Season Six saw Star Trek: The Next Generation continue to be a ratings powerhouse and, to this day, the show remains the highest rated of all the Star Trek shows. The penultimate season proved to be a treat for fans as Scotty made a welcome return to the Trek fold, as did recurring characters such as Q and Worf's son Alexander. Overall, the show stuck to themes it would explore even further in the seventh and final season; family revelations, origins and high-concept science fiction.

Relics
While most fans would have been happy just to see Scotty make an appearance on TNG, this episode does far more by exploring the bittersweet, Rip-Van-Winkle nature of his entrance into the 24th Century. A little bit of danger, a chance to see both Engineers work together, nicely rounded out by a look at Scotty on the holodeck in his "natural surroundings." A perfect crossover episode that is sentimental, but not cloyingly so.

Schisms
While alien abduction would later become the theme-du-jour for many sci-fi television shows, this extra-dimensional approach upped the creepiness quotient. Usually as a mystery unravels, the threat becomes more understandable and less unsettling, but not in this case. How would you like to wake up and find out that during the night your arm had been taken off and almost perfectly reattached?

The Quality of Life
Once again, the idea and definition of sentience is raised, this time with Data as the one who intervenes on another's behalf ... a sophisticated, problem solving device called an exocomp. As Data has had humans stand up for his rights as a sentient being ("The Measure of a Man"), it's only fair that he is also given the opportunity to step in when he sees examples of sentience in others. In this case, the sentience of the exocomps is only found to be a possibility when one's "life" becomes endangered and it shuts itself down. Yet another fascinating look at the "Man or Machine" concept.

Chain of Command Part II
As well as delivering a great strategic storyline as the Enterprise-D, under the command of Captain Jellico contends with a Cardassian incursion, this episode also features a showcase match-up between legendary British actors Patrick Stewart and David Warner (Gul Madred). As the contest of wills between torturer and victim plays out, the very nature, history and effectiveness of torture as a tool itself become part of the story, with brilliant insight.

Ship in a Bottle
In a deftly constructed follow-up to one of the best early TNG episodes ("Elementary, Dear Data"), this episode picked up a thread left behind and started pulling. The performance of Daniel Davis as Moriarty elevates the character beyond his Sherlock Holmes-ian roots and legitimately into the Trek universe, creating the seeds of holographic "life" that we would later see explored in more depth with the Doctor, and other holographic lifeforms, on Star Trek: Voyager. The ending is simply one of the best sci-fi twists in Star Trek.

Face of the Enemy
While some episodes built around one of the supporting characters can falter, this one shines. Deanna Troi shows she's more than just a passive, empathic observer and consultant to the Captain as she's abducted and plunged into Romulan intrigue. Not only does this episode give her a chance to be the focal point of a great story, it also gives us a fresh look at the Romulans and how their military culture interacts with the secretive Tal Shiar, as well as providing us with great Romulan characters we wish we could see more of.

Tapestry
Perhaps the best Picard episode in terms of giving us background into his younger days, this episode also serves up a rousing 24th Century "It's a Wonderful Life," where Picard can see how one important moment in youth can have drastic implications later in life. John de Lancie's Q has never been better, serving as both the angel and devil on Picard's shoulder as he explores his life's choices. This episode features one of the more poignant performances by Stewart, highlighted by the possible scenario where he has not progressed beyond the rank of junior lieutenant.

Lessons
The confluence of romance and duty has always been a staple Star Trek theme, and this episode is a great example. The romance between Picard and Nella Daren isn't forced or obvious, it's nurtured carefully by writers Ronald Wilkerson and Jean Louise Matthias so that when Picard is forced to choose between duty and risking his lover, we feel his torment. Also within this episode are some of Star Trek's finest musical scenes, showing how culture in the 24th Century is an important component to a fully rounded life aboard the Starfleet flagship.

The Chase
A delightful and thought-provoking romp across the galaxy, this episode is indeed a chase, as the title suggests, but it's also a mystery with a satisfying conclusion that helps to stitch together some of the lingering questions fans have always had about the preponderance of humanoid lifeforms in the galaxy. And any episode that can put Humans, Klingons, Romulans and Cardassians at odds and finally unite them (if only for a moment) is no small feat.

Rightful Heir
Worf's personal issues of faith are put to the test in this episode as well as the entire concept of faith itself. Klingon history is turned on its ear when "Kahless" returns, but in the end, the familiar Star Trek theme of the "needs of the many outweighing the needs of the few" make this episode's resