Top Episodes of STNG

An exercise in subjectivity though it is, it seemed worthwhile to list out my personal favorite episodes of “Star Trek the Next Generation.” Maybe someone has been encouraged to check some of it out without wanting to watch all 178 hours. The season with the most representation on this list is season 6, but the one with the highest average rating is season 5.

1. “The Best of Both Worlds” Parts 1 & 2 (Seasons 3 &4)
2. “Tapestry” (Season 6)
3. “Yesterday’s Enterprise” (Season 3)
4. “The Inner Light” (Season 5)
5. “The Drumhead” (Season 4)
6. “The Perfect Mate” (Season 5)
7. “Lower Decks” (Season 7)
8. “The Measure of a Man” (Season 2)
9. “All Good Things” (Series Finale)
10. “Devil’s Due” (Season 4)
11. “Elementary, Dear Data” (Season 2)
12. “Q Who?” (Season 2)
13. “Chain of Command” Parts 1 & 2 (Season 6)
14. “Rightful Heir” (Season 6)
15. “Data’s Day” (Season 4)
16. “Time’s Arrow” Parts 1 & 2 (Seasons 5 & 6)
17. “Starship Mine” (Season 6)
18. “Conspiracy” (Season 1)
19. “Who Watches the Watchers?” (Season 3)
20. “”Encounter at Farpoint” (Pilot)

"Chronicle" (2012)

This is story that feels like it has been told dozens of times. What would you do if you suddenly had superhuman powers? Even worse, what would a bunch of teenage boys do with such powers?

“Chronicle” attempts to give us a realistic, found-footage account of three boys who become superhuman. The popular, football-captain type; the smart, too cool for school philosopher; and his loser cousin find a MacGuffin in a hole and gain the ability to move things—including themselves—with their minds.

“The Reichenbach Fall”

“Sherlock” has been most intriguing as a study or exercise in story-telling. (For sure it has been entertaining—even some of the best TV has to offer—for other reasons as well: acting, style and creative, original ideas among them.) In the case of this season (2) all three episodes have had distinct approaches to adapting a well known plot.

The first episode got the basic plot points from the original out of the way in the first act and then let loose with new ideas and adventures. The second took what is probably the most detailed and exhaustive plots of any Holmes adventure, but instead of working on that story’s strengths: atmosphere and mood, it tried too hard to distinguish itself and offer a wholly different take. It suffered as a result.

A Propogayda Problem

DC has announced that they are going to change the sexual orientation of one of their characters in the ongoing re-launch of their story-lines. It is not so much a “cultural stand” or a civil rights statement so much as a blatant publicity stunt. They already have several gay characters in their books, even some of their more prominent second-tier characters. So, this announcement doesn’t signal any sort of change of direction at DC. Rather it is an effort to remind people that they are as politically correct as anybody.

The whole effort to significantly increase the amount of “gay” characters in pop-culture—a gay propaganda of sorts—has gotten rather silly. The worst cases are those where story-tellers go out of their way to “out” characters in stories where sex or even sexual orientation have no bearing on anything. This has even made its way into children’s stories where sex is never addressed.

Star Trek The Next Generation (Season 7b)

<--Season 7a

Episode 14: “Sub Rosa”

This is a pure “guilty pleasure” of an episode. Either that or people hate it. It shows the silly side of gothic fiction that always emerges when things are played for romance rather than chills. Of course these days we get so much of this in “Twilight” and the like that it is hard to have patience for it.