10 Most Rewatchable Star Trek: The Next Generation Episodes
5. Darmok
"A thoughtful discourse on the challenges of communication between strangers." This is how the episode "Darmok" was once described to me by a friend. While I admired his stellar vocabulary, I also could not agree more with his description.
Unquestionably one of the best episodes of TNG, "Darmok" tells the story of Picard and his crew juggling their battle prowess with attempting to decipher a seemingly impenetrable alien language - The language of the Tamarians - in order to communicate with them.
Picard and the Tamarian captain are unwittingly beamed to a planets surface with no means of return. Unable to communicate verbally what transpires is a wonderful, frustrating and yet charming voyage of discovery for both men. As they attempt to communicate with each other during testing situations, audiences are gifted with moments of real substance and nuance, not to mention a sense of accomplishment for each minor victory the men achieve.
The coming together of the two men is a fascinating partnership that audiences find themselves heavily invested in. The writers lean strongly into the dynamic between the two, using them as a vehicle to deliver a message to the viewer that communication is vital and that we should be sympathetic to other cultures.
"Darmok" is unique in the circumstances it places our heroes in, but is also a remarkable piece of television that requires multiple viewings to truly appreciate the lessons and intricacies in human nature we all crave to understand.