And the best part is, none of these episodes are on everyone else’s lists, meaning, you either haven’t seen them in a while, or, betters still, you’ll be binging where you’ve never binged before. Picard was entrusted with the history of an entire culture; their continued existence now survives solely through him. Airing during the show’s fifth season, “The Inner Light” is your classic “the road not taken” story. Inspired by The Beatles' song "The Inner Light", written by George Harrison, which itself is based on verses in the Tao Te Ching, this isn't just the best Next Generation episode, but arguably the best episode of any Star Trek series. Amazon.com. The story is relatively straightforward. While I love the two-parter "The Best of Both Worlds" a whole heck of a lot, "The Inner Light" is my favorite episode of The Next Generation. The Enterprise encounters an alien probe that hits Captain Picard.

"The Inner Light" starts when the Enterprise is scanned by an unknown probe. The years since have seen “The Inner Light” duplicated again and again. He becomes a teacher of their ways, their customs, their traditions, and their way of thinking and being. “The Inner Light” proves otherwise by giving the captain everything he didn’t have: a wife, a child, friendship without the burden of command, and long stretches of contemplative time. From the way … But here, he is given the name Kamin, and everyone seems to know him. The Inner Light highlights the significance of storytelling in cultural preservation. In the TNG episode "The Inner Light", Did Picard check if he was still "human" in the dream world? The Ressikan flute that is left to Picard represents the only other link to the world of Kataan. Picard’s time on Kataan has become one of the most consequential science fiction stories of the past century — a lodestar to subsequent generations of storytellers, who tell and retell “The Inner Light” with some of our most beloved science fiction and fantasy characters. read more: Everything We Know About Star Trek: Picard. Before they know it (and before the credits), Captain Picard is knocked down and psychically linked to the probe through the beam. Like other Star Trek episodes, "The Inner Light" has Picard stranded on an unknown planet. Here are five excellent episodes of Star Trek: The Next Generation featuring Sir Patrick Stewart’s Jean-Luc Picard being amazing. Season 5, Episode 25. When the Enterprise detects a foreign object floating in space, a relatively primitive probe of some sort, the crew members are surprised when a beam of energy is able to penetrate their shields.