Star Trek The Next Generation: Every Season One Episode Ranked From Worst To Best
2. The Neutral Zone
This is both an episode where a lot happens and conversely, it could be seen as a quiet ending to the first series. It is of course most famous for bringing the Romulans back into Star Trek and introducing Andrew Probert's beautiful Romulan Warbird design.
Marc Alaimo guest stars as Commander Tebok, the first speaking Romulan in the Next Generation. He would also play Gul Macet, the first speaking Cardassian. His slow speech is always commanding and regal, holding Worf to task for daring to speak in his presence.
The episode also introduces the Borg threat to the Federation and Romulan colonies, describing them as having been scooped out of the ground. This would later be expanded on in both Q Who? and The Best of Both Worlds.
There is also a Doctor Who connection, though viewable only in the pre-remastered edition. When reviewing Clare Raymond's family tree, several familiar names pop up: William Hartnell, Patrick Troughton, Jon Pertwee, Tom Baker, Peter Davidson and Colin Baker are all descendants of hers! The episode also references M*A*S*H* in that the cryo-station's registry is 4077. The station itself is named the SS Birdseye - frozen food, get it?
This is the last episode of the season and it is also the last episode until Star Trek: Insurrection to feature Riker without his beard (not including archive footage). It was also the last episode for Gates McFadden until season 3, as Maurice Hurley fired her after the end of this season, leading to the introduction of Dr. Pulaski in season 2.