Founders had taken over Starfleet. But what if they actually took over the Klingons? They are Everywhere. And Sisko, Odo, O'Brien, and Worf have to go undercover to unmask Gowran (who, apart from Worf, has the longest ongoing storyline this season). And Sisko makes A Fantastic Klingon. It's a joy to watch.

Episode 1: Lower Decks
(Picard, Worf, Crusher, Riker, Laforge, Troi, Data, a bunch of people you'll never see again)

Did you know there are other people on the Enterprise besides the usual crew? In this episode we watch a bunch of ensigns vying for promotion on the ship. It's a cool way to explore the relationship between the senior staff, and how they've grown over the duration of the show.

Episode 2: Cardassians
(Bashir, Sisko, O'Brien, Garak, Gul Dukat, Keiko, Odo)

A Cardassian orphaned child raised by Bajorans ends up in the middle of a custody dispute. I really enjoy the writing on Deep Space Nine, but like most Star Trek shows, the episodes are usually pretty well telegraphed. This one doesn't have any M Night Shyamalan twists, it just doesn't take the easiest way out.


Episode 3: Rules Of Acquisition
(Quark, Kira, Dax, Nagus, Sisko, Rom, Odo)

Staying with The Deep Space Nine crew, but taking a break from all the Cardassian/Bajoran problems, we focus on the Ferengi bartender of the ship as he attempts to expand Ferengi business contacts to the other side of the Wormhole. Most of the focus of this episode is on gender politics in Ferengi culture, which is wildly misogynist, even for a Star Trek species. Also, his brother is a moron. And his even more misogynist mentor thinks intelligent Ferengi females are inconceivable, though he may not know what that word means.


Serial 1: The Maquis
(Sisko, Dax, Gul Dukat, Quark, Bashir, Kira, Bashir)

The beginning of an intriguing addition to the Bajoran/Cardassian conflict, as we learn of The Maquis, a Bajoran terrorist cell that will begin to reform the Star Trek universe. This conflict eventually leads to the introduction of Voyager, and features heavily in the intervening episodes.


Episode 6: Preemptive Strike
(Ro, Picard, Riker, Troi, Crusher, Worf, Data)

Newly promoted Lieutenant Ro goes undercover in a Maquis terrorist cell. But will she go rogue and leave the Federation to help her Bajoran brethren battle the Cardassians? Nah, this is a Star Trek episode. I'm sure everything will go back to status quo by the end.


Serial 2: The Caretaker
(Janeway, Kim, Paris, Chakotay, Torres, Tuvok, Neelix, Doctor, Kes, Quark)

The Maquis situation is out of control, and The Federation has called in Voyager to handle it. Our new cast of officers follows our new cast of villains through a wormhole and end up waaaaaaaaaaaaay far away from home, and might even have to work together to survive. Cool concept, right? Welll, it will go out the window pretty shortly, so enjoy the tension while it lasts.


Episode 9: Collaborator
(Kira, Odo, Dax, O'Brien, Quark, Videk Winn, Sisko)

Bajorans working with Cardassians must mean shenanigans. And look at how many people AREN'T in this episode. No Bashir, no Dukat, no Garak, no Jake, even Captain Sisko is barely in this episode. She. nanigans.


Episode 10: The Wire
(Bashir, Garak, Dax, Quark, Sisko, Kira, O'Brien)

In "Lower Decks", we met a Cardassian going against stereotype and assisting the federation. Last episode, we saw Bajorans working with Cardassians. On Deep Space Nine, we've seen a Cardassian named Garak who is either a spy, or someone going against stereotype to assist the federation. It's always been unclear which side he's on, but, unlike Gul Dukat, there seems to be no menace to him. But when Doctor Bashir discovers a malfunctioning chip in Garak's head, he decides to go further into his investigation of Garak's motives.


Episode 11: Crossover
(Kira, Bashir, Sisko, Odo, Dax, O'Brien, Quark, Garak)

It's really a Golden Age of Star Trek. Next Gen overlaps with Deep Space Nine, which then overlaps with Voyager. Such good times. So why not have a crossover. But let's have Deep Space Nine crossover with, oh, I don't know, THE MIRRORVERSE DEEP SPACE NINE. Dun dun dun. Any timeline with Smiley O'Brien in it, seems like a fine timeline to me.


