The BEST episodes of Star Trek: The Next Generation season 5

Every episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation season 5, ranked from best to worst by thousands of votes from fans of the show. The best episodes of Star Trek: The Next Generation season 5!

A century after Captain Kirk's five year mission, the next generation of Starfleet officers begins their journey aboard the new flagship of the Federation. Commanded by Captain Jean-Luc Picard the Galaxy class starship Enterprise NCC-1701-D will seek out new life and new civilizations - to boldly go where no one has gone before.

Last Updated: 12/12/2024Network: Status: Ended
The Inner Light
star
8.18
2429 votes

#1 - The Inner Light

Season 5 - Episode 25 - Aired 6/1/1992

Picard is struck by an energy beam from an alien probe, which renders him unconscious and places him in the life of a citizen on the planet Kataan, with his memory of the Enterprise intact. Although he searches for a way to return, he finally decides to live his life with his Kataan wife, have children & grandchildren, learning to play a flute and completely immersing in the Kataan culture...

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Time's Arrow (1)
star
7.85
2464 votes

#2 - Time's Arrow (1)

Season 5 - Episode 26 - Aired 6/15/1992

Stardate: 45959.1 - Data's head is uncovered in an archaeological dig on Earth, where evidence is also found that aliens may have been on Earth as early as the 19th Century. Using modified technology, an away team follows Data into the late 1890s to investigate.

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Cause and Effect
star
7.80
2346 votes

#3 - Cause and Effect

Season 5 - Episode 18 - Aired 3/23/1992

Stardate: 45652.1 - While exploring the Typhon Expanse, the Enterprise is caught in a time warp in which they are repeatedly destroyed while colliding with another starship.

Directors: Jonathan Frakes
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I, Borg
star
7.72
2070 votes

#4 - I, Borg

Season 5 - Episode 23 - Aired 5/11/1992

Stardate: 45832.1 - An injured Borg is discovered and brought back to the Enterprise where he is 'repaired' by Dr. Crusher and befriended by Geordi, who names him 'Hugh.' Soon, Hugh starts showing signs of individuality while Picard must choose between destroying him or returning him to the collective.

Directors: Robert Lederman
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Unification (2)
star
7.65
2097 votes

#5 - Unification (2)

Season 5 - Episode 8 - Aired 11/11/1991

Stardate: 45245.8 - Picard and Data find Spock and discover the reason behind the secret meetings. However, a darker scheme planned by the Romulans is also uncovered in the process.

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Redemption (2)
star
7.61
2132 votes

#6 - Redemption (2)

Season 5 - Episode 1 - Aired 9/23/1991

Stardate: 45020.4 - Picard suspects a Romulan influence in the recent Klingon civil war, and must force the Federation to intervene before the Empire collapses.

Directors: David Carson
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Darmok
star
7.60
2072 votes

#7 - Darmok

Season 5 - Episode 2 - Aired 9/30/1991

Stardate: 45047.2 - Picard must find a way to communicate with the newly discovered Tamarians, who speak entirely in metaphors, when a Tamarian Captain is brutally killed.

Writer: Joe Menosky
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Unification (1)
star
7.55
2379 votes

#8 - Unification (1)

Season 5 - Episode 7 - Aired 11/4/1991

Ambassador Spock has disappeared and intelligence finds him on Romulus. Captain Picard is sent to Romulus to find Spock. Meanwhile, Riker and the rest of the crew investigate the fragments of a Vulcan ship discovered in the wreck of a Ferengi vessel.

Writer: Jeri Taylor
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The Next Phase
star
7.52
2019 votes

#9 - The Next Phase

Season 5 - Episode 24 - Aired 5/18/1992

Stardate: 45092.4 - While the Enterprise helps a Romulan science vessel, an accident occurs which forces Geordi LaForge and Ro Laren slightly out of 'phase', causing them to become undetectable to everyone but each other. As a result, the crew thinks they are dead and make arrangements for their funerals, even though they are closer than the crew realise.

Directors: Robert Lederman
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Conundrum
star
7.49
2112 votes

#10 - Conundrum

Season 5 - Episode 14 - Aired 2/17/1992

Stardate: 45494.2 - The Enterprise crew unknowingly receives a new first officer who claims that the Federation is at war with another species.

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Disaster
star
7.39
2185 votes

#11 - Disaster

Season 5 - Episode 5 - Aired 10/21/1991

Stardate: 45156.1 - A natural disaster leaves Troi in command of the Enterprise, Picard stuck in a turbo lift with three small children and Keiko O'Brien stuck in Ten-Forward giving birth with an anxious Worf.

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A Matter of Time
star
7.37
1983 votes

#12 - A Matter of Time

Season 5 - Episode 9 - Aired 11/18/1991

Stardate: 45349.1 - While on a mission to help a planet recently struck by an asteroid, the Enterprise is paid a visit by a man who claims to be from the future.

