Set over a century after the original Star Trek, the Next Generation features some of the best stories in ST as well as the whole sci-fi genre, serving as inspiration for many. This list covers the most essential TNG episodes.

<Conv text="Wow, what an amazing series the expanse is! Can't wait for season 6

Riiight? Told you it is amazing

Ikr I'm starting to get the feel of scifi I can see why you keep watching it

You should watch star trek then

Which one tho, there's so many

Well, you could start with TNG The original series is quite old And the new ones are quite cheesy :p

TNG, hmm, there's like 200 episodes!

Well, you don't have to watch them all A lot of them are quite meh (and also one off) Tell you what, I'll give you a few episodes to watch See what you make of them

Sounds good

You can probably start with 4x11 "Data's Day" Introduces most of the main characters, and the ship itself

Ooh

Then maybe you can watch 3x10 "The Defector" Bunch of TNG politics in that one, pretty good And to top it off for Captain Picard, probably 5x02 "Darmok"

Coool, I'll get to watching these

And I shall compile a list of watchables">

Star Trek: The Next Generation Watch Guide

TNG is long, very long. Spanning 176-178 (Depending on how you count them) 45-50 minute long episodes across seven seasons, it'll take close to 140 hours to watch them all! And not all of it is great, as with 26 episodes a season it's difficult to produce all good stories.

LetsWatchStarTrek have compiled a list of The Essential 20 bare minimum episodes to watch, as well as their ratings. DenOfGeek have their own top 25. Having watched all of star trek in college (well, I had nothing else to do :p), this is my list of the essential episodes to catch up on TNG or to re-watch.

The marked episodes are a must watch.

Season 1

• 1x01, 1x02 — "Encounter at Farpoint"
• 1x14 — "Datalore"
• 1x19 — "Coming of Age"
• 1x21 — "The Arsenal of Freedom"
• 1x22 — "Symbiosis"
• 1x23 — "Skin of Evil"
• 1x25 — "Conspiracy"
• 1x26 — "The Neutral Zone"

Season 2

• 2x01 — "The Child"
• 2x03 — "Elementary, Dear Data"
• 2x07 — "Unnatural Selection"
• 2x08 — "A Matter of Honor"
• 2x09 — "The Measure of a Man"
• 2x11 — "Contagion"
• 2x13 — "Time Squared"
• 2x15 — "Pen Pals"
• 2x16 — "Q Who"
• 2x20 — "The Emissary"
• 2x21 — "Peak Performance"

Season 3

• 3x04 — "Who Watches the Watchers"
• 3x05 — "The Bonding"
• 3x07 — "The Enemy"
• 3x10 — "The Defector"
• 3x12 — "The High Ground"
• 3x13 — "Deja Q"
• 3x14 — "A Matter of Perspective"
• 3x15 — "Yesterday's Enterprise"
• 3x16 — "The Offspring"
• 3x17 — "Sins of the Father"
• 3x19 — "Captain's Holiday"
• 3x23 — "Sarek"
• 3x26 — "The Best of Both Worlds, Part I"

Season 4

• 4x01 — "The Best of Both Worlds, Part II"
• 4x02 — "Family"
• 4x03 — "Brothers"
• 4x05 — "Remember Me"
• 4x07 — "Reunion"
• 4x09 — "Final Mission"
• 4x11 — "Data's Day"
• 4x12 — "The Wounded"
• 4x14 — "Clues"
• 4x20 — "Qpid"
• 4x24 — "The Mind's Eye"
• 4x26 — "Redemption, Part I"

Season 5

• 5x01 — "Redemption, Part II"
• 5x02 — "Darmok"
• 5x03 — "Ensign Ro"
• 5x05 — "Disaster"
• 5x07, 5x08 — "Unification"
• 5x09 — "A Matter of Time"
• 5x14 — "Conundrum"
• 5x16 — "Ethics"
• 5x17 — "The Outcast"
• 5x18 — "Cause And Effect"
• 5x23 — "I, Borg"
• 5x24 — "The Next Phase"
• 5x25 — "The Inner Light"
• 5x26 — "Time's Arrow, Part I"

Season 6

• 6x01 — "Time's Arrow, Part II"
• 6x02 — "Realm of Fear"
• 6x04 — "Relics"
• 6x05 — "Schisms"
• 6x09 — "The Quality of Life"
• 6x10, 6x11 — "Chain of Command"
• 6x12 — "Ship in a Bottle"
• 6x14 — "Face of the Enemy"
• 6x15 — "Tapestry"
• 6x18 — "Starship Mine"
• 6x21 — "Frame of Mind"
• 6x25 — "Timescape"
• 6x26 — "Descent, Part I"

Season 7

• 7x01 — "Descent, Part II"
• 7x04, 7x05 — "Gambit"
• 7x06 — "Phantasms"
• 7x11 — "Parallels"
• 7x12 — "The Pegasus"
• 7x15 — "Lower Decks"
• 7x16 — "Thine Own Self"
• 7x19 — "Genesis"
• 7x24 — "Preemptive Strike"
• 7x25, 7x26 — "All Good Things..."

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