Over twenty years since Star Trek first hit television screens, the franchise returns to the small screen for a triumphant celebration of intellectual sci-fi viewing. Star Trek: The Next Generation featured a bold new entry into the series, set after the events of Star Trek: The Original Series, and the movies that followed the original crew of the USS Enterprise.
Now, with a continuing mission, Star Trek: The Next Generation followed Captain Jean-Luc Picard and his crew as they sought out new life and strange new civilizations. Many can agree on the best episodes of all time, but amongst them, are some truly underrated gems.
9 Future Imperfect – Season 4, Episode 8
Commander Riker has his birthday party interrupted by an away mission to Alpha Onias 3. Sixteen years later, Riker wakes up in the sick bay, as the captain of the Enterprise, and amid a negotiation for a peace treaty between the Federation and the Romulan Star Empire.
It’s one of the many Riker-centered episodes of Star Trek: The Next Generation, and it’s filled with mystery. Each act that unfolds, audiences will be questioning the validity of the story, and if the world Riker is in, is all a ruse. It’s overshadowed by other episodes with great mystery, but Riker episodes are always a blast.
8 Who Watches The Watchers – Season 3, Episode 4
Part of the job of Starfleet, and the Prime Directive, is to observe primitive civilizations and not interfere with their culture and development. However, Captain Picard and the crew of the Enterprise find themselves in a difficult situation when a Federation observation team is discovered by a primitive civilization and declared gods.
Star Trek often deals with the issues involved with the Prime Directive, and many of the show features episodes where the Prime Directive must be debated whether to violate or not for the sake of morality.
7 Imaginary Friend – Season 5, Episode 22
When a young girl moves with her father to the Enterprise, Deanna Troi, the ship’s counselor is left puzzled when discovering the young girl, Clara, has an imaginary friend that appears all too real. This occurs after the Enterprise explores the nebula, and a small sphere of energy enters the Enterprise.
Another episode of The Next Generation features mystery. The plot revolves around the intrigue of how this imaginary friend has come about, and why this imaginary friend, Isabella, is deciding to make her appearance only to Clara, and what she wants.
6 The Survivors – Season 3, Episode 3
The Enterprise intercepts a distress signal from the Federation colony, Rana 6, indicating that they were under attack. Once the Enterprise arrives, they find the planet devastated by destruction, albeit from a few acres of land, with two human life forms seemingly fine, and inhabiting a nice house.
Audiences follow the crew of the Enterprise as they confront the remaining two life forms. They have to figure out just what happened on this planet, and how these two have managed to not only survive but remain completely fine and unaware of the goings outside.
5 The Mind’s Eye – Season 4, Episode 24
Whilst en route to Risa, the Enterprise’s chief engineer, Geordi La Forge, is taken prisoner aboard a Romulan ship. Geordi is mentally conditioned and forced with the concept of assassinating a Klingon governor to implicate the Federation and turn the Klingon empire against the Federation once more.
This political thriller episode is underrated and goes unnoticed against the other many great episodes of Star Trek: The Next Generation. Geordi shines in this episode and shows why he is one of the best crew members of the Enterprise.
4 Disaster – Season 5, Episode 5
A quantum filament manages to disable the Enterprise, leaving the ship in disarray, with Counselor Troi in command on the bridge. Various groups of characters are trapped on different parts of the ship, all facing perils alone, including a severely pregnant woman, and a Counselor forced to become Captain.
Despite the seriousness of the episode’s themes, there is a lot of great humor involved with Worf and Keiko O’Brien. Keiko is pregnant, and Worf has to try and help deliver the child, with a lack of knowledge of birth and human anatomy.
3 Remember Me – Season 4, Episode 5
Dr. Crusher converses with an old acquaintance, Dr. Quaice, aboard the Enterprise. As they talk about life and the loss of their partners, they find a mutual understanding of one another’s grief. Crusher contemplates their conversation, and wakes up the next day to meet Quaice for breakfast, but finds the room empty. When she asks the computer where he is, the computer confirms that someone named “Quaice” never existed.
As the episode progresses, audiences are left questioning Crusher’s sanity, and then her safety. In the meantime, the rest of the Enterprise is trying to get Crusher out of the anomaly that could be her end. It’s a tense episode with a focus on Crusher as a character.
2 The Defector – Season 3, Episode 10
The Romulan Empire sees itself betrayed, with a defector contacting the Enterprise whilst being pursued. This defector is granted asylum by the Enterprise. This defector claims to have vital information regarding a renewed Romulan offensive against the Federation.
It’s an interesting premise that often goes underlooked in fictional media. The appearance of a Romulan defector, and the consequences for both sides of the war effort, are felt in this episode. It’s a great look into the philosophy of the Romulan people and their opinions on Starfleet.
1 First Contact – Season 4, Episode 15
During a reconnaissance mission, Commander Riker is gravely injured. The Enterprise is unable to intercept, because Riker is disguised as one of the citizens of this alien race, and they would jeopardize the Prime Directive by exposing themselves. The reason for the Enterprise’s involvement on the planet is that their society is on the verge of warp travel, which would make them Starfleet candidates.
The episode is overshadowed by the fact that a Star Trek movie has the same name. Star Trek: First Contact is the movie, and “First Contact” is the name of the episode. It’s another great episode that faces the perils of the Prime Directive, and the danger of a society facing an alien.