Our Top Ten TNG Episodes

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[00:00:44] Welcome back, listeners of The Big Sci-Fi Podcast.

[00:00:47] We are back for another really great conversation today.

[00:00:51] Something that we haven't done in a while and that was amazingly difficult to put together.

[00:00:57] Today, we're going to rank and discuss our top 10 favorite Star Trek The Next Generation episodes.

[00:01:05] Now, there were 176 Next Gen episodes.

[00:01:10] Narrowing it down to the top 10, which is like saying we're going to pick our favorite less than 5% of those.

[00:01:17] This was not easy to figure out and I can't wait to see what my co-hosts have come up with.

[00:01:23] It is technically possible out of 176 episodes that each of us have 10 completely different episodes on our list.

[00:01:32] So who are we?

[00:01:34] We've got Brian.

[00:01:36] Hey, it's Brian from Ohio.

[00:01:38] Chris.

[00:01:40] Hey, everybody.

[00:01:42] Steve.

[00:01:43] Good evening from California.

[00:01:48] And I'm Adina from Maryland.

[00:01:50] And I've got one little disclaimer and I'll let if my co-hosts have any of their own disclaimers.

[00:01:56] And that is, this is the top 10 that I was able to figure out now or recently.

[00:02:02] If you meet me on the street a couple months from now and ask me what my top 10 is then, I might give you a different answer.

[00:02:08] It could depend on how I'm feeling that day or that month.

[00:02:11] So this is just the top 10 right now.

[00:02:16] Wow.

[00:02:17] So guys, you know, obviously I'm implying that I struggled mightily with this.

[00:02:23] What about you guys?

[00:02:25] Oh, you know, you guys have, I'm going to say you guys have much better memories than I do about all the episodes of TNG.

[00:02:32] So I had to go off of ones that I, it's stuck in my mind and hopefully, well, we'll see where it goes from there.

[00:02:42] So you say memory, but I know for me anyway, I, the amount of rewatch I do of TNG over the years, especially now that it's easily available on a streaming service.

[00:02:52] I'm rewatching them all the time.

[00:02:54] So a lot of this isn't like memory going back 30 or more years.

[00:02:58] It's the fact that some of these episodes I have rewatched within the last month just because they, and that's what my guide was, was how much do I enjoy rewatching these episodes?

[00:03:10] That, that is, that is what I used as a metric.

[00:03:13] Chris, what about you?

[00:03:15] This was also tough, but it was just, I tried to look at it as what ones do I go back to all the time?

[00:03:22] Because there's just like a certain handful of episodes that I'm just like, I want to watch it and I watch it all the time, but it's tough because there's a lot of good episodes.

[00:03:29] So it's always tough narrowing it down, but I really tried to think of it as I'm on the spot.

[00:03:34] What are my favorite episodes?

[00:03:36] Gun to my head is violence as that sounds.

[00:03:39] So we'll see, see how I feel about this in a week.

[00:03:42] Okay.

[00:03:43] Brian, what about you?

[00:03:45] It was, I actually took a little different approach this time with this list is I approached it from how I remember feeling when I watched them originally and how much I liked them and connected with the episodes.

[00:04:01] And then as I went through my list, there were so many.

[00:04:05] And so narrowing it down was a little bit harder, but I really tried to stick with nostalgia around the episodes with how I felt at the time when they first aired.

[00:04:16] Yeah.

[00:04:16] Yeah.

[00:04:16] That's interesting too.

[00:04:17] And I'm going to say similar to what I commented on Steve's, what he was saying about memory.

[00:04:22] I'm going to say there's a lot of that in my list as well.

[00:04:25] What you just said about the nostalgia, but that's exactly it is they stuck with me.

[00:04:29] They made an impression at the time so much.

[00:04:32] So, you know, they made an impression as a teenager on me.

[00:04:35] I'm 50.

[00:04:36] I still have the same feeling about these episodes.

[00:04:39] Yeah.

[00:04:40] And it's just why I'm still rewatching them and why they're still, you know, fresh in my memory and everything.

[00:04:45] So.

[00:04:46] Any other, like anyone else want to claim a disclaimer?

[00:04:49] Have anything else to say before we get ready?

[00:04:51] I think it's, I love what you say about if you see me on the street, like we, this could turn into a once a year thing or whatever for us next year.

[00:05:01] I'm probably going to have some different things on this list.

[00:05:04] Maybe, maybe not, but that's, what's great about lists.

[00:05:08] They can change.

[00:05:09] They can.

[00:05:11] And we're allowed to change our mind and change our opinions about things.

[00:05:14] Absolutely.

[00:05:15] Yeah.

[00:05:15] Okay.

[00:05:16] All right.

[00:05:17] Okay.

[00:05:17] So we're going to do this in batches.

[00:05:18] So we're going to all go through and talk about our top 10 to eight first.

[00:05:24] Who's going to start and tell us their top 10 to eight.

[00:05:28] I don't mind going first.

[00:05:30] Okay.

[00:05:31] All right.

[00:05:32] So my number 10 drum roll, please is from season six.

[00:05:40] And it is the only season six episode I have in my top 10.

[00:05:43] Not that there aren't other very worthy top 10 episodes from season six.

[00:05:50] But it is season six episode 18 starship mine.

[00:05:56] Oh, when they all exit the enterprise while it's at space dock and they do that sweep of it.

[00:06:04] But there's bad people trying to take, trying to, is it the dilithium or trilithium?

[00:06:10] I think so.

[00:06:11] Yeah.

[00:06:11] Picard goes back for his English writing saddle and has to defend the ship from these people.

[00:06:17] And I remember when that episode came out, just going, this is kind of different from a lot of the other episodes.

[00:06:24] And I really liked it.

[00:06:26] And I just thought it was super interesting.

[00:06:28] And I watched it again.

[00:06:29] This is one for my list.

[00:06:30] I watched again, where I wanted to make sure I remembered it this way.

[00:06:34] And sure enough, I loved it.

[00:06:36] And it brought back all those like, Ooh, this, this made me as a teenager go.

[00:06:41] Yeah.

[00:06:42] I like this episode.

[00:06:42] So that's number 10.

[00:06:44] Number nine is season four, episode 20, Cupid.

[00:06:49] And it's when Q takes them to Sherwood forest.

[00:06:54] Oh yeah.

[00:06:55] I forgot.

[00:06:56] It's just, I remember.

[00:06:58] It's adorable.

[00:06:58] I love that.

[00:06:59] I love Robin hood anyways.

[00:07:01] Loved Errol Flynn's Robin hood in particular.

[00:07:04] And so I just love hearing Worf say, I am not a Mary.

[00:07:08] Exactly.

[00:07:09] It's so good.

[00:07:10] It's classic.

[00:07:10] And then we're doing to eight too.

[00:07:12] Yeah.

[00:07:13] Number eight is a season five episode.

[00:07:17] Ooh, I forgot to write down what number it is, but no pro.

[00:07:21] Oh, it's episode 15 of season five.

[00:07:25] And it's a little episode called a power play.

[00:07:29] Ooh, that's when they go down to the planet and three of them get taken over in their bodies

[00:07:36] by these lights that come into them.

[00:07:37] And then they come back to the ship and they take over and there's beings on the planet

[00:07:42] that were marooned there or they're in prison there.

[00:07:45] And they try to take over the enterprise.

[00:07:47] It's just really, I just love everything about it.

[00:07:50] It's a really good little bit different episode too, than typical next gen.

[00:07:56] So that one always stuck out to me.

[00:07:58] So ladies and gentlemen, 10 through eight, Brian Donahue from Ohio.

[00:08:01] Can I also say that Troy firing her phaser in the 10 forward is just one of the coolest things.

[00:08:10] I love it.

[00:08:11] She has a mean look on her face, a serious look that is, yeah, it's good.

[00:08:19] I have to say, you know, that while that episode didn't even make it into my honorable mentions,

[00:08:25] I like it.

[00:08:26] I enjoy it.

[00:08:27] I shout out to though Marina Sirtis.

[00:08:29] I've said this several times, I think on our podcast, how much I think she was one of the

[00:08:33] most amazing actors playing Troy.

[00:08:37] There's so much she did so much range, so many situations, such a range of emotions and she

[00:08:45] nailed it all.

[00:08:46] So yeah, here's another excellent example of her doing something different and it was

[00:08:52] amazing.

[00:08:53] Had to be fun for her too, you know?

[00:08:55] Yeah, absolutely.

[00:08:57] Let's see.

[00:08:58] Chris, you want to go next?

[00:08:59] 10 to 8.

[00:09:01] Yeah.

[00:09:01] So for my first one, for number 10, season six as well, this is episode 10, Chain of Command.

[00:09:08] And I guess episode 11 too, because I'm going to count both parts as an episode.

[00:09:12] Sure.

[00:09:12] That's fine.

[00:09:13] That's fine.

[00:09:13] I love it.

[00:09:14] We'll allow it.

[00:09:15] Like, I think, are we, actually, what are the rules around part ones and part twos?

[00:09:20] Are we just.

[00:09:20] Just if we want to consider them.

[00:09:22] Whatever you want to do.

[00:09:23] How about.

[00:09:24] Yeah.

[00:09:24] I did something different, but go ahead.

