Best of Star Trek: TNG Season 5
The Five Strongest Episodes of the Next Generation's Fifth Year
Jan 4, 2009
Following the strength of both season 3 and season 4, it is hardly surprising that Star Trek: The Next Generation stumbled a bit in season 5. While there was a solid crop of great episodes, no season had seen as many weak episodes since the writer's strike truncated season 2.
Redemption (2)
Picard discovers that the half-Romulan daughter of Tasha Yar is behind the faction trying to start a Klingon civil war. Data has his first shot at command and Brett Spiner's riveting performance on the bridge of the Sutherland is a stand out. Plenty of action and great performances all around.
Unification 1&2
Spock returns to the Star Trek Universe, this time as an ambassador on an unauthorized mission to try and reunite the Vulcan and Romulan people. While technically two episodes, this almost counts as a single episode, since it is one of the rare mid-season two part episodes. Leonord Nimoy turns in his usual top notch performance as Spock, while Mark Lenard returns one last time as Spock's father, Sarek.
This episode was dedicated to the memory of Gene Roddenberry, who died just prior to the airing of the first part. The death of Sarek within the episode itself adds an extra dimension of emotional resonance for many fans.
Denise Crosby returns as Commander Sela in the second part of the episode and Malachai Throne, once an admiral on the original series, plays Romulan Senator Pardak.
Without a doubt, this episode represents one of the most significant moments in Star Trek history.
Cause and Effect
Unlike the episode A Matter of Perspective in Season 3, this episode takes 10 minutes of story and stretches it into 40 minutes of solid entertainment. The Enterprise is trapped in a time loop that ends with the ship being destroyed as it collides with another starship that suddenly appears out of a rift in the space-time continuum. As the loop progresses through its set course, the crew slowly become aware of the problem and eventually Data changes a key maneuver to free them from the loop.
I, Borg
The crew rescue a single Borg drone and slowly awaken him to his individuality. As solid a morality tale as any in the show's history, I, Borg takes on issues of self-determination, individual rights and personal responsibility head on.
The Inner Light
The strongest episode of the season, arguably the strongest of the series, The Inner Light turns Patrick Stewart loose to exercise his acting ability more fully than any other episode. Thrown into a life that was never his own, Captain Picard grows from late middle age to an elderly man before the eyes of the audience, experiencing love and loss in equal measure along the way. Positively stunning.
While not in the same class as The Inner Light, honourable mention should go to the episode Darmok, which recalled the classic Arena episode from the original series, along with the episodes Disaster, The Next Phase and the season ending cliffhanger, Time's Arrow (1).
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