Star Trek The Next Generation Season 4 Guide: Data Talks & Geordi Stalks

The season starts off strong, wrapping up The Best of Both Worlds and following it with one of my favorite hidden gem episodes in the series. After a lull of a few episodes things pick back up again as the writers setup the finale with Reunion. While season 4 isn’t particularly loaded with must-watch episodes, it’s probably the most even season in terms of overall quality.

As I’ve mentioned in the previous iterations of this guide, my purpose is to speed someone right to the meat and potatoes of the series. I’ve marked the bad episodes that lack any details about the overall series mythology “skip” – the one-offs that aren’t necessarily great but might be worth coming back to “skippable” – episodes that are solid or contain required information about the series mythology, “watch” – and the unforgettable episodes, “must watch.”

The Best of Both Worlds Part 2 – Must Watch - As Locutus and the Borg speed toward Earth the crew struggles to devise a plan to stop them. The conclusion of the two-parter is considered by some to be the pinnacle of entire series. To be sure I think it’s a spectacular episode but in hind-sight I wouldn’t put it at the head of my personal top ten list. As I mentioned in the previous season what we didn’t know at the time was how diluted the Borg mythology would become over time, thanks to Voyager and First Contact. Based on First Contact, we’re to believe the Borg Queen was on board? Then there’s the notion that the Borg can’t function without a member of their collective once indoctrinated, which is immediately violated in later episodes they’re featured in. These are petty quibbles. Taken by itself this is a wonderful episode that instantly infused Picard with depth and complexity not possible at any point previous in the universe.

Family - Must Watch – Family would land somewhere on my top five list of underrated episodes. The ship returns to earth for a refit and the crew is given much needed shore leave. For the first time in the series, events from previous seasons have ramifications in a completely different episode. The series becomes an arc. Worf’s adopted parent’s visit him, concerned about his recent dis-commendation by the empire. Beverly stumbles on a message for Wesley from his Dad. Picard returns home to France, still recovering from his experience with the Borg. The episode holds the distinction of being the only one in the series that doesn’t feature a single shot of the bridge and that’s sort of an apt metaphor for the episode itself. This is a character building episode devoid of any action. We get a penetrating vision into how the events of the series are shaping the characters we love. It’s a tantalizing episode and makes me wonder what might have been if the show had been made today and been allowed to be more serialized.

"Looks like your eye-line sensors are screwing up boy."

Brothers – Must Watch – This is a pivotal episode in Data’s story arc and a good one, if a little uneven. Data appears to be acting oddly before he commandeers the ship. He beams himself down to a planet and is brought face to face with Noonian Soong. Eventually Lore, called in a similar manner as Data, appears and the father and his two sons struggle to rectify some of their differences. Unfortunately the episode suffers from being too short. There is a compelling mystery adventure that consumes the first fifteen minutes of the episode. What’s happening to Data? How is the crew going to stop him? Then the character study of Noonian and his two sons for the last twenty five that just completely puts the first story on hold. Maybe this should have been a two parter but as is neither story is given enough screen time and feels only partially fleshed out. This is probably the only episode in all seven seasons that Lore does more than mustache twirling. His scenes with Noonian show a depth and longing to his character. It’s a window that’s open only a brief instant before the story rushes to an inadequate climax. Why was Lore interested in the emotion chip when he already had emotion? Data shows himself to be an ungodly liability to the crew in the first fifteen minutes. Did they really just shrug off him stealing the entire ship because of some latent programming that even he wasn’t aware of? There’s good stuff here that you have to see but none of it is explored to it’s potential and ends up feeling unfulfilling when it’s over.

Suddenly Human – SKIP – The Enterprise rescues a group of alien soldier children on a training mission and finds an indoctrinated human among them. On Troi’s advice, Picard attempts to be a father figure to the young man and ends up paying the price. Man this one sucks. Chad Allen (a regular on My Two Dads, and Doctor Quinn Medicine Woman) plays the boy and goes with “Angsty Flat-Talker” for his performance choice. I’ve never seen either of those other shows but his performance here is abysmal and only made worse by pairing him for all his scenes with Patrick Stewart. There’s a bunch of awkward “alien” rituals in the story, some nails-on-a-chalkboard melodrama, and the common Star Trek problem of the aliens looking identical to humans except for a small prosthesis on their noses. Avoid this one.

