When I finished watching the original Star Trek series, I posted a ranked list of all the episodes.  However, I don’t think ranked lists are the most effective way to show the best of a TV series.  So for Star Trek: The Next Generation, I’m making an essential viewing guide.  This list includes all of the episodes that I gave a grade of A- or higher, but also significant episodes to ongoing story and character arcs throughout the series.  Mind you, these aren’t the only episodes you should watch if you’re interested in Star Trek: The Next Generation, but they are the episodes I think you shouldn’t miss.  72 of the series 178 episodes are listed here, but if you think I overlooked any vital episodes, let me know in the comments.

Season 1

• 1-2. Encounter at Farpoint – the premiere is stiff and uneven, but it introduces all our main characters as well as Q.
• 6. Where No One Has Gone Before – the first truly good adventure for the Enterprise-D, which introduces the Traveler and a story arc for Wesley Crusher.
• 12. The Big Goodbye – the first of many stories in which the holodeck goes wrong, and one of the best.
• 13. Datalore – gets us acquainted with Data’s origin story and introduces his evil twin.
• 20. Heart of Glory – an introduction on how The Next Generation is going to explore Klingon culture in ways never seen before and Worf’s ongoing efforts to learn about his people.
• 23. Skin of Evil – typically, killing off a major character in the first season is a bold move, but for TNG it was a sign of the series’ production troubles.  Nevertheless, Tasha Yar’s memorial service may be the character’s best moment.

Season 2

• 3. Elementary, Dear Data – Data & Geordi’s fascination with Sherlock Holmes stories accidentally leads to the creation of an AI lifeform.
• 8. A Matter of Honor – Riker joins a Klingon ship on an officer exchange program.  More Klingon fun and a great episode for Riker.
• 9. The Measure of a Man – speaking of lifeforms, Data has to prove to Starfleet he’s a sentient being with rights with Riker forced to prosecute the case against him.
• 16. Q Who – The crew of the Enterprise-D face their most notorious adversary for the first time, the Borg!
• 20. The Emissary – In order to negotiate with a Klingon sleeper ship, the Federation sends half-Klingon/half-human K’Ehleyr to join the Enterprise, who turns out to be a romantic interest for Worf.  An important story in Worf’s ongoing character arc.
• 21. Peak Performance – to prepare for the Borg, the Enterprise crew are split into two ships to compete in military exercises.  A good episode for the characters showing their talents outside of their typical roles.

Season 3

• 5. The Bonding – Worf bonds with a boy orphaned after his mother dies on away mission.  Ronald D. Moore’s first script for the show.
• 6. Booby Trap – Geordi figures out how to fix the warp drive with a holodeck recreation of its designer, Dr. Leah Brahams and Picard shows off his piloting skills.
• 7. The Enemy – Geordi is stranded on a planet with a Romulan crash survivor and they have to work together to escape.
• 10. The Defector – An elite Romulan defects to the Federation in an effort to prevent war.  But does his story ring true?
• 13. Deja Q – Q is stripped of his powers and forced to live as a human in this humorous episode.
• 15. Yesterday’s Enterprise – a time rift creates an alternate timeline where the Federation is at war with the Klingon Empire and Tasha Yar is still alive.  An all-time classic!
• 17. Sins of the Father – Worf meets a long-lost family member and they challenge the Klingon High Council’s judgement of Worf’s father.
• 22. The Most Toys – Data is captured by a collector and put in a private museum, but stoically refuses to be treated as an object.  A great performance by Brent Spiner.
• 23. Sarek – TNG avoided references to the original series up to this point, but in this episode Spock’s father Sarek, aged and ailing, forms a bond with Picard.
• 26. The Best of Both Worlds, Part 1 – the Borg are preparing to attack Earth and they assimilate Picard to be their mouthpiece.  This was the first season-ending cliffhanger for Star Trek and one of the best.

Season 4

• 1. The Best of Both Worlds, Part II – The Enterprise crew must rescue Captain Picard and defeat the Picard, which they do in the most unexpected way.
• 2. Family – a rarity in the era of episodic television, characters deal with the ramifications of the previous story, particularly Picard suffering PTSD on a visit to his brother’s vineyard.
• 3. Brothers – Data meets his father and has to face off against Lore again.
• 5. Remember Me – Dr. Crusher contends with everyone disappearing from existence and having to solve the mystery, with an another appearance by The Traveler.
• 6. Legacy – The Enterprise visits Tasha Yar’s home planet and meets her sister who is part of one of the planet’s warring factions.
• 7. Reunion – K’Ehleyr returns with a child, Alexander, fathered by Worf!  Another story in the ongoing Klingon political conflict that will be paid off in the season finale.
• 8. Future Imperfect – Riker wakes up 16 years in the future not remembering what happened in the intervening years.
• 11. Data’s Day – A concept episode that shows one day from the point of view of Data. It’s also a story that’s key for Keiko and Miles O’Brien, and introduces Data’s cat Spot!
• 12. The Wounded – another important Miles O’Brien story in which his former captain has gone rogue against the Cardassians.
• 14. Clues – the crew wake up after passing through a wormhole and realize that certain things are … off … about the ship.
• 15. First Contact – a story told from the point of view of a world meeting the aliens from space (the Enterprise crew) for the first time.
• 20. Qpid – some silly fun when Q puts the crew into a Robin Hood adventure.
• 22. Half A Life – Lwaxana Troi has a touching romance with an alien from a world where the tradition is practice ritual suicide at the age of 60.  With a great guest performance by David Ogden Stiers.
• 26. Redemption, Part 1 – Worf leaves Starfleet to join his brother in the Klingon Civil War supporting Gowron against the Duras Sisters.

