Synopsis: The Enterprise meets Worf’s black space monster.

Memory Alpha Summary: And by monster I mean his anger.

Review: I love this episode, and it’s my favorite to this point in the series.  I don’t think most people share this view, but there’s just so much about it I think is magnificent.  The entire episode is littered with creepy but subtle music that really enhances the mood.  There are also some great sound effects when the probes disappear and when they drop the beacon.  There’s great imagery with the multiple bridges on the Yamato.  Emotions run high among the crew, but in a fairly realistic fashion, considering how they all do feel like rats in a laboratory experiment.

It’s very convenient that Wesley is nowhere to be seen when Nagilum decides to kill the officer at the conn.  Ah, well.  I also question how Troi is able to empathically sense Nagilum, when he is obviously so far advanced that he is almost god-like.  But at least she’s helpful.

My favorite part is when Picard makes the decision to destroy the ship (and I agree with him; it’s the only option, even if he wasn’t bluffing).  Data asks him what death means and Picard gives a very eloquent speech that sums up my views exactly.  Then, of course, comes one of the best quotes in the entire seven year run.

Picard:  Abort, auto-destruct sequence.
Computer:  Riker, William T., do you concur?
Riker:  Yes!  Absolutely!  I do indeed concur!  Whole-heartedly!

Of course, Riker shouldn’t have to concur for such an order, but it’s still fantastic.

Synopsis:  I cannot answer that.

Memory Alpha Summary:  Seriously, I cannot answer that.

Review: I love Picard’s opening log: “We expect passage past the Ngame Nebula to be uneventful.”  Guess what?

A very ambitious mystery that keeps you guessing right up to the end; this episode is made even more amazing because Data has to consistently…withhold the truth (he never technically outright lies), which confuses and concerns the entire crew.  The whole thing is creepy despite no real action.  And I totally dig the final revelation.

And then I think…wait a cotton pickin’ minute.  So at the end of this episode, they have lost two whole days but think they’ve only lost thirty seconds.  What happens when they actually check a time beacon?  The ending negates the entire plot!

Still, I love it to pieces.

Have a happy 4th everyone.  Here’s a clue: come back Thursday for #9!

Synopsis: Worf finally kicks some ass, but it’s off-screen and all we got is this trophy.

Memory Alpha Summary: Go hit yourself with a painstik

Review:  DS9 had loads of fun dealing with alternate realities on several episodes, and TNG had one crack at it here.  It’s great fun watching Worf jump from place to place and spotting the subtle and not so subtle differences.  My favorites are Data’s eyes changing color and the flip-flop of the Cardassian/Bajoran conflict.  Then we have a near psychotic Riker who hasn’t shaved in months.  Fun fun fun.

It also further develops the Troi/Worf romance, even though nothing really happens between them in the “normal” timeline.  I always preferred Troi hooking up with Worf instead of Riker.  I never really felt Riker and Troi had chemistry.

Synopsis: Data has his first sober kiss while Picard dances with the Sheliak.

Memory Alpha Summary:  You enjoyed that!

Review: Quite a marvelous episode for both Data’s character development and Picard’s savvy diplomacy.  Data begins to learn that logic is not enough to persuade people, a skill he will eventually use very well when he becomes a captain in Redemption.  His brashness is a sight to see as he actually causes significant property damage to make his point. His romantic scenes are quite poignant as well.

I love how Geordi and Wesley trying to get the transporters to work is a red herring.  For once, no amount of technobabble can save them.  Then Picard cracks me up when he’s told things were going as expected with the transporters.  “Splendid!  Splendid!  Carry on!”

Picard’s final triumph over the Sheliak by turning their own strict adherence to statute against them is a delight to see.   Excellent work.

Synopsis: The Enterprise returns to Earth, setting their phasers to kill.

Memory Alpha Summary: Suck it, Nibbish

Review:  My favorite episode of season one.  It actually feels way longer than 42 minutes with no wasted exposition.  Picard’s covert meeting with various Starfleet captains is chilling.  The return to Earth is fraught with more uneasiness and tension.  Crusher gets to use her phaser to save Worf and Geordi’s life.  Riker’s fake parasitic abduction is brilliant.  And despite the goofy looking claymation effects, I love the gory destruction of Remmick.  TNG swung and missed on some daring things in season one, but this episode was a home run.  Finally, Data’s announcement of a homing beacon being sent out is creepier still.  It’s too bad it became a dangling thread, though being as that the Borg replaced these aliens as the Federation’s nemesis, I can deal.

