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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!

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.
Genres:Sci-Fi & FantasyAction & AdventureDramaMystery
Network:Syndication

Worst Episodes Summary

"Shades of Gray" is the worst rated episode of "Star Trek: The Next Generation". It scored 3.3/10 based on 4214 votes. Directed by Rob Bowman and written by Maurice Hurley, Richard Manning, Hans Beimler, it aired on 7/17/1989. This episode scored 1.5 points lower than the second lowest rated, "Sub Rosa".

  • Shades of Gray
    3.3/104,214 votes
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    #1 - Shades of Gray

    Season 2 Episode 22 - Aired 7/17/1989

    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

    Writer: Maurice Hurley, Richard Manning, Hans Beimler

  • Sub Rosa
    4.8/103,443 votes
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    #2 - Sub Rosa

    Season 7 Episode 14 - Aired 1/31/1994

    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

    Writer: Brannon Braga, Jeri Taylor

  • Code of Honor
    5.1/104,869 votes
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    #3 - Code of Honor

    Season 1 Episode 3 - Aired 10/12/1987

    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.

    Director: Russ Mayberry, Les Landau

    Writer: Michael Baron, Katharyn Powers, Kathryn Powers

  • Angel One
    5.7/103,991 votes
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    #4 - Angel One

    Season 1 Episode 13 - Aired 1/25/1988

    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

  • Man of the People
    5.7/103,021 votes
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    #5 - Man of the People

    Season 6 Episode 3 - Aired 10/5/1992

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

    Director: Cliff Bole, Winrich Kolbe

    Writer: Brannon Braga, Frank Abatemarco

  • The Child
    5.8/104,135 votes
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    #6 - The Child

    Season 2 Episode 1 - Aired 11/21/1988

    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

    Writer: Maurice Hurley, Jon Povill, Jaron Summers

  • Masks
    5.8/103,195 votes
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    #7 - Masks

    Season 7 Episode 17 - Aired 2/21/1994

    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

  • Justice
    6.0/104,374 votes
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    #8 - Justice

    Season 1 Episode 7 - Aired 11/9/1987

    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

  • The Loss
    6.0/103,311 votes
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    #9 - The Loss

    Season 4 Episode 10 - Aired 12/1/1990

    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

  • Imaginary Friend
    6.0/103,015 votes
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    #10 - Imaginary Friend

    Season 5 Episode 22 - Aired 5/4/1992

    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

    Writer: Brannon Braga, Edithe Swensen

  • Aquiel
    6.0/103,000 votes
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    #11 - Aquiel

    Season 6 Episode 13 - Aired 2/1/1993

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

    Director: Cliff Bole

    Writer: Brannon Braga, Jeri Taylor, Ronald D. Moore

  • Too Short a Season
    6.1/103,819 votes
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    #12 - Too Short a Season

    Season 1 Episode 15 - Aired 2/8/1988

    Stardate: 41309.5. The aging and terminally ill Starfleet Admiral Mark Jameson, who is negotiating the release of hostages, suddenly begins growing younger through an unexplained phenomenon.

    Director: Rob Bowman

    Writer: D.C. Fontana, Michael Michaelian

  • Manhunt
    6.1/103,487 votes
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    #13 - Manhunt

    Season 2 Episode 19 - Aired 6/19/1989

    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

  • Cost of Living
    6.1/103,028 votes
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    #14 - Cost of Living

    Season 5 Episode 20 - Aired 4/20/1992

    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

  • Haven
    6.2/103,926 votes
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    #15 - Haven

    Season 1 Episode 10 - Aired 11/30/1987

    Stardate: 41294.6. 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

  • The Outrageous Okona
    6.2/103,955 votes
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    #16 - The Outrageous Okona

    Season 2 Episode 4 - Aired 12/12/1988

    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

  • The Dauphin
    6.2/103,770 votes
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    #17 - The Dauphin

    Season 2 Episode 10 - Aired 2/20/1989

    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

    Writer: Scott Rubenstein, Leonard Mlodinow

  • The Icarus Factor
    6.2/103,417 votes
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    #18 - The Icarus Factor

    Season 2 Episode 14 - Aired 4/24/1989

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

    Director: Robert Iscove

    Writer: Robert McCullough, David Assael

  • Up the Long Ladder
    6.2/103,715 votes
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    #19 - Up the Long Ladder

    Season 2 Episode 18 - Aired 5/22/1989

    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

  • Violations
    6.2/102,996 votes
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    #20 - Violations

    Season 5 Episode 12 - Aired 2/3/1992

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

    Director: Robert Wiemer

    Writer: Jeri Taylor, Pamela Gray

  • Interface
    6.2/102,794 votes
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    #21 - Interface

    Season 7 Episode 3 - Aired 10/4/1993

    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

  • Journey's End
    6.2/103,023 votes
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    #22 - Journey's End

    Season 7 Episode 20 - Aired 3/28/1994

    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

  • The Last Outpost
    6.3/104,392 votes
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    #23 - The Last Outpost

    Season 1 Episode 4 - Aired 10/19/1987

    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

  • Lonely Among Us
    6.3/104,013 votes
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    #24 - Lonely Among Us

    Season 1 Episode 6 - Aired 11/2/1987

    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

  • The Price
    6.3/103,514 votes
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    #25 - The Price

    Season 3 Episode 8 - Aired 11/13/1989

    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