Reviews of The Next Generation were written retrospectively from 2005-2013. Initially envisioned as a short project, the review format was shorter in the early seasons, but got somewhat longer as the project went on. Note: All reviews contain spoilers.
Content Listing
Season 1 (1987-1988)
9/28/1987. Encounter at Farpoint — As the new Enterprise crew is assembled for the ship's maiden voyage, they are confronted by Q, who puts the human race on trial.
10/5/1987. The Naked Now — A viral outbreak on board the Enterprise has the effect of rendering the entire crew intoxicated.
10/12/1987. Code of Honor — Yar is kidnapped by the representatives of a society that values adherence to honorable custom above all else.
10/19/1987. The Last Outpost — When the Enterprise comes in contact with a Ferengi vessel, a powerful forcefield traps the ship in the orbit of an ancient world.
10/26/1987. Where No One Has Gone Before — A theoretical test to improve the ship's engine output sends the Enterprise careening out of control to a place where imagination becomes reality.
11/2/1987. Lonely Among Us — The Enterprise is stricken by an energy pattern that takes control of the computer system and, ultimately, Captain Picard.
11/9/1987. Justice — While on a world of apparent paradise, Wesley Crusher commits an accidental, trivial offense and is consequently sentenced to death.
11/16/1987. The Battle — While meeting with a Ferengi ship with an unknown motive, Picard begins to have flashbacks to a deadly encounter from his previous command, the USS Stargazer.
11/23/1987. Hide and Q — Q interrupts the Enterprise while it's on a rescue mission and asks Riker to join the Q, giving him the powers of omnipotence.
11/30/1987. Haven — When Troi's fiance in a traditional Betazoid arranged marriage arrives on the Enterprise, Riker must deal with unresolved feelings while Troi must deal with her uncontained mother.
1/11/1988. The Big Goodbye — Picard, Data, and Crusher become trapped in a holodeck simulation of a 1940s private detective novel.
1/18/1988. Datalore — The Enterprise crew visits Data's colony of origin and discovers a planet devoid of life, and also an android virtually identical to Data.
1/25/1988. Angel One — Riker attempts to negotiate the release of prisoners sentenced to death on a world controlled by an oppressive matriarchal society.
2/1/1988. 11001001 — A group of Bynars, from an alien society highly dependent on computers, distracts Riker with a particularly convincing holodeck program as part of a plan to steal the Enterprise.
2/8/1988. Too Short a Season — The Enterprise provides passage for an old Starfleet admiral to negotiate the release of hostages from a world he had dealings with nearly 50 years earlier.
2/15/1988. When the Bough Breaks — A sterile alien society kidnaps children from the Enterprise in a desperate bid to avoid the extinction of their species.
2/22/1988. Home Soil — When a scientist is apparently murdered, the Enterprise crew investigates and discovers a new form of intelligent life.
3/14/1988. Coming of Age — Wesley Crusher takes the Starfleet Academy entrance exam. Meanwhile, the Enterprise crew is put under an investigation to find problems in Picard's command.
3/21/1988. Heart of Glory — Two Klingon fugitives are rescued by the Enterprise and subsequently attempt to convince Worf to join them.
4/11/1988. The Arsenal of Freedom — An away team is threatened by an advanced weapons system on the surface of a destroyed world while the Enterprise comes under attack from an invisible weapon in orbit.
4/18/1988. Symbiosis — Picard must interpret the Prime Directive to settle a dispute between two societies over a much-needed supply of drugs they have in their possession.
4/25/1988. Skin of Evil — Troi's shuttle crashes on a planet, and the rescue team is confronted and threatened by an evil being holding nothing but contempt for the visitors.
5/2/1988. We'll Always Have Paris — An investigation into why strange events are happening in space and time reunites Picard with an old flame.
5/9/1988. Conspiracy — Picard is warned of an alien conspiracy at the top levels of Starfleet Command.
5/16/1988. The Neutral Zone — Shortly after Data and Worf rescue cryogenically frozen 20-century survivors from a space relic, the Enterprise is deployed to the Neutral Zone to investigate unusual Romulan activity.
