History Awesome / StarTrekTheNExtGeneration

* Picard shows a pair of SufficientlyAdvancedAliens why performing [[WhatYouAreInTheDark experiments]] on himself and his crew is a bad idea by trapping ''them'' with a forcefield, which causes them to panic, as apparently, they're terrified of confinement. He lets them out, [[ScrewYouElves lectures them]], and tells them to get off his ship. They do so, utterly cowed.

* The original "Picard Maneuver", using an illusion to trick the opposing ship into firing on the wrong ship is actually pretty awesome.

* Data winds up playing Kolrami (an insufferable {{Jerkass}}) at his favorite game and ''loses''. Data is initially perturbed (in his own way) and wonders if he is defective. When he's convinced he's not, he has a re-match with Kolrami. This time he plays for a draw instead and matches his opponent's every move - ultimately causing Kolrami to ''RageQuit'' in frustration.[[note]]To put this in full perspective, the game they were playing, Stratagaema, normally ends within 100 moves, due to the rules of the game. Kolrami absolutely stuffs Data in the first match, winning in less than 50 moves. In the second game, when Data doesn't try to win but only fight to a draw, the game goes to just over ''35,000 moves'' before Kolrami gives up. Everyone around comments that ''they didn't even know the game could GO that long''[[/note]]

** Also this beautiful line from Picard which breaks Data out of his HeroicBSOD, basically telling him GetAHoldOfYourselfMan:
-->'''Picard:''' Commander, it is possible to commit no mistakes and still lose. That is not a weakness. That is life! And Data, leave the hesitation and self-doubt in your quarters.

* The entire crew was determined to get Picard to take a vacation. Keeping in mind, that when Captain Kirk needed a vacation, Spock was able to fool him using the IHaveThisFriend trick. When Beverly tried the exact same trick, Picard knew exactly what she was doing and when Troi “offhandedly” said “Did I mention [[TheDreaded my mother]] is coming for a visit” Picard saw right through it. He still went on vacation because he knew the crew wouldn’t let up, but they never fooled him. That’s one point for Picard in the eternal Kirk vs. Picard debate.

* After all his struggles with holo-addiction become public knowledge, Barclay proves to Geordi and the others that despite it all, he really is a worthy engineer. He uses some outside-the-box thinking and deduces that the ship's crisis of the week isn't a result of a structural failure, but a ''contaminant.'' It's still a team effort to save a rapidly-collapsing ship JustInTime, but not only did Barclay's quick thinking set it all in motion, but once he's in his element ''as an engineer'', he's actively involved in the discussion and eventual solution. For all his insecurities, he's on the ''Enterprise'' for a reason, as later CharacterDevelopment reveals.

* Ambassador Sarek, father of [[Series/StarTrekTheOriginalSeries Spock]], is over 200 years old and suffers from Bendii Syndrome, a rare, degenerative disease in elder Vulcans that affects their emotional control. What this means is that Sarek is in ''no'' condition to conduct some serious negotiations on his final diplomatic duty, and he radiates volatile emotions towards other people on the ''Enterprise.'' Worse, this treaty is a big deal to the Federation and it's meant to be his crowning achievement. He's spent almost a century building a personal relationship with this species; no one else can do it. In an incredibly selfless act, Picard steps up to the plate, and proposes a MindMeld so that ''he'' can take on all those negative emotions while Sarek fulfills his duty. It works, and Sarek gets the job done while Picard barricades himself in the conference room with Beverly to endure hours of despair and directionless rage. [[note]]On a meta note, Picard with Sarek's emotions is one of the most ''stunning'' displays of acting Creator/PatrickStewart ever did for ''Trek,'' and that's saying a lot.[[/note]]

* "The Measure of a Man" (see Season 2) set a precedent for Data, who would use that episode as the basis for his insubordination here. He refuses to alow the crew to send machines called Exocomps to their destruction to save Picard and [=LaForge=], because they have demonstrated sentience. Standing up to his superiors on that moral ground, even to the point of being at risk of court-martial, took courage. He even offered to go and sacrifice ''himself'' to save his friends in the Exocomps' place, pointing out that he had the freedom to make that choice, while they did not. Even Picard compliments him later that his actions were "the most human thing" he had ever done. Also give a nod to the Exocomps, not only for demonstrating sentience (primarily by demonstrating a self-preservation motive) but also demonstrating their ability to come up with a better plan to save Picard and La Forge. Whereas the humans' plan involved sacrificing all three of them, their plan (which worked) ended up only sacrificing one of them. In one act, they demonstrated both their ability to sacrifice themselves if needed and their ability to find a way to minimize that loss.

