Thoughts: Not to diminish its success, but part of the reason this became an iconic episode has to be because of its simple, memorable, and repeated phrases that were seared into the minds of the audience. Phrases like “Darmok and Jalad at Tanagra” and ”Shaka when the walls fell” can be found on t-shirts and other merchandise today, nearly 35 years after the episode first aired.

Thoughts: I will never get over the look on Troi's face when O'Brien has to explain that she's the highest-ranking officer on the bridge. She looks just as surprised as Ro does. The various stories happening on the ship are:

• Picard is trapped in a turbolift with three children
• Riker and Data take a perilous route to Engineering, and must stabilize the antimatter containment field
• Worf attends to the wounded in Ten Forward, including Keiko O'Brien, who goes into labor
• Geordi and Crusher are trapped in the cargo bay with a plasma fire
• Ensign Ro and Chief O'Brien argue on the bridge about what to do next while Troi struggles with being in command

Thoughts: It's a pretty unremarkable planet-in-peril storyline, but with a particularly annoying observer.

Thoughts: “When I watch television, I like to see stories about children acting like little brats.” ...said no one, ever.

Thoughts: This episode is similar to TNG 3x05: The Bonding in that a recently-orphaned boy is left to live on his own in empty quarters on the ship. He has interactions with adults during the day, and they do try to care for his well-being, but at the end of the day he returns to what is essentially his own hotel suite with no one to “tuck him in”. I don't know if this is some sort of commentary about children in the 24th century being more evolved and better-prepared to accept death, but it just doesn't feel right.

Thoughts: I really don't know why they decided to reveal to the audience so early in the episode that Jev was responsible for the comas. In the first few scenes, they sort of set up that Tarmin might be abusing his powers a little bit, and later they have Jev recover a false memory from Troi, implicating Tarmin. Imagine if the audience had also been oblivious to Jev's involvement until the very end; I think that would have made for a more interesting final reveal. It almost seems like the episode was designed to be that way, but then someone foolishly decided to include Jev in the flashback/memory sequences. Because of that failure and the fact that I'm tired of stories where Troi gets sexually assaulted, I'm only giving this one star. I'm also going to blame whoever told wardrobe to just cut a bunch of triangular holes in felt cloaks for my low score.

Thoughts: Any time I watch this episode, I just don't know how to feel about it. It raises several questions about ethics, but then complicates those questions by suggesting that maybe it would be unethical for a human, but it might be okay for a Klingon. As far as his ritual suicide goes, that is clearly a cultural issue. We are talking about two different species here, after all. Even if humans have deemed the practice to be inappropriate, things could be very different for an alien culture. Fine, we can debate that one. But the medical experimentation – that's an entirely different beast. There are rules in place that define medical ethics, so that we do not find ourselves supporting medical research by another Tuskegee or Mengele. Now, maybe those rules aren't important to a Klingon, but that doesn't mean that we can allow a human doctor to violate medical ethics just because the patient is a different species. I'm not sure I understand how Picard can just casually suggest that Crusher “authorize” the treatment when I don't think either of them really have that authority. This episode really muddies the subjects and concludes on a “Do the ends justify the means?” sort of feeling, but, I don't know, it just doesn't seem to invite a lot more debate because, again, we're talking about a fictitious universe where many sentient species coexist, where we haven't even quite nailed down our own ethics here on Earth yet. I just can't get on board with this episode, which is why I'm only giving it 2 stars.

As a side note, there's a Voyager episode that does a better job, in my opinion, at addressing these sorts of medical ethics issues. It's VOY 5x08: Nothing Human.

Thoughts: I could probably dive pretty deep into a discussion for this episode, but I'll keep it to a few main points. Overall, looking back on this in 2025 and knowing that it aired in 1992, I think it's pretty good, until the end. Soren's speech at their hearing (or whatever you want to call it) is important, and it sends the powerful message that “love is love”. Perhaps the episode's biggest problem, in my opinion, is that this alien species has created a successful “cure”, but that doesn't have any real-life parallel here on Earth. Suggesting that a “cure” might be possible lends credence to current-day “gay conversion” therapies, which have been found to be ineffective and even psychologically detrimental to the participants. The end to this story is tragic and falls short of sending the intended message. I'm giving this episode an average 3-star rating, recognizing both its strong points and its flaws.

Thoughts: Who the heck came up with the fever dream that is the Parallax colony? It's like a cross between Zoobilee Zoo and a skeezy (albeit well-lit) night club. Once again we have to suffer through watching Alexander misbehave, but this time we also have to endure Lwaxana misbehaving. Is there a lesson we're supposed to take away from this? “The higher, the fewer”? What is that supposed to mean, and what does it have to do with the rest of the episode? (Answer: nothing.) Is the lesson that we should abandon our responsibilities and take a mud bath whenever things get too tough? Is the lesson supposed to be that Alexander, a child, became a better person after Lwaxana exposed him to near-nude dancers and then later her own full nudity? I guess I just don't understand what the episode is trying to say. Maybe someone can explain it to me? Maybe I'm missing the point – perhaps the lesson is when Lwaxana objects to the poet's assertion that “every moment requires a purpose”. Fine, I can get on board with that. The only problem with that is... an episode of a television show does require a purpose, otherwise it's just 45 minutes of drivel.

Thoughts: Just one thought: As a child watching this episode, I thought nothing of Riker suddenly heading to holodeck 4 after his encounter with Kamala. Heh. I'm sure there was some very important warp field calibration simulations he had to run. We see him again later in Ten Forward, but he abruptly leaves when Kamala enters. Probably more calibration simulations. Riker is such a diligent officer!

Thoughts: Take a double dose of your suspension of disbelief in this episode and just enjoy it, I say! Yes, the science here is very much a stretch, and it raises all sorts of questions. Why do they stand firmly on the floor and not fall through it? If they can't touch anything, how can they breathe the atmosphere? Geordi even acknowledges that they didn't eat the entire time they were out of phase, so how are they processing oxygen? How do they take a moving shuttlecraft between the two ships? Wouldn't the shuttle just fly off without them when it starts moving? These are all great questions that I suggest you ignore. The only overt offense was when Ro definitely touched her bridge console.

Thoughts: I am so glad that modern-day television has realized that it isn't necessary to have the exact same closing credits and theme song every single time. This episode is a perfect example of that triumphant brass-heavy theme at the end being so jarring and immediately pulling you out of the somber final note of this story. Anyway, this is a seemingly-simple story without action, without explosions, without traditional sci-fi elements, and yet it is absolutely compelling, with an unassuming centerpiece that will become a powerful symbol for Picard's journey. There is more than one moment in this episode that evokes a tear from me. For these reasons, I'm awarding this episode with a General Award, above and beyond my 5-star rating.