Captain Jean-Luc Picard (Patrick Stewart) and his crew on Star Trek: The Next Generation visited many strange new worlds, but some truly great episodes took place almost entirely on board the USS Enterprise-D. Exploring space can get expensive, and when TNG did a particularly high-budget episode, such as a period piece or a CGI-heavy space battle, producers would need to make low-budget episodes to offset the cost. This often resulted in bottle episodes – episodes that only required preexisting sets and few, if any, guest cast members.
With just the USS Enterprise-D sets and the regular cast (with the occasional guest star, Star Trek: The Next Generation could produce an episode for significantly less money than the high-budget spectacle episodes. Nearly every Star Trek series has made use of bottle episodes, and nearly every version of the Enterprise has been the setting for some fun and fascinating adventures. With a ship as advanced as the Enterprise-D and a crew as compelling and likable as that of TNG, bottle episodes worked particularly well.
Related
Star Trek: The Next Generation Cast & Character Guide
Star Trek: The Next Generation has one of the most beloved cast of characters in all of science fiction. Here are the major characters of the classic.
10 “Suddenly Human” (TNG Season 4, Episode 4)
“We tried to convince him, and in so doing, we thoroughly failed to listen to his feelings.”
When the Enterprise rescues the teenage grandson of a Starfleet Admiral, the young man, named Jono (Chad Allen), struggles to acclimate to Federation society. After the Talarians killed Jono’s parents and took the young Jono, they raised him in their culture. While Captain Picard and the Enterprise crew try to convince Jono to stay and go live with his grandparents, he insists that he wants to remain with the Talarians. It’s a solid concept for a story and “Suddenly Human” plays with some interesting ideas, although the episode does not go as deep as it could have. Plus, it seems a bit out of character for Picard to be so insistent that Jono must return to Earth, though he does realize his mistake in the end.
9 “Where Silence Has Lease” (TNG Season 2, Episode 2)
“Sir, our sensors are showing that to be an absence of everything.”
When the Enterprise encounters a strange hole in space, Captain Picard and the crew find themselves at the mercy of a powerful alien entity named Nagilum (Earl Boen). “Where Silence Has Lease” has a pretty standard Star Trek plot, but it nicely builds suspense and tension over the course of the episode. In one odd and frightening moment, a new officer appears at the con station, only to be predictably killed by Nagilum to raise the stakes. None of the highly experienced bridge officers on the Enterprise-D have ever seen anything like the anomaly they encounter, and it’s fascinating watching them work to find a way out of their predicament.
8 “A Matter of Perspective” (TNG Season 3, Episode 14)
“It is the truth as each of you remembers it.”
In this Rashomon-inspired episode, Commander William Riker (Jonathan Frakes) is accused of murdering a scientist and must face a hearing aboard the Enterprise. As part of the hearing, each person involved uses the holodeck to recreate their version of events, before Picard and the Enterprise crew uncover the actual truth behind the scientist’s death. The problem with these types of stories is that we, as the audience, already know that Riker is trustworthy and that he didn’t deliberately murder anyone. This takes some of the drama out of the episode, but the set-up is a classic, as is the idea that different people can view the same events differently.
7 “Eye of the Beholder” (TNG Season 7, Episode 18)
“Well, you know what they say, Mr. Worf. Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned.”
When an Enterprise crewmember takes his own life by jumping into plasma discharge, Lt. Worf (Michael Dorn) and Counselor Deanna Troi (Marina Sirtis) investigate the death. Troi then becomes the center of the episode, as she begins experiencing strong bursts of emotions and visions from the past. She eventually uncovers the truth – that psychic residue from a murder committed eight years ago made the officer kill himself. While the science in “Eye of the Beholder” may not hold up all that well, it’s a decent mystery episode with the compelling twist that much of the story occurs only within Troi’s mind.
Related
Star Trek: Will Riker’s Entire Character Timeline Explained
From Star Trek: The Next Generation to Star Trek: Picard, Will Riker’s timeline involves some of the most important moments in the entire franchise.
6 “Conundrum” (TNG Season 5, Episode 14)
“It would seem we know how to operate this ship. But our identities have somehow been erased or suppressed.”
In addition to being Star Trek: The Next Generation bottle episode set entirely on the iconic USS Enterprise-D, “Conundrum” also uses the trope of amnesia. After a scanning beam passes through the Enterprise, the crew members suddenly lose all memories of who they are. Unbeknownst to the crew, but obvious to the audience, an unknown First Officer named Commander Kieran MacDuff (Erich Anderson) has joined the crew. In the end, Captain Picard grows suspicious and MacDuff eventually reveals that he and his people wanted the Enterprise to aid in their war against the Lysians. “Conundrum” is an incredibly fun episode with an interesting premise that puts most of the series regulars in positions very different from the ones they’re accustomed to.
