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The Worst Episodes of Star Trek: The Next Generation

Every episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation ranked from worst to best. Explore the Worst Episodes of Star Trek: The Next Generation!

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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.

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Episode Rankings

  1. #1 Worst Episode
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    Star Trek: The Next Generation Season 2 Episode 22 - Shades of Gray
    3.6/10(4627 votes)

    #1 - Shades of Gray

    S2:E22

    Stardate: 42976.1. Riker is infected with an alien organism that takes over his mind. Dr. Pulaski must force Riker's mind back to a state where it can access primitive survival skills.

    Director:Rob Bowman
    Writers:Richard Manning, Hans Beimler

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  2. Star Trek: The Next Generation Season 7 Episode 14 - Sub Rosa
    4.7/10(3807 votes)

    #2 - Sub Rosa

    S7:E14

    Stardate: Unknown. Dr. Crusher attends her grandmother's funeral, to find that she had been in romantic encounters with a mysterious man who had been haunting the Howard family women for generations.

    Director:Jonathan Frakes
    Writers:Brannon Braga, Jeri Taylor

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  3. Star Trek: The Next Generation Season 1 Episode 3 - Code of Honor
    5.1/10(5392 votes)

    #3 - Code of Honor

    S1:E3

    Stardate: 41235.25. Tasha Yar must fight for her life and a vaccine to save a race of people when she is kidnapped and forced to battle with her abductor's wife.

    Directors:Russ Mayberry, Les Landau
    Writers:Katharyn Powers, Michael Baron

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  4. Star Trek: The Next Generation Season 6 Episode 3 - Man of the People
    5.5/10(3347 votes)

    #4 - Man of the People

    S6:E3

    Stardate: 46071.6. Deanna becomes attracted to an alien ambassador. Shortly thereafter, she starts ageing rapidly and starts becoming violent.

    Directors:Winrich Kolbe, Cliff Bole
    Writers:Frank Abatemarco, Brannon Braga

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  5. Star Trek: The Next Generation Season 5 Episode 20 - Cost of Living
    5.6/10(3367 votes)

    #5 - Cost of Living

    S5:E20

    Stardate: 45733.6. Deanna's mother pays a surprise visit to the Enterprise with even more surprising news: she plans to marry a man she has never met. After destroying an asteroid, the ship becomes infected with parasites that eat away at the ship's hull.

    Director:Winrich Kolbe
    Writer:Peter Allan Fields

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  6. Star Trek: The Next Generation Season 1 Episode 13 - Angel One
    5.7/10(4436 votes)

    #6 - Angel One

    S1:E13

    Stardate: 41636.9. The Enterprise discovers the male crew of a crashed Federation freighter are hiding as fugitives on the planet Angel One, which is dominated and ruled by women.

    Director:Michael Ray Rhodes
    Writer:Patrick Barry

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  7. Star Trek: The Next Generation Season 2 Episode 1 - The Child
    5.7/10(4587 votes)

    #7 - The Child

    S2:E1

    Stardate: 42073.1. Troi undergoes a mysterious pregnancy when the Enterprise tries to escape from a system that has recently fallen victim to a deadly plague.

    Director:Rob Bowman
    Writers:Jon Povill, Maurice Hurley, Jaron Summers

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  8. Star Trek: The Next Generation Season 2 Episode 19 - Manhunt
    5.7/10(3862 votes)

    #8 - Manhunt

    S2:E19

    Stardate: 42859.2. While being escorted to a Federation conference by the Enterprise, Lwaxana hunts for a man to satisfy her needs when her sex-drive is quadrupled during a natural mid-life cycle.

    Director:Rob Bowman
    Writer:Tracy Tormé

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  9. Star Trek: The Next Generation Season 7 Episode 17 - Masks
    5.7/10(3548 votes)

    #9 - Masks

    S7:E17

    Stardate: 47615.2. The Enterprise is slowly transformed into an ancient alien temple when Data discovers an alien archive full of information about an ancient culture. Shortly after opening the archive, Data becomes possessed with several different personalities.

    Director:Robert Wiemer
    Writer:Joe Menosky

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  10. Star Trek: The Next Generation Season 1 Episode 7 - Justice
    5.8/10(4826 votes)

    #10 - Justice

    S1:E7

    Stardate: 41255.6. Picard is forced to choose between friendship and the Prime Directive when Wesley Crusher is sentenced to death for accidentally breaking the law on Rubicon III.

    Director:James L. Conway
    Writer:Worley Thorne

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  11. Star Trek: The Next Generation Season 2 Episode 14 - The Icarus Factor
    5.8/10(3788 votes)

    #11 - The Icarus Factor

    S2:E14

    Stardate: 42686.4. Riker is promoted to Captain of another Federation ship. Worf must confront his past and his Klingon heritage.

    Director:Robert Iscove
    Writers:David Assael, Robert McCullough

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  12. Star Trek: The Next Generation Season 4 Episode 10 - The Loss
    5.8/10(3670 votes)

    #12 - The Loss

    S4:E10

    Stardate: 44356.9. Troi loses her empathic abilities when the Enterprise is caught in the gravitational pull of a black hole.

    Director:Chip Chalmers
    Writer:Hilary Bader

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  13. Star Trek: The Next Generation Season 5 Episode 12 - Violations
    5.9/10(3328 votes)

    #13 - Violations

    S5:E12

    Stardate: 45429.3. While escorting a group of telepaths, crew members on board the Enterprise suddenly start to slip into comas.

