What is the best way to watch TNG?

[DrStrangelove]

It's been years since I've last seen TNG in larger quantities (in Poland SyFy aired it alongside Enterprise some fifteen years ago), and having fond memories of Chain of Command, Symbiosis and Tapestry I decided to go back to the series that I still consider one of the more formative experiences of my childhood. Bingewatching the whole series is a big no-no for me, as the first season is pretty abyssmal, and the whole series requires around 150 hours invested, so:

Are there episodes that particularly stuck in your memory and aren't that popular (just to exclude A Measure of Man, Timescape and Best of Both Worlds?)

Are there particular story arcs you recommend?

 

[Valtharius]

I don't know if I, Borg qualifies as famous or not but it sticks in my mind.

 

[DrStrangelove]

I don't know if I, Borg qualifies as famous or not but it sticks in my mind.

It definitely stuck out for me, especially since the whole idea of Borg really being normal people imprisoned in a body horror armor with no free will has not been explored that much beyond what Picard suffers after coming back from being Locutus.

 

[BAYLOR]

Yesterdays Enterprise that one had story ramification for season 4 and beyond.

 

[paranoid marvin]

Forget about the 'aliens infiltrating Starfleet' episodes as this was just crazy and (thankfully) was soon stopped. I also hesitate to follow the Data/Lore storyline as this again was quite short episode-wise and they aren't the best.

Tbh if you're not going to box-watch, then I 'd just choose to watch the better episodes. Tbh I actually re-watched the entire series a few months ago. It took several weeks, but there was lots in there that I'd forgotten and some episodes that were much better (sometimes worse) than I remembered them.

Pretty much all the Borg and Q episodes are worth watching


Some I'd recommend

Data's Day
Darmok
The Inner Light (my favourite)
Yesterday's Enterprise
Lower Decks


One that seems quite unpopular is 'In Theory'. It's a bit messed up in that it ruins and really interesting scenario with Data starting a relationship by including a non-starter of a story about a space anomaly. Ignore, that and concentrate on the Data relationship and it turns out to be really quite a sad episode about the consequences of an android/human relationship.

 

[DrStrangelove]

Forget about the 'aliens infiltrating Starfleet' episodes as this was just crazy and (thankfully) was soon stopped. I also hesitate to follow the Data/Lore storyline as this again was quite short episode-wise and they aren't the best.

Tbh if you're not going to box-watch, then I 'd just choose to watch the better episodes. Tbh I actually re-watched the entire series a few months ago. It took several weeks, but there was lots in there that I'd forgotten and some episodes that were much better (sometimes worse) than I remembered them.

Pretty much all the Borg and Q episodes are worth watching


Some I'd recommend

Data's Day
Darmok
The Inner Light (my favourite)
Yesterday's Enterprise
Lower Decks


One that seems quite unpopular is 'In Theory'. It's a bit messed up in that it ruins and really interesting scenario with Data starting a relationship by including a non-starter of a story about a space anomaly. Ignore, that and concentrate on the Data relationship and it turns out to be really quite a sad episode about the consequences of an android/human relationship.

Excellent recommendations, out of those I only know Darmok and Yesterday's Enterprise, going to catch up on the rest.

While the overall arc of Tasha after Yesterday's was kind of bizzare, I did love that she finally received a proper send-off in place of Skin of Evil (albeit the episodes premise itself was hilarious and I still enjoy it for the sheer guilty pleasure of early Season 1).

 

[paranoid marvin]

Excellent recommendations, out of thos I only know Darmok and Yesterdays Enterprise, going to catch up on the rest.

While the overall arc of Tasha after Yesterday's was kind of bizzare, I did love that she finally received a proper send-off in place of Skin of Evil (albeit the episodes premise itself was hilarious and I still enjoy it for the sheer guilty pleasure of early Season 1).

It's a shame that Tasha's death was so pointless in Skin of Evil, but this was kind of a focal point for doing what she did later in the series.

It did lead to a very cool moment though with her waving 'bye' in 'Symbiosis'. It's a blink-and-you'll-miss-it moment, but I'm not sure anything like that has been done before.

 

[DrStrangelove]

Ah yes, the "Children, don't do drugs" episode

Her bye may be overlooked because of the fact that most people do not know it was actually her last episode filmed (it is a little counter-intuitive), and regarding that I will never forget the following twitter exchange:

Well, we will never know what exact factors played into her leaving the show. The morale was low and Tasha was horribly underdeveloped, but that could be said about everyone in Season 1.