5 “Clues” (TNG Season 4, Episode 14)
“You are a most unusual species. Worthy of a second chance. Proceed.”
When everyone on the Enterprise-D, except Lt. Commander Data (Brent Spiner), is rendered unconscious, Data assures everyone they were only out for about 30 seconds. However, several crew members begin to discover clues that suggest that they were unconscious for far longer. When Captain Picard confronts Data, he becomes evasive, but Picard does not believe that Data would intentionally put the ship in danger. Eventually, it’s revealed that an extremely xenophobic race called the Paxans wished to erase their existence from the minds of the crew, but Data was not susceptible to their stun beam. The Paxans allow them a do-over, and this time the crew makes sure to avoid leaving any clues.
4 “Remember Me” (TNG Season 4, Episode 5)
“If there’s nothing wrong with me, maybe there’s something wrong with the universe.”
In one of Dr. Beverly Crusher’s (Gates McFadden) best episodes, the USS Enterprise-D’s Chief Medical Officer finds herself in a universe that just doesn’t make sense. After Dr. Crusher returns from a conference, people on the Enterprise begin disappearing, but no one else notices anything amiss. Eventually, Beverly and Captain Picard are the only people on board the ship, and Jean-Luc insists that this is how it has always been. In the end, Wesley Crusher (Wil Wheaton) and the real Enterprise crew have been working to save Dr. Crusher, and the enigmatic Traveler (Eric Menyuk) appears to help them. Dr. Crusher realizes what must be happening and makes it to Engineering just in time to jump through a vortex back to the proper reality.
3 “The Drumhead” (TNG Season 4, Episode 21)
“The first time any man’s freedom is trodden on, we’re all damaged.”
After an explosion aboard the Enterprise, Admiral Norah Satie (Jean Simmons) from Starfleet Command visits the ship to investigate. Even after Data and Chief Engineer Geordi La Forge (LeVar Burton) determine that the explosion was an accident and not sabotage, Satie continues her witchhunt, searching for conspiracies and traitors where none exist. As she questions Captain Picard’s loyalty to Starfleet because of his actions as Loctus of Borg (from Star Trek: The Next Generation‘s “The Best of Both Worlds” two-parter), Picard delivers a powerful speech about the dangers of fanaticism and paranoia. Star Trek typically does courtroom dramas well, and this one is no exception. Plus, Patrick Stewart turns in a particularly captivating performance as Picard.
Related
Picard’s 10 Best TNG & Star Trek Speeches
Jean-Luc Picard has delivered many captivating speeches in Star Trek: The Next Generation and Star Trek; Picard. Here are 10 of the best.
2 “Lower Decks” (TNG Season 7, Episode 15)
“It is my sad duty to inform you that a member of the crew, Ensign Sito Jaxa, has been lost in the line of duty.”
Star Trek: The Next Generation‘s “Lower Decks” provides a rare glimpse into the lives of the lower deckers on the USS Enterprise-D, as the Bajoran Ensign Sito Jaxa (Shannon Fill) is recruited for a covert mission to Cardassia. Sito Jaxa previously appeared in TNG season 5, episode 19, “The First Duty,” in which she and Wesley Crusher were involved in a flight accident that resulted in the death of a fellow Starfleet cadet. Tragically, Sito never makes it back from Cardassian space, and “Lower Decks” ends with Sito’s friends mourning her death. Star Trek has been known to unceremoniously kill off random lower-level officers, but “Lower Decks” puts a face and a name to one of those casualties.
1 “The Offspring” (TNG Season 3, Episode 16)
“We must strive to be more than we are, Lal. It does not matter that we will never reach our ultimate goal.”
In a standout Star Trek: The Next Generation episode for Data, the android decides to use the same positronic technology he possesses to create a daughter, Lal (Hallie Todd). As Data teaches Lal what he has learned about humanity, her abilities begin to surpass even Data’s, eventually leading to a catastrophic malfunction. No one could watch this episode and believe that Data cannot feel, as he fights to save Lal’s life just as hard as any parent would. “The Offspring” is a truly amazing episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation that grapples with the question of what it means to be human and tells an incredibly compelling story without ever leaving the Enterprise.
- Cast
- Patrick Stewart , Marina Sirtis , Brent Spiner , Jonathan Frakes , LeVar Burton , Wil Wheaton
- Seasons
- 7
- Franchise(s)
- Star Trek
