Encounter at Farpoint (⭑⭑)
TNG’s pilot episode is a strange mixture of elements with real merit that show the potential of the new series (albeit a potential that would largely go unrealized for the…
The Last Outpost (⭑)
This is another candidate for "worst episode ever" that (like the previous episode) belongs squarely in the "what in the name of god could the writers have been thinking" category. …
Lonely Among Us (⭑)
Despite suffering from some of the same fundamental problems as many of the other episodes of the season, this baby immediately strikes one as a very different sort of terrible…
Home Soil (⭑)
While still not very good at all, this is a rather different sort of bad episode from most of the other terrible episodes of this season. I mean, it’s not…
Skin of Evil (⭑)
In some ways, this is the most vacuous and wanderingly pointless episode of the entire first season, yet the one major event of significance that happens in it reverberates through…
The Child (⭑⭑)
I get the impression that this episode is heartily loathed by most fans and critics—and, to be sure, it’s nothing special in most respects. I, however, will stand firmly behind…
Where Silence Has Lease (⭑)
This episode, for me, is a really tough call between one and two stars. It's a damn sight more watchable than most episodes in the one-star category, but it nevertheless…
Evolution (⭑⭑⭑)
With the start of season three, TNG finally attains its full maturity. As with "The Child," I can't really discuss this episode without also offering some broader observations—this time about…
The Survivors (⭑⭑)
This is a really a tough one for me to rate, in that even though it lacks the sort of egregious flaws that normally prompt me to rate an episode…
The Bonding (⭑⭑⭑)
This is a rare instance of an episode that has actually grown on me over time. It's far from perfect, but whereas it once stood out to me chiefly as…
Allegiance (⭑⭑⭑)
The thing about TNG's third season is that by this point, the writers had figured out the show and its characters, and mastered the basics of telling a story, well…
Tin Man (⭑⭑)
"Captain's Holiday" may have disappointed me on this latest rewatch, but "Tin Man" is one that I've never much cared for. It strikes me as a bit of a hodgepodge…
Clues (⭑⭑⭑)
I don't especially like this episode, but I'm not sure that I can adequately justify my reaction to it. I also have a somewhat different relationship to this one than…
The Nth Degree (⭑⭑⭑)
As much as I like Lieutenant Barclay, I've always found "The Nth Degree" to be a mostly disappointing follow-up to "Hollow Pursuits." (Oddly, I seem to be somewhat at odds…
Imaginary Friend (⭑)
Which season are we in here, again? How in the world did this amateurish, ill-conceived drivel find its way into the latter part of season five—sandwiched, no less, between the…
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…