The Defector is another one of my favorites, in fact it’s almost good enough to be a movie. I really like how, for once, the person who seems untrustworthy is actually telling the truth but has no way to easily prove it, even to Picard. The scene from Henry V was nice and it’s fun seeing the show ground itself more in culture and the exploration of the human spirit.

I like the episodes that use aliens to hash out the conflicts we have on earth, and this episode does it really well, especially considering a situation like Northern Ireland in the late 80’s or the peoples in the Balkans. The one thing they do poorly, however, is they always have one side be nearly barbaric and the other cultured, as if only one side is really the correct one and that there’s no nuance.

The Price is alright. I like the idea of different species negotiating for control of resources, but the romance subplot just wasn’t believable with the actor they had to fall for Troi. The Ferrengi are always fun but they are only really good on DS9.

The Enemy is good, though it’s really just a retelling of Hell In The Pacific (and later, Enemy Mine). I still like how the Romulans are not overplayed so they always seem like a genuine threat. I also like the line asking Worf about a possible time the Federation and the Romulans could be allies and he laughs at that idea, yet on DS9 years later it does happen and he’s there to see it.

Booby Trap is fun because I remember the sequel when Dr. Brahms discovers the holodeck program from this episode. But, this episode on it’s own is really good, it’s a fun, space mystery with a derelict battle-cruiser trapped for 1000 years till the Enterprise also falls in the trap and has to resort to no technology to survive. Good stuff. Season 3 is a huge step up over season 2, which is impressive since season 2 was a massive leap forward over season 1.

A very sad, but very good episode that, once again explores the inner universe of human emotions (dealing with death), as well as shows how life is dangerous on a starship. It’s hard to have a character we don’t know die and then have us care, but this was well acted by everyone, even Wesley. Reminds me of the great The Expanse episodes, The Weeping Sonambulist, where the wife is so angry about the crew getting her husband killed.

Another classic episode and one of the best scifi stories Trek has ever told. Most interesting is how it explores that even with so much technology and advanced philosophy, all people will one day die and nothing can prevent it. This was an episode not about an advanced race different from a primitive race, but about all the important things we all have in common. Absolutely a fantastic episode.

A very good and unusual episode. While the idea as powerful as the one here seems too implausible, it does do an interesting job of telling the story of a creature whose terrible actions have left it guilty and alone. I really liked how only Picard had an idea of what might be going on that way it didn’t get tedious watching the crew learn something we already knew.