Episode 12: Flashback
(Tuvok, Janeway, Sulu, Rand, Neelix, Kes, Doctor, Chakotay, Kim, Kang)

Garak had a chip in his head earlier this season. On Voyager, Tuvok seems to be having similar problems, only instead of just physical pain, he's having an emotional response to a memory. In order to determine the cause, he mind melds with Janeway and they go back to his most important memory, when he served under Captain Sulu, during the plot of "The Undiscovered Country", way back in season three of this continuity. I think this would have been a solid episode, even if it didn't feature cast members from TOS, but seeing Sulu and Rand again is an absolute blast. Plus, Kang from "Blood Oath" is back again ((and yes, he is the basis for the Treehouse Of Horror alien from The Simpsons)).


Episode 13: Whispers
(O'Brien, Keiko, Sisko, Bashir, Odo, Jake, Quark)

Oh man, now O'Brien is having memory problems? Or is he just fine, and the entire crew of Deep Space Nine, including his wife, has turned evil? This is a fun twist on the alternate universe trope in Star Trek. 


Episode 14: Parallels
(Worf, Troi, Riker, Data, Crusher, Laforge, Picard, Wesley)

And now Worf is having memory issues? This is becoming a huge problem. Is he married to Troi now? Is this going to end up being an alternate universe episode or is this whole season just a mess of red herrings?


Serial 1:  All Good Things
(Picard, Crusher, Troi, Laforge, Worf, Data, Riker, Q, Yar, O'Brien)

Well, it's gone all the way to the top. In this, the final episode of TNG, Picard is having memory problems. This is a fun way to say goodbye to the series using character continuity, but very little plot continuity from previous episodes. Unlike Descent, which pulled from previous storylines, this would have been an interesting episode/movie even if we hadn't met any of these characters before. That we do know them, and that some of them haven't been seen for a while, makes this a fulfilling ending to this part of the Star Trek universe.

To watch all of The Star Trek franchise, it would take you nearly a month of no-sleep-marathoning. Nearly 550 hours at this point. Twenty-four days. AND THEY'RE STILL MAKING MORE. You don't have that kind of time.

I've attempted to put together a much more condensed series of Star Trek. Dividing it into ten episode seasons. For the most part, these are My Favorite Episodes. I've left out some that are historically important episodes, in favor of things that I found fun to watch. If you're a Trekkie or Trekker, or just consider yourself a fan, I may have left off your favorite episode. Sorry. But this is more a list for people like me, who had seen an episode here and there, were interested in seeing more, but don't want to invest in the whole 530+ hours. I'm doing it, so others don't have to.

Unlike the previous unstructured season, we return to an arc based season. From aging to death & the afterlife to the mistakes of our youth coming back to haunt us. My favorite part of this season is the use of Laforge. Laforge centered episodes largely show him as an awkward nerd who really wants a girlfriend but doesn't know how to communicate with women. It's supremely annoying. But in this season we focus on his interaction with his peers in non-romantic situations, and some of his awkwardness starts to ebb away. Slowly, mind you. He's still awkward, just not insufferably so. 

​

Episode 1: First Duty
(Wesley, Picard, Crusher, Riker, Troi)

Wesley is back. And he has Fucked Up. In "Tapestry", we saw how Picard fucked up when he was in Starfleet Academy. Now he gets to go back there and help Wesley from ruining his life.


Episode 2: Data's Day
(Data, O'Brien, Picard, Keiko, Crusher, Troi)

See the ship through Data's eyes, and meet O'Brien's future wife, Keiko. See how Data nearly ruins a wedding but also saves the ship. Also, a cat.


Episode 3: Pegasus
(Riker, Picard, Worf, Data, Troi, Laforge)

Riker went to Starfleet once, too! And after he graduated, he served on a ship called Pegasus where Bad Shit Went Down. He and the Captain, another tropey incompetent Starfleet Asshole (a younger John Locke from Lost!) were the only two who escaped. But what did they escape from, and why are the Romulans interested? DUN DUN-DUNNNNN.


