So far behind on posting my thoughts so here is a whistle stop tour of them since I last shared!
Best of Both Worlds: Parts 1 & 2Still an amazing setup and insane to think how much better this show is than the gooseberry fool ends of season we had for 1 and 2! The more I re-watch these though the less I think it sticks the landing in Part 2, but that said it's incredibly hard to think of anything that could top the build up for Part 1!
FamilyTop tier Star Trek - this is how you do character stuff... plus some crap about Wesley
BrothersAnd this is how you don't do family stuff! Lore can be great when used well but this is a weak episode for him.
Suddenly HumanI'd have just shoved the boy out of an airlock when he started playing that gooseberry fool music tbf.
Remember MeThis is brilliant for the most part, but I still hate the "Super Space Jesus" Wesley saves the day angle. Everything with Crusher in the bubble universe trying to work out what's going on is excellent and shows just how great a Beverley focused episode can be (Sub Rosa however...
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LegacyI refuse to believe this is not Sarah Connor in space.
ReunionIt's a Klingon/Worf episode, therefore it's really strawberry floating good. First appearance of the Klingon Bat'leth as well I believe? Shame that Alexander is introduced though because he's a bit crap going forward.
Future ImperfectI like the initial mystery and Riker working out that things are not what they seem, him stressing out fake Data with rapid maths, losing his gooseberry fool and telling fake Picard to shut up etc. But it kind of loses it after the initial layer is peeled. Also the episode ends with them having found technology that is clearly way in advance of the existing holodeck and would have loads of uses (both recreational and for things like interrogation etc.) yet once more the Enterprise just shrug their shoulders and move on!
Final MissionNot a bad send off for Wesley all in all, even if the situation to put them in peril is pretty heavy handed - why exactly could they not take one of the Enterprise's shuttles instead of some miner's rust bucket again?
The LossDeanna gets mind raped by 2D monsters, audience shrugs.
Data's DayLove it, a great format for an episode and showcases some really nice interactions between Data and various members of the crew. Refuse to believe that the transporter wouldn't have identified that the ambassador was actually a Romulan though - I know they are an offshoot of the same ancestors as Vulcans but surely there are sufficient differences now that could be detected?
The WoundedI really like this one, not just for giving O'Brien some really good stuff to do, it's a very good exploration of political and military tensions and how easy it can be for people to get left behind in their mindset of the world. Maxwell isn't right in the actions he takes, but at the same time he was right that the Cardassian's were up to something! And yeah, the Cardassian's have arrived, with Gul Dukat's twin or something!
Devil's DueNot the worst "super being terrorises a world!!!!" episode, the chemistry between Picard and Ardra is good enough to sustain it, but the format is still tired which hurts it.
CluesIt's a very nice episode. Red Dwarf did it better though
First ContactAnother one that I really like, not least because Riker gets to bang Frasier's space wife
Galaxy's ChildGeordi
This was never a great episode but the gender politics are so incredibly strawberry floated up in the light of 2022 vision
Night TerrorsThis is a decent episode, they do a good job of demonstrating the crew slowly falling apart mentally. Still not buying the resolution though - "eyes in the dark, one moon circles" could mean anything FFS!
Identity CrisisI don't mind this one, but it's nothing special. After the events of Galaxy's Child I kind of wouldn't have cared if Geordi got abandoned as an invisible UV space creature really!