History Awesome / StarTrekTheNExtGeneration

* Picard has been put on trial by the particularly nasty [[KnightTemplar Admiral Norah Satie]], who's investigation of a supposed conspiracy on board the Enterprise has slowly turned into a [[TheParanoiac paranoid witch hunt.]] She's already nearly destroyed the career of young crewman Simon Tarses, simply because he was too scared to admit he had ''Romulan'' ancestry, instead of Vulcan as he originally claimed. Of course, as soon as Picard called Satie out on her obsessive behavior (plus that of her underlings), she turned her investigations and probing questions on ''him,'' and continued to assert her authority by inviting Chief of Starfleet Security, Admiral Henry, to witness the trials. So, on the stand, after she crosses the MoralEventHorizon by publicly shaming him for being {{Mind Rape}}d by the Borg, Picard finally puts her in her place and exposes her for who she really is. Not with the typical PatrickStewartSpeech, mind you, but simply by quoting her own father, on the subject of curtailing life's liberties for the sake of the "greater good." [[BreakThemByTalking Just to piss her off and]] [[VillainousBreakdown goad her]] [[MotiveRant into a rant]].

* 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 leap of faith that the past!Enterprise crew takes when Captain Picard orders them to enter the anomaly. From their perspective, Picard has been off-kilter from the moment he arrived - ordering a red alert during the ceremony for him to take command of the Enterprise, initially refusing to investigate the anomaly as ordered by Starfleet, abruptly shouting to the air when the Enterprise reached the point where Q intercepted the ship during their journey to Farpoint Station... Yet when he asks the crew to trust him just enough to do this, speaking frankly about both their odds and his own absolute faith in the Enterprise and her crew... No one hesitates to follow his orders and do what they have to.

-->'''Picard:''' Guilty. Provisionally!

--->'''Picard:''' Commander, it is possible to commit no mistakes and still lose. That is not a weakness. That is ''life.''
--->'''Data (taken aback):''' I believe I understand, sir.
--->'''Picard:''' And Data, will you leave your hesitation and self-doubt here in your quarters? ''[heads to the bridge]''

--->'''Picard:''' You see, he's met two of your three criteria for sentience, so what if he meets the third?! ''Consciousness!'' In even the ''smallest degree!'' What is he then? I don't know! Do you?! ''[to Riker]'' Do you?? ''[to the Judge]'' Do you? Do you?! Well that's the question you have to answer.

** Special mention should go to Worf, who [=McDuff=] thought would be the most likely to go through with the attack, even he couldn’t go through with it when he saw how weak the Lysians were. He may [[BloodKnight live for the fight]], but he’s not a bully.

* Worf and Riker have to rescue Alexander from a biolab which is wrecked, on fire, and about to be flooded with deadly levels of radiation. They find him trapped under a metal beam. At first it's too heavy for both of them together to lift, but when [[PapaWolf Worf]] hears his son cry out that he's scared, he [[HeroicSecondWind finds the strength]] to lift it on his own. They all manage to escape from the room in time (and Riker even manages to save the two endangered animals that were being kept there, after Alexander begs for them not to be left behind).

** Furthermore, Picard has a very stylish and effective way to deal with criminals who are trying to get away after stealing an extremely dangerous unstable chemical substance

* Worf fighting Ancient Western characters in the Hollodeck. It's one of the few times where he has hand-to-hand combat without using 24th century technology.

* The circumstances of the filming definitely make Creator/DavidWarner's performance deserving of a mention here. He was cast at almost literally the last minute and had no time for more than a quick skim of the script, so throughout the whole episode he's reading his lines off cue cards. And it's impossible to tell even if you know what you're looking for, because he's just that good an actor.

* Picard proves himself in this episode to be a first-rate bullshit detector. After fighting with Kevin and Rishon to get them off a dead world - save for only their house - Picard, acting on a hunch, ''lets their house get bombed by an enemy warship.'' Why would Picard be so cruel? Because, when the house magically reappears(!) a couple hours later, Picard proves, where everyone else was scratching their heads, that not only is Kevin [[SufficientlyAdvancedAlien not human,]] but [[RealityWarper he created all this trickery - including the warship, and Rishon - with immense power, to fool the crew into leaving.]] As Kevin admits, Picard was the first person in who knows how long to figure out his true nature, and it's an incredible show of insight by the captain. [[KillEmAll Unfortunately, then they learn the horrible truth of]] [[DownerEnding why he keeps up the whole charade.]]