* "The Measure of a Man" (see Season 2) set a precedent for Data, who would use that episode as the basis for his insubordination here. He refuses to order machines to their destruction to save Picard and [=LaForge=], because they have demonstrated sentience. Standing up to his superiors on that moral ground, even to the point of being at risk of court-martial, took courage. Even Picard compliments him later that his actions were "the most human thing" he had ever done. Also give a nod to the machines, not only for demonstrating sentience (primarily by demonstrating a self-preservation motive) but also demonstrating their ability to come up with a better plan to save Picard and La Forge. Whereas the humans' plan involved sacrificing all three of them, their plan (which worked) ended up only sacrificing one of them. In one act, they demonstrated both their ability to sacrifice themselves if needed and their ability to find a way to minimize that loss.

* Admiral Henry, realizing what's really going on and walking out on Satie mid-rant, is a moment of awesome in and of itself.

* The episode is one long [=CMOA=] for Geordi. [[YouAreInCommandNow Left in command by Picard]] and faced with an attack from an invisible drone, he first defends his command from an increasingly pushy chief engineer who insists on taking command himself, [[RealityEnsues even though Picard is the only one who can retake command from Geordi.]] Second, realizing how bad things are, he decides to actually have the ''Enterprise'' do what she was designed to do--separate, so that half the ship can get to safety while he takes the other half back into battle to rescue the away team on Minos. Finally, he comes up with a plan that averts FrictionlessReentry and [[InvisibilityFlicker exposes the drone]] so that Worf can destroy it.

* Picard opposes the arrogant and [[ObstructiveBureaucrat oppressively legalistic]] Sheliak, who flog the treaty between them and the Federation and refuse to compromise on the matter of an unexpected colony that would take weeks to move off a planet the Sheliak want. By searching the treaty, Picard finds a way to outmaneuver them, invoking a clause that would force them to '''wait out for more than six months''' than the few weeks needed for the evacuation, making them sweat. When he knows he's got the Sheliak on the ropes, he terminates communications and waits for them to call back. Once they start hailing, he stands around letting the hailing tone sound, then casually walks across the bridge, [[WhiteGloveTest checks the commissioning plaque on the wall for dust]], and finally wanders back to the center of the bridge before putting them onscreen. The closest Picard has ever gotten to "You know what? ''Fuck you.''" in the entire series.

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* Three words: '''''[[TakeThatScrappy "SHUT UP, WESLEY!"]]'''''

* Q was trying to teach Picard that love is a weakness. As Vash was happy to point out, he ended up proving the [[ThePowerOfLove opposite point]].

* A meta moment of awesome for the crew behind-the-scenes; this episode was meant to be a money saver, so the network pushed for another ClipShow. The crew rebelled because of the negative experience in Season 2 making [[Recap/StarTrekTheNextGenerationS2E22ShadesOfGray "Shades of Gray"], so they pushed for this instead. Not only did they give us one of the best episodes of the show, ''but they still brought it in under budget''.

* A meta moment of awesome for the crew behind-the-scenes; this episode was meant to be a money saver, so the network pushed for another ClipShow. The crew rebelled because of the negative experience in Season 2 making Recap/StarTrekTheNextGenerationS2E22ShadesOfGray, so they pushed for this instead. Not only did they give us one of the best episodes of the show, ''but they still brought it in under budget''.

* [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4A6u_SkBTvc The entire episode]] Bonus points for using the Vulcan Nerve Pinch on a crook played by Tim Russ, who'd go on to play ''Voyager'''s Tuvok.

* Picard opposes the arrogant and [[ObstructiveBureaucrat oppressively legalistic]] Sheliak, who flog the treaty between them and the Federation and refuse to compromise on the matter of an unexpected colony that would take weeks to move off a planet the Sheliak want. By searching the treaty, Picard finds a way to outmaneuver them and makes them sweat. When he knows he's got the Sheliak on the ropes, he terminates communications and waits for them to call back. Once they start hailing, he stands around letting the hailing tone sound, then casually walks across the bridge, [[WhiteGloveTest checks the commissioning plaque on the wall for dust]], and finally wanders back to the center of the bridge before putting them onscreen. The closest Picard has ever gotten to "You know what? ''Fuck you.''" in the entire series.

* The end of the ep has Data's great moment. Riker is feeling despondent about betraying a friend, when Data comes to get him. Riker is ashamed at his part in the trial. But Data, showing one of humanity's more positive traits, understanding, invites him to the victory party anyway, stating that Riker [[IDidWhatIHadToDo did what he had to do]], thus showing that [[EmotionalEmotionlessPerson Data is in fact deeply grateful for the sacrifice Riker made]]. As he points out, Riker's actions were to Data's benefit, preventing the judge from summarily ruling against him, and caused Riker himself emotional harm. Sadly, this was a military hearing and thus did not set legal precedent in either the status of civilians or civil court cases, as Lal and [[Series/StarTrekVoyager the Doctor]] discover.