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!
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.
Top Episode Ratings Summary
The best episode of "Star Trek: The Next Generation" is "The Inner Light", rated 9.4/10 from 8518 user votes. It was directed by Peter Lauritson and written by Peter Allan Fields, Morgan Gendel. "The Inner Light" aired on 6/1/1992 and is rated 0.1 point(s) higher than the second highest rated, "The Best of Both Worlds (1)".
9.4/10 8,518 votes#1 - The Inner Light
Season 5 Episode 25 - Aired 6/1/1992
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.
Director: Peter Lauritson
Writer: Peter Allan Fields, Morgan Gendel
9.3/10 5,998 votes#2 - The Best of Both Worlds (1)
Season 3 Episode 26 - Aired 6/18/1990
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.
Director: Cliff Bole
Writer: Michael Piller
9.2/10 6,287 votes#3 - Yesterday's Enterprise
Season 3 Episode 15 - Aired 2/19/1990
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.
Director: David Carson
Writer: Richard Manning, Ronald D. Moore, Ira Steven Behr, Eric A. Stillwell, Trent Christopher Ganino, Hans Beimler
9.2/10 5,617 votes#4 - The Best of Both Worlds (2)
Season 4 Episode 1 - Aired 9/24/1990
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.
Director: Cliff Bole
Writer: Michael Piller
9.1/10 6,458 votes#5 - The Measure of a Man
Season 2 Episode 9 - Aired 2/13/1989
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.
Director: Robert Scheerer
Writer: Melinda M. Snodgrass
9.1/10 9,419 votes#6 - All Good Things...
Season 7 Episode 25 - Aired 5/23/1994
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.
Director: David Carson, Winrich Kolbe
Writer: Brannon Braga, Ronald D. Moore
8.9/10 5,264 votes#7 - Q Who
Season 2 Episode 16 - Aired 5/8/1989
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.
Director: Rob Bowman
Writer: Maurice Hurley
8.9/10 4,946 votes#8 - Cause and Effect
Season 5 Episode 18 - Aired 3/23/1992
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.
Director: Jonathan Frakes
Writer: Brannon Braga
8.9/10 4,173 votes#9 - Chain of Command (2)
Season 6 Episode 11 - Aired 12/21/1992
Stardate: 46360.8. Picard is captured and tortured by the Cardassians, while Riker tries to prevent a Federation attack on Cardassia.
Director: Les Landau
Writer: Frank Abatemarco
8.8/10 4,477 votes#10 - I, Borg
Season 5 Episode 23 - Aired 5/11/1992
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.
Director: Robert Lederman
Writer: René Echevarria
8.8/10 4,452 votes#11 - Tapestry
Season 6 Episode 15 - Aired 2/15/1993
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.
Director: Les Landau
Writer: Ronald D. Moore
8.8/10 4,005 votes#12 - Parallels
Season 7 Episode 11 - Aired 11/29/1993
Stardate: 47391.2. Worf returns from a Klingon competition to find that he is shifting through different realities.
Director: Robert Wiemer
Writer: Brannon Braga
8.7/10 5,268 votes#13 - Darmok
Season 5 Episode 2 - Aired 9/30/1991
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.
Director: Winrich Kolbe
Writer: Joe Menosky, Philip LaZebnik
8.7/10 4,321 votes#14 - Lower Decks
Season 7 Episode 15 - Aired 2/7/1994
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.
Director: Gabrielle Beaumont
Writer: Brannon Braga, Jeri Taylor, René Echevarria
8.5/10 4,452 votes#15 - Déjà Q
Season 3 Episode 13 - Aired 2/5/1990
Stardate: 43539.1. A Calamarian starts attacking the Enterprise while seeking revenge on a powerless Q.
Director: Les Landau
Writer: Richard Danus
8.5/10 4,757 votes#16 - The Offspring
Season 3 Episode 16 - Aired 3/12/1990
Stardate: 43657.0. Data becomes a father when he creates a Soong-type android in the form of a daughter named Lal. Issues are complicated when Lal starts showing signs of a more evolved consciousness, including the ability to feel emotions, which attracts the attention of Starfleet scientists who want to take her away from Data and examine her advanced systems.
Director: Jonathan Frakes
Writer: René Echevarria
8.5/10 4,097 votes#17 - Relics
Season 6 Episode 4 - Aired 10/12/1992
Stardate: 46125.3. Montgomery 'Scotty' Scott is discovered suspended in a transporter beam 75 years after he disappeared. After the Enterprise crew re-materialise him, he has a hard time adjusting to the new society.
Director: Alexander Singer
Writer: Ronald D. Moore
8.5/10 3,808 votes#18 - Ship in a Bottle
Season 6 Episode 12 - Aired 1/25/1993
Stardate: 46424.1. While performing holodeck maintenance, Barclay accesses the stored hologram of Professor Moriarty, who wreaks havoc on board the Enterprise.
Director: Alexander Singer
Writer: René Echevarria
8.5/10 3,534 votes#19 - Timescape
Season 6 Episode 25 - Aired 6/14/1993
Stardate: 46944.2. Picard, Geordi, Troi and Data return from a Federation conference to find the Enterprise frozen in time and under attack from a frozen Romulan Warbird.
Director: Adam Nimoy
Writer: Brannon Braga
8.5/10 3,558 votes#20 - The Pegasus
Season 7 Episode 12 - Aired 1/17/1994
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.
Director: LeVar Burton
Writer: Ronald D. Moore
8.4/10 4,329 votes#21 - The Defector
Season 3 Episode 10 - Aired 1/1/1990
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.
Director: Robert Scheerer
Writer: Ronald D. Moore
8.4/10 4,355 votes#22 - The Drumhead
Season 4 Episode 21 - Aired 4/29/1991
Stardate: 44769.2. Picard is accused of treason when an explosion aboard the Enterprise is investigated by a ruthless and paranoid Starfleet Admiral.
Director: Jonathan Frakes
Writer: Jeri Taylor
8.4/10 3,577 votes#23 - Redemption (1)
Season 4 Episode 26 - Aired 6/17/1991
Stardate: 44995.3. Worf must choose between his people and the Federation when a civil war threatens to destroy the Klingon Empire.
Director: Cliff Bole
Writer: Ronald D. Moore
8.4/10 3,604 votes#24 - Redemption (2)
Season 5 Episode 1 - Aired 9/23/1991
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.
Director: David Carson
Writer: Ronald D. Moore
8.3/10 4,563 votes#25 - Family
Season 4 Episode 2 - Aired 10/1/1990
Stardate 44012.3. Picard meets with his older brother in France, and contemplates resigning his Starfleet commission after his ordeal with the Borg. Worf's adoptive parents spend time with their son on the Enterprise, and succeed in embarrassing him in front of his crewmates.
Director: Les Landau
Writer: Ronald D. Moore