[Stormy]

After tonight's episode of TNG, I have decided to admit something rather shameful. I quit watching TNG somewhere in the middle of its run. It was 35 years ago, so I do not remember exactly when I stopped watching.

A while back I decided to watch all of the Star Trek TV series (with the exception of DISCO, which I loathe, and all of the animated ones) I chose to watch them in chronological order rather than the order in which they were produced, starting with Enterprise, followed by TOS and then TNG. Since SNW has not wrapped up, I could not include it in chronological order but trust me... I will see EVERY episode.

But back to TNG. To be honest, there were things I didn't like about the series. I did not like Klingons as good guys. As a fan of Westerns, I always appreciated the separation between good versus evil, and having the Klingons join the Federation blurred those lines. Picard was too aloof compared to Kirk. Didn't particularly care for Ryker and don't get me started on Wesley Crusher. I did like Tasha Yar but they killed her off, and I thought Beverly Crusher was hot... I've always been fond of redheads.

So, somewhere before Season 3, Episode 15, Yesterday's Enterprise... I quit watching. I simply lost interest.

While I cannot say exactly which episode I quit on, I can say unequivocally that is was prior to this episode because I watched that one tonight. I say that because it has now become one of my Top 5 episodes of TNG. I realize I have a ways to go before making a final Top 5 but I cannot see this one getting bumped. Of course, this episode has everything I like about Star Trek, so that would stand to reason. The Klingons are once again bad guys. Tasha Yar is alive and looking hotter than ever. Picard is less aloof... and Ryker is less annoying. We won't talk about Wesley Crusher. It truly is one of the best episodes I have see thus far.

In time I will complete the series this time, then move on to DS9 and Voyager. We won't talk about how far I got with DS9... This time I am committed to watching every episode... well, with the exception of Discovery. There simply is no redemption in that one as far as I am concerned. But, who knows, though. Maybe one day... Nah! Who am I kidding. I'll go to my grave without watching another episode of that wretched show.