Deja Q

Oh sure: there are plenty of good bits before this, and a few decent episodes -- but none of them put together so successfully as this. So many memorable moments: LeVar Burton as Geordi in charge of Engineering, Gates McFadden's Crusher administering her bedside manner to Q, Whoopi Goldberg administering her own scientific test to him, Spiner's multiple moments, the uncredited guest actor Corbin Bernsen as the other Q ... and of course, the charismatic John de Lancie himself, simultaneously winning our sympathy and disdain. All building up to a marvelously effective ending, despite being as much deus ex machina as climax. Miracle of miracles: TNG finally figured out how to deliver good drama with warm comedy on par with its forebear. It's Star Trek of the best kind, and you'll never find a better use for a mariachi band.

The very first "Star Trek: The Next Generation" episode, "Encounter at Farpoint" wasn't particularly good. The show's first meeting with Q was, to put it bluntly, pretty dull stuff. Fortunately, the more times this supreme being appeared in the show, the better these meetings became--and "Déjà Q" is exceptional.

When the show begins, Q makes his most memorable entrance ever! While the ship is trying desperately to save a planet below, Q arrives and expects everyone to drop everything and welcome him. As usual, however, he's made to feel about as welcome as an outbreak of herpes! In an odd twist, Q is now mortal--turned into a human by the Collective. Why exactly is uncertain--all you know is that Q is very whiny and hates the prospect of living out life this way.

Although the Q plot is diverting, the crew really must work on stopping the moon from leaving its orbit and destroying the planet, so much of the time Q whines and everyone but Data ignores him. As for Data, his conversations with Q are awfully funny. Bizarrely, despite Q's immense knowledge, no one considers asking him to help save the planet. Still, despite this, Q does manage to save the day! How and why? Well, see the show.

This episode has a lot of fun moments and just goes to show you that the humans on the show are pretty dumb and NEVER are the least bit grateful for his help--and he IS quite helpful here despite himself. Well worth seeing and memorable...and a sign of continual improvement in the Q episodes.

Every time Q shows up, is a little better than the last. The first episode of the series with Q, I thought he was obnoxious and just another villain; but as time goes on, he's evolved into one of the best characters in the series. Maybe it's just John de Lancie, but his character seems better written than anyone else. The stories he's in are more interesting, they're humorous, the dialog is better; everyone just seems more animated and entertaining. My favorite characters are Worf, Data, Geordi, Guinan, Picard and Q, and I am eternally thankful for any episode where Wesley and his Mother are absent; I find both of them extremely annoying. Riker is tolerable, sometimes better than others, and I guess Troi is just there for eye candy? She honestly doesn't seem to serve any purpose, and her character is stilted, wooden, inconsistent and pretty much useless. Looking forward to more Q!

This might be the best episode in the entire history of the franchise. It's not just one element that makes it perfect but a whole collection of them. The writing (at first) is absolutely perfect: every single line of dialogue is witty and funny and has a reason to exist: all the "serious" plot lines of the rest of the episode are well thought out and have a reason to exist; the execution is also perfect: all the actors are at the top of their game and perfectly representing their characters: al-around a perfect tng episode and a perfect star trek episode in whole and possibly the best piece of star trek in the history of the entire franchise.

This is far from the best episode of TNG, but it is riddled with some of the very best lines. Especially John De Lancie, and his delivery of:

"Eaten any good books lately?", "Please don't feel compelled now to tell me the story of The Boy Who Cried 'Worf'.", "Simple. Change the gravitational constant of the universe.", "You weren't like that before the beard.", "Ah, Dr. Crusher. I see Starfleet has shipped you back into exile." "Your bedside manner's admirable, Doctor. I'm sure your patients recover quickly, just to get away from you!"