[00:09:27] You do what you want, Chris.

[00:09:28] Okay.

[00:09:29] So yeah, I love Chain of Command.

[00:09:31] I think like, obviously the Picard stuff is really cool and like him getting tortured.

[00:09:34] Like it's a, it's a two act play and I enjoy that.

[00:09:37] Right.

[00:09:38] What I love is just the Riker and Jellico conflict.

[00:09:41] And I just love how, even though it's for me, probably Riker's worst moment, I still love

[00:09:47] the tension.

[00:09:47] And I do like the conversations where he's not a bad guy.

[00:09:51] He's just different.

[00:09:52] And the Enterprise is not used to working with him or rather the crew isn't used to working

[00:09:57] with someone like him.

[00:09:58] So I enjoy that.

[00:09:59] And then it makes, it allows Troy to get her uniform, which is cool.

[00:10:03] Um, so I like Chain of Command.

[00:10:06] And then for my number nine is Schisms and I enjoy Schisms.

[00:10:11] This is the one where we get two great things.

[00:10:14] We get one of the funniest teasers in Trek history where Data is doing Ota Spot and it's

[00:10:21] brilliant.

[00:10:21] It's sweet.

[00:10:22] And then Riker falls asleep and then wakes up and starts clapping before the poem's over.

[00:10:28] And I love that.

[00:10:29] And then I also just love how it escalates.

[00:10:32] You think, oh, it's going to be a funny episode, but it turns out, no, it's not funny.

[00:10:35] The reason Riker's so sleepy is because he's being abducted by aliens every night.

[00:10:40] Um, so I love that.

[00:10:41] I don't think the resolution's the strongest, but it also has one thing I forgot to mention,

[00:10:47] the holodeck scene where I think it's one of the best uses of the holodeck where I think

[00:10:51] it's Worf, Riker, uh, Troy and some other folks, Geordi who are there and they're basically

[00:10:58] trying to remember what room they've been going to and they recreate it.

[00:11:01] And it's creepy.

[00:11:02] So much fun.

[00:11:03] And then for my number eight, I have yesterday's Enterprise because that's always when I go

[00:11:10] back to, uh, I love how you finally get to, to get like a good satisfying death for Tasha

[00:11:18] Yari, even though she's not really dead in the end, but it's what's presumed when you watch

[00:11:22] the episode.

[00:11:23] And I just love the redesign of the Enterprise and the more militaristic look.

[00:11:27] I love that.

[00:11:28] So well done.

[00:11:29] Always fun to watch.

[00:11:30] And Captain Garrett, who's like, yeah, she's a badass.

[00:11:33] We need more Garrett, which we'll get soon.

[00:11:36] Mm-hmm.

[00:11:37] Excellent.

[00:11:37] Cool.

[00:11:38] Steve.

[00:11:38] Good list.

[00:11:38] Okay.

[00:11:39] Okay.

[00:11:40] So number 10 is encounter at far point.

[00:11:46] Oh, really?

[00:11:47] This is season one episode one.

[00:11:49] And the reason is this was the first episode of TNG and it's set the tone plus written by

[00:11:56] DC Fontana and Gene Roddenberry.

[00:11:58] You know, you were carrying over from the original series, but it's not extremely great.

[00:12:07] It debuts one of TNG's most beloved character Q and how he's there to test humanity and becomes

[00:12:15] a reoccurring role in the series and into Picard as well.

[00:12:18] Now it's not a particularly great episode, but then it established who the crew was, how

[00:12:25] Picard was a person of principle and the Enterprise D was this big, beautiful luxury ship that

[00:12:34] it seems to always be represented.

[00:12:37] Much like other Trek series, this opening episode was there to establish the remainder of the

[00:12:42] series.

[00:12:43] And this did a great job of doing that.

[00:12:46] So, or might I say, make it so.

[00:12:50] So that's reality.

[00:12:52] Nice.

[00:12:52] If without that episode, well, we go right to Deep Space Nine.

[00:13:02] Number eight is The Cost of Living.

[00:13:05] Oh, you mean number nine?

[00:13:07] Interesting.

[00:13:07] That's number nine.

[00:13:08] Excuse me.

[00:13:08] Number nine.

[00:13:09] The Cost of Living.

[00:13:10] Yes.

[00:13:11] Season five.

[00:13:12] Episode 20.

[00:13:13] And the reason?

[00:13:15] Deanna Troi's mom.

[00:13:17] It's always fun to see an actor go beyond what you think of them from Trek.

[00:13:23] Now playing Nurse Chapel, Marjo.

[00:13:28] Majel.

[00:13:29] Majel.

[00:13:30] She became from TOS.

[00:13:34] She became the computer voice.

[00:13:37] And then she became Deanna's overly outgoing, bombastic mom.

[00:13:44] And the story deals with the idea of sticking to customs, the norms of civility versus free

[00:13:50] spirits and what is to be considered when making choices.

[00:13:54] The idea of a nude wedding and how it reacted by the crew and Laksana wanting to have it happen

[00:14:01] is as a basis for the wedding not to happen.

[00:14:05] The story of the parasite in it and how it affects the ship systems was weak, but it added

[00:14:11] tension to the episode.

[00:14:12] So I just like the fact just to seeing an actress like her just having fun playing such

[00:14:19] a bombastic character and overly sexual woman.

[00:14:25] You go, that's not Nurse Chapel.

[00:14:28] That's fun.

[00:14:29] Right.

[00:14:30] All right.

[00:14:31] And then number eight is I Borg.

[00:14:34] Season six.

[00:14:36] Episode 23.

[00:14:37] The introduction of Hugh and his appearance on Star Trek Picard.

[00:14:42] In this episode, third of five is found by the Enterprise crews and found to be different

[00:14:47] than any other Borg they'd ever encountered in the past.

[00:14:51] But it allowed the discussion of treating the Borg as more than how they have been depicted

[00:14:55] as automatons that live only for the collective.

[00:15:01] And then, of course, doing the human thing of knowing of allowing him to return to the Borg

[00:15:08] without the weapon that Geordi and Data developed that would have disabled the Borg and destroyed

[00:15:19] them.

[00:15:20] It just, with Picard agreeing not to do this, showed his compassion for the Borg, even though

[00:15:30] they had treated him so poorly in a prior episode.

[00:15:35] And it was sad to lose Hugh on Picard.

[00:15:40] Yeah.

[00:15:40] It was just, when he came forward and he was human and you're like, I like this guy.

[00:15:47] Oh, that's right.

[00:15:49] He's dead.

[00:15:50] Sorry.

[00:15:51] That's what happens with many characters we happen to fall in love with.

[00:15:54] So there you go.

[00:15:55] So that's 10 through 8, Hugh.

[00:15:57] A D&M.

[00:15:58] Okay.

[00:15:59] Okay.

[00:15:59] So number 10 for me.

[00:16:01] And I didn't know, I didn't actually think to write down the season episode number, but

[00:16:06] I did take note that most of my picks in general were from season 4 and 5.

[00:16:12] And the way I came up with this list was I just sat down and off the top of my head thought

[00:16:16] of the episodes that, you know, if I was turning it on right now, what would I want to watch?

[00:16:20] And then I organized it.

[00:16:21] Now, when I first wrote that list, there were 21 episodes, so I had to do some paring down

[00:16:25] and everything.

[00:16:27] And so I had my like honorable mention list also.

[00:16:31] But so then starting at number 10, The Outcast.

[00:16:35] Oh, yeah.

[00:16:36] This was the one where you have the genderless society where it's wrong to feel a gender.

[00:16:46] And one of the reasons why this is one of my favorite episodes was partly because I was

[00:16:51] a senior in high school.

[00:16:52] And at the time, I was deep into reading Ursula Le Guin, who tackled that whole concept of

[00:16:59] genderless society.

[00:17:01] And so the fact that a Star Trek Next Generation episode came out that mirrored what I was reading

[00:17:05] like in and really like was kind of interesting to me.

[00:17:07] And so to have that obvious play on, you know, the concept of society forcing people to choose

[00:17:15] or not, you know, all of that was very interesting to me.

[00:17:20] And I've always enjoyed that episode.

[00:17:21] And I still enjoy that episode.

[00:17:22] So that was number 10.

[00:17:24] I was in Pittsburgh on a father-son trip with my dad.

[00:17:29] Right?

[00:17:29] Yeah.

[00:17:30] Father-son with my dad.

[00:17:31] That's correct.

[00:17:31] Yes.

[00:17:32] And it was the trip he was supposed to talk to me about the birds and bees.

[00:17:36] So I was a very confused young fellow.

[00:17:38] Let's just say that weekend.

[00:17:40] All right.

[00:17:41] Moving right along.

[00:17:42] That's funny.

[00:17:42] Okay.

[00:17:42] Okay.

[00:17:43] So number nine, Lower Decks.

[00:17:47] Yes.

[00:17:48] Yeah.

[00:17:49] And as much as the ending of the episode gutted me, like I was like, oh my gosh, they let her die.

[00:17:57] And they didn't, you know, resolve that.

[00:18:00] I thought that was a great episode to see things from a completely different point of view.

[00:18:04] I thought that was brilliant.

[00:18:05] And even today, now that we have a series Lower Decks that is still based on that concept and it actually ties back to the episode.

