TNG - "Encounter at Farpoint"

This feels very much like an "advanced" version of The Original Series, both in good ways and in bad. It's got all the awkwardly stiff acting and bizarre plotting that viewers came to know in the 60s, and little of it has changed.

Some of these brand-new characters are excellent right off the bat. Captain Picard is a bit insensitive, but, overall, brilliant. Data is perfect. Q is captivating. Other characters just feel wrong. Deanna Troi is nothing but a blue swirl of emotion and Tasha Yar is randomly (and awkwardly) intense for no reason. Most of the rest of the cast just have nothing else to do. Riker is a great viewpoint character for the audience, and it's said of him that he's an amazing Starfleet officer, but he has almost nothing to do. Wesley, at this point, seems to exist for no reason. Beverly is just there to deliver medical exposition. Both Geordi and Worf apparently exist only to be the requisite "generic young bridge officers," in the same manner as Chekov.

Despite having a full two-part episode, it seems that there just isn't enough screentime for the entire cast. It makes one wonder if nine members of the crew was just too much for the show to handle. Some members, notably Tasha and Worf, seem to be stepping on each others' toes a bit.

The actual plot of the episode—the mystery of Farpoint station—is decent, if a bit boring for a series pilot. However, it's wrapped in the Q plot, which raises the stakes to a mildly interesting level.

For all this episode's story flaws, there is one major positive. Unlike The Original Series, we actually get an "origin story" for this crew. Creating a "starting point" for these characters is essential to seeing their growth over the show's seven years. Without this episode, the rest of the series would have meant much, much less.

The moral here, it seems, is the fight for pacifism. While being a little obnoxious in its preachiness, it perfectly encapsulates the basic humanitarian message of The Next Generation.

This isn't one of the best TNG episodes—it's actually one of the worst—but it's got the spark of something special.