Season 3/4: The Best of Both Worlds (Parts 1 and 2)

Locutus:"I am Locutus...of Borg. Resistance...is futile. Your life, as it has been...is over. From this time forward...you will service...us."

Riker: "Mr. Worf...fire."

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Star Trek's first season ending cliffhanger, these are the episodes that brought the show out of the shadow of The Original Series. One of the best Next Generation episodes, and possibly one of Star Trek's very best.

"The Inner Light", the episode where Picard is knocked unconscious by a strange object encountered by the Enterprise, and lives out an entire lifetime. Wife, kids, the works. This was a fantastic show of Patrick Stewart's acting ability, and is often referred to as "that one that made me blubber like a little girl".

"There... are... FOUR... lights!"

"Chain of Command", where Picard is captured and tortured by the Cardassians. Notable due to Picard's performance and the shocking sight of the character actually being mentally broken.

"All Good things..."

Last episode of the series.

"The Measure of a Man". Season 2. Riker, Picard, and Data all have crowning moments (either of Awesome or of Heartwarming) aplenty.

"Darmok", from Season 5. The Enterprise encounters the Tamarians, who defy the universal translator by speaking entirely in metaphor and cultural reference. In addition to giving the Trek universe an entire race of tropers, it's an exploration of the nature of stories and myths, and how they shape the people who tell them.

"Tapestry" from season 6.

"Yesterday's Enterprise"

Go back and watch this episode today, and tell me it doesn't feel ahead of its time - it feels like modern BSG. I think this was the most influential episode of the series, and one of the best.

-Not surprising since Ronald D. Moore, who created modern BSG, co-wrote this episode.

"Frame of Mind" is a 44-minute MindScrew. It keeps you guessing and wondering if what's happening to Riker is really happening or has happened, without giving any obvious clues as to what actually happened to him until the very end. It is also arguably one of Jonathon Frakes' best episodes as it pushed his acting ability to its limits in the same way "The Inner light" did for Stewart, not to mention giving the viewer an opportunity to see sides of Riker's psyche that make you wonder wether or not he'll come out of this with his mind intact.

"Unification". Brings so many running plots of Star Trek together into one epic two-parter. Romulans and their attempts to upset the balance of the Federation. Sela gets an appearance. Even the whole "Klingon internal politics" thing with Worf's discommendation and the rise of Gowron gets a brief nod. But of course, that's just dressing for a delicious entree of an episode, full of political intrigue (*interesting* intrigue, even), an underground movement wishing for peace in spite of Romulus' usual warlike tendencies, backstabbing, the death of Sarek, and more. Easily one of the better episodes of the series.

Oh, and it has Spock in it, too. That helps, right?

Assuming two-parters are allowed, "Time's Arrow".

"Remember Me" from Season 4

"Lower Decks" Season 7, Episode 15.

If you haven't seen this episode DO NOT READ THE SPOILERS. Watch the episode first, it's more than worth it.

SUCH a good episode. Goes through your basic Star Trek plot (spy needs transport back across enemy lines), but sees it through the eyes of a group of ensigns. DEFINITELY better than it sounds. It's a great character study on these four people and shows sides of the main characters that we'd never had a chance to see before. On top of the great setup throughout the episode, the payoff is fantastic. It actually makes the kind of ending that we see in episodes all the time feel truly tragic. Normally, when some random ensign dies to serve Riker or Picards plan, we don't care. We barely know them. But when the Bajoran ensign dies, it's horrible. She has spent the entire episode growing as a character, we've been following her story closely, and, to top it off, she's a returning minor character from a previous episode. When she dies, it has a lot of dramatic punch. And there's no "dramatic victory". No one comes and pulls it out of the fire at the last minute. The spy gets away. The mission is a success. The body count is a single ensign that hardly anyone knew. And it feels like a HUGE failure. Easily my favorite episode of the series.

"Relics" from season six.

"The Most Toys" from Season 3. The episode where Data is kidnapped by a collector of rare and valuable objects. Data spends most of the episode resisting his wishes via passive resistance. Near the end, it culminates in Data nearly shooting him with the disruptor and then lying about it. The collector was enough of a complete monster that it became a crowing moment of awesome.

"Brothers" Season 4. Shut up Wesley.

"Who Watches the Watchers," season 3; the one with the primitive people who think Picard is a god, and Picard has to convince them otherwise. A very sensitive critique of the dangers of superstition.

"Brothers" Season 4. Shut up Wesley.