    Director:Robert Wiemer
    Writers:Jeri Taylor, Pamela Gray

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  14. Star Trek: The Next Generation Season 6 Episode 13 - Aquiel
    5.9/10(3314 votes)

    #14 - Aquiel

    S6:E13

    Stardate: 46461.3. Geordie falls in love with a lieutenant who is the prime suspect in a murder case.

    Director:Cliff Bole
    Writers:Ronald D. Moore, Brannon Braga, Jeri Taylor

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  15. Star Trek: The Next Generation Season 7 Episode 20 - Journey's End
    5.9/10(3345 votes)

    #15 - Journey's End

    S7:E20

    Stardate: 47751.2. Under the terms of the new Federation/Cardassian alliance, Picard is ordered to evacuate a colony of native Americans, but protests from Wesley hamper the process. Wesley's destiny is finally revealed to him when the Traveler returns.

    Director:Corey Allen
    Writer:Ronald D. Moore

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  16. Star Trek: The Next Generation Season 1 Episode 10 - Haven
    6.0/10(4351 votes)

    #16 - Haven

    S1:E10

    Stardate: 41294.5. The mother of Deanna Troi, Lwaxana, pays a surprise visit to the Enterprise and announces the prearranged marriage of Deanna to the son of her mother's late husband's best friend.

    Director:Richard Compton
    Writer:Tracy Tormé

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  17. Star Trek: The Next Generation Season 3 Episode 24 - Ménage à Troi
    6.0/10(3749 votes)

    #17 - Ménage à Troi

    S3:E24

    Stardate: 43930.7. Riker and Deanna, both on shoreleave, are unexpectedly joined by Deanna's mother, Lwaxana, on Betazed. Shortly, all three are kidnapped by the Ferengi who want to study Lwaxana's telepathic abilities.

    Director:Robert Legato
    Writers:Fred Bronson, Susan Sackett

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  18. Star Trek: The Next Generation Season 5 Episode 22 - Imaginary Friend
    6.0/10(3354 votes)

    #18 - Imaginary Friend

    S5:E22

    Stardate: 45832.1. While exploring a strange form of energy in a region of space, a little girl's imaginary friend becomes real and places the Enterprise in great danger.

    Director:Gabrielle Beaumont
    Writers:Brannon Braga, Edithe Swensen

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  19. Star Trek: The Next Generation Season 1 Episode 4 - The Last Outpost
    6.1/10(4856 votes)

    #19 - The Last Outpost

    S1:E4

    Stardate: 41386.4. A powerful entity disables the Enterprise and a Ferengi ship. Their only means of escape is if they can correctly answer the riddles he asks.

    Director:Richard A. Colla
    Writer:Herbert Wright

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  20. Star Trek: The Next Generation Season 1 Episode 6 - Lonely Among Us
    6.1/10(4425 votes)

    #20 - Lonely Among Us

    S1:E6

    Stardate: 41249.3. Picard's mind is taken over by an energy field that the Enterprise passes through.

    Director:Cliff Bole
    Writer:D.C. Fontana

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  21. Star Trek: The Next Generation Season 2 Episode 4 - The Outrageous Okona
    6.1/10(4396 votes)

    #21 - The Outrageous Okona

    S2:E4

    Stardate: 42402.7. The Enterprise is placed in a compromising situation when the captain of a disabled starship places the crew in the middle of a love triangle.

    Director:Robert Becker
    Writer:Burton Armus

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  22. Star Trek: The Next Generation Season 2 Episode 10 - The Dauphin
    6.1/10(4173 votes)

    #22 - The Dauphin

    S2:E10

    Stardate: 42568.8. Wesley falls in love with a passenger the Enterprise is escorting, who has the secret ability to shape-shift.

    Director:Rob Bowman
    Writers:Leonard Mlodinow, Scott Rubenstein

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  23. Star Trek: The Next Generation Season 2 Episode 18 - Up the Long Ladder
    6.1/10(4119 votes)

    #23 - Up the Long Ladder

    S2:E18

    Stardate: 42823.2. Picard must convince two dying civilizations that they must co-exist on the same planet to survive, however, they have other plans to ensure their survival: in the form of clones of the Enterprise crew.

    Director:Winrich Kolbe
    Writer:Melinda M. Snodgrass

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  24. Star Trek: The Next Generation Season 3 Episode 8 - The Price
    6.1/10(3884 votes)

    #24 - The Price

    S3:E8

    Stardate: 43385.6. The Enterprise hosts the negotiations for the rights to a newly discovered, stable wormhole to the Delta Quadrant. One of the negotiators, Devinoni Ral, becomes attracted to Deanna Troi, but he holds a dubious secret.

    Director:Robert Scheerer
    Writer:Hannah Louise Shearer

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  25. Star Trek: The Next Generation Season 7 Episode 3 - Interface
    6.1/10(3084 votes)

    #25 - Interface

    S7:E3

    Stardate: 47215.5. Geordi defies direct orders from Captain Picard in an attempt to rescue his mother who had recently been reported as missing.

    Director:Robert Wiemer
    Writer:Joe Menosky

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Worst Episodes Summary

"Shades of Gray" is the worst rated episode of "Star Trek: The Next Generation". It scored 3.6/10 based on 4627 votes. Directed by Rob Bowman and written by Richard Manning, Hans Beimler, it aired on 7/17/1989. This episode scored 1.1 points lower than the second lowest rated, "Sub Rosa".