Season 5

• 1. Redemption, Part II – the conclusion ties up the ongoing Klingon political conflict with Picard outwitting the Romulan Sela.
• 2. Darmok – a masterpiece of Star Trek storytelling in which Picard is caught in an adventure with a Tamarian captain in order for him to learn their language that is told through metaphors.
• 3. Ensign Ro – a new crew member with a trouble past joins the Enterprise.  The Bajorans and their liberation from the Cardassians become key to the spinoff series Deep Space Nine.
• 5. Disaster – in a pastiche to disaster films, each member of the crews finds themselves in a position outside of their experience with Troi in command on the bridge, Worf helping to deliver Keiko’s baby, and Picard trapped in a turbolift with children.
• 6. The Game – the crew become addicted to a virtual reality game and only a visiting Wesley Crusher and guest star Ashley Judd can save the day.
• 7-8. Unification – Spock is back!  The Enterprise crew seek out Ambassador Spock as he carries out a renegade plan to work with a Romulan resistance movement.
• 14. Conundrum – the entire crew lose their memory and have to figure out who is in charge and what is their mission.
• 17. The Outcast – in a story that acts as a metaphor for the LGBTQ experience, Riker and a person from an androgynous society fall in love.
• 18. Cause and Effect – a great time loop story that features the Enterprise exploding several times and then meeting Kelsey Grammer.
• 19. The First Duty – Wesley Crusher is caught up in a scandal at Starfleet Academy.
• 23. I, Borg – a Borg separated from the hive mind begins to develop an individual personality and takes on the name Hugh.
• 24. The Next Phase – Ro and LaForge are caught out of phase in a transporter incident and have to figure out how they can be recovered while observing the crew planning their memorial service.
• 25. The Inner Light – Picard is caught in the beam of a space beacon and experiences that entire life of a man who lived on a world that is now gone.  Another masterpiece.

Season 6

• 4. Relics – Scotty is back after being trapped in a transporter for decades.  After some fan service, the show depicts Scotty finding a way to feel useful working with Geordi.
• 7. Rascals – a silly but clever story where Picard, Ro, Guinan, and Keiko are turned into 12-year-old children with their adult memories and experience after a transporter incident.
• 8. A Fistful of Datas – Data’s mind gets caught in the ship’s computer causing strange and dangerous things to happen in Alexander’s Old West holodeck program.
• 10-11. Chain of Command – Picard is captured when an undercover mission on a Cardassian planet goes wrong and is tortured by Gul Madred (David Warner). One of Star Trek’s greatest dramas and a gut-wrenching performance by Patrick Stewart.
• 14. Face of the Enemy – a surgically-altered Troi goes undercover on a Romulan warbird.
• 15. Tapestry – during a near-death experience, Q allows Picard to relive his younger days and address his greatest regret.
• 16-17. Birthright – Worf (and Data) learn more about their fathers.
• 20. The Chase – I didn’t like this episode much but it is the background to season 5 of Star Trek: Discovery.
• 21. Frame of Mind – Riker is made to believe that he’s in a mental institution and everything he knows about his life is a delusion.  Great performance by Jonathan Frakes.
• 24. Second Chances – a transporter incident 8 years earlier left a duplicate of Riker trapped on a planet.  When discovered, it turns out the two variants of the same man have faced different experiences that give them widely varying goals in life.
• 25. Timescape – Picard, Troi, LaForge, and Data return from a conference to find the Enterprise frozen in time while trapped in a battle with a Romulan warbird.  A fun mystery ensues.

Season 7

• 11. Parallels – Worf gets caught in a multiverse with the Enterprise changing subtly and then dramatically with each shift.
• 12. The Pegasus – Riker must face a poor decision he made early in his career when reunited with his first commander.
• 13. Homeward – the ethics of the Prime Directive are examined when Worf’s adoptive brother uses the Enterprise to help a pre-technological alien people escape disaster on their homeworld.
• 15. Lower Decks – an episode the shows the point of view of four junior officers as they are brought into a secret mission on the Enterprise.
• 20. Journey’s End – an awkward story in which the removal of a settlement of Native Americans on a planet now in Cardassian territory.  The episode is important because it ends Wesley Crusher’s story arc with The Traveler, and introduces the background to the Maquis, who will play a greater role in Deep Space Nine and Voyager.
• 24. Preemptive Strike – speaking of the Maquis, Ro Laren is assigned to infiltrated a cell and finds herself sympathetic to their cause.
• 25-26. All Good Things… – the journey comes full circle as Picard finds himself jumping in time to 7 years earlier and into the far future.  Naturally, Q is involved.