“All Good Things…” is the series finale of Star Trek: The Next Generation and one of my favorite episodes of the series (and without a doubt my favorite season 7 episode).
The fear was real. The fear that the final episode of TNG ever would suck. Luckily, it was a pitch perfect way to end the series, and launch the movie franchise. And that final scene with Picard joining the rest of the bridge crew at the poker table? I couldn’t think of a better way to end the show if you paid me.
I’ve been thinking a lot about what makes Star Trek feel like “Star Trek” to me. I keep being reminded of something Marisa said to me as we were deciding if we should watch something new or continue our watching of Deep Space Nine. She said, “Is it weird that I think of watching Star Trek as spending time with my friends?” The friends, of course, being the characters in the show.
And that’s what “real” Star Trek is to me. Those interactions between characters on the show that make them human. Whether it is talking about archeology to one another, or gathering around a table to play friend game of poker.
I’ve included the original promos for both halves of “All Good Things…” but you should also watch this trailer for the Bluray which features the remastered version:
CBS did a great job with the HD remastering of TNG (in fact, if you’re watching TNG on most streaming services you’ll get the HD version).
To really get a sense of the improvement check out this (probably too long) video that compares the SD vs the HD version:
Ok, now a few of my other favorite episodes of Season 7:
- Parallels: Worf almost eats some cake!
- Lower Decks: What if there was an episode of TNG that didn’t focus on characters you knew? That’s this episode!
Find the rest of the posts in this series here.