[00:18:16] Is amazing.

[00:18:17] So it is still one of my favorite episodes.

[00:18:19] I love it.

[00:18:20] Love it.

[00:18:21] Love it.

[00:18:21] Wow.

[00:18:21] Adina, you're picking episodes.

[00:18:25] I started that episode out.

[00:18:27] First of all, I fell in love with that character on another episode called The First Duty.

[00:18:33] And then when I saw her come back, I was like, oh, she's even more beautiful.

[00:18:36] This is way before my wife.

[00:18:37] I even knew my wife, by the way.

[00:18:39] And just for, you know, clarity sake here.

[00:18:41] But then they killed her.

[00:18:43] And halfway through that episode, I'm going, I'm marrying that woman on that screen right now.

[00:18:47] I just know it.

[00:18:47] I just have a feeling.

[00:18:48] And then they killed her off.

[00:18:49] And I'm like, well, that's over.

[00:18:53] Okay.

[00:18:55] Yes.

[00:18:56] Great episode.

[00:18:57] Oy.

[00:18:58] Oy.

[00:18:58] Perfect.

[00:18:59] Number eight.

[00:19:00] My number eight is cause and effect.

[00:19:03] Oh, yeah.

[00:19:04] So that's a time loop one.

[00:19:05] And it's the one that was actually shot.

[00:19:08] Like they shot the same scenes over and over again from different vantage point.

[00:19:14] And so I really do love a good time travel and stuff.

[00:19:20] Like I love the time travel trope.

[00:19:22] So when I see it done uniquely and done well, and at the time that was very unique and it was

[00:19:26] done well, again, still one of my absolute favorite, favorite episodes.

[00:19:30] Yeah.

[00:19:31] And we got Kelsey grammar for a second too.

[00:19:33] And started.

[00:19:34] Yeah.

[00:19:35] Now, let me just say, which is really interesting.

[00:19:38] So here, okay.

[00:19:40] There has been no overlap.

[00:19:42] We all chose unique episodes.

[00:19:44] Although I will.

[00:19:45] No, I obviously, I don't know your lists, but I can tell you that one of you did choose

[00:19:51] one episode that you'll see later on my list and one of you chose one episode that's on

[00:19:56] my honorable mentions, but almost every other episode you guys have mentioned could

[00:20:00] have been honorable mentions too.

[00:20:03] Well, you'll get later on.

[00:20:06] You'll see that I also have an agreement with one of the other members.

[00:20:11] Okay.

[00:20:11] And I'm also, as we move on to, are we going to do honorable mentions at the end?

[00:20:16] Uh, maybe if we, yeah, if we've got, if we have some time, I just have two honorable

[00:20:21] mentions, but I was going to say is that most of my episodes are season four and five

[00:20:29] as well.

[00:20:29] Okay.

[00:20:30] Um, so that's interesting because that is considered the golden seasons.

[00:20:37] Although three, there's a lot of good episodes in three, if you look and in five, um, as well.

[00:20:43] So, um, anyways, can I do seven?

[00:20:47] Okay.

[00:20:48] Yeah.

[00:20:48] Go.

[00:20:48] Let's turn.

[00:20:48] Yeah.

[00:20:49] Okay.

[00:20:49] We're going to do seven, six, five.

[00:20:52] So do seven, six, five.

[00:20:53] Okay.

[00:20:54] So season three, it's my only season three episode.

[00:20:58] And this was hard because as I looked at all the episodes, there's a lot of really great

[00:21:02] episodes in season three.

[00:21:04] Um, but this one stood out to me again.

[00:21:06] I went on the basis of how I remember feeling when I watched it.

[00:21:10] Okay.

[00:21:10] Okay.

[00:21:11] And it's season three, episode three survivors.

[00:21:16] It's when there's just the old man and his wife living on the planet.

[00:21:20] And then there's this crazy huge starship that comes that supposedly killed everybody.

[00:21:26] And then you find out at the end that he's actually a really a God-like figure who has

[00:21:32] created this life.

[00:21:33] He could have defended the planet, but he decided not to.

[00:21:36] And then he retaliated by not just killing that ship, but killing all of that species.

[00:21:44] And it's this tragic.

[00:21:47] It's this mystery that I really loved.

[00:21:49] And as I, I have watched this in the last year, I remember going, I love the mystery of this.

[00:21:54] I love, this is a charming man and his wife and what's going on.

[00:21:59] And Troy suffering with the music.

[00:22:01] I was going to say another interesting Troy.

[00:22:04] Yeah.

[00:22:05] Yep.

[00:22:05] Yep.

[00:22:06] And I'm going to see a pattern in your episodes.

[00:22:08] I wonder, and you just, and you just, it just, I love the mystery of it.

[00:22:14] And then number six is one that I remember just going, wow.

[00:22:21] At the time I felt like it was just wonderful.

[00:22:24] Star Trek all the way around.

[00:22:26] It's season four, episode two family.

[00:22:29] Yeah.

[00:22:30] So it's after Picard gets abducted, he feels he needs to connect with his family back in France.

[00:22:36] And so he goes to the winery house at home of his childhood and his brother is there and his sister-in-law and nephew.

[00:22:47] And it's just a wonderful, different type of episode, but it's not just his family.

[00:22:53] It's Worf's parents loved.

[00:22:56] I've got all the specs and diagrams at home, you know?

[00:22:59] Um, and I just thought it was such a charming episode and a heartfelt episode.

[00:23:05] And it was one of those, I remember watching it again and feeling, is he going to choose to go do this underwater research, you know, or is he going to come back?

[00:23:15] I really didn't know.

[00:23:16] Um, and it was a brilliant follow-up episode to the Borg episode.

[00:23:21] Cause we didn't really know if he would ever come back from being a Borg.

[00:23:25] It was highly possible.

[00:23:27] He would just turn into a once in a while bad guy, you know?

[00:23:31] And so this episode was, again, they played on that really well.

[00:23:35] And so I love that.

[00:23:36] And then number five, um, is a season four episode 21.

[00:23:42] Uh, the drum head.

[00:23:45] Uh, courtroom drama with Jean Simmons as the guest, uh, on the show.

[00:23:53] And she starts to root out.

[00:23:56] She sees conspiracy everywhere and starts to become ruthless and uncaring to the crew of the enterprise.

[00:24:02] And Picard has to step in and give a brilliant speech at one point in the show.

[00:24:07] And it's just a great courtroom thing.

[00:24:10] Jean Simmons is beautiful in it and just very smart in it.

[00:24:15] Well done.

[00:24:16] And I just love it.

[00:24:17] Takes some character.

[00:24:18] Worf kind of gets swept up in the drama too.

[00:24:21] And has to step back and realize what happened.

[00:24:24] So I just thought that was so intriguing for me when I originally watched it, the things they talked about morally from a moral standpoint.

[00:24:33] Just, I remember engaging my young mind with that and watching it again in the last couple of years going, that's, that's a darn good episode.

[00:24:42] Um, so there you go.

[00:24:44] Seven through five.

[00:24:45] Okay.

[00:24:46] Cool.

[00:24:46] Good choices.

[00:24:47] Chris, you're next up.

[00:24:49] Okay.

[00:24:49] So for number seven, I have a season four episode night terrors, which I go back to all the time.

[00:24:56] This is when, uh, they're trapped in a part of space.

[00:24:59] They can't get out.

[00:25:00] And they're not.

[00:25:01] Yeah.

[00:25:02] The one, I love it.

[00:25:03] The one moon circles.

[00:25:04] What a, like just those dream sequences, even though they're a bit cheesy with the way the flying, but it's just so well done in that it's creepy.

[00:25:12] There's the moon.

[00:25:12] Another key Troy episode.

[00:25:13] Another key Troy episode.

[00:25:15] She's the one that figures it out.

[00:25:16] Um, so I love it.

[00:25:18] I just love the creepiness.

[00:25:19] I love specifically at the start of the episode when they're, um, when they encountered the USS Pertain and there's that really creepy music that you don't hear too much in TNG.

[00:25:29] Uh, so I love it.

[00:25:30] It's just, it's a fun episode.

[00:25:31] I go back to it all the time and I just never get tired of the, the one moon circles as Adina was saying.

[00:25:38] Um, so that's number seven.

[00:25:40] Number six, I have to send part one and part two.

[00:25:43] I know this one's like interesting, not the most popular episode.

[00:25:47] I love it because it's, well, I love it for a lot of reasons.

[00:25:50] One of them.

[00:25:52] And I think we've talked about this in other podcasts where like the, I guess it was the month that first contact was coming out or just around that time.

[00:26:01] CTV, a local station was doing the Borg fest.

[00:26:05] So I taped all of those episodes and it was just one that I watched all the time.

[00:26:08] So I have a lot of like good childhood memories of watching descent.

[00:26:12] I like what they do with lore.

[00:26:14] I think his acting is very good.

[00:26:16] And then I just love, um, crusher taking command of the ship.

[00:26:20] I think she's a really good captain and I love that she's able to, um, help this one officer, uh, ensign Tate.

[00:26:29] Yeah.

[00:26:30] Find her confidence.

[00:26:31] Um, that guy.

[00:26:33] Well, which one, what was his name?

