Top 60 Best Episodes of Star Trek: The Next Generation
Star Trek: TNG has always been the best of the Star Trek franchise and the pinnacle of the series' run is difficult for some fans to decipher. I have always thought very carefully as to which episodes were my favorites and the following list strongly incorporates my personal take on the series and its highlights in specific respective order. The character of Data seems to have the most gripping and emotional storyline and is apparently the most complex aspect of the show. Each of the following episodes constitute the most powerful drive in terms of morality as well as holding a strong psychological emphasis on ideals, ethics, and the overall emotion of the series itself.
List activity
146 views
• 3 this weekCreate a new list
List your movie, TV & celebrity picks.
60 titles
- 1987–199446mTV-PG9.1 (6.3K)TV EpisodeDirectorRobert ScheererStarsPatrick StewartJonathan FrakesLeVar BurtonWhen Data resigns his commission rather than be dismantled for examination by an inadequately skilled scientist, a formal hearing is convened to determine whether Data is considered property without rights or is a sentient being.
- DirectorJoseph L. ScanlanStarsPatrick StewartJonathan FrakesLeVar BurtonCounselor Troi is held captive on a deserted planet by a slick, black, oily, sentient and immortal puddle of evil.
- DirectorRob BowmanStarsPatrick StewartJonathan FrakesLeVar BurtonThe Enterprise visits the planet where Data was created and discovers another android like him, but when he's assembled, he's not exactly like him.
- 1987–199445mTV-PG6.9 (3.6K)TV EpisodeDirectorLes LandauStarsPatrick StewartJonathan FrakesLeVar BurtonA dying anti-social scientist unintentionally comes upon the perfect vessel in which to preserve his intellect and arrogant personality - Data.
- DirectorCliff BoleStarsPatrick StewartJonathan FrakesLeVar BurtonAfter diverting to a secret meeting with an old friend and some of Starfleet's finest commanders, Picard finds the Horatio blown to bits just hours after the meeting and he returns the Enterprise to Earth looking for answers.
- DirectorChip ChalmersStarsPatrick StewartJonathan FrakesLeVar BurtonAfter being fired upon by a Cardassian vessel, Picard races against time to find out the facts behind the Cardassian commander's claim that the Federation attacked one of their outposts.
- DirectorRobert ScheererStarsPatrick StewartJonathan FrakesLeVar BurtonWhen a Romulan officer defects to the Federation with a warning of a impending invasion, Capt. Picard struggles to decide if he is to be believed.
- DirectorDavid CarsonStarsPatrick StewartJonathan FrakesLeVar BurtonLa Forge gets left behind on a storm-plagued planet when the rest of his team encounters a Romulan warrior.
- DirectorJonathan FrakesStarsPatrick StewartJonathan FrakesLeVar BurtonAfter returning from a cybernetics conference to the Enterprise, Data creates his own "child," much to the chagrin of his captain, and without regards to the ramifications with Starfleet.
- DirectorRobert ScheererStarsPatrick StewartJonathan FrakesLeVar BurtonOn Federation planet Atrea IV, Data encounters the former wife of his creator Noonian Soong who claims to be his "mother".
- DirectorRobert LedermanStarsPatrick StewartJonathan FrakesLeVar BurtonThe Enterprise finds a lone Borg drone, separated from the collective, and brings him aboard. The drone begins to reassert his individuality, but his presence causes differing levels of fear and sympathy from various crew members.
- DirectorWinrich KolbeStarsPatrick StewartJonathan FrakesLeVar BurtonPicard must learn to communicate with a race that speaks in metaphor under a difficult set of circumstances.
- DirectorTimothy BondStarsPatrick StewartJonathan FrakesLeVar BurtonWhen transporting a dangerous material to the Enterprise, Data is kidnapped and the crew is led to believe he is dead when the shuttlecraft he was piloting explodes en route.
- DirectorChip ChalmersStarsPatrick StewartJonathan FrakesLeVar BurtonAfter an accident that leaves him no longer able to walk, Worf asks Riker to help him commit suicide.