Episode 4: The Are The Voyages
(Riker, Archer, T'Pol, Trip, Shran, Soto, Troi, Mayweather, Reed, Phlox, Data)

This is one of the most hated episodes of Star Trek. But more for its context than its content. It was aired as the final episode of Enterprise, which was a slap in the face to the cast of Enterprise, because it's actually a TNG episode. During the events of "Pegasus", Riker goes to the holodeck to examine his problem from multiple angles. To do so, he recreates The Enterprise from Enterprise (I know, I know), and acts as cook, talking with each crew member about different decisions they've made during their Starfleet Career. It would have probably been liked or loved if it had been in the middle of the season instead of the end. I like it as a non-canon chance for Enterprise and TNG to crossover. Because we're going to come back to Enterprise at least once more, and nothing that happens in this episode will have ever happened to them, but it has helped Riker make a difficult decision during "Pegasus".


Serial 1: Time's Arrow
(Data, Picard, Gainan, Riker, Crusher, Laforge, Troi) 

An ancient artifact discovered on Earth turns out to be Data's head. Time travel shenanigans ensue featuring Samuel Clemens, a resourceful bellhop, card sharks, and everyone's favorite Enterprise bartender.


Episode 7: The Inner Light
(Picard, Crusher, Riker, Data, Laforge, Troi)

A probe seeks information from Picard, and to get it, makes him live an entire lifetime where his new family and friends convince him that his life on The Enterprise was a dream.


Episode 8: Cause & Effect
(Crusher, Riker, Laforge, Data, Picard, Worf, Ro)

It's Groundhog Day in space! as the crew of The Enterprise keeps living the explosion of their ship over and over again. Will they ever figure out how to escape from this loop, or will we be forced to leave the entire crew behind and find a whole new crew of protagonists?


Episode 9: Emissary
(Sisko, Picard, O'Brien, Kira, Odo, Jake, Quark, Dax, Bashir, Keiko, Nog, Gul Dukat)

Way back in Season Five of this continuity, Capt. Picard became a borg named Locutus who blew up a bunch of Federation ships on his course to destroy Earth (which he failed to do). One of the ships he blew up contained Benjamin Sisko who is now traveling with Picard to an abandoned Cardassian space station called Deep Space Nine. Picard totally killed this guy's wife, so he is Not Pleased with him or the assignment, but he and his son decide to join the crew of Deep Space Nine, anyway, and are joined by Enterprise transporter engineer O'Brien, and his wife, Enterprise botanist Keiko. Plus a ragtag crew of Bajorans, Ferenghi, Trill, and whatever the hell Odo is.


Episode 10: Past Prologue
(Kira, Sisko, Bashir, Garak, Odo, O'Brien, Dax, Keiko)

Much of this season focuses on Cardassian and Bajoran war criminals, and how to keep the peace after all the terrible things they did to one another during the war. Deep Space Nine's first officer, Kira, was once a member of a Bajoran underground movement that the Cardassians consider terrorists. When one of her old cohorts shows up, the newly assembled crew needs to figure out how much they can trust each other, and how much they can trust The Cardassians. And what the hell are the sisters of Duras from Redemption doing on Deep Space Nine?


Episode 11: Man Alone
(Odo, Sisko, Dax, O'Brien, Keiko, Bashir, Nog, Jake, Quark)

Deep Space Nine's security officer, Odo, has held the post since the station was run by Cardassians, and while some of the Bajorans trust him, everyone is put on edge when a criminal he sent to prison shows up on board and is swiftly murdered.


Episode 12: Babel
(Bashir, O'Brien, Sisko, Quark, Odo, Kira, Jake, Dax)

More a companion to Darmok than Journey To Babel or Babel One, the episode focuses on the effects of a Cardassian engineered virus that causes aphasia in its victims. And then they die, of course, unable to express what they're going through.


Episode 13: The Nagus
(Quark, Sisko, Kira, Odo, Nagus, Bashir, Jake, O'Brien, Dax,  Rom, Nog, Zek)

It's time to learn about Ferenghi culture with the station's favorite bartender, and a slew of strangers who may be important down the line. Also, O'Brien is substitute teacher for his wife's school.