[00:26:35] There's ensign Tate.

[00:26:36] Oh, the guy that kept acting like she didn't know what she was doing and he was double guessing.

[00:26:41] Yeah.

[00:26:42] It was like tenant.

[00:26:44] I think his name was Barney.

[00:26:45] Oh my goodness.

[00:26:46] Ensign Tate was one of the daughters of the Cosby show.

[00:26:50] Right.

[00:26:51] Oh, right.

[00:26:52] That's right.

[00:26:52] That's right.

[00:26:53] She was the oldest daughter on the show.

[00:26:55] Yeah.

[00:26:55] Yeah.

[00:26:56] Yeah.

[00:26:56] So ensign Tate, she was great.

[00:26:57] And I just loved, I, again, I loved how, um, crusher was able to like help her find herself and then also just take all the opinions.

[00:27:06] From the crew and much like a Picard way.

[00:27:08] Um, so I think it was a really good showcase for crusher.

[00:27:11] And then, uh, for my last, for episode five, it's not episode five for my fifth pick is frame of mind.

[00:27:19] This is a right.

[00:27:19] Oh, yeah.

[00:27:20] So this is when he, uh, keeps going back and forth between a mental asylum and the enterprise.

[00:27:26] And I think it's just so well done.

[00:27:28] It's creepy.

[00:27:28] It's really well done.

[00:27:29] I love episodes when characters are being told that what they know is not true, but they're given all this evidence that sounds completely reasonable.

[00:27:38] And I just think it's a good showcase for Riker and showing him, um, you know, slowly losing his mind and all that.

[00:27:46] And then the fake out too, at the beginning where you think what's going on and then it's like, oh, it's just a play.

[00:27:51] It's no problem.

[00:27:52] Then it gets worse.

[00:27:53] Really, really good episode.

[00:27:55] Yeah.

[00:27:58] It's also good choices.

[00:28:00] Really good choices.

[00:28:01] Really good choices.

[00:28:02] Okay.

[00:28:03] Steve.

[00:28:04] All right.

[00:28:05] Number seven.

[00:28:07] Yes.

[00:28:07] Yes.

[00:28:08] Number seven is the Pegasus season seven, episode 12.

[00:28:13] And the reason why this is the episode that is the reason for the basis of the final episode of enterprise.

[00:28:24] Now, when I watched that episode originally, when it aired, I did not have any understanding or could remember why Riker was so troubled that he had to go create this on the holodeck, recreate the enterprise and XO one, its crew.

[00:28:44] And to encounter what he's supposed to do in his decision making with, with Troy.

[00:28:51] So it was never really explained until I saw the episode again of when we were, I think we were talking about this at one point.

[00:28:58] And now I understand the reason why Riker was doing this because he was, he had orders from his old commander, Pressman.

[00:29:10] Yes.

[00:29:10] Admiral Pressman.

[00:29:11] And, and what is he supposed to do?

[00:29:14] You know, he's keeping a secret from Picard.

[00:29:17] He's not telling the reason why the Pegasus is where it is.

[00:29:22] And he has to, from, again, from the episode of enterprise, he realizes what he's supposed to do.

[00:29:29] And he admits to Picard what has happened, what was going on, what the Pegasus represented.

[00:29:36] And he has to do this to regain Picard's trust.

[00:29:39] Now, there was a moment, you know, when the crew of the enterprise has to do the right thing.

[00:29:44] And that by, they do end up using the cloaking device to allow them to escape from the interior of the asteroid.

[00:29:51] But then they do the right thing.

[00:29:54] And they tell the Romulans about it.

[00:29:58] And Pressman is ultimately, I believe, court-martialed for what he did.

[00:30:04] And in doing all this, they prevent a new war with the Romulans, which was really, you know, you ended up doing the more noble thing, the right thing.

[00:30:14] Sometimes it goes against your principles or what you've been ordered to do.

[00:30:18] And sometimes there are bad orders that you receive from your superiors.

[00:30:23] Number six, a big change of position, the big goodbye.

[00:30:29] Season one, episode 12.

[00:30:31] I like that one.

[00:30:31] And the reason?

[00:30:33] Characters out of their element.

[00:30:35] Now, we all agree that holodeck episodes are so fun and creative.

[00:30:48] And it allows the actors to play different characters created by really great writing.

[00:30:53] And anyone who loves an old detective film like you, Brian, should be so happy with this episode.

[00:30:59] I mean, having Picard play Dixon Hill as if he was Humphrey Bogart in The Maltese Falcon was truly great.

[00:31:08] As were all the other actors playing characters outside their bases.

[00:31:12] The backstory of the Jahara is they're only to heighten the tension.

[00:31:17] So you need to get Picard back in time.

[00:31:21] And, you know, that's fine.

[00:31:22] But really, the story is just them having fun in this alternate characters.

[00:31:29] And, of course, young Wesley, he gets to save the day by fixing the glitch on the holodeck and, you know, get everything back in order.

[00:31:39] Never once, I think, did they tell him to shut up, Wesley, which was good.

[00:31:44] Number five.

[00:31:45] Okay, so number five.

[00:31:47] Number five.

[00:31:50] It's part one of Chain of Command.

[00:31:54] Oh, okay.

[00:31:56] And again, I agree.

[00:31:57] You already mentioned a lot of things that I agree with, Chris.

[00:32:00] It's the tension between Jellicoe and Riker that drives Riker crazy when Picard is taken away from the Enterprise on his secret mission.

[00:32:17] Now, the first part of the episode was good, but the interaction, again, between Jellicoe and Riker was really great.

[00:32:25] And the secret mission was interesting, but it was only done so that they would be trapped and Picard would be taken captive.

[00:32:37] And that leads to the next episode of that series and of that storyline, which I'm going to do like they do in the TV show.

[00:32:49] I'm going to leave you with a cliffhanger as to what number four might be.

[00:32:53] So there you go.

[00:32:54] Fair, fair.

[00:32:55] Okay.

[00:32:56] So my number seven.

[00:32:59] Anyone who knows me knows how much I love robots and AI.

[00:33:02] So it should not be a surprise that Data's Day shows up on my list.

[00:33:07] Oh, yeah.

[00:33:08] I love it.

[00:33:09] That's a great episode.

[00:33:10] I just love the whole, hey, this is I'm going to journal my day as a letter and go through all the thought process.

[00:33:16] So that's it.

[00:33:18] I just love that so much.

[00:33:19] That was a hard one for me to let go of, Adina.

[00:33:22] Yeah.

[00:33:22] That was really great.

[00:33:23] That was, that would be in my top 15.

[00:33:27] But I could say the same thing.

[00:33:29] You picked family.

[00:33:30] I had a heck of a time letting that out of my top 10 too.

[00:33:35] So yeah, this is getting harder as it goes.

[00:33:38] My number six is relics.

[00:33:43] That's where Scotty shows back up.

[00:33:45] And so, yeah, for a few reasons.

[00:33:47] One, Scotty.

[00:33:48] I mean, Tony.

[00:33:49] Two, and then just learning about a Dyson sphere.

[00:33:53] So what I noticed was happening, and this was just the weirdest thing.

[00:33:57] So when I was in high school was when the bulk of Next Generation was on.

[00:34:00] And there were so many times where it felt like the episode was mirroring something in my life in the sense of I'm learning about something in real life.

[00:34:10] And then I'm seeing it in an episode.

[00:34:12] And I had recently learned about that whole concept of a Dyson sphere.

[00:34:16] I had recently, I think it was Ringworld that I had read within the six months or so prior.

[00:34:22] So like the fact that then they're having an episode that is including that concept.

[00:34:27] I was, yeah, I thought it was great.

[00:34:30] And, you know, Scotty.

[00:34:31] Oh, by the way, I can just remind our listeners that Dyson sphere was in Moonfall.

[00:34:38] Only this is a good one.

[00:34:40] Yeah, this is a good one.

[00:34:41] That was a terrible one.

[00:34:41] I forgot it was in Moonfall.

[00:34:43] Let's see.

[00:34:44] And then number five was Reunion.

[00:34:49] Oh, yes.

[00:34:50] That was where Kalar comes back with Worf's son.

[00:34:54] And I don't know.

[00:34:56] I really can't explain why I love this episode other than I just love this episode so much.

[00:35:01] I love Kalar.

[00:35:03] I was horrible that she died.

[00:35:06] But the scenes and the tension between her and Worf were like, they were awesome.

[00:35:11] And so I just love it.

[00:35:13] Yeah.

[00:35:15] Wow, Adina.

[00:35:16] That is one I seriously, that almost made my top 10 list too.

[00:35:21] We're kind of on the same page here.

[00:35:25] But what's interesting still is we're still very much, there's not been much overlap between any of us.

[00:35:30] It's really only chain of command part one so far is the only one that's like duplicated.

[00:35:35] Everything else for us have been completely unique.

[00:35:37] And so it'll be interesting to see for the rest.

[00:35:40] Yeah.

[00:35:40] So we're going to change it up a little bit.

[00:35:42] Now we're going to do 432.

[00:35:44] Okay.

[00:35:45] We're going to change the order.

[00:35:46] Chris is going to go first.

[00:35:48] So we're going to do 432 and then we'll come back and everyone do their final one.

