Note: We've updated this story for TNG's 30th anniversary.
Captain Picard, Will Riker, the Enterprise-D and all the rest of it (but not Ten Forward -- that wouldn't come until a year later!) first hit our not so big, and definitely not flat screen TVs 30 years ago today. On September 28, 1987, "Encounter at Farpoint," the premiere episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation, aired -- and what a long, strange (and occasionally cheesy) trip it's been.
I remember that fateful day, watching the premiere and trying to like the show more than I really did. But while TNG clearly had room for improvement in its first couple of seasons, improve itself it eventually did, like one of the Federation's perfect, cheerful, pull-yourself-up-by-the-Starfleet-issued-bootstraps citizens. And when it did, it became awesome.
Here then are the nine most awesome Star Trek: The Next Generation moments…
Let's start at the end with the very last episode of The Next Generation. "All Good Things..." was the series finale of TNG, and it's a near perfect one. Ending a beloved TV show is never easy for the show's creators, with all the characters needing some kind of closure even while spectacle and a truly memorable plot must also come into play. But the dynamic duo writing team of Ron Moore and Brannon Braga pulled it off here with the story of a time-tripping Picard who must solve a galactic riddle in three different time periods -- including a visit back to the very first episode of the show.
"All Good Things..." is full of awesome, including the cranky old future Picard, one of the best turns ever by the omnipotent trickster Q, slam-bang visuals and design, and a perfect coda that serves as a sign-off for the cast while also subtly blasting them off to the big screen. All that, plus three Enterprise-Ds confronting the same threat together? It's an unforgettable sight for even the most diehard Trekker. And, of course, they ensure the very creation of humanity along the way...
Q, the Wisea$$: "The anomaly, my ship, my crew; I suppose you're worried about your fish, too!"
One of the coolest things about setting The Next Generation almost a century after the adventures of Kirk and Spock was that it allowed for certain elements of The Original Series to be upended. The presence of Worf on the bridge, for example, was a big question mark in the early days of the show. What happened between the Klingons and the Federation that eventually made them so chummy?
The evolution of the Klingon saga, as it played through Worf's personal experiences and over the course of both TNG and its sequel series Deep Space Nine, was one of the pleasures of the show. And a great moment in that expansive story is the death of K'Ehleyr, the mother of Worf's son Alexander -- who he'd only just learned about. Aside from the blood, tears and drama of the episode (Season 4's "Reunion"), the death of K'Ehleyr is so memorable because of the performance of Suzie Plakson in the role. Unlike any Klingon you've ever met (or half-Klingon in this case), she was a smart, resourceful and sarcastic number. It's a shame we only got her for two episodes before she met her end.
Great Moments in Klingon Revenge: Worf introduces K'Ehleyr's killer to the business end of a bat'leth, old school.
With Season 3's "The Bonding," a quantum shift took place in the realm of sci-fi TV writing, though we didn't realize it just yet. The episode was the first by a young Ron Moore, the scribe who would later go on to become not just a major player on TNG and Deep Space Nine, but who also wrote two of the feature films (yes, including First Contact). After leaving Trek, he would create the modern Battlestar Galactica, which essentially rewrote the book on how genre television should be done.
As for "The Bonding," it's a great little story about three of the Enterprise's orphans (Worf, Wesley and a young boy who recently lost his mother). It's also a rare example of when having civilians onboard actually served the purposes of making good television.
Picard Sings The Smiths: "It is part of our lifecycle that we accept the death of those we love. Jeremy must come to terms with his grief. He must not cover it or hide away from it. You see, we are mortal. Our time in this universe is finite. That is one of the truths that all humans must learn."
One thing about Star Trek that has always bugged me is how ordinary the aliens the Enterprise crew encounters usually are. It's the forehead of the week dilemma, one of budget but also logistics. If you're going to depict something truly alien, chances are it might not make for the best 45 minutes of television drama. Cue studio exec: "It doesn't talk, fight, eat, or have sex? So what're we gonna show in the teaser?"
But the fifth-season episode "Darmok" is an example of TNG working around this problem in at least one area: language. Yes, Paul Winfield's alien captain Dathon still has a funny forehead, but the challenge he brings to Picard is unique. His inscrutable race, The Children of Tama, speak in metaphor; which is to say their individual words make sense, but the overall meaning not so much. But that's where Picard comes in, with his smarty-pants degrees from Starfleet Academy and whatnot.
Patrick Stewart Challenges You Not to Cry: As Dathon lay dying, Picard tells his new friend the story of Gilgamesh. In metaphor, of course.
In its first few seasons, TNG was usually pretty careful to avoid direct references to Kirk and his crew. But as the show became more established as its own entity, there was room for some fun in this area. Not that the arrival of Sarek, Spock's dad from TOS and movies, was terribly fun. Ancient now and afflicted with the Vulcan disorder Bendii Syndrome -- the story is basically a Trek allegory for Alzheimer's -- Sarek is unable to complete his one final, grand diplomatic mission. The respected Vulcan can no longer control his emotions, and those long-repressed, intense feelings are being telepathically projected onto the ship's crewmembers.
In the end it falls to Picard to help Sarek remaster his feelings, if only for a short time. He offers his control, his discipline via mind meld, absorbing all of Sarek's wild emotions -- anger, pain, regret, sadness -- while the Vulcan finishes his mission. All of which leads to a tour de force moment of acting from Patrick Stewart, as will happen.
Awkward Picard/Riker Workplace Exchange:
Riker: "The mission with the Legarans cannot be carried out with Sarek in this condition."
Picard: "I know that!"
Riker: "Then tell him that there is no way!"
Picard: "Don't you tell me what to do!!"
Continues
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