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Star Trek: The Next Generation Season 4 Review

The fourth season of Star Trek: The Next Generation is in line with the previous ones, but is not progressive unfortunately and the series is still stuck in the good, but not great territory.

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“Because I do not terminate my life, they terminate my work.

Alive, I am a greater threat to my world than a dying sun“

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The Best of Both Worlds, Part II is the conclusion to the previous story’s arc which is okay, but not my cup of tea. Family, though, is such a wonderful, personal, more emotional episode which is not SF, but purely in the drama genre. And it worked as that levity was needed at this point.

Brothers is another forgettable episode about Data’s brother Lore. Suddenly Human is actually terrific in premise and such a sophisticated, really interesting episode. Remember Me is also fantastic and a rare showcase for Beverly Crusher and she, no pun intended, crushed it in the main, proactive role. Legacy is forgettable itself and unimportant in the bigger scope of things.

Reunion is also more personal in approach and also rather effective at that. Future Imperfect, though, is the worst episode here and basically just one giant, unabashed filler of an episode. Final Mission finally gives us Wesley’s departure and I am not going to miss him personally as I have always disliked him. The Loss is very good though and a good exploration of Deanna’s powers and how important they are to her.

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Data’s Day is ridiculous in both of its subplots and just such a silly, pointless affair. The Wounded is very forgettable to the point of it not being worth criticizing more whereas Devil’s Due is more obvious than truly entertaining. Clues itself is original in premise and overall quite solid.

First Contact sees good use of Riker and the xenophobia theme is so well explored here. Galaxy’s Child is annoying as it follows Geordi and all of his romantic pursuits are always boring to me. Night Terrors is okay, if unremarkable and Identity Crisis is another unfortunate Geordi installment.

The Nth Degree is good in premise, but not so much in execution. Qpid is as annoying as every Q episode is. The Drumhead is overly political. Half a Life is the finest Lwaxana Troy story by far. This exploration of ritualistic suicide at a certain age is excellent and the sophistication as well as emotional levity of the episode propel it to the great ranks of The Next Generation stardom.

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The Host is another terrific installment which is actually about a potential trans lesbian romance and the fact that we got that in 1991 needs to be respected more. The Mind’s Eye is very dull unfortunately and In Theory is a good exploration of Data’s inability to have romantic relationships, but it’s more silly and inconsequential than truly great. Redemption, Part I is another Klingon dispute episode which I dislike usually and although solid overall, I personally like my seasons finished entirely before the next one.

Overall, this fourth season has its great merits and some of the later episodes truly are classic and wonderful, but too many episodes are way too dull in politics, typically plotted or forgettable with the lack of Picard in here also being a major problem.

Worst Episodes: Final Mission and The Mind’s Eye.

Best Episodes: Remember Me and Half a Life.