Deja Q

Responding to a distress call from Brial IV, the Enterprise is faced with an uphill struggle to save the planet when its moon's orbit threatens to collapse. Things gets even more complicated when an apparently exiled Q appears, stripped of his powers and condemned to exist as a mortal human.

De Lancie is always an entertaining guest star but this might be his best episode yet. It's a wonderfully fun and enjoyable episode that combines a sci-fi mystery with ruminations about the nature of being human, led by a strong performance from Spiner as Q's unlikely ally. While the ending isn't really in doubt, stay for the closing scenes which are brilliantly insane and sees Dorn struggle to contain his laughter as de Lancie's goofy godlike Q gets as crazy as he possibly can.

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!"

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!

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.

It's yet another outstanding performance by de Lancie as Q. I know that he is a successful actor now, but given his consistent greatness on this show and his outstanding performances in "Breaking Bad" I'm surprised that he isn't a superstar and I'm not seeing him in every other big budget movie that I watch. It's also a testament to Gene Roddenberry's genius that he recognized his immense talent and cast him in the first couple of episodes as the iconic Q entity.

Data's simpatico interactions with Q and his guidance through the mores of humanity make for some of the best dialogue on the show. It's great subtle and witty humor. I really love this episode.