Remember Me – Skippable – Beverly tries to uncover the reason why Enterprise crew members are disappearing, and why she’s the only one that remembers them. This is an episode where the buildup is greater than the actual payoff. It IS fun as more and more crew members start disappearing until Beverly and Picard are the last two standing on the bridge together. The loneliness and solitude of it all is something you actually feel watching the episode…until we find out that it was dip-shit Wesley that caused the problem and the writers bring back a Star Trek deus ex machina to fix the problem: The Traveler. Seriously they couldn’t have inverted the primary warp transducers or…re-calibrated  the primary…something to get her out of the warp bubble. They HAD to bring back the Traveller who essentially just fixes it with MAGIC! Not only that but we come to find out that Wesley is magic too! Fixing the problem with techno-babble is still just making up the solution to the problem but it does so in a way that doesn’t utterly violate the established rules of the fictional universe. The reason the Traveller sucks is because he may as well just be Harry Potter waving a wand at the warp drive. Still, the ride here may be worth the ending.

Legacy – Skippable – The Enterprise assumes orbit around Tasha Yarr’s birth planet to save a missing crew and they discover the sister she left behind, Ishara. Data must work with her and discern whether her motivations to help them are genuine or not. It’s tempting to give every Data-centric episode a watch because Brent Spiner infuses them so easily with depth and complexity. However Ishara has a penchant for the cringe-worthy melodrama that made many of Tasha’s episodes in the first season so unwatchable. Ishara cares VERY PASSIONATELY for her coalition that we know nothing about (and in fact seems a bit douchey.) It makes it difficult to care about anything she says and a bit mystifying as to why Data seems to care for her in the slightest. Still, there are some good bits here. If you decide to skip at least watch the first five minutes of the episode for a good poker scene.

"I thought the show could use more kids."

Reunion – Watch – Picard is asked to negotiate a conflict over who is to be the next head of the Klingon high council. Meanwhile Worf is reunited with K’Ehleyr who, unbeknownst to him, has given birth to their son Alexander. Love or hate the Klingon stories, Worf’s story arc is an important thread in the overall mythology (especially this season) and makes this one a watch. Ultimately though you’ll probably forget this one that’s heavy on plot but light on characters and ideas.

Future Imperfect – Watch – During a patrol of the Neutral Zone, Riker takes an away team to investigate a strange power source and is overwhelmed by a toxic gas. He awakens 16 years later as Captain of the Enterprise and no memory of the intervening time. This a great concept episode. It’s a lot of fun to see where the crew end up, even when we know it probably isn’t real. Still, the last third falls apart a bit bringing back the one-armed Romulan and steering the story towards a conclusion that doesn’t really live up to the promise of the episodes concept. Regardless, it’s a fun ride in getting there. I especially love the way Riker figures out what’s going on the first time.

Final Mission – Skippable – Wesley and Picard crash on a desert planet. When they finally find water, it is protected by a shield and Wesley must race against the clock to get past it and save Picard’s life. This episode will actually make you thirsty. It also holds the distinction of being one of the first Wesley-centric episodes that doesn’t get an outright skip. There isn’t much here however. The writers toss in an abrasive alien pilot to crash with the two leads and provide some dramatic tension and there’s some motherly stressing from Beverly on the Enterprise but nothing ever really goes anywhere. The really promising material, that being Picard’s ambiguous relationship to Beverly and Wesley’s dead father Jack, remains unspoken and left me wondering again if there might not have been more here had the show been serialized.

The Loss – Skippable – The Enterprise gets stuck in the wake of two dimensional beings and Counselor Troi loses her empathic abilities as a result. I’m dying to give this one a SKIP because Troi acts like such a giant sassy-pants ass in the episode. The Loss is split between two stories, one of them a compelling mystery and the other a tedious and annoying character study. The story about how the crew is going to save the ship is actually a fun one. However Troi’s run in with “disability” is so annoying you may throw your remote through the screen. She goes from Queen Compassion to self-entitled emo-narcissist so fast it’s as though this hateful egocentric character has been lurking beneath her this entire time. Rather than causing you to empathize and like her more it gives her personality a slightly nasty edge. Watch at your own risk.

