And I should mention that "I, Borg" was a GREAT episode, but it didn't make my top 5. I kinda feel sad that they de-villanized the Borg in this episode. I mean, it's great for the Star Trek philosophy of tolerance, progress and acceptance, but sometimes you just want the bad guys to be the bad guys. I guess that's what we have Romulans for. (I felt the same about the Klingons and Worf in the beginning too - although of course now I really like Worf! The Klingons in general, eh. *shrugs*)
5. Disaster
What I love the most about this episode is how Picard and Troi are put in situations they are very uncomfortable with, and they absolutely own it. There's been an accident that severely damages the ship and cuts off the bridge from the rest of the ship, and traps Picard in a turbolift with three kids visiting the Enterprise. Troi is made the commanding officer and her inexperience is a hindrance, but her compassion helps her make the right decisions. And Picard handles these scared children like a pro. It's so heartwarming to see him make them face their fears and act. Even to defy his orders when he wanted them to go to safety and leave him behind.
4. Cause and Effect
Timey whimey epsiodes will always be high on my list and in this one, the Enterprise is stuck in a time loop they can't seem to get out of. Events leading up to the Enterprise's destruction keep repeating themselves until the crew finds a way to break free. The intricacy of creating a story that has so many repeating scenes but with little changes to lead up to the reveal of the whole story seems very difficult to do. In some ways this reminded me of the episode of Community called 'Remedial Chaos Theory' (although that had multiple timelines and not a repeating time loop). I also enjoyed how they got out of the loop with some ingenious symbolism and the use of Data's unique brain. And the repeated destruction of the Enterprise is chilling. I do wonder though - was Kelsey Grammer's appearance at the end intended for some effect? It was so surprising!
3. The Next Phase
Having just recently re-watched the movie Ghost (and the musical), it was really surprising to see this episode embody some of the same sensibilities. La Forge and Ensign Ro are involved in a transporter malfunction and believed dead, however the two wake up on the Enterprise and no one can see or hear them. And they can walk through walls. This was an exciting episode, and interesting that La Forge was so sure they weren't both dead. It's fantastic rationality in a situation that must seem pretty scary. And the moment when it's revealed that there is a Romulan who is also in their same condition was sensational. I was like Oh sh*t!
2. Power Play
While investigating a distress signal on a seemingly uninhabited planet, alien beings take over Data, Troi and O'Brien. And they attempt to take over the ship. Now doesn't that sounds like a recipe for awesome? Seeing the three of them as the bad guys was so much fun for me - especially cause Data can be a real bad-ass with his whole superior strength and intellect. But it was nice to see Troi in a different light because she is normally so relentlessly nice and understanding. And Picard does such an exemplary job of handling the difficult situation of trying to get the entities out of his people, while also keeping the hostages safe. Lastly, it was really touching that O'Brien's love for his family was messing with the alien being inside of him. The way in which everything came together - in character contrast and suspense - worked really well for me.
1. The Game
So if I liked things taking over Data, Troi and O'Brien and making them into bad guys, then this episode was an absolute delight! Because everyone gets taken over, except for Wesley Crusher until the very end, and Data. This game is doing something to people's brains that's not just the good times of gaming, and it's up to Wesley and his new crush to figure things out. The insidiousness of a game taking over all these characters I love, especially our always dependable Captain(!) was pretty shocking. It's wonderful though that the young'uns - Wesley and Ensign Robin - were smart enough to know that something was wrong and were able to stay uncorrupted for so long. And they were really the ones to save the whole crew. I did kept mentally berating Wesley to fix Data already so he can help everyone, but then, at the last minute, Data has a serious hero moment so I was very happy with that. This was the most satisfying episode of the season for me! (I have to say though that game graphics really went downhill in the 24th century! Haha)