- DirectorRob BowmanStarsPatrick StewartJonathan FrakesLeVar BurtonAfter an accident aboard the Enterprise leaves one of its children in grave danger, Data commandeers the Enterprise, driven to take the ship to an unknown origin, where an interesting figure awaits.
- DirectorLes LandauStarsPatrick StewartJonathan FrakesLeVar BurtonMuch to Picard's displeasure, Q reappears on the Enterprise, claiming to have been ejected from the Q Continuum, and therefore, lost his powers.
- DirectorLes LandauStarsPatrick StewartJonathan FrakesLeVar BurtonWhen Captain Picard's artificial heart fails, he is offered the rare opportunity to go back in time and set right the mistake that led to his demise.
- DirectorCliff BoleStarsPatrick StewartJonathan FrakesLeVar BurtonDr. Crusher puts her career on the line to prove a scientist's theoretical new shielding technology which may have cost him his life.
- 1987–199445mTV-PG7.2 (3.2K)TV EpisodeDirectorCliff BoleStarsPatrick StewartJonathan FrakesLeVar BurtonThe Crystalline Entity returns, and the Enterprise takes aboard a scientist to help track it down, but her personal agenda does not match Capt. Picard's.
- 1987–199446mTV-PG7.7 (3.1K)TV EpisodeDirectorAlexander SingerStarsPatrick StewartJonathan FrakesLeVar BurtonBefore Lore can run risky experiments on Geordi, Troi and Picard, the three seek a way to re-boot Data's ethical program that Lore switched off to pull Data to his side.
- DirectorAlexander SingerStarsJohn NevilleJim NortonNatalija NogulichAfter an encounter with the Borg, Data feels his first emotion when he gets angry with the Borg. Data then tries to find ways to recreate the situation in order to feel emotions again, whilst the Enterprise investigates the Borg activity, and are bewildered as to why they feel emotions too.
- 1987–199445mTV-PG7.8 (3.4K)TV EpisodeDirectorPaul LynchStarsPatrick StewartJonathan FrakesLeVar BurtonWesley Crusher's team has an accident at Starfleet Academy. Picard offers to help a Starfleet investigation as to what happened, and begins to suspect they are hiding something.
- 1987–199445mTV-PG8.9 (4K)TV EpisodeDirectorLes LandauStarsPatrick StewartJonathan FrakesLeVar BurtonWhile the humorless Captain Jellico leads the effort to prevent a Cardassian invasion, Picard is captured and tortured by a ruthless interrogator in an attempt to break him.
- 1987–199445mTV-PG8.3 (3.7K)TV EpisodeDirectorRobert ScheererStarsPatrick StewartJonathan FrakesLeVar BurtonPicard is replaced as captain of the Enterprise so he, Lt. Worf and Dr. Crusher go on a top-secret mission into Cardassian space. Meanwhile, his replacement, Captain Jellico, meets his new command with some resistance from the crew.
- DirectorLeVar BurtonStarsPatrick StewartJonathan FrakesLeVar BurtonRiker finds out his former commander from the starship Pegasus has orders that entail more than what is revealed to Picard, who thinks the Enterprise is en route to recover the lost ship. And Riker is ordered to secrecy.
- 1987–199446mTV-PG8.3 (3.5K)TV EpisodeDirectorDavid CarsonStarsPatrick StewartJonathan FrakesLeVar BurtonA transporter malfunction, combined with a Romulan ship under stress and a damaged cloaking device, creates the illusion that Ensign Ro and Geordi are dead, but Geordi doesn't believe it to be so, and he acts accordingly.
- 1987–199445mTV-PG8.5 (3.7K)TV EpisodeDirectorAlexander SingerStarsPatrick StewartJonathan FrakesLeVar BurtonLt. Barclay mistakenly awakes Moriarty in the forgotten holodeck program, who then makes his demands clear and unforgettable.
- 1987–199446mTV-PG8.1 (4.4K)TV EpisodeDirectorRob BowmanStarsPatrick StewartJonathan FrakesLeVar BurtonAn attempt to provide Data with a challenging Sherlock Holmes holodeck program backfires when its Professor Moriarty character accidentally becomes self-aware.
