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The Best Episodes of Star Trek: The Next Generation

Every episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation ranked from best to worst. Let's dive into the Best Episodes of Star Trek: The Next Generation!

The Best Episodes of Star Trek: The Next Generation

Follow the intergalactic adventures of Capt. Jean-Luc Picard and his loyal crew aboard the all-new USS Enterprise NCC-1701D, as they explore new worlds.

Seasons7

  1. Background image for The Inner Light
    9.4/10(9.0k votes)

    #1 - The Inner Light

    S5:E25

    Stardate: 45944.1. Picard awakes to find himself living in a small village where he is a well-known member of the community who is suffering from a delusion of being a starship captain.

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  2. Background image for All Good Things...
    9.1/10(9.7k votes)

    #2 - All Good Things...

    S7:E25

    Stardate: 47988.0. Shortly after Picard is diagnosed with a long-term, potentially debilitating brain disorder, he starts experiencing bizarre shifts into three main time periods: 25 years into the future, a few days before the Enterprise-D is sent on its mission to Farpoint station, and the present. Picard realizes that Q is behind these shifts through time. Stardate: 47988.1. After his encounter with Q, Picard assembles the senior staff, and wonders if Q is actually giving him a chance to save humanity by showing him that the spatial anomaly also exists in the past. As they talk, the ship reaches the Neutral Zone, then Picard returns to the future, where Beverly's ship is also on the edge of the Neutral Zone. He convinces a reluctant Worf to accompany the group into Klingon territory, and then travels to the past, where he orders the crew into the Devron system.

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  3. Background image for Cause and Effect
    8.9/10(5.2k votes)

    #3 - Cause and Effect

    S5:E18

    Stardate: 45652.1. While exploring the Typhon Expanse, the Enterprise is caught in a time warp in which they are repeatedly destroyed while colliding with another starship.

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  4. Background image for The Best of Both Worlds (1)
    8.8/10(66 votes)

    #4 - The Best of Both Worlds (1)

    S3:E26

    Stardate: 43989.1 An Starfleet expert on the Borg, Lt. Cmdr. Shelby, is assigned to the Enterprise to investigate the disappearance of a Federation colony. Picard is abducted by the Borg and assimilated into the Collective, which forces Riker to attempt a rescue mission.

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    Director:Cliff Bole
  5. Background image for I, Borg
    8.8/10(4.8k votes)

    #5 - I, Borg

    S5:E23

    Stardate: 45854.2. An injured Borg is discovered and brought back to the Enterprise where he is 'repaired' by Dr. Crusher and befriended by Geordi, who names him 'Hugh.' Soon, Hugh starts showing signs of individuality while Picard must choose between destroying him or returning him to the collective.

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  6. Background image for Parallels
    8.8/10(4.2k votes)

    #6 - Parallels

    S7:E11

    Stardate: 47391.2. Worf returns from a Klingon competition to find that he is shifting through different realities.

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  8. Background image for Darmok
    8.7/10(5.6k votes)

    #7 - Darmok

    S5:E2

    Stardate: 45047.2. Picard must find a way to communicate with the newly discovered Tamarians, who speak entirely in metaphors, when a Tamarian Captain is brutally killed.

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  9. Background image for Lower Decks
    8.7/10(4.6k votes)

    #8 - Lower Decks

    S7:E15

    Stardate: 47566.7. Four young ensigns compete for a promotion that only one of them will receive. However, they are soon placed on a top secret mission that places some of their lives in danger.

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  10. Background image for The Measure of a Man
    8.6/10(67 votes)

    #9 - The Measure of a Man

    S2:E9

    Stardate: 42523.7. When Data's rights as a sentient individual are placed under trial, Starfleet forces Riker into a position where he must prove that Data is only an Android.

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  11. Background image for Yesterday's Enterprise
    8.5/10(59 votes)

    #10 - Yesterday's Enterprise

    S3:E15

    Stardate: 43625.2. A rift in the space/time continuum brings the U.S.S. Enterprise - C forward into the 24th Century, and alters the timeline. In this future, the Federation is at war with the Klingons, Tasha Yar is on the bridge, Worf did not join the Federation, and only Guinan's unique perception of reality may restore the timeline.

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  12. Background image for The Best of Both Worlds (2)
    8.5/10(55 votes)

    #11 - The Best of Both Worlds (2)

    S4:E1

    Stardate: 44001.4. Riker must pull out all the stops in order to save Earth from a Borg invasion being lead by none other than Locutus - otherwise known as Captain Jean-Luc Picard.