** It ''would'' have been more awesome had the supposed superweapon not epically failed to work.
*** As Website/TVTropes has pointed out several times, even a CurbStompBattle CAN be awesome. The looks on the crew's faces (and the viewers' at home) when the Borg completely NoSell their alleged superweapon was priceless. Keep in mind that everyone watching it at the time was left hanging with that last awesome exchange ''for an entire summer''. It may lose the impact when the cliffhanger's resolved on the next DVD you popped in, but at the time that was pretty much the greatest season finale ever put to screen that didn't involve [[Series/{{Dallas}} JR getting shot]].
*** It gets another subtle layer of awesome when you consider this earlier quote from Shelby to Riker: "If you can't make the big decisions, Commander, I suggest you make room for someone who can". Starting from "Mr. Worf, fire", and throughout Part 2, he proves beyond all doubt that he ''can'' make the big decisions.

*** As Wiki/TVTropes has pointed out several times, even a CurbStompBattle CAN be awesome. The looks on the crew's faces (and the viewers' at home) when the Borg completely NoSell their alleged superweapon was priceless. Keep in mind that everyone watching it at the time was left hanging with that last awesome exchange ''for an entire summer''. It may lose the impact when the cliffhanger's resolved on the next DVD you popped in, but at the time that was pretty much the greatest season finale ever put to screen that didn't involve [[Series/{{Dallas}} JR getting shot]].

** Of course, in response, Q orders that the guards are to put their weapons to the crew's heads and, if Picard does not plead "guilty" to the charge of being a "greivously savage race," proceed to fire. Backed in to a corner, Picard can only acquiese to Q's demand... BUT...
-->'''Picard:''' Guilty. Provisonally! //
*** This gets them to the idea of testing the crew, meaning Picard talked the omnipotent being putting HumanityOnTrial down from instant summary execution to an ongoing trial (even if it could be argued that [[TricksterMentor Q may have been angling for that result]] in the first place - if nothing else, Picard gave him that opening).

-->'''Picard:''' Guilty. Provisonally!

** 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. All the more impressive for the fact that it is done in ONE TAKE, with no cuts throughout.

* 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''.

** The writers get a meta one for this too. Change one word, and you have a speech that quite a few viewers would identify with.

[[AC:Cost of Living]]
* A meta example in the effusive Lwaxana Troi asking the stolid ''Enterprise'' computer for assistance in choosing a holodeck program - both characters played by Majel Barrett, sometimes called "The First Lady of Star Trek"; the audience might wonder what took the writers so long.
[[AC:The Perfect Mate]]

[[AC:Imaginary Friend]]

[[AC:I Borg]]

[[AC:The Next Phase]]

[[AC:The Inner Light]]

[[AC:Liasons]]

[[AC:Interface]]

* The scene where the Admiral tries to pull rank on Picard and give orders to the other ''Enterprise'' officers, and all of them stand against him. Worf's defiant BadassArmFold in particular is great.

* 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 [[InelegantBlubbering 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]]

* Data gets one when he [[spoiler:physically overpowers Locutus, stares him down, and then defeats perhaps the most implacable enemy in Star Trek canon ''with his mind.'']] Awesome beyond all measure.

** And then [[spoiler: he does it '''''again!''''' And still has the heart to forgive his deceiver... though that's more a SugarWiki/{{Heartwarming Moment|s}}.]]

* Even if you don't like him, Wesley and Robin Lefler saved the entire ship from [[ItMakesSenseInContext a video-game that controls people's minds]]. Everyone is under control, the only person who could stop it (Data) has been disabled by [[spoiler: Dr Crusher]] and the ship is close to "infecting" another ship with the game, so what does he do? [[spoiler:He lets himself be found, distracting the crew long enough for Data to be repaired and save the day]].

* In an earlier scene, Captain Picard has just been ordered by said amoral officer to [[spoiler:take the Enterprise into an asteroid to conduct a salvage operation.]] The exchange that follows is one of the most ''epic'' examples of TranquilFury seen in the series:

* The Admiral [[spoiler:being placed under arrest. Riker also willingly turns himself in on account of associating with him.]]