In “Relics” we get to see the 3^rd team member of the original series, after McCoy, Spock now Scotty. It is a joy to see him again as Scotty. Him longing for the days on the first Enterprise. . I guess Levar Burton wasn’t too happy that his character is brushing off Scotty. Lanei Chapman also guest-starred, SCI-FI fans must know her from Space: Above and Beyond. “Schisms” in crew members are taken by aliens during their sleep. An okay episode, although a bit too talky and little action. Again, guest-starring Lanei Chapman. “True Q”, also an okay episode where an honor student in the medical field is assigned to the Enterprise in an internship manner, she begins to demonstrate powers of the Q. I did have a few laughs but it was fairly straightforward.

“Rascals” for me was one of the weakest of the season, Transporter accident turns Picard, Guinan, Keiko and Ro Laren in children, at least their bodies, their minds are still of an adult like they were before. Not my cup of tea, still few nice moments, especially between Guinan and the child version of Ro Laren, but other then that, fairly mediocre. I know many love “A Fistful of Data’s”, but I never really liked this episode, another holodeck story where things go wrong because of something that happens on the ship. Only a handful of holodeck stories I  actually find good! I liked two things: Troi in a leather pants and a few Data moments, not as a character on the holodeck but as actual Data. Picard playing the flute is a reference to season 5 episode “The Inner Light.

“Quality of Life” was an episode I quite enjoyed and I think more than with past rewatches. I like these kinds of stories about when is it a sentient being and when is it not. Good scenes between Data and Riker, when Data tries to explain why he did locked-out the transporters and afterwards also good scene between Data and Picard, referring to “The Measures of a Man” episode. “Chain of Command” is arguably the best episode of the season. The captain gets captured by the Cardassians and he is being tortured. Reminds Babylon 5’s “Intersections in Real Time”, although I realize the TNG episode came first. Meanwhile, the Enterprise has a new captain, captain Jellico (Ronny Cox), he is the opposite of Picard and the crew really has issues with his command style. Captain Jellico does one good thing, he tells Troi to wear a proper uniform, which I think she looks way better in. Moriarty is back in “Ship in A Bottle”, this episode I liked better than the first Moriarty story. Moriarty tricks the crew into thinking that he is able to get off the holodeck. As said earlier, very few holodeck stories I really like, this one is one of the better ones. Guest stars: Daniel Davies (The Nanny) and Stephanie Beacham (SeaQuest DsV). I adore this woman, especially in SeaQuest.

“Aquiel” a Geordie centered episode, a whodunit story with a twist. I have to say that I enjoyed more than with past rewatches. “Face of the Enemy” definitely is one of my favorite episodes of the season. Deanna awakes to find herself altered to look like a Romulan, immediately unaware she's involved in a cat-and-mouse game as a member of their intelligence agency. This is another great Romulan story and most likely my favorite Troi episode. Totally different from her normal character, she has to survive by acting like a Tal Shiar operative, great TV. “Tapestry” is also a strong episode, one of the best Q episodes. Q gives Picard a chance to set right a mistake from his past, but was it a mistake of was this incident integral to him becoming a captain?

“Birthright”, a two-part episode where we get to meet Doctor Bashir of Deep Space Nine in part one, where Data meets his own father in a dream state after an accident and Worf learns that his father still might live. Part one is really enjoyable, Enterprise visiting DS9, part two was, in my opinion, weaker, where Worf goes to try and find his father. “Starship Mine” is also an entertaining episode, a bit of a Picard “Die Hard” story, but in the end Picard lets himself beat up by a woman, which was unfortunate. Some fun moments when Data practices his small-talk subroutine on Cmdr. Hutchinson. Guest stars: Tim Russ; Patricia Tallman; Marie Marshall. “Lessons” was also quite enjoyable where Picard falls in love with the new head of the stellar science services department, but has feelings of misgivings when he's forced to assign her to a dangerous mission. Note - Enjoyable episode, nice to see Picard getting involved with this woman, we see how difficult it can be to send a loved one on a dangerous mission. Only regret about this episode is, that you know that it ends this way. I do like that the episode “The Inner Light” is not simply ‘forgotten’, but a big part of Picard’s life.

In “The Chase” Professor Galen (Norman Lloyd from a.o Seven Days), tries to tempt Picard into leaving his post on the Enterprise and go with him on an archaeological dig. It was an okay episode, shame Lloyd’s character dies so quickly in the episode. “Frame of Mind” is a solid Riker episode where he begins to question reality when he finds himself in an Insane asylum and a theater play on the Enterprise. Frakes’ acting skills surface here, impressive! “Suspicions” is an okay episode centered around Dr. Crusher. She (Dr. Crusher) looks great in her civies outfit! Guinan definitely is one of my favorite characters. “Rightful Heir”, a Klingon episode, least favorite one of the last 3 or 4 Klingon episodes. Is he the real Kahles or is it a way for the Boreth monks to take over power from Gowron, because the Empire is in a bad shape according to them.

“Second Chances” is another Riker episode, where they find a duplicate of him in every way. The 2^nd Riker goes to serve on the Enterprise and wants to resume his relationship with Troi. Note - It was an okay episode. Guest star Dr. Mae Jemison as Lt. Palmer. Dr. Mae Jemison was the first African-American woman to travel into space. “Timescape” is another exciting time travel episode involving the Romulans where Picard, LaForge, Data, and Troi find themselves trapped in a time trap of some sort, where it seems the Enterprise is being taken over by Romulans, and the ship, itself, on a course of destruction. Note - Ultimately nothing is what it seems, enjoyable story. Troi definitely has becoming a more interesting character over the last two seasons, which follows through into the movies. I also think she looks better in her uniform than that other outfit she wore over the better part of the first 4 seasons. I love how she in the beginning does this impersonation of a Dr. Mizan, was so funny.

“Descent”, not my favorite season finale but enjoyable I enough, where Data experiences his first emotion, anger, after an encounter with the Borg, Data tries hard to recreate the experience, and he is blind as to what the consequences will be. Meanwhile, the rest of the Enterprise investigate the mystery as to why the Borg they faced seemed to have names and feelings of their own. Note - Lore is back, although we see him only in the final moments where it seems like Data has joined him and their cause: to destroy the federation.

Final Word:

Again, a bit shorter than my season 5 blog! It was an entertaining season, not like DS9’s 6^th season, but still very enjoyable. I just love these characters, even when an episode is weak, it still can have nice character moments and such. And as I said at the beginning of this blog, this is one of the best TNG seasons. Most consistent also. My two favorite episodes are: “Chain of Command” (2-parter) and “Face of the Enemy”. I grade it 8+/10.

Blog written with help from IMdB, screencaps taken from TrekCore