Descent: Part II (⭑⭑)
Part two of "Descent"—and, by extension/as a result, the entire two-parter—is a mess on pretty much every level. It began (in the first half or so of part one) as…
Liaisons (⭑⭑)
Zzzzzzzzzz--snort-ugh, wha? Oh...uh, is the episode over? Sorry; I must have dozed off. Okay, no, but seriously: Is this one even for real? The writers went back to that lamest…
Interface (⭑⭑)
"Interface" strikes me as a classic case of the writers being hard up for new episode ideas. It is an episode built upon two main "hooks" that want to make…
Gambit: Part I (⭑⭑⭑⭑)
This two-parter seems to have significant contingents of both fans and detractors. Count me among the former; for my money, "Gambit" is just pure fun. I'll try to confine myself,…
Gambit: Part II (⭑⭑⭑⭑)
Yep...still on board. :) TNG's last-ever two-part episode, while not terribly deep, is a delightful bit of fun that wraps itself up with a suitably Trekkian theme. Admittedly, as often…
Phantasms (⭑⭑⭑)
I'm not sure how much I really have to say about "Phantasms." It's...fine. I mean, it's not too hard to imagine what was going through Brannon Braga's mind when he…
Dark Page (⭑⭑)
TNG's final trip down Lwaxana Lane™ is fairly painless, as these things go, but (surprise) still isn't actually very good. The closest the show ever came to making an actually…
Attached (⭑⭑⭑)
I like "Attached." I always have. I want it to be much better than it is, but even so, I do enjoy it. (I guess you could say that I'm...attached…
Force of Nature (⭑⭑)
The infamous "speed limit episode" was intended, of course, as Trek's contribution to the political and cultural conversation on climate change, which is certainly a worthy enough topic. Unfortunately, pretty…
Inheritance (⭑⭑⭑)
I have very mixed feelings about "Inheritance." On one hand, it's a competently executed and emotionally compelling story that focuses on one of my favorite characters, and it raises an…
Parallels (⭑⭑⭑⭑)
When you watch the first third-plus of season seven of TNG sequentially, "Parallels" is like a light shining at the end of a long, dark tunnel. By general agreement, the…
The Pegasus (⭑⭑⭑⭑)
"The Pegasus" is easily the best episode of the first half of season seven. I've always remembered the one-two punch of "Parallels" and "The Pegasus" as a mid-seventh-season high point,…
Homeward (⭑⭑)
"Homeward" is, on one hand, a throwback to early TNG's penchant for often-inept attempts at prime directive stories, and on the other, a continuation of season seven's obsession with introducing…
Sub Rosa (⭑)
And so, we come to the episode in which Crusher gets sexually assaulted by a ghost, then promptly falls in love with "him." Oof. Season seven of TNG has more…
Lower Decks (⭑⭑⭑⭑⭑)
I'm almost speechless over how good this episode is. I remembered it as fantastic, and I went into the re-watch prior to writing this review fully expecting to give it…
Thine Own Self (⭑⭑⭑⭑)
I have always really enjoyed this episode, despite some issues that I will fully acknowledge. To my surprise, however, I'm realizing that it is not very well-liked among fans of…
Masks (⭑)
I scarcely know what to say about this one. I knew it was bad, but it's somehow actually much worse than I even remembered. It has no point and makes…
Eye of the Beholder (⭑⭑⭑)
This is a pretty down-the-middle, three-star episode: not bad, but not great either. It holds my interest while I'm watching it, but for the most part, it doesn't really...matter to…
Genesis (⭑⭑)
In my mind, "Genesis" is the ultimate Braga-run-amuck episode. It's his usual "weird shit goes down aboard the Enterprise" schtick, but with the last shreds of logic and restraint thrown…
Journey’s End (⭑⭑)
With "Journey's End," we enter what I think of as the final stretch of TNG; from here on, almost every remaining episode (with, I think, one exception) feels like a…
Firstborn (⭑⭑⭑)
"Firstborn" is not a standout episode by any stretch, but it's a reasonably enjoyable one. On one hand, it suffers from a lack of character depth and arrives at its…
Bloodlines (⭑⭑)
I think of "Bloodlines" as "the last bad episode of TNG." This is an episode that's ill-conceived, pointless, and dull, and with the show nearing its end, one dearly wishes…
Emergence (⭑⭑⭑⭑)
Even more so than the handful of episodes immediately preceding it, "Emergence" is explicitly an end-of-series episode; "Journey's End" and "Firstborn" wrap up the show's treatment of specific secondary characters,…
Preemptive Strike (⭑⭑⭑⭑)
"Preemptive Strike" is a good episode, albeit one that has always struck me as a bit of an odd choice for the penultimate installment of TNG. I said in my…
All Good Things… (⭑⭑⭑⭑⭑)
One of the biggest paradoxes of TNG is that it was a show that, at face value, no one would have expected to come up with a really satisfying, pull-the-whole-show-together…