[00:35:51] Okay.

[00:35:52] Sounds good.

[00:35:53] So number four is Gambit's both part.

[00:35:56] I'm obsessed with Gambit.

[00:35:57] This was one where, again, I taped it.

[00:36:01] My mom taped it or something.

[00:36:02] And then I would just always watch it.

[00:36:04] And that's the one where Riker and Picard, they get kidnapped by pirates or mercenaries in this case.

[00:36:10] And then they have to basically role play and outwit them.

[00:36:13] And I just love it.

[00:36:15] I love the...

[00:36:16] I don't want to say the banter, but I just love the interactions between Picard and Riker trying to fool everyone.

[00:36:24] Just how easily they do it.

[00:36:25] And one of my favorite lines is, or rather scenes, is when Picard's like, how does it feel to betray your crew?

[00:36:35] How'd that feel?

[00:36:35] And then Riker punches Picard in the face and goes, I don't know.

[00:36:39] How'd that feel?

[00:36:40] And I just think it's so classic.

[00:36:42] And I'd love we get...

[00:36:44] Robin Curtis is back.

[00:36:45] Why can't I think of her?

[00:36:46] Pardon?

[00:36:46] Yes, Robin Curtis.

[00:36:48] That's what I was trying to remember her name.

[00:36:49] And she does a phenomenal job.

[00:36:51] I love Bran.

[00:36:52] I just think it's such a fun episode.

[00:36:54] It is.

[00:36:56] So, yeah.

[00:36:57] So that's Gambit, both parts.

[00:36:59] And then number three is Cause and Effect.

[00:37:04] Okay, there you go.

[00:37:06] This is one of those ones where I have a few episodes where I enjoy watching them, obviously, when I'm awake.

[00:37:14] But I also like listening to them if I can't sleep.

[00:37:17] And I find Cause and Effect is great for that.

[00:37:21] And I think it's a secret Dr. Crusher episode.

[00:37:24] Like, I don't know that she gets a lot of credit for it.

[00:37:27] But I think it's so interesting that it's all done from her point of view.

[00:37:31] And she's the one that's able to figure out, for the most part, figure out the solution.

[00:37:36] Like Data does do it in the end.

[00:37:38] But I like that she is the one that is seemingly most aware of what's going on.

[00:37:45] Yeah.

[00:37:46] I can't sleep to that one because of the explosions.

[00:37:49] As much as I love the episode, it's like every five to seven minutes, the Enterprise is exploding.

[00:37:54] Well, usually I will knock out by the first explosion.

[00:37:58] I usually knock out within 10 minutes of that episode.

[00:38:01] So hopefully by the first explosion.

[00:38:03] Or no, by the second one.

[00:38:04] By the time we get past the teaser and into the first act, I guess.

[00:38:08] And then we're doing number two, correct?

[00:38:11] Yep.

[00:38:11] Okay.

[00:38:12] And then number two, my second favorite episode of TNG ever is Q-Hoo.

[00:38:17] This is when they introduced the Borg.

[00:38:19] And this is another one of those ones.

[00:38:21] It was on that tape for the Borg Fest, as they called it.

[00:38:26] And it's just one I go back to all the time.

[00:38:28] And it's like definitely a happy place episode where everything about it, the dialogue, the sound cues, the fact you had the Borg for the first time, just all put me in my happy place.

[00:38:41] Excellent.

[00:38:41] Good choices.

[00:38:43] Steve, you're next.

[00:38:44] Okay.

[00:38:45] I'll go next.

[00:38:46] So you've all been waiting with anticipation because I kept you with a cliffhanger.

[00:38:53] So here we go.

[00:38:54] Number four.

[00:38:56] Guess what?

[00:38:56] Chain of Command part two.

[00:39:00] And the reason why, without a doubt, you already know, is the interrogation of Picard by Gull Madrid.

[00:39:09] Is that how you, I guess that's correct.

[00:39:10] Gull Madrid.

[00:39:11] Yeah.

[00:39:11] Gull Meset.

[00:39:12] No, Gull Meset.

[00:39:13] No, no, no.

[00:39:13] That's a different Gull.

[00:39:14] Sorry.

[00:39:15] Oh, yeah.

[00:39:15] He's from Voyager.

[00:39:17] Yeah.

[00:39:17] Gull Meset.

[00:39:19] The battle between Riker and Jellico, which continues on to the second half of the episode,

[00:39:28] but then there's an understanding that the two of them come to as to the reason why Jellico is like who he is and Riker and the crew are like who they are,

[00:39:40] but they realize that chain of command is chain of command.

[00:39:46] They follow his orders and they end up doing the right thing.

[00:39:52] But, oh, my God, just watching David Werner play golf.

[00:40:00] And that whole sequence, I mean, from the moment where they rip off his clothes and, you know, Picard is naked to the world, so to speak.

[00:40:10] Mm-hmm.

[00:40:11] And he is just going through the worst torture, but the worst type of torture, psychological torture.

[00:40:19] Mm-hmm.

[00:40:29] Picard almost breaks down when he sits down with Troy at the end and says, I was just about ready.

[00:40:35] Yeah.

[00:40:35] To say that there were five lights.

[00:40:38] Mm-hmm.

[00:40:38] He was about ready to break.

[00:40:40] But thank goodness they got him away just in time.

[00:40:44] And so that's why I just love a good one-on-one in anything, any movie.

[00:40:51] It can be the Joker and Batman from the second Batman movie where they go after each other just one-on-one.

[00:41:00] And so that's what I really enjoyed.

[00:41:05] Number three is The Best of Both Worlds, Part One.

[00:41:11] Yeah.

[00:41:12] I could see that.

[00:41:13] And again, it is the—

[00:41:14] No, no, I haven't mentioned that yet.

[00:41:15] Yeah.

[00:41:15] Yeah.

[00:41:15] And in that one, it is the conclusion—excuse me, the conclusion of that particular episode where Picard becomes Locutus.

[00:41:28] It is really a great episode.

[00:41:33] And the battle that goes on with Picard and what happens to him at the end is just really, really good.

[00:41:42] We don't know.

[00:41:42] We were left having to wait, like I did, for a whole season, a whole summer.

[00:41:48] A whole summer.

[00:41:49] That was nothing.

[00:41:50] To wait.

[00:41:50] That's nothing compared to the way we have to do these things.

[00:41:52] No, no.

[00:41:52] Now we have to wait a whole year or two.

[00:41:55] But I do really enjoy that episode.

[00:41:58] And when I—again, I think I mentioned one time before, when I did see all the members of the cast on stage at Polyfest,

[00:42:09] the one episode they showed us was season episode one of The Best of Both Worlds to depict just how great it is.

[00:42:18] So I guess you know that number two is going to be Best of Both Worlds Part Two.

[00:42:26] And I'm not going to wait a whole year to get to that.

[00:42:29] And the reason why is that it opens with a battle sequence at Wolf 359.

[00:42:36] And do you guys know where that originally came from, Wolf 359?

[00:42:40] No.

[00:42:41] I mean, there's a star.

[00:42:42] There was an episode of The Outer Limits about a creature that comes in contact with some scientists,

[00:42:49] and he originates from Wolf 359.

[00:42:52] So when I first saw that, I went, hey, there you go, right back to that.

[00:42:56] But it's not just the fact it's the battle sequence, but the fact that they are able to get Picard back.

[00:43:04] Mm-hmm.

[00:43:04] And because he's being used as a weapon against Starfleet.

[00:43:09] But then he becomes a weapon against the Borg.

[00:43:14] And he's finally returned to his original self.

[00:43:17] But, or is he?

[00:43:19] That's the question that was always left.

[00:43:20] Was there residual Borg left in him?

[00:43:23] And boy, that theme was carried over into another movie that we happen to like called First Contact.

[00:43:29] Another movie, another series.

[00:43:30] And then Picard, yeah, dealt with it even more.

[00:43:32] Like, it's like, oh, wow, he really has been living with this trauma.

[00:43:35] Like, not that we didn't know it, but it's like, oh, wow, like it was real in Picard.

[00:43:40] And so that's why I really, that's why this episode is so special, because it became the basis for other things as well, which is wonderful.

[00:43:47] And the soundtrack.

[00:43:49] Oh, yeah.

[00:43:50] Okay.

[00:43:51] I'm done.

[00:43:52] Let's see.

[00:43:52] Brian, you ready?

[00:43:55] Oh, I think you're muted.

[00:43:56] You might, yeah.

[00:43:57] Brian, you lost your mic, your audio.

[00:44:01] Okay, I'm ready.

[00:44:02] There you go.

[00:44:03] We are on number four, right?

[00:44:06] So this is where it really started getting hard.

[00:44:09] But my number four is season five, episode five, Disaster.

[00:44:14] Oh, yeah.

[00:44:15] I freaking love.

[00:44:17] Another Troy.

[00:44:18] Another significant Troy episode.

[00:44:21] Great Troy episode.

[00:44:22] Stop it over there in Maryland.

[00:44:25] We, we listen.

[00:44:29] All right.

[00:44:29] Troy may have been.

[00:44:30] No, it's fine.

[00:44:30] It's great.

[00:44:32] Hollywood.

[00:44:33] No.

