10 Unforgettable Episodes Of Star Trek: The Next Generation

All Good Things…

There are many ways of handling a series finale and The Next Generation decided to go not with the “bigger the better” route as such, but instead a high concept moving piece that acts as a love letter to the past seven seasons of the show, the character of Picard and manages to tie overarching plotlines up with a neat bow.

The two-part episode sees Picard flung through time as he finds himself at different stages of his life: the present day, the events of the series’ first ever episode and 25 years in the future. It turns out that this is Q’s doing, as it’s up to Picard to prove humanity’s potential to the Q Continuum by solving the mystery of an unexplained spacial anomaly.

“All Good Things” not only brings things full circle by revisiting where the series began, but it’ll no doubt prove to be of continued importance in Stewart’s new show, too, as it takes a peak at Picard’s future. What’s more, for a taste of how influential that is, Marvel chief Kevin Feige has teased that it’s a huge inspiration for the tone and structure of Avengers: Endgame. So MCU fans might want to rewatch this finale before the movie comes out.

Yesterday’s Enterprise

“Yesterday’s Enterprise” opens with another of TNG‘s great jaw dropping opening sequences. As the Enterprise-D flies through a space/time anomaly, the reality of the ship changes. Not least, Worf is replaced by Tasha Yar, who died way back in season 1. It turns out it’s all to do with the return of the Enterprise-C, whose crew were supposed to die saving a Klingon outpost. Without this happening, the Federation/Klingon conflict continues and Starfleet’s much more militarized.

Though this list makes it clear that TNG had a few memorable time travel episodes, this has to be the best of them, as it just works so well on so many levels. It’s a thrilling, pacy episode in of itself and it also sets many plates spinning that’ll be revisited in future stories. It’s also the best use of Tasha as a character, retconning her previous rubbish death and making her much more of a tragic figure.

“Yesterday’s Enteprise” is all the more impressive as it began life as a fan script, as the series had an extremely rare open submission policy. Maybe more shows should put faith in its fans’ ideas and see what they can come up with.