For those who love Q episodes, “Qpid” is a delight. Directed by Cliff Bole and written by Randee Russell and Ira Steven Behr, “Qpid” finds Q doing what he does best, trying to help Picard in the most annoying way possible. Here, it’s reuniting Picard with the adventurer Vash (Jennifer Hetrick) and giving the Captain a chance to do his own swashbuckling. At the very least, “Qpid” offers a much better version of action Picard than any of the TNG movies.
13. Remember Me (Season 4, Episode 5)
Dr. Beverly Crusher is such an important character that casual viewers don’t even remember that Dr. Pulaski was the Chief Medical Officer on the Enterprise-D for an entire season. Important as she is, however, Crusher didn’t get that many great episodes on the show, and I say this as a defender of the sexy candle ghost episode.
When Gates McFadden does get an episode to herself, she absolutely shines, as seen in “Remember Me,” written by Lee Sheldon and directed by Cliff Bole. “Remember Me” plays like a paranoid thriller, in which Crusher notices that her crewmates keep disappearing from the ship. Worse, no one will acknowledge that the crewpeople ever existed. McFadden plays up Crusher’s logical mind and inner strength, allowing her to solve a mystery that eluded everyone else on the Enterprise.
12. I, Borg (Season 5, Episode 23)
One of the advantages of keeping the Borg distant and unknowable was that it allowed for episodes such as “I, Borg.” In the episode directed by Robert Lederman and written by René Echevarria, a drone (Jonathan Del Arco) becomes disconnected from the collective and lands on the Enterprise. As Geordi works to uncover the drone’s identity, inadvertently giving him the name “Hugh” along the way, the story hits one of the most enduring Trek themes: explorations on the nature of humanity.
However, “I, Borg” ties that question to an ethical issue, when Picard learns that Hugh’s identity can act as something of a virus to the Borg. Do they use Hugh as a weapon to destroy a threat to the universe? Or do they preserve humanity by honoring it in Hugh and his decisions?
11. Lower Decks (Season 7, Episode 15)
“Lower Decks” ranked among the best TNG episodes even before the concept launched the excellent animated series, largely because it underscored the wonderful ensemble show that the series had become. Like TOS, TNG launched with a primary trio—Picard, Geordi, and Riker instead of Kirk, Spock, and McCoy—but over the course of the series, the dynamics shifted, with several other characters earning the spotlight.