[00:44:34] Actually, it just is just happening that way.

[00:44:38] But I love the fish out of water stuff.

[00:44:40] I love Picard with the kids crawling up the turbo shaft and then trapped in the turbo lift.

[00:44:45] Love Worf delivering Keiko and O'Brien's baby in the 10 forward lounge.

[00:44:50] So great.

[00:44:51] Troy and O'Brien and Ensign Rowe all on the bridge figuring stuff out, having to work together.

[00:45:00] And Troy being the commanding officer was intriguing.

[00:45:04] And I just, I just thought disaster was in all around.

[00:45:08] And you've got Jordy and Beverly in the cargo bay having to work out.

[00:45:18] I just thought it was a really well done, cute episode, heartfelt episode, a little bit different than normal.

[00:45:25] Uh, and I just remember originally loving it.

[00:45:30] And I think I watched this one with my mom too.

[00:45:32] And she said, I remember her saying she, that was, I really liked that episode a lot.

[00:45:37] And so number four disaster, number three, season five, episode 19.

[00:45:43] I think one of the best next gen episodes, I would argue this should be in most people's top 20 lists.

[00:45:53] It's that good.

[00:45:54] It's called the first duty.

[00:45:55] It's where Wesley Crusher and the cadets lie about the terrible accident in their flight pattern test.

[00:46:03] And a student dies and Picard figures out the truth that they've been lying.

[00:46:10] And Nick Lucerno is trying to get them all to lie.

[00:46:13] Lucarno.

[00:46:14] Lucarno.

[00:46:14] And, uh, and so it, uh, just very intriguing, kind of another courtroom esque episode, but Wesley, I think this is one of Wil Wheaton's finest hours too in Star Trek, frankly, along with, um, another one.

[00:46:33] That's not a, not really a honorable mention, but final mission was another great Wesley episode where Wil Wheaton just did really great.

[00:46:42] This one, I think he really shines.

[00:46:44] And, uh, I just remember watching this originally going, what would I do that?

[00:46:49] That's so much pressure.

[00:46:51] Like, you know, um, and then number two is a season four episode 12, the wounded.

[00:46:59] This is a Cardassian episode.

[00:47:01] This is where we see the Cardassians really strongly for the first time.

[00:47:05] I think, I think so.

[00:47:07] Yeah.

[00:47:07] It's the first time.

[00:47:08] Brian episode two.

[00:47:10] O'Brien gets a lot in this episode and I loved O'Brien in the next gen.

[00:47:14] And I just think the story, the situation is really, and this is Gull Masset.

[00:47:20] I remember Picard saying, uh, there, there are, you know, there's a rogue captain that goes off trying to, he's shooting starships down and saying the Cardassians are arming.

[00:47:33] They're building these, even though they're not supposed to be.

[00:47:36] And so Picard and the crew has to hunt him down their own kind down and stop him from killing other Cardassians.

[00:47:42] And, uh, so that's interesting.

[00:47:46] And then I'll never forget that final scene where Picard says those ships weren't carrying, you know, medical supplies.

[00:47:54] And he goes, yeah.

[00:47:56] Gull Masset will be watching.

[00:47:59] And just like, oh, and the look on Gull Masset.

[00:48:01] Uh, just, I love the Cardassians right away, which may be partly why I'm such a big D space nine fan too.

[00:48:09] So yeah, number two, the wounded, really great episode.

[00:48:14] Uh, like a couple of weeks, no last, no, a couple of weeks ago.

[00:48:17] And I was able to use a quote from that episode in a, uh, a paper that I wrote for, uh, one of my peace and conflict studies courses talking about the idea that, uh, what, I can't think of the exact quote.

[00:48:29] It's like, sometimes people in war get so used to that hatred that they grip onto it.

[00:48:34] Um, I love that.

[00:48:36] That was so well done.

[00:48:37] Yeah.

[00:48:38] Lots of, lots of racial things O'Brien had to overcome.

[00:48:42] Oh, and Mark, uh, how do you say his name?

[00:48:44] Mark Alamo.

[00:48:45] Yeah.

[00:48:45] Mark Alamo.

[00:48:46] Of course.

[00:48:47] Excellent.

[00:48:48] Okay.

[00:48:48] Guys, these are, these are great choices.

[00:48:50] Okay.

[00:48:51] But here's mine.

[00:48:52] Yes.

[00:48:53] So episode number four, one we've already heard from somebody.

[00:48:57] This is where I put yesterday's enterprise.

[00:49:00] Okay.

[00:49:01] And, and again, a similar reasons, uh, the fact that we, you know, we got, um, Denise Crosby back, but also again, I love a good job.

[00:49:08] Good time travel trope.

[00:49:09] So just, I love this episode so much.

[00:49:12] Number three is one we haven't heard yet.

[00:49:15] Brothers.

[00:49:16] Oh, yeah.

[00:49:17] Brothers.

[00:49:19] And one of the, my favorite things is when data goes to meet his father and then there are two things I really love about this episode.

[00:49:27] It's one Brent Spiner acting in three different roles in the same scene.

[00:49:32] And you believe that is three unique characters.

[00:49:35] That is amazing to do that like that.

[00:49:37] But then more than that, there's this one little interaction where data asks his dad, Hey, why did you make me?

[00:49:46] And, um, Dr. Assum goes in this like, Hey, you know, why do, you know, humans treasure old things?

[00:49:53] And it's kind of like a tie to the past.

[00:49:55] And does that only run backwards?

[00:49:57] And it's like, no, it runs forwards.

[00:49:58] And that's why I did it.

[00:49:59] And I've always loved that explanation as to why we create anything, whether it's a child or anything else.

[00:50:06] So that's just, that's one of my favorites, of course.

[00:50:09] And again, I love AI and robots.

[00:50:12] So, okay.

[00:50:13] And then number two for me.

[00:50:14] I'm seeing a pattern with robots.

[00:50:16] Sorry.

[00:50:17] The funny thing is, is I'm seeing a pattern.

[00:50:19] We all have our own patterns here, which I will talk about at the very, very end.

[00:50:22] So my number two is the inner light.

[00:50:27] But not for the reason most people love this episode.

[00:50:31] Most people love the episode because of the relationship with Picard and Eileen and seeing them together and seeing him get to have a family.

[00:50:41] And that's, that's wonderful.

[00:50:42] I love that.

[00:50:47] Having the society faced with that existential crisis of we're going to be extinct.

[00:50:53] What are we doing?

[00:50:55] You know, and the fact that they dealt with it.

[00:50:57] So this is, I do have to plug this.

[00:50:59] This was the motivation for, I wrote a story that's in the recent Star Trek Explorers magazine, number 12.

[00:51:06] It's in the digital edition of it.

[00:51:08] It is based on this episode.

[00:51:09] It is based on that aspect of the society, like dealing with that.

[00:51:14] And so that, that's why that's one of my favorites.

[00:51:15] Oh, that's interesting.

[00:51:17] Or three, two.

[00:51:19] I can tell you something at the end of that.

[00:51:21] I went a little researching and just say, what are the top, you know, 10 or top 25 episodes of TNG?

[00:51:29] And I believe inner light on one was like number one or number two.

[00:51:33] I can't recall what it is.

[00:51:35] It often is.

[00:51:37] But that's why I like to point out that my reason is, I don't think is the same reason everyone else loves the episode.

[00:51:42] I mean, I love that aspect.

[00:51:43] But that's not why this is like one of my favorite episodes.

[00:51:46] Even though that was just also done so well.

[00:51:47] And thank you for bringing up the episode, brothers.

[00:51:49] I couldn't remember the name of that episode.

[00:51:52] But it's always one that I truly, like you said, to have a tour de force of Brett playing three different characters.

[00:52:01] Just fantastic acting on his part.

[00:52:03] Yes.

[00:52:04] Yep.

[00:52:04] It's amazing.

[00:52:05] Okay.

[00:52:06] We are down to our final favorite episode each.

[00:52:12] And we are, again, this round going to start with Chris.

[00:52:16] Okay.

[00:52:16] Okay, Chris.

[00:52:17] So my favorite episode of all time is Best of Both Worlds, part one and part two.

[00:52:23] But I'd say more specifically, part one.

[00:52:26] I just love it.

[00:52:27] Again, I'm a Riker guy.

[00:52:29] So I love any episode that deals with Riker.

[00:52:31] And even though Picard is like, it's all about him in a way.

[00:52:34] I feel like it's a Riker episode.

[00:52:35] Absolutely.

[00:52:36] And I think the interaction between him and Shelby is fantastic.

[00:52:43] And seeing that, okay, yeah, maybe he really isn't progressing like he thought he would.

[00:52:48] Or maybe he should be progressing.

[00:52:51] So I love all of that stuff.

[00:52:52] And then, of course, I'm not a manager yet.

[00:52:56] And I hope I'll never actually have to use this dialogue.

[00:52:59] One of my favorite things ever is that, let me see if I can do this right.

[00:53:03] If you ever do an end run around me again, I will strap you back so hard you'll think you're a first year cadet again.

[00:53:10] I think it is such a fantastic line.

[00:53:12] I love that conversation.

[00:53:13] And just, again, this is one of those ones where I watch it all the time as a kid.

[00:53:18] So this is like my happy place track.