Data’s Day – Must Watch – Data writes a letter to Maddox about a typical day of his which includes a wedding, learning to dance, and a skirmish with the Romulans. The episode is a wonderful departure from the shows conventional narrative. Data’s first person narrative structure and the episodes “day-in-the-life” structure provide a wealth of wonderful insights into the crew and daily activities on the ship. This episode was scripted by Ronald Moore, who wrote a number of good ones and later went on to do the new Battlestar. There are several highlights but my favorite is when Worf and Data help each other pick out a gift for Keiko and O’Brien’s wedding.

"Sure you can tell us apart. I have facial hair. Totally different."

The Wounded – Watch – The Enterprise is fired upon by Cardassians retaliating for the destruction of their outpost by a rogue Federation ship. As a sign of good faith, Picard takes on a delegation of Cardassian’s and tries to chase down the rogue ship that is lead by Benjamin Maxwell, O’Brien’s ex-captain. This episode cheats the Cardassian’s into the  series mythology. I say cheats because according to the episode the Federation was involved in a very serious war with them just a year before the episode. As the flagship, you’d have thought the Enterprise would have had more to do with the conflict. Still it’s forgivable. Marc Alaimo plays Gul Macet in the episode and later went on to play Gul Dukat in DS9. This is a wonderful character story of O’Brien and his former captain Maxwell, played wonderfully by Bob Gunton (the warden from The Shawshank Redemption.) In an unusually strong and nuanced performance for a guest star, Gunton delivers through expression and inflection the weight of his choices and mistakes. His final scene is heart breaking, as he and O’Brien sit in a darkened Captain’s ready room and reminisce about the war and he finally  accepts the inevitable.

Devil’s Due – Skippable – The Enterprise answers a distress call from a planet whose thousand year contract with the devil is about to come due. The she-devil in question says that the Enterprise is now hers as it was in orbit when the contract came due. Picard requests a mediator and orders Data to arbitrate the dispute. Definitely lighter fare in a pretty heavy season, which isn’t a bad thing. There are some fun scenes between Ardra (the devil) and Picard, especially in his pajamas. However the episode requires too much suspension of disbelief, ever for Star Trek. As when Data and Picard are returning to the Enterprise and Ardra makes the entire ship disappear. Given the explanation of her powers later on it seemed dubious to me that the Enterprise would 1. not be able to escape from it and 2. not spot the source of what was making them…erm…disappear. Especially because they overwhelm her so easily (and off camera) later in the story. Still, it isn’t a terrible episode and might be worth a viewing if you’re not just hitting the high points in the season.

Clues – Skippable – Another promising concept episode with an inadequate ending. After passing through a wormhole the entire crew except for Data is rendered unconscious for thirty seconds. When they come to, they begin discovering mysterious signs aboard the ship that things are not as they appear, including Data. It’s a fun ride the first time through, staring at Data’s glassy eyed expression and wondering what’s on the other side of it. However as the mystery builds and the time begins to run out, we as the viewers start to realize that whatever is at the end of the mystery isn’t going to live up to it’s epic promise. And then it doesn’t.

First Contact – Watch – An Arkonian hospital takes in a patient with five fingers and toes. Meanwhile the government looks to push into space and break the warp barrier for the very first time. In another interesting departure from their more common narrative structure, we don’t actually see a federation uniform or hear any of the main cast speak for the first 8 minutes of this episode. In fact the camera never goes anywhere without an Arkonian until we see the Enterprise leaving orbit at the end. It’s an interesting vision of what it must be like for a species to discover the universe of aliens that is the Federation for the first time. However much of the story is consumed with dry politics and cliched xenophobia that doesn’t hold up to repeat viewing. Still, it’s an interesting window into a mission type we don’t see too much of throughout the series.

"Do you have ANY idea how CREEPY this is?!?"

Galaxy’s Child - Watch – Dr. Leah Brahms comes on board the Enterprise to study changes Geordi has made to the engines she designed. Their interactions don’t live up to Geordi’s expectations he developed after he fell in love with her on the holodeck in a previous episode called Boobytrap. They put their differences aside though after the ship is latched onto by an energy sapping alien the size of a ship. Geordi’s creepy and overly familiar advances towards Brahams are like a train wreck you can’t look away from. As the episode creeps closer and closer towards Leah discovering the source of his amorous and stalker-y feelings I find myself wanting to turn it off rather than sit through the incredibly awkward confrontation. The episode uses the “ship-in-peril” sub-plot as a way of moving the two characters past the disastrous interaction and while in reality I don’t think it would save Geordi from a stalker indictment, in the context of the episode I bought it. At the end of the episode Geordi and Leah are friends when she gets up to answer a call from her husband leaving Geordi staring out the window of Ten Forward, forever alone.

