October 22, 2020

Top 10 Season 7 Star Trek-TNG Episodes

 The other day I talked about how Trek Season 3 did have some good episodes in it. Another much maligned season of Trek was Season 7 of TNG. Unlike TOS, which had a bad season because of budget constraints and being screwed by the network, TNG was screwed over by it own creators, Thanks to attention being on other projects like DS9, a new series and an upcoming movie a lot of episodes were rushed and/or made when they should not have been. But that doesn't mean they were all horrible. Here are ten episodes which I think were decent if not realty good from tat year. And again, just opinion.






#10.Lower Decks

This one is high because, much like last time, I do not care for the episode. I halted it at first and have come to appreciate the concept. It is interesting to see what the regular crew are doing when we are usually watching the senior officers. But the episode is still dull to me. 




#9.Interface

This was a hard choice, but I added because there are good things in it. The episode is about Geordi having to deal with the fact his mother is lost, while also working on experiment that is hard to explain. It sounds like two unrelated stories but they do comes together pretty well.




#8.Bloodlines 

This episode was surprising to me. Picard discovers he has a long lost son, except he doesn't it's all part of a Ferengi revenge scheme. There was a real theme of family in season 7. The problem with the episode is that while we get some good scenes between Picard and the kid who he believes he his, the ending nullifies the whole thing. 




#7.Homeward

This was the hardest slot to fill, I almost made it a tie with "Attached". But in the end I like this episode because of how much guest star Paul Sorvino elevates it. It's an episode bout Word and his brother and while the plot is hard to believe, the performances we well done. We also get a great prime directive debate here but that's a subject for another day. "Firstborn" is good too but I went with this one. 




#6.Emergence

This episode hits a few points. The last bottle show. The last holodeck episode. The last ensemble episode where everyone gets something to. The Enterprise develops an intelligence and creates a life form. It's through the holodeck the characters figure out what is going on. Not a bad episode but the slow drag that permeated most Season 7 episodes is the one thing that kind of hurts it.





#5.Inheritance

This episode is amazing for season 7. The pacing reminds you that it is from that slow season, but the story and acting shine. In this episode Data meets a woman claiming to be his mother. It's a retcon, but honestly one of the best retcons I have ever seen. Not only does it fit in with established canon, it even clears up a few loose ends.





#4.Dark Page

I did a whole article on this one, so let me keep this brief. We get some backstory for Laxwana Troi and an episode about her where she isn't annoying for once. It was unfortunate they did two "dream" episodes in a role but that doesn't mean the episode is bad. The other "dream" episode? Next.....





#3.Phantasms

Data is having dreams, and it turns out they may be more than just dreams. It turns out he is subconsciously perceiving a threat through the dreams. It's a nice idea and done well. The writing cou;d ba e little tighter, as some plot points are unnecessary, but still a strong episode. 




#2.Parallels

My brother saw this before me and knew this would become a favorite of mine. He was right of course. How cold it not? It's a lot fun to watch as we see various alternate realties emerge. Yash it's a Worf episode which kinda sucks, and it focuses on his relationship with Troi which also kind of sucks, but the episode is still a lot of fun.



#3.The Pegasus

Not gonna lie, picking #1 was not easy. It could have been any of these last few episode. I picked this one because it realty is a good episode. Unlike the three before it, it is not a fantasy or dream story. Yeah those are fun but its not what Trek is all about. This is a real Trek episode. Ok not as socially relevant as #1 on my last list, but it's still really good. This is the episode where Riker is torn between his former commander and his current one as they search for an old and presumed lost ship. It's a decent little mystery and Frakes does a great job conveying how hard this is for Riker. So well that Enterprise would call back to the episode...but let's not discuss that mess. The episode doesn't slog as much as so man did this season either, it moves along and not B story keeps the episode on point, 





And of course, All Good Things 

which is I have gone on and on about. Since it was a special series finale, I decided to keep it off the main list and give another episode some love. 



There were a few others that I did not mention, two of which I did separate articles for. As I was looking over it I think overall TNG Season 7 was better than TOS Season 3. But man some of those episodes...ugh. And before you ask, I have no idea what the deal was with the one word titles that season!!

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