- 1987–199445mTV-PG7.4 (3K)TV EpisodeDirectorJonathan FrakesStarsPatrick StewartJonathan FrakesLeVar BurtonWhen Geordi is assigned to survey a new mining development with Dr. Farallon, who invented an experimental mining technology, she uses a new sophisticated robot called an Exocomp to repair a power grid.
- DirectorMichael VejarStarsPatrick StewartJonathan FrakesLeVar BurtonPicard finds himself facing a strenuous test of his loyalty to Starfleet, one which the other members of the crew are struggling to cope with, whilst Wesley faces an equally challenging entrance exam at Starfleet Academy.
- DirectorWinrich KolbeStarsPatrick StewartJonathan FrakesLeVar BurtonA startling surprise awaits the crew of the Enterprise when a mission costs the life of a crew member, who left her son behind.
- DirectorLes LandauStarsPatrick StewartJonathan FrakesLeVar BurtonCounselor Troi's mother visits the Enterprise and becomes infatuated with a man whose culture forces him into a suicidal ritual called "The Resolution."
- 1987–199445mTV-PG7.5 (4.6K)TV EpisodeDirectorRob BowmanStarsPatrick StewartJonathan FrakesLeVar BurtonEveryone accurately pegs a visiting propulsion scientist as a charlatan, but only Wesley Crusher recognizes his alien assistant as the real deal.
- DirectorCliff BoleStarsPatrick StewartJonathan FrakesLeVar BurtonThe Enterprise encounters Q again, and he tempts Riker by endowing him with the powers of the Q.
- 1987–199445mTV-PG7.0 (3.7K)TV EpisodeDirectorWinrich KolbeStarsPatrick StewartJonathan FrakesLeVar BurtonThe Enterprise encounters a mysterious void in space and when they move in closer to investigate further, it envelops them and they can't get out.
- 1987–199446mTV-PG6.7 (3.4K)TV EpisodeDirectorCliff BoleStarsPatrick StewartJonathan FrakesLeVar BurtonThe widow of respected scientist Dr. Nel Apgar accuses Riker of seducing her and killing her husband. Rather than turn Riker over for unfavorable trial, the Enterprise reconstructs the facts.
- DirectorCorey AllenStarsPatrick StewartJonathan FrakesLeVar BurtonBefore leaving for Starfleet Academy, Wesley Crusher accompanies Captain Picard on a dangerous mission.
- 1987–199446mTV-PG6.7 (3.1K)TV EpisodeDirectorWinrich KolbeStarsPatrick StewartJonathan FrakesLeVar BurtonLt. Commander Geordi La Forge and an old friend fight to defeat a parasite that is trying to transform them into another species.
- DirectorWinrich KolbeStarsPatrick StewartJonathan FrakesLeVar BurtonData befriends an alien girl in distress, breaking the Prime Directive, while Wesley commands his first team.
- 1987–199445mTV-PG6.5 (3.4K)TV EpisodeDirectorPaul LynchStarsPatrick StewartJonathan FrakesLeVar BurtonEnhanced DNA developments trigger an epidemic of rapid aging. Caught among its victims - Dr. Pulaski.
- DirectorWin PhelpsStarsPatrick StewartJonathan FrakesLeVar BurtonThe Enterprise encounters two neighboring cultures, one suffering from a plague, the other marketing a cure, and learns that nothing is as simple as it seems.
- DirectorCliff BoleStarsPatrick StewartJonathan FrakesLeVar BurtonInvestigating a planet applying for membership into the Federation, the crew of the Enterprise finds a group of inhabitants who used to be soldiers, but now fight for their very existence.
- 1987–199445mTV-PG7.7 (3.2K)TV EpisodeDirectorDavid LivingstonStarsPatrick StewartJonathan FrakesLeVar BurtonGeordi is brainwashed by the Romulans to start a war between the Klingons and the Federation.
- 1987–199445mTV-PG7.9 (3.6K)TV EpisodeDirectorRobert LegatoStarsPatrick StewartJonathan FrakesLeVar BurtonWhen assigned to investigate an unknown probe, Lt. Barclay is hit by an energy surge, through a shuttlecraft's computer, and he receives an inexplicable boost of confidence and a vast increase in his knowledge.