[00:53:20] This is something I'll put on.

[00:53:22] I can sleep to it.

[00:53:23] The sound cues are amazing.

[00:53:25] And I love the Borg score.

[00:53:28] Phenomenal.

[00:53:29] One of the things I want to say about that line, which is interesting because I have that line in my head sometimes too, is working in the airspace industry.

[00:53:37] I work.

[00:53:37] So I've always been a civilian working for commercial companies.

[00:53:41] But I work with a lot of veterans and former military people who've had to adjust out of that world and into our world.

[00:53:49] And a lot of these folks, like, yeah, you honor that chain of command.

[00:53:55] There is no going around or anything.

[00:53:57] But in the commercial world, yeah, you can go around.

[00:54:00] Is it?

[00:54:01] In fact, like, yeah, yes.

[00:54:03] In fact, I can like, you know, now there's some formalism to some of it.

[00:54:07] Like sometimes they might institute what we call skip level meetings.

[00:54:11] But like if I want to talk to my boss's boss in a skip level meeting, I would just ask for it and do it.

[00:54:16] And, you know, like there are there's more play.

[00:54:20] It is not as rigid.

[00:54:21] Now, some institutions and organizations might be more rigid culturally than others.

[00:54:26] But anyway, that's always been I've always thought that was interesting because of the interplay that I sometimes see because I've seen people like I can't talk to them.

[00:54:35] That's like my boss's boss.

[00:54:36] I'm like, no, of course you can talk to them.

[00:54:38] Go talk to them.

[00:54:39] You're like anyway.

[00:54:41] It's so funny because like even though I've been working in like in the real workforce for the last 10 years, I still feel I'm obviously fairly new to it.

[00:54:50] And that line has always stuck in my head where I'm like, OK, if I have any issues, I go to my manager and see if I can follow it up the chain without going to their boss.

[00:55:00] And we actually there was a whole discussion about that at work and like a major town hall meeting, which was interesting.

[00:55:07] And that that line popped up in my head again.

[00:55:09] And but yeah, it's so interesting thinking about the chain of command and how how things work that way.

[00:55:15] Yeah.

[00:55:16] OK, good one.

[00:55:18] Steve.

[00:55:21] Adina, this is for you.

[00:55:23] For me?

[00:55:24] My.

[00:55:24] Yep.

[00:55:25] My favorite episode is Relics.

[00:55:28] Oh.

[00:55:29] And the reason Scotty and bring him back.

[00:55:33] One of the most beloved characters from TOS.

[00:55:37] And the idea that how he was stored in a transporter buffer so that he could survive and then finding him out and then him finding out that he's in a future that doesn't need him anymore.

[00:55:50] And that was really very, very sad.

[00:55:53] But in the end, of course, Scotty saves the day after having a heart to heart with Picard on the bridge of his favorite starship.

[00:56:02] Not A, not B, not C, not D, the original Enterprise.

[00:56:09] And I love how he advises Geordi to overestimate time.

[00:56:15] Yes.

[00:56:16] His tests seem like he's a miracle worker when he gets them done early.

[00:56:21] And Geordi's like, no, you don't do that.

[00:56:25] Yes, you do.

[00:56:26] You did not tell him how long it would actually take you to do.

[00:56:30] But then Geordi thinks of him as a relic from a bygone era when he makes Scotty feel like he's not needed.

[00:56:39] But because of Scotty's knowledge of early starships, he's able to use the derelict that he was in and how he can save the Enterprise from getting out of the Dyson sphere.

[00:56:55] And in the end, they give him a shuttlecraft and Scotty rides off into the sunset.

[00:57:01] We don't know whatever happened to him.

[00:57:03] We don't need to know because we got to see him one more time.

[00:57:07] So for me, that is one of the best.

[00:57:11] No, that is the best.

[00:57:13] Thank you.

[00:57:14] Cool.

[00:57:15] No, that's good.

[00:57:17] That's nice.

[00:57:19] Let's see.

[00:57:20] Brian, you're next.

[00:57:25] I don't know.

[00:57:26] Brian is shaking his head.

[00:57:27] I don't know.

[00:57:29] I'm feeling like I have copped out easily with my number one.

[00:57:33] No.

[00:57:34] But I'm just going to go for it because it is such a good episode and it is the best of both worlds part one.

[00:57:40] See?

[00:57:41] I feel like the best of both worlds part one is significantly better than part two.

[00:57:47] Oh, I agree.

[00:57:48] For sure.

[00:57:48] And I think that there's several reasons why I love this because I loved to hate Shelby at first.

[00:57:55] And again, original feelings.

[00:57:58] Who does she think she is?

[00:58:00] Riker's in.

[00:58:01] Well, she should mind her own business, you know, and Riker struggling with that.

[00:58:07] Is he going to take command?

[00:58:08] Is he not going to take command?

[00:58:10] And then you have this different type of musical score for this episode, which felt bigger.

[00:58:17] It was a different theme for the Borg than we've heard before.

[00:58:20] Um, the cinematography is gorgeous episode.

[00:58:26] It's absolutely a beautifully shot episode.

[00:58:30] The colors are so good.

[00:58:32] The sound is so everything about it is so good.

[00:58:35] And you have, in my opinion, the greatest cliffhanger in television history.

[00:58:42] Mm-hmm.

[00:58:43] And everybody shouted at the TV.

[00:58:47] No!

[00:58:48] You know, when we realized we weren't, we're going to have to wait this summer to find out what happened after Riker,

[00:58:53] who is the absolute best actor in all of Star Trek, to say just that one word.

[00:59:00] Fire.

[00:59:01] Yeah.

[00:59:02] And the music build up there.

[00:59:04] Yeah.

[00:59:05] Oh, guys.

[00:59:05] It's gorgeous and just perfect.

[00:59:07] And that episode is so epic.

[00:59:10] Best of both worlds, one and two, is Star Trek I show to people who have never watched Star Trek before.

[00:59:17] It is that good.

[00:59:18] Yep.

[00:59:19] That I say start with, you really, you're going to get to know the characters as the episode goes.

[00:59:25] Mm-hmm.

[00:59:26] So don't worry about backstory.

[00:59:27] It's all about Picard.

[00:59:29] Stay focused on Picard and what happens there.

[00:59:32] And I have never had anybody watch those two episodes and say, they might say, I don't know if I'm a Star Trek fan, but they always say, that was good.

[00:59:43] Yeah.

[00:59:44] That was good television.

[00:59:46] And I just think that is, there's so many great season three episodes.

[00:59:51] I think it would surprise people if you haven't watched them.

[00:59:53] Some people think the best of Next Gen started with the best of both worlds.

[00:59:58] And I think it certainly established that they were here to stay, that they were a big time show.

[01:00:04] There were a ton of really good season three episodes, though.

[01:00:08] Yeah.

[01:00:08] Yeah, for sure.

[01:00:09] For this.

[01:00:09] But I tell you what, this was just, this was epic.

[01:00:12] This is one of the best episodes in all of television, in my opinion.

[01:00:17] I saw this in theaters when they were back in 2013, when they re-released the episode for the Blu-ray of season three.

[01:00:28] And that was phenomenal.

[01:00:29] And it's one of those things that I took my best friend to go see it.

[01:00:33] And he had, I don't think he's ever seen that episode before, but he had enough knowledge that he was also bummed out when they did not separate the episodes like two episodes.

[01:00:45] Because we didn't get the to-be-continued.

[01:00:47] Because I feel like part of that whole experience is getting the fire.

[01:00:51] And then the dun-dun-dun-dun.

[01:00:53] And then a whole summer.

[01:00:54] And he was bummed out about it.

[01:00:56] But just think of it.

[01:00:57] I like how people know about the to-be-continued there.

[01:01:00] But just to think, it forced CBS to renew the series for another season.

[01:01:07] Oh, was there talk that it?

[01:01:09] Yeah, there was some talk about that they might have, you know, leading up to it, if they were going to cancel it or not.

[01:01:14] And this basically forced their hands going, people are going to demand to wait for the next season to find out what happens.

[01:01:25] I know they do that with Enterprise where they're like, hey, let's put it in that Nazi alien just to get the network to give us a season four.

[01:01:32] Yeah.

[01:01:33] Anyway.

[01:01:34] Adina, you're last.

[01:01:35] Yeah.

[01:01:36] Adina, I can't wait.

[01:01:37] I do want to say that it's interesting that two of you chose some Best of Both Worlds.

[01:01:42] All three of you had Best of Both Worlds on your list somewhere.

[01:01:46] I'm the one who doesn't.

[01:01:48] Oh, okay.

[01:01:49] Well, again, this is going on not necessarily.

[01:01:52] Remember, our lists are our favorites.

[01:01:53] Yeah, this is your personal opinion.

[01:01:56] Yeah, exactly.

[01:01:58] Adina, though, we're going to have to ask you to get off the Zoom call so the three of us can talk about the future of the podcast here.

[01:02:06] You don't have Best of Both.

[01:02:08] I'm just kidding.

[01:02:08] I know.

[01:02:09] And we will not talk about any Deanna Troi episodes either, okay?

[01:02:13] But that's also, it's not to say anything.

[01:02:16] It's other than just that the Honorable Mention List is really a million miles.