Directors: Paul Lynch
Writer: Rick Berman
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Ensign Ro
star
7.30
2123 votes

#13 - Ensign Ro

Season 5 - Episode 3 - Aired 10/7/1991

Stardate: 45076.3 - Picard exposes a planned genocidal attack on the Bajorans with the help of a new officer, Ensign Ro Laren.

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The Game
star
7.29
1971 votes

#14 - The Game

Season 5 - Episode 6 - Aired 10/28/1991

Stardate: 45208.2 - An addictive game is distributed among the crew of the Enterprise, however, it appears that this game interferes with a person's logic and reason, which leaves the crew open to manipulation. Only a young Ensign and a vacationing Wesley Crusher are able to think for themselves, and must find a way to reverse the damage before the ship falls into the wrong hands.

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The First Duty
star
7.27
1952 votes

#15 - The First Duty

Season 5 - Episode 19 - Aired 3/30/1992

Stardate: 45703.9 - Wesley is involved in a cover-up at Starfleet Academy when a cadet is killed and five shuttles are destroyed during a forbidden maneuver performed by Starfleet Academy's best cadets.

Writer: Paul Lynch
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The Masterpiece Society
star
7.16
1895 votes

#16 - The Masterpiece Society

Season 5 - Episode 13 - Aired 2/10/1992

Stardate: 45470.1 - A natural disaster in the core of a system's sun threatens to destroy a colony of genetically engineered people on an otherwise desolate planet. However, the crew's intervention may cause more harm than good.

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Ethics
star
7.12
1875 votes

#17 - Ethics

Season 5 - Episode 16 - Aired 3/2/1992

Stardate: 45587.3 - When Worf is paralysed in an accident he must undergo drastic back surgery. However, this experimental technique may cost him his life.

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Hero Worship
star
7.08
1769 votes

#18 - Hero Worship

Season 5 - Episode 11 - Aired 1/27/1992

Stardate: 45397.3 - The Enterprise investigates the cause of an explosion which destroyed a small ship and its entire crew, except for a small boy.

Writer: Joe Menosky
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Silicon Avatar
star
6.95
2058 votes

#19 - Silicon Avatar

Season 5 - Episode 4 - Aired 10/14/1991

Stardate: 45122.3 - Picard attempts communications with the Crystalline Entity - a life form responsible for hundreds of deaths throughout the Alpha Quadrant. However, a scientist on board the Enterprise has plans of revenge over the death of her only son at the hands of the Entity.

Writer: Jeri Taylor
Watch Now:Apple TV
Power Play
star
6.94
1915 votes

#20 - Power Play

Season 5 - Episode 15 - Aired 2/24/1992

Stardate: 45571.2 - While en route to the source of a subspace distress signal coming from a desolate moon, Data, Troi and O'Brien take over the bridge and force the ship to change course.

Directors: David Livingston
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New Ground
star
6.90
1753 votes

#21 - New Ground

Season 5 - Episode 10 - Aired 1/6/1992

Stardate: 45376.3 - Worf's son, Alexander, unexpectedly arrives on the Enterprise to stay with his father. However, Alexander wants to stay permanently.

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The Outcast
star
6.85
1794 votes

#22 - The Outcast

Season 5 - Episode 17 - Aired 3/16/1992

Stardate: 45614.6 - While investigating the disappearance of a J'naii shuttlecraft, the crew finds reason to believe the missing ship is stranded in an abnormal pocket called "null space." Riker and Soren, a member of the J'naii race, begin preparing to rescue the craft, and the two strike up a friendship. Their relationship develops quickly as the pair question each other about mating habits, since the J'naii are androgynous and do not identify themselves as either male or female. Despite this difference, sparks begin to fly between them.

Directors: Robert Scheerer
Writer: Jeri Taylor
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The Perfect Mate
star
6.84
1746 votes

#23 - The Perfect Mate

Season 5 - Episode 21 - Aired 4/27/1992

Stardate: 45761.3 - The Ferengi try to abduct an empathic Metamorph who could bring peace between two warring worlds.

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Violations
star
6.81
1739 votes

#24 - Violations

Season 5 - Episode 12 - Aired 2/3/1992

Stardate: 45419.3 - While escorting a group of telepaths, crew members on board the Enterprise suddenly start to slip into comas.

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Cost of Living
star
6.79
1621 votes

#25 - Cost of Living

Season 5 - Episode 20 - Aired 4/20/1992

Stardate: 45733.63 - Deanna's mother pays a surprise visit to the Enterprise with even more surprising news: she plans to marry a man she has never met. After destroying an asteroid, the ship becomes infected with parasites that eat away at the ship's hull.

Directors: Winrich Kolbe
Watch Now:Apple TV