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    Director:Cliff Bole
  13. Background image for The Pegasus
    8.5/10(3.8k votes)

    #12 - The Pegasus

    S7:E12

    Stardate: 47457.1. Riker is placed on a covert mission to find the missing starship he was once a member aboard, but the mission holds a secret that could destroy the peace treaty between the Federation and the Romulans.

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  14. Background image for Redemption (2)
    8.4/10(3.8k votes)

    #13 - Redemption (2)

    S5:E1

    Stardate: 45020.4. Picard suspects a Romulan influence in the recent Klingon civil war, and must force the Federation to intervene before the Empire collapses.

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  15. Background image for Unification (2)
    8.3/10(3.9k votes)

    #14 - Unification (2)

    S5:E8

    Stardate: 45245.8. Picard and Data find Spock and discover the reason behind the secret meetings. However, a darker scheme planned by the Romulans is also uncovered in the process.

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  16. Background image for The Next Phase
    8.3/10(3.8k votes)

    #15 - The Next Phase

    S5:E24

    Stardate: 45092.4. While the Enterprise helps a Romulan science vessel, an accident occurs which forces Geordi LaForge and Ro Laren slightly out of 'phase', causing them to become undetectable to everyone but each other. As a result, the crew thinks they are dead and make arrangements for their funerals, even though they are closer than the crew realise.

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  17. Background image for Time's Arrow (1)
    8.3/10(4.0k votes)

    #16 - Time's Arrow (1)

    S5:E26

    Stardate: 45959.1. Data's head is uncovered in an archaeological dig on Earth, where evidence is also found that aliens may have been on Earth as early as the 19th Century. Using modified technology, an away team follows Data into the late 1890s to investigate.

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  18. Background image for Q Who
    8.2/10(62 votes)

    #17 - Q Who

    S2:E16

    Stardate: 42761.3. Q hurls the Enterprise into the Delta Quadrant and introduces the Federation to a powerful new enemy that may destroy the Alpha Quadrant: The Borg.

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    Director:Rob Bowman
  19. Background image for Unification (1)
    8.2/10(3.9k votes)

    #18 - Unification (1)

    S5:E7

    Stardate: 45233.1. Ambassador Spock has disappeared and intelligence finds him on Romulus. Captain Picard is sent to Romulus to find Spock. Meanwhile Riker and the rest of the crew investigate the fragments of a Vulcan ship discovered in the wreck of a Ferengi vessel.

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  20. Background image for Conundrum
    8.2/10(4.0k votes)

    #19 - Conundrum

    S5:E14

    Stardate: 45494.2. The Enterprise crew unknowingly receives a new first officer who claims that the Federation is at war with another species.

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    Director:Les Landau
    Writer:Unknown
  21. Background image for Chain of Command (2)
    8.2/10(48 votes)

    #20 - Chain of Command (2)

    S6:E11

    Stardate: 46360.8. Picard is captured and tortured by the Cardassians, while Riker tries to prevent a Federation attack on Cardassia.

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  22. Background image for The Drumhead
    8.1/10(50 votes)

    #21 - The Drumhead

    S4:E21

    Stardate: 44769.2. Picard is accused of treason when an explosion aboard the Enterprise is investigated by a ruthless and paranoid Starfleet Admiral.

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  23. Background image for Conspiracy
    8.0/10(4.8k votes)

    #22 - Conspiracy

    S1:E24

    Stardate: 41775.5. The strange behavior of high-ranking officers leads Picard to uncover a twisted alien conspiracy within Starfleet.

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    Director:Cliff Bole
  24. Background image for The Defector
    8.0/10(54 votes)

    #23 - The Defector

    S3:E10

    Stardate: 43462.5. A defecting Romulan warns the Federation about an impending attack by the Romulans, who are secretly establishing bases within the Neutral Zone.

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  25. Background image for Déjà Q
    8.0/10(50 votes)

    #24 - Déjà Q

    S3:E13

    Stardate: 43539.1. A Calamarian starts attacking the Enterprise while seeking revenge on a powerless Q.

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    Director:Les Landau
  26. Background image for Tapestry
    8.0/10(48 votes)

    #25 - Tapestry

    S6:E15

    Stardate: Unknown. A mortally wounded Picard is forced into re-living a time of his life when he was back in Starfleet Academy, with the intervention of Q.

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Best Episodes Summary

"The Inner Light" is the best rated episode of "Star Trek: The Next Generation". It scored 9.4/10 based on 9041 votes. Directed by Peter Lauritson and written by Peter Allan Fields, Morgan Gendel, it aired on 6/1/1992. This episode scored 0.3 points higher than the second highest rated, "All Good Things...".