Episode 14: Timescape
(Picard, Data, Troi, Laforge, Crusher, Riker, Worf)

Oh man, is the crew of The Enterprise STILL stuck in that time loop? No that wouldn't make any sense, we saw Picard interacting with the Deep Space Nine crew in "Emissary". While several key officers are on an away mission, The Enterprise attempts to rescue some Romulans and everything goes wibbly-wobbly-timey-wimey. The away team thinks they've figured out a way to overcome the time problems, but can they fix The Enterprise or the Romulan vessel before either or both of them explode?


Episode 15: Duet
(Kira, Sisko, Bashir, Odo, Gul Dukat, Dax, Quark)

Someone who appears to be a Cardassian war criminal with ties to Kira's past shows up on Deep Space Nine. Kira wants him tried on Bajor, Gul Dukat wants him returned to the Cardassians.  Despite a moderately weak and predictable ending, most of this episode is a very interesting look at the guilt of not-necessarily-innocent bystanders during acts of war.


Serial 2: The Homecoming/The Circle/The Seige
(Kira, O'Brien, Sisko, Odo, Bashir, Dax, Quark, Rom, Keiko)

A Bajoran resistance group called The Splinter comes to play in the war with The Cardassians. Their plans to rise to power include eliminating all alien life on Bajor, including the non-Bajoran staff on Deep Space Nine.

Episode 1: First Contact
(Picard, Riker, Troi, Crusher, Data, Worf)

Prime Directive episodes are usually tedious interactions where different crew members argue over whether or not to help some world that they probably imperiled in the first place. I've spared you from most of them. In this episode, they've pretty much been caught violating The Prime Directive, despite their best efforts to blend in to an alien populace. This is a damage control episode where the crew tries to work diplomatically to rescue Riker, who was undercover as a Malcorian. There's a lot of American political allegory that is still, sadly, relevant, twenty-six years after this episode aired, but it's not as heavy handed as Star Trek allegory often is.



Episode 2: Allegiance
(Picard, Riker, Crusher, Troi, Worf, Laforge, Data, Wesley)

It wasn't so long ago that Picard was captured by The Borg and assimilated, so you'd think they'd up security on The Enterprise, but, no, I am unsure if there is a single season where whomever is captaining The Enterprise at any given moment, isn't abducted by someone he can't identify (or Q, it is often Q). This episode serves as a morality play for Picard while the rest of the crew contends with a mostly ineffectual Picard doppelganger.


Episode 3: Future Imperfect
(Riker, Picard, Crusher, Laforge, Data, Worf, Troi)

After a noxious gas incident with Worf and Laforge, Riker wakes up to discover he's forgotten sixteen years of his life, and he's now Captain of The Enterprise. This is what Kirk would have called a Tuesday. Will this episode mean the entire chronology jumps forward sixteen years? 

No.


Episode 4: Tin Man
(Troi, Picard, Data, Riker, Laforge, Wesley)

Despite being an ensemble-focused show, most TNG episodes have one character at the core of its storyline. Picard, Riker, and Worf stories are usually fantastic (after season two), Data and Crusher stories are interesting, Wesley stories can grate, Troi stories are insufferable, and Laforge stories are always focused on how much he sucks, even though he's fun and competent as a secondary character. This is, so far, the only Troi episode I've made it all the way through, and I quite enjoyed it. Another Betazoid joins the crew to learn about a seemingly sentient spaceship. There's an interesting angle with Data, some Romulans cause havoc, all-in-all, it's just a solid episode where the writers finally make interesting use of Troi.


Episode 5: Darmok
(Picard, Riker, Troi, Worf, Data, Laforge, Crusher)

I feel this episode is best if, like the characters, you have no idea what you're getting into. It's my favorite episode of the season.


Episode 6: Ensign Ro
(Picard, Ro, Guinan, Riker, Data, Worf, Crusher, Troi, Laforge)

Starfleet shenanigans put a court martialed officer of a race made refugee by The Cardassians (who we are seeing for the first time in this chronology, but who will be hugely important as we progress). It's an interesting look at prejudice, and how politicians use terrorism and tragedy for their own ends. Something Star Trek often attempts, but rarely pulls off.


