5 Essential Episodes That Everyone Should Watch At Least Once

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https://www.yahoo.com/entertainment/...104500802.html

Witney Seibold
Mon, October 20, 2025 at 3:45 AM PDT
10 min read

It's amusing to think that Gene Roddenberry created "Star Trek: The Next Generation" pretty much out of spite. The story goes that Roddenberry was heavily involved in 1979's "Star Trek: The Motion Picture," a heady, slow-moving, and epic rendition of his 1966 TV series. When the film didn't do as well at the box office as the studio hoped, Roddenberry was essentially locked out of participating in further film projects. This became galling when the second, third, and fourth "Star Trek" movies (released in 1982, 1984, and 1986) became massive hits. 1986 was also the year Roddenberry started putting together his ideas for a "Star Trek" spinoff that was set a century after the events of the original series. It was to be set on a new version of the U.S.S. Enterprise, and feature an all-new cast. Most importantly, Roddenberry would be in total control.

Although the first two years of "Next Generation" were notoriously rocky, it eventually hit its stride, becoming one of the best sci-fi shows of its era, possibly of all time. Roddenberry's themes of peace, multiculturalism, and diplomacy were more carefully explored than on the original "Star Trek," and the characters began to expand into the pop consciousness. The series was often intelligent, and the scripts were deliberate in their thesis on ethics, psychology, politics, and technology. It also had plenty of crackerjack "crisis of the week" episodes wherein the crew had to use their wits to solve a new bizarre cosmic mystery.

The series lasted seven amazing seasons, and led into four lackluster feature films. The series eventually became so widely regarded that it was revisited in shows like "Star Trek: Lower Decks" (set in the same timeline) and "Star Trek: Picard" (about the central NextGen captain, played by Patrick Stewart).

Below are five essential episodes of "Star Trek: The Next Generation." Know that "essential" doesn't necessarily mean "best." The selections below are emblematic of what "Next Generation" was capable of.