Night Terror’s – Watch – The Enterprise finds the crew of a missing science vessel all dead, save for one catatonic Betazoid. As they try and get to the bottom of what happened crew members begin experiencing nightmarish hallucinations. I love this episode. There are a few genuinely creepy moments throughout (particularly when Beverly is in the cargo bay with the bodies) and the soundtrack stands out from this season as being uniquely moody and atmospheric. It’s not without it’s share of ham of course. A couple of guest stars turn in painful performances and the flying effect used repeatedly when Troi is dreaming looks downright silly. Still it’s a fun and slightly unnerving ship-in-peril episode.

Identity Crisis – Watch – The Enterprise investigates the disappearance of several crew members from Geordi’s former assignment before coming on the Enterprise. As they start to understand what happened to each member Geordi finds himself wondering if he’ll be the victim of the same phenomena. This is a difficult episode to explain as the mystery of why Geordi’s crewmates disappeared is given a nice gentle introduction. There’s a wonderful moment in the holodeck with some wonderful creep factor based around a single shadow. Because the episode builds so well, when the answer to the mystery is finally revealed it’s earned and doesn’t feel like a cheat as is the case in a number of others. Low point though with the ultra violet black-light “makeup.”

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The Nth Degree – Watch – Lt. Barclay returns as the crew investigates the cause of a malfunction aboard a deep space telescope. When Barclay and LaForge try and study a mysterious probe they find nearby the probe knocks Barclay unconscious. When he comes back Barclay finds all of his cognitive abilities as well as his self-confidence begin to grow exponentially. At it’s core, The Nth Degree is a pure wish-fulfillment episode: the nerdy uncomfortable outcast becomes the man he always dreamed to be. Barclay’s transformation is extremely fun to watch as he goes from a state of constant neuroticism to hitting on Troi, stealing the show in a play, and staying up all night arguing theory with Albert Einstein. It’s enough to distract from the episodes stupid conclusion and the source of the alien “probe,” which is all tacked on in the final three minutes: Alien explorers bringing the galaxy to them rather than going out and exploring it themselves. How is it these aliens aren’t fighting a hundred wars with pissed off species whose incompatible technology got wrecked? Ah well, still a decent episode.

Qpid – Watch – In an effort to repay a debt to Picard for saving his life, Q places Vash and the crew in a recreation of Robin Hood and his merry men. It’s an incredibly dumb episode not really worthy of any analysis. This same year this episode came out Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves was released (Kevin Costner’s followup to Dances With Wolves.) I doubt it was a coincidence. Vash and Picard still have zero chemistry and even Q seems wasted once the ham-tastic Robin Hood sequence begins. Still there’s enough humor here to make it watchable (With John De Lancie there usually is) and, bizarrely the writers bring Vash back AGAIN in a DS9 episode later on which I guess technically makes this a mythology episode.

The Drumhead – Watch – During an investigation of a warp core explosion and the sale of top secret schematics to the Romulan’s, the federation brings in Admiral Norah Satie. The admiral begins to unfold what she believes to be  greater and greater web of conspiracy. Occasionally there are ambitious episodes in the series that, for better or for worse, try and make some kind of social commentary. In this case it’s mostly for the better. Admiral Satie’s search for Romulan spies aboard the ship is a cold war paranoia metaphor that works until the last act where it becomes so overt she nearly transforms into a mustache twirling McCarthy.  However the show got a strong English actress in Jean Simmons to carry the roll. So often Patrick Stewart dwarfs his guest stars but the last scene in this episode between Jean Simmons and him crackles.

