The Inner Light (S5, E25)
I could probably fill this list with Picard-centric episodes and many would find it hard to argue with the choices. The language barriers of ‘Darmok’, the “There… Are… Four… Lights!” of ‘Chain of Command’, the life choices of ‘Tapestry’, but none beat the stellar performance of Patrick Stewart in ‘The Inner Light’.
The interaction with a mysterious array transports Picard into a mysterious village where he forced to give up his life as a Starfleet captain and spends many years living among the community, learning their arts and cultures and having a family of their own – something Picard never did in real life. It’s a stunning performance from Stewart, examining Picard’s intelligence, compassion and sense of wonder as he passes through the years and sees his family and friends grow and die.
The emotional resonance of this episode is what really sells it; Picard experiences the life of a long dead culture through his encounters with the array, something he builds through his own experiences. The loss of his wife is as real to him as anything he experienced on the Enterprise; the joy and trauma of that experience upon the captain makes ‘The Inner Light’ a particularly special episode indeed.
Yesterday’s Enterprise (S3, E15)
The first two seasons of Star Trek: The Next Generation aren’t great. While we had strong episodes like ‘Measure of a Man’ and ‘Q Who?’ it wasn’t until this season three episode that the show achieved cult classic status. Immediately preceding ‘The Offspring’ is ‘Yesterday’s Enterprise’ which saw the appearance of the Enterprise C through a time portal alter reality and present us with an Enterprise D that was caught in a bitter, losing war against the Klingon Empire.
It was a memorable episode for many reasons, not least the surprise return of Denise Crosby’s Tasha Yar, who was killed in season one’s ‘The Skin of Evil’ but made a prominent character here. It was a thrilling journey into hell itself as the darker, grittier Enterprise with its low lighting and phasers attached to uniforms presented a bleaker version of the ship and its characters. Plus, being an alternate version, it got to have fun killing off a main character or two in the final battle.
But more than being a dark, alternate reality story, it was also wrapped in a huge ethical dilemma as the crew of the Enterprise C learned that the destruction of their ship defending Klingons against Romulans led to a renewed alliance and that by escaping history they have helped forge this war instead. Tasha Yar, realising she does not exist in the true reality, chooses to return with the Enterprise C to help in their last stand…and that leads to her half Romulan daughter Sela, that will have major ramifications down the line…
The Best Of Both Worlds Parts 1 and 2 (S3, E26 / S4, E1)
The Borg were arguably Star Trek‘s most terrifying villain and long before they were neutered in Star Trek: Voyager and were the enemy in the terrific Star Trek: First Contact there was ‘The Best of Both Worlds’. After a brilliant debut in season two’s ‘Q Who?’ they led their invasion of the Federation in the season three cliff-hanger. The capture and assimilation of Picard into Borg spokesperson Locutus led to one of the greatest TV season finale cliffhangers of all time as Riker was forced to open fire on his former captain to save the Federation from destruction.
While the first part of the Borg two-parter was definitely the strongest, there was a lot of amazing stuff in the season four opener, from Riker’s struggle to take on the mantle of captain to the thrilling capture / rescue of Loctus to the discovery of the Federation fleet wiped out by the Borg at Wolf 359 (an event that would have huge personal cost for Star Trek: Deep Space Nine‘s Benjamin Sisko). The Borg remained a gripping threat to the very end, the fate of Earth itself hanging in the balance before the crew were able to order the captured Locutus to put the Borg to sleep (though the self destruct did feel a little bit of a deux ex machina).
The story also gave us Elizabeth Dennehy ambitious Commander Shelby who would have been a great addition to the crew had Patrick Stewart moved on. It’s a shame she didn’t reappear on screen in Star Trek again. How good would it have been if she was the Captain of the USS Voyager? Overall, ‘The Best of Both Worlds’ raised the stakes like never before and showed that Star Trek: The Next Generation could be even more spectacular than the show that preceded it.
Do you agree with these choices? Are there other episodes you rank more highly? Please let us know in the comments below…
Well said, good breakdown. Especially about how you could fill the list with Picard-centric episodes, and not many would argue with you.