Episode 7: Disaster
(Picard, O'Brien, Ro, Troi, Riker, Data, Crusher, Laforge, Worf)

Several disaster movie cliches are overlapped in the most character-driven episode since "Family". The O'Brien/Ro/Troi interplay is my favorite non-main character study so far in the chronology. Also, it's nice to see a story where kids are just annoying children as opposed to spooky, powerful menaces.


Episode 8: The Game
(Wesley, Riker, Picard, Crusher, Data, Laforge, Worf, O'Brien)

The idea that games in the twenty-fourth century would look like a version of golf they designed for Windows 3.0 is quaint. This is an actually fun Wesley-focused episode. Wesley actually left the series previous to this episode but his send-off episode is Terrible. So, this will be our sayonara to Wesley Crusher. It's the episode that the annoying boy genius deserves.  It's also a heavy handed treatise on the addictiveness of video games, but it's So Ridiculous and Over The Top that it's hard to be annoyed by it.


Episode 9: A Matter Of Time
(Picard, Crusher, Riker, Data, Laforge, Worf, Troi)

An annoying time traveler (Max Headroom...aka Dr. Leekie from Orphan Black) shows up to observe what he claims is a pivotal mission for The Enterprise. It's a fun twist on a Prime Directive episode as the crew are the ones being kept in the dark to preserve the time continuum Or Whatever. It's mainly fun to watch an actor portray an annoying character and not have it be agonizing to watch.


Episode 10: Redemption
(Worf, Picard, Guinan, Data, Riker, Yar)

After all these one-off adventures, we finally tie into a major storyline, as we revisit the chaos of The Klingon empire. It's a direct sequel to "Reunion", though much time has elapsed. It's a satisfying conclusion(?) to the story arc begun in "Sins Of The Father".

Episode 11: Unification
(Picard, Spock, Data, Sarek, Riker, Yar, Worf, Troi, Crusher, Laforge)

Let's put aside the Klingons for a bit and get back to Vulcans and Romulans. And not just any Vulcans and Romulans but Sarek and Spock from The Original Series, and Tasha Yar's evil daughter from "Redemption". It's one of the best political strategy episodes so far. 


Episode 12: Conundrum
(Picard, Crusher, Riker, Ro, Troi, Worf, Data, Laforge)

Another Star Trek trope. Everyone loses their memory. How will they get it back? Is this crewman we've never seen before somehow the culprit? Of course he is. But the way they discover the solution makes for a fun watch.


Episode 13: I Borg
(Picard, Crusher, Laforge, Guinan, Data, Riker, Troi, Worf)

The Borg are interesting villains in that they don't care to kill or acknowledge individuals, they are only interested in assimilating entire species at once. So when the crew of The Enterprise rescues a single Borg, against the wishes of Picard, Guinan, and most of the crew, everyone has to reevaluate their position on TNG's biggest bad. This episode gave me one the most positive visceral reactions to a Star Trek episode I've ever had.


Episode 14: Chain Of Command
(Picard, Crusher, Worf, Riker, Troi, Data, Laforge)

When Picard is sent on an undercover mission in Cardassian territory, a new Starfleet Asshole takes over The Enterprise, and following the trope of every TOS and TNG episode, the new captain is an incompetent jackass. If only we could hope that everything would be returned to normal before the next episode. Ahhhhhh, formula.


Episode 15: Relics
(Scott, Laforge, Picard, Riker, Crusher, Worf, Data)

One of the best episodes of the series, the crew of The Enterprise finds Commander Scott from TOS trapped in a transporter loop. Not only is this the best episode featuring Scott of the series, it's one of the best Laforge episodes, too. That's three "best"s in one paragraph. It seems as though I enjoyed this treatise on how quickly technology makes the old seem obsolete.


Episode 16: Next Phase
(Ro, Laforge, Picard, Crusher, Riker, Data, Worf)

From aging to death. And, once again, a transporter is at the center of it, as Ro and Laforge are believed dead, but have actually been phased in such a way that they can observe the crew but can not be observed, except by each other. 


Episode 17: Tapestry
(Picard, Q, Crusher, Riker, Worf)

Continuing the theme of probable death and afterlife, Picard is on the brink of death and is confronted with his god, Q. Yeup, scampy jerkface is back and guiding Picard through an afterlife with the possibility of returning to life. It's an interesting on how one's choices in life rarely affect the people we become.