8. Yesterday’s Enterprise
Season 3, Episode 15 written by Ira Steven Behr, Richard Manning, Hans Beimler, and Ronald D. Moore and directed by David Carson. While the episode predominantly focuses on a resurrected Cheif Security Officer Tasha Yar (Denise Crosby), Picard shines in many moments, once again revealing a thoughtful and extremely compassionate human being. When the Enterprise-D, thanks to a pesky space anomaly, encounters the Enterprise-C ripped from time in mid-combat with a Romulan vessel, the captain must decide the fates of fellow Starfleet humanitarians to correct the continuity of existence. Not just a great Picard ep, not just a great Star Trek ep, but a great hour of television that is not as dependent on previous show knowledge as you might think. The first The Next Generation episode that I ever saw, and I was hooked by credits.
7. The Inner Light
Season 5, Episode 25 written by Morgan Gendel and Peter Allan Fields, and directed by Peter Lauritson. Picard is zapped unconscious after the Enterprise scans a probe in deep space. He awakens on an unknown planet and in an unknown body. He fights his place for a little bit, but after a while, he settles into the life of a scientist obsessed with a possible nova in their sun’s future. The captain lives 40 years on the planet while his body experiences mere minutes aboard the Enterprise. “The Inner Light” is a bittersweet melodrama that allows Stewart some of his finest moments of performance, and it’s crucial to understand the actions of Picard going forward in the series.
6. Sarek
Season 3, Episode 23 written by Peter S. Beagle and directed by Les Landau. Ambassador Sarek (Mark Lenard), the father of Spock, arrives on the Enterprise determined to execute his final mission for the Federation: to establish open trade with the Legarans. Unfortunately, Sarek is suffering from the Vulcan version of Alzheimer’s and is falling into fits of rage and despair. To ease the ambassador’s pain, Picard volunteers to mind-meld with the Vulcan and takes on decades of restrained emotion surrounding Sarek’s relationship with his son and his human mother. For fans of the classic series, “Sarek” holds an extra layer of depth, but just on its own, the episode wrings heartfelt and crushingly relatable sorrow.
5. Unification Parts 1 and 2
Season 5, Episodes 7 and 8 written by Jeri Taylor and Michael Piller, and directed by Les Landau and Cliff Bole. If you’re going to do “Sarek,” then you gotta do “Unification.” The Federation sends Picard and Data undercover to Romulus after images of an entrenched Ambassador Spock surface. Has the famed Starfleet hero defected? Is he being held against his will? Whatever the answer, Picard and Data are sent to retrieve the legend and, of course, have their expectations challenged by the reality of the situation. Witnessing Leonard Nimoy and Patrick Stewart share the screen is a delight, and the true beauty of the episode arrives in the education that both characters deliver on the other. J.J. Abrams’ 2009 Star Trek is the logical sequel and only improves after a sitdown with “Unification.”
Related Topics: CBS, Patrick Stewart, Star Trek, Star Trek: Picard