[01:02:19] It's like everything else, practically.

[01:02:22] Because I do, you know, so many episodes that you guys listed in general, I love, but they're not on my list anywhere because just we limited ourselves to 10.

[01:02:31] 10 episodes out of, what did you say?

[01:02:33] It was 179 episodes?

[01:02:34] Right.

[01:02:35] Exactly.

[01:02:36] Yeah.

[01:02:36] 70-something?

[01:02:37] Yeah, 170.

[01:02:38] So, Adina, without further ado.

[01:02:40] My number one was First Contact.

[01:02:48] I like First Contact.

[01:02:49] Okay.

[01:02:51] So, First Contact was the episode where Riker is, he's been on a planet trying to coordinate with some team.

[01:02:58] They're doing reconnaissance on this civilization that's about to go to warp.

[01:03:03] And he gets injured in some kind of riot.

[01:03:05] And they don't know where he is.

[01:03:06] So, they have to prematurely make First Contact.

[01:03:10] The reason this is my favorite episode.

[01:03:12] So, again, High School Adina is watching this.

[01:03:14] No, no, that's okay.

[01:03:15] High School Adina who wants a career in the space industry.

[01:03:18] High School Adina looks at Morass to Yale and is like, that's future me.

[01:03:24] Like, that's who I wanted to be.

[01:03:27] Okay.

[01:03:27] I wanted to be in charge of the space program.

[01:03:30] I wanted to be the one to oversee the development and first warp flight.

[01:03:36] And then I wanted to be contacted by the Federation and go with them.

[01:03:41] So, that's my favorite episode.

[01:03:44] I love it.

[01:03:44] I love it.

[01:03:45] Yeah.

[01:03:45] I totally get that.

[01:03:47] And the funny thing is, while I angsted over this list, I didn't angst over that.

[01:03:54] That was first.

[01:03:55] I had no problem with that part.

[01:03:57] Everything else was problematic.

[01:04:00] It was difficult in the sense that I was going back.

[01:04:02] Do I include family?

[01:04:03] Do I include, you know?

[01:04:04] Mm-hmm.

[01:04:05] Mm-hmm.

[01:04:05] This one, that part was easy.

[01:04:07] Easy, easy, easy.

[01:04:08] Yeah.

[01:04:09] Well, I can tell you this.

[01:04:11] Fun episode.

[01:04:11] I want to go back now and watch Dad is Day and Brothers because my wife Elaine said,

[01:04:18] you have no data episodes on your list here.

[01:04:21] And now the reason why is that I forgot about them.

[01:04:25] And that's why it's so difficult because it's hard to remember every episode of 176.

[01:04:32] I actually went through on Paramount Plus' website and looked season by season.

[01:04:38] And what I did was I wrote down episodes I remembered really liking.

[01:04:42] Mm-hmm.

[01:04:42] And then I worked my list off of that.

[01:04:45] Mm-hmm.

[01:04:45] And so that was helpful.

[01:04:47] And then you have a little mini synopsis too, synopsis of the episode right there if you want to.

[01:04:52] Mm-hmm.

[01:04:53] So that was helpful to me to go through.

[01:04:55] Are we going to do honorable mentions?

[01:04:57] Like just two?

[01:04:58] Well, we can.

[01:04:58] If there's some that you want to mention, I wouldn't mind mentioning a couple.

[01:05:02] So go for it.

[01:05:03] I think maybe, Adina, you mentioned this episode Lower Decks.

[01:05:07] Mm-hmm.

[01:05:08] Um, really different episode.

[01:05:10] Was that a season six or seven?

[01:05:13] That was season seven.

[01:05:14] Yeah.

[01:05:14] Like I said, I didn't write down seasons because I was just going from memory of like episodes

[01:05:18] that I know I rewatch a lot.

[01:05:20] That's why they're my favorite.

[01:05:21] That's what I was doing too.

[01:05:22] I was like, all right, let me just go through.

[01:05:23] Like I was going to go try and go season by season, but I thought, no, let me just pick

[01:05:29] the 10 that I like that are just there.

[01:05:31] Yeah.

[01:05:32] Season seven.

[01:05:33] So that, and then it's interesting because there's so many four and seasons, four and

[01:05:39] five episodes.

[01:05:40] And I picked two season seven episodes as honorable mentions.

[01:05:45] The other one is Preemptive Strike where Rolaren disappoints Picard.

[01:05:50] Oh, yeah.

[01:05:51] Yeah, that's good.

[01:05:51] That I felt like that was a really strong, I felt like season seven, it had some strong

[01:05:58] episodes, but there were some really disappointing episodes for me for it being, we knew it was

[01:06:03] going to be the final season at the time.

[01:06:06] And so for me, I felt like they missed, they didn't hit on all cylinders on with every

[01:06:11] episode, but Preemptive Strike was really good.

[01:06:15] I remember going off and it was, I believe the last episode before the finale.

[01:06:21] Yeah.

[01:06:22] And so really, really good.

[01:06:25] And I'm an Ensign Rowe fan.

[01:06:27] And I could have picked any Ensign Rowe episodes too.

[01:06:32] And when she showed up on Picard, I was like, yes.

[01:06:36] Yes.

[01:06:36] Yes.

[01:06:37] So there you go.

[01:06:39] Yeah.

[01:06:39] And then you have an emergence photo in the background.

[01:06:41] And I think that's emergence.

[01:06:44] Is it?

[01:06:45] I don't know.

[01:06:45] I just like the photo.

[01:06:46] I think so.

[01:06:47] Worf and Data.

[01:06:47] Because they're on the train.

[01:06:48] But yeah.

[01:06:49] Yeah.

[01:06:50] I hated that episode.

[01:06:51] That was one episode.

[01:06:52] I was like, come on, guys.

[01:06:54] We only get so many episodes.

[01:06:56] Yeah.

[01:06:57] Exactly.

[01:06:58] Yeah.

[01:06:58] I'll just say, just kind of to follow up with Steve with the whole concept of data episodes.

[01:07:02] A couple of the ones on my honorable mention list were also data episodes.

[01:07:06] Inheritance, where we gave him mom.

[01:07:08] Yeah.

[01:07:09] That was really good.

[01:07:11] Pen pals.

[01:07:12] Yep.

[01:07:13] For sure.

[01:07:13] Which I love for so many reasons.

[01:07:15] And then unification part one and two.

[01:07:17] Especially part one.

[01:07:18] And that's partly because there's a lot of data there.

[01:07:22] But Spock.

[01:07:23] I mean.

[01:07:24] Yeah.

[01:07:24] Spock and Data also interacting is great.

[01:07:26] Nobody had the offspring, speaking of data episodes.

[01:07:29] Oh, yeah.

[01:07:29] That's right.

[01:07:29] That was one that was hard for me to let go of.

[01:07:31] It's on my honorable mention list.

[01:07:35] That was such a good.

[01:07:36] Yeah.

[01:07:36] Yeah.

[01:07:37] It was really, really hard not to.

[01:07:39] So.

[01:07:40] All right.

[01:07:40] Anyone else have any final?

[01:07:42] No.

[01:07:43] I have one one that I watched.

[01:07:45] I don't think it's enough love is Devil's Due.

[01:07:48] But I think it's a fun.

[01:07:49] Oh, my gosh.

[01:07:49] It's sort of a courtroom drama.

[01:07:51] But it's also creepy.

[01:07:52] And like everyone's freaking out and the riots happening.

[01:07:55] But yeah.

[01:07:56] A really good episode.

[01:07:57] I watched that one recently, too.

[01:07:59] And just had a lot of fun with that.

[01:08:01] Okay.

[01:08:01] I don't.

[01:08:02] I think that actress has passed away, actually.

[01:08:04] He played Arger.

[01:08:05] Oh.

[01:08:05] I believe so.

[01:08:06] But that was one.

[01:08:07] Yeah.

[01:08:09] All right.

[01:08:10] Wow.

[01:08:11] That was fun.

[01:08:12] Again, I know we could go like hours and hours and talk more.

[01:08:15] Like about like the next 10 or redo the list and everything.

[01:08:19] But I think we have to end it here tonight.

[01:08:22] So it's going to we're going to wrap up.

[01:08:23] This has been another great discussion.

[01:08:25] This has been a great episode, guys.

[01:08:26] This has been fun.

[01:08:27] It's been challenging.

[01:08:29] It's been fun.

[01:08:30] Can't wait to do this again.

[01:08:32] And then to our listeners.

[01:08:34] Thank you so much for tuning in.

[01:08:36] So we're curious.

[01:08:37] What were your favorite Next Generation episodes?

[01:08:40] Not necessarily the best, but your favorite episodes.

[01:08:42] Do you find yourself agreeing with one of us versus one of the other?

[01:08:47] We would love to hear your thoughts where you can find us on Facebook.

[01:08:51] Drop us a line at TheBigSciFiPodcast at gmail.com.

[01:08:56] You know, just send us any thoughts you have.

[01:08:58] Now, everyone, keep exploring.

[01:09:01] Stay curious.

[01:09:02] All the things.

[01:09:03] Live long and prosper.

[01:09:04] Be kind to each other.

[01:09:06] And we will see you the next time on The Big Sci-Fi Podcast.

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