Half a Life – SKIP – Lwaxanna Troi falls in love with a man who has reached the age where it is custom among his people to commit suicide. I’m going to be very honest here. Full disclosure. I’m not a hundred percent certain that I’ve ever made it all the way through this episode before, front to back. I’ve seen it in fits and spurts and probably watched all of it cumulatively over many attempted viewings. I find Lwaxanna such a depressingly terrible character and Majel Barrett’s acting so irritating that I’ve never sat through it one sitting. There ARE some good elements here and it makes the whole episode feel like such a waste. David Ogden Stiers is a wonderful character actor and turns in a fine performance as Timicin, the man Lwaxanna falls in love with. This could have been thoughtful metaphor about trying to reconcile cultural differences so vast they may be irreconcilable (say, female circumcision or various religious practices.) Why they chose THIS plot with such a mind-bogglingly awful character as Lwaxanna (who it’s hard to believe anyone could fall in love with let alone refrain from jettisoning out an airlock) is unknown.

"Can I put my worm in you? heh heh heh. But seriously I could die if you say no."

The Host – Watch – Beverly falls in love with an alien ambassador who’s personality is actually the total of two different organisms, the host body and the symbiotic organism inside of him. When the negotiator’s host body is injured Riker takes the symbiote on to finish the ambassador’s mission and Beverly must struggle to understand her…I dunno. Own feelings. Or something. All right so this episode isn’t quite in my wheelhouse. It isn’t the fact that the episode is romance heavy, it’s that the romance isn’t based in character, just a bunch of readily available cliche. The entire romance between the two of them occurs off-camera. We never really get to know who Ambassador Odan is and there isn’t anything new revealed about Beverly that makes the romance between the two of them interesting or believable. There might have been potential here to learn about Beverly’s relationship with Jack or something that would have brought some dramatic tension. Still, this episode introduces the Trill, an important species in DS9 and there are some nice thoughts as to the physical and spiritual nature of love and sexuality. There are also some nice scenes between Beverly and the other crew members and a great ending. Oh and Riker and Bev boink, presumably while Geordi sits in Ten Forward still staring out the window. Still forever alone.

The Mind’s Eye – Must Watch – Geordi is brainwashed by the Romulan’s in order to assassinate a Klingon leader and breakup the alliance between the Klingon’s and the Federation. The episode is an obvious nod to the Manchurian Candidate and foreshadows some of the events to come in Redemption Parts 1 and 2. There are some chilling scenes when Geordi is being held captive by the Romulan’s and a nice tense race to the finish. Good one to watch.

In Theory – Watch – On the advice of the senior crew, Data enters into a romantic relationship with a fellow crew member and the ship pointlessly gets into peril to keep everyone’s attention for 45 minutes. I just kept thinking two things while watching this: 1. The senior staff must really not like this woman if they’re telling Data to return her advances. Why would they think a romantic relationship with someone completely incapable of emotions actually be good for her? And second, why did the writers feel it necessary to include the dark matter ship-in-peril plot? Ultimately all it does is steal screen time away from a significant development in one of the most loved character’s story arc. Quibbles aside, as usual Brent Spiner’s performance is compulsively watchable and this story is a poignant one. By the end when the inevitable happens and Jenna leaves Data’s quarters we’re left with a long shot of him stroking Spot and we’re not certain who to feel sorry for.

"Huuuuman's have a way of showing up when you LEAST expect them!! See what I did there? See it sounded like I was talking about Picard but really I'm talking about me because I look like Tasha. It's like one of those Double Entendre things and I did it all creepy like OOOoooOOoooo.....OOoooooOooo...I'll come in again."

Redemption Part 1 – Must Watch – A civil war threatens the Klingon Empire and Worf has to choose between his between his duties as a Star Fleet Officer and loyalty to his people. It doesn’t get much more important than the season ending two-parters. This episode introduces the Durass sisters, nullifies Worf’s discommendation, puts Gowron in charge of the empire, and introduces a familiar looking Romulan. They dump so much money into these season finales that the space battles are pretty epic. I still stand by my criticism that the Klingons behave like such neanderthal’s that they never should have made it into space. Where are all the nerdy Klingon scientists anyway? But I digress. In truth it’s a pretty well written episode until the very last cringe-inducing line.

Big “Thank You” this week to everyone who posted comments asking where the hell this guide was. Probably wouldn’t have gotten done without you. In the comments below tell us what the best and worst episodes are from this season. If you enjoyed the review please hit a share button and help us out. And watch for the Season 5 Guide Coming “Soon.”