Even with all the tension, the episode also added some humor.  The computer cutting off Data’s rambling is a hoot, and Worf lands the best one-liner of the season when asked if he ever goes swimming.

“Swimming…is too much like bathing.”

Synopsis: Professor Moriarty, upset he didn’t get to fill Pulaski with crumpets, commandeers the ship.

Memory Alpha Summary: A little device sitting on someone’s table.

Review:  Now this is everything Elementary, My Dear Data was not.  There is a tension throughout as we try to navigate all the twists and turns.  Moriarty is once again brilliantly played by Daniels Davis, and Barclay is a perfect fit.  The ending is cunning and sweet.  A near perfect episode.

Synopsis: Geordi gets a pet Borg and asks Picard if he can keep him, please.

Memory Alpha Summary: Resistance is not futile?

Review: Putting Guinan and Picard, two of the most mature members of the Enterprise in a situation where they both are predisposed to be prejudiced is just great storytelling.  Hugh becoming sympathetic after the Borg were previously evil incarnate also speaks to this episode’s great design.  There are multiple emotional confrontations here that are executed to perfection.  Beverly to Picard.  Guinan to Geordi.  Geordi to Guinan.  Guinan to Picard.  Picard to Hugh.   “No.  I am Hugh,” is such a powerful line. Kudos to all the actors as well as Echevarria and Lederman for writing and directing this nearly flawless reintroduction of the Borg.

The only part that didn’t sit right to me was Troi confronting Picard on his past demons, and quite violently.  It was reminiscent of flooding therapy which has been proven to be quite damaging.  Bah.

Synopsis: Gilgamesh retold where he has virtually no clue what Enkidu is saying.

Memory Alpha Summary: Troggles, their eyes opened

Review: What a brilliant hour of television.  What is essentially two races meeting who don’t speak the same language is transformed by Picard’s skill and grace into a powerful and satisfying resolution.  Hat tip to Joe Menosky for creating this species that speaks only in metaphor and for somehow writing a script that doesn’t lose the audience.  This would be higher, except it really feels like this needed to be a feature-length film.

Synopsis: Beverly nearly loses the most epic of hide and seek games.

Memory Alpha Summary: I’m a doctor, not a traveler!

Review: The premise of this episode is fantastic.  Every scene where the Enterprise loses more people is both creepy and hilarious as her senior officers begin to think Beverly is crazy.  Data explaining why the Enterprise crew would only consist of 100 or so people is great.  The best is when Picard tries to comfort Beverly when it’s just the two of them by saying, “We’ve never needed a crew before.”  It’s bone-chilling stuff.  We even get Beverly’s second “Jean-Luc I need to pour my heart out to you” moment right before he vanishes.

But then, dammit all, we end up having to watch from the other side of the glass, as the Traveler shows up in the real world to help Wesley get his mom back (and to ask him out now that he’s legal).  This instantly removes all tension for the remainder of the episode, as we’re now watching Beverly try to figure out the solution when we’ve been secretly let it on it by the writers.  Argh!

That said, this is by far Gates’s best episode to date.  She actually shows some range here rather than being just the nice-looking doctor.  Her conversation with the computer is wonderfully written and performed.

Then she’s saved by Wesley, and the hug they share is so devoid of emotion that you wonder if they need family therapy.

Money Quote (by the computer):  The universe is a spheroid region, 705 meters in diameter.

Synopsis:  A culmination of three years of Klingon politics (and some previous time travel shenanigans) comes to a head.

Memory Alpha Summary: And another paycheck for Denise Crosby

Review:  While the politics story is decent (but not great) as usual, Worf’s character develops even further as we see him interact with his brother and Gowron.  The two key moments in the first part of this cliffhanger are Worf’s resignation from the Federation and seeing Sela (Tasha?) come out from the shadows at episode’s end.  It’s not quite the impact that Best of Both Worlds had with its cliffhanger, but it’s still pretty effective.

The second part is a mess of stories, but I love them all.  Sela and Picard talking about Tasha and the Enterprise C is a moving scene.  The faceoff with the Romulans is low-key but tense.  The episode’s slam dunk to win the game is Data getting his first chance at captain and treating his prejudiced first officer like a bitch.  I for one am glad this subplot wasn’t an entire episode; we’ve had plenty of “Humans rule, androids drool” episodes, and the writing team managed to encompass what they needed.

My only quibble is that the fall of the Duras fleet seems to happen fairly quickly without any real exposition to make it seem natural.  The Klingon civil war is too abrupt to even feel like a war.  Perhaps more weeks passed by then I felt, but it wasn’t made very clear if that was the case.

Money Quote:  I understand your concerns.  Request denied.