Star Trek: 25 Greatest Next Generation Episodes
24. The Battle
The first episode that truly centered around Picard showed in detail the repercussions of the loss of his first ship, the Stargazer, which is found and delivered to him by Ferengi traders. The return of the captain's vessel comes oddly at the same time as a debilitating and incapacitating headache that just won't go away, and because apparently the 24th century has seen cures for everything, even headaches are somehow obsolete.
As the crew learns more about their new captain, the captain learns more about the true motives of his Ferengi counterpart and is then forced to attack the Enterprise.