- DirectorJonathan FrakesStarsPatrick StewartJonathan FrakesLeVar BurtonThe crew of the Enterprise must race against various rival powers to uncover an archaeological secret that explains the predominance of humanoid life forms in the galaxy.
- DirectorRob BowmanStarsPatrick StewartJonathan FrakesLeVar BurtonQ tries to prove that Picard needs him as part of their crew by hurling the Enterprise 7,000 light years away where they encounter the Borg for the first time.
- DirectorCorey AllenStarsPatrick StewartJonathan FrakesLeVar BurtonAfter the Federation grants access by the Cardassians to a planet already inhabited by Native Americans, Picard has the daunting task of relocating them.
- 1987–199446mTV-PG7.7 (3.7K)TV EpisodeDirectorLes LandauStarsPatrick StewartJonathan FrakesLeVar BurtonRiker awakens sixteen years after an away mission where he contracted a disease which destroyed his memory back to the point of infection - or so he's told.
- 1987–199446mTV-PG7.7 (3.6K)TV EpisodeDirectorCliff BoleStarsPatrick StewartJonathan FrakesLeVar BurtonA shy member of the "Enterprise" crew becomes addicted to the holodeck, where relationships are easier than in real life, when his knowledge is needed in engineering.
- DirectorWinrich KolbeStarsPatrick StewartJonathan FrakesLeVar BurtonPicard is kidnapped and held with three different aliens and meanwhile replaced with a replica as impostor captain.
- DirectorCorey AllenStarsPatrick StewartJonathan FrakesLeVar BurtonWesley Crusher returns to the Enterprise on vacation from the Academy only to discover a mysterious alien game infiltrating and controlling the crew.
- DirectorJonathan FrakesStarsPatrick StewartJonathan FrakesLeVar BurtonA retired admiral boards the Enterprise in an effort to determine the actions aboard the ship surrounding an act of sabotage and possible treason.
- DirectorGabrielle BeaumontStarsPatrick StewartJonathan FrakesLeVar BurtonA mission of the Enterprise is seen through the eyes of some junior officers who are up for promotions, as questions of duty and honor arise among some of them, such as a Bajoran whom Worf has designated to be promoted to operations.
- DirectorLes LandauStarsPatrick StewartJonathan FrakesLeVar BurtonEffects of passing through a wormhole give the Enterprise crew a sense that they were unconscious for more than the thirty seconds they've been led to believe.
- DirectorCliff BoleStarsPatrick StewartJonathan FrakesLeVar BurtonDr. Crusher's fear of losing loved ones becomes real when her worries create an alternate reality.
- DirectorTom BenkoStarsPatrick StewartJonathan FrakesLeVar BurtonWhile answering a distress call, Picard finds himself not sure of exactly who he is dealing with, but he's sure he's not dealing with the planet's version of the Devil, as she claims to be.
- 1987–199446mTV-PG7.2 (3.6K)TV EpisodeDirectorRob BowmanStarsPatrick StewartJonathan FrakesLeVar BurtonThe Enterprise searches for answers as to why three Klingon warriors were the only survivors aboard a freighter just inside the Neutral Zone which was seemingly attacked by a Ferengi ship.
- 1987–199445mTV-PG9.3 (5.8K)TV EpisodeDirectorCliff BoleStarsPatrick StewartJonathan FrakesLeVar BurtonResponding to a distress call on one of the Federation's outer-most colonies, the Enterprise arrives...only to find a big hole in the ground where the town used to be, and discovers the Borg are behind the attack.
- 1987–199445mTV-PG9.2 (5.5K)TV EpisodeDirectorCliff BoleStarsPatrick StewartJonathan FrakesLeVar BurtonHaving absorbed Captain Picard and his knowledge, the Borg head for Earth, leaving Riker and the Enterprise desperate for an unanticipated way to defeat them.
- 1987–199446mTV-PG9.2 (6.1K)TV EpisodeDirectorDavid CarsonStarsPatrick StewartJonathan FrakesLeVar BurtonThe Enterprise C enters the Enterprise D's time and space continuum, where they find Picard and crew in a constant state of war with the Klingons, and only Guinan knows it.