I’m happy to have begun reviewing season four of TNG, my favorite television show of all time. It’s with great pleasure that I get to review TNG episodes as fine as these. Season four started off the strongest of any season so far, and we get two first-class but very different episodes.
First up is the Best of Both Worlds, Part II. As I state in my review, no episode of Star Trek has been met with more anticipation than this one. How could the Enterprise crew possibly defeat this enemy? In part one they slapped down the Enterprise pretty thoroughly, and even kidnapped her captain and assimilated him! How could it possibly be resolved? Part II does the virtually-impossible, and that’s finish this story in a satisfying way to everyone.
If you noticed that Geordi wasn’t in much of this episode, it’s because he had to have emergency surgery while they were shooting. This is why he only appears in close-ups, and why O’Brien’s role was expanded. I also include a link to bloopers from this episode in my review.
Family is a special episode, because it changes how Star Trek is presented from here on out. It’s the first episode that is serialized, or part of a story that you had to have seen previously to understand. Because this episode was done we get to see more serialization through this series and all of the Star Trek that follows. It also kicks off what is a large part of season four, episodes that are dedicated to family. We follow how Picard recovers from his virtual rape by the Borg, Worf dealing with his adoptive parents visiting, and Wes gets a visit from his long-dead father. It’s a standout episode in its own right, and one of the finest in a season of top-caliber episodes.
Did you know that Roddenberry was completely opposed to this episode? He hated the idea of conflict among the crew, and was especially antagonistic of conflict among family. It took some magic from Michael Piller and Rick Berman to get this episode aired the way it was written. Take a look at my review to see more behind-the-scenes info.
That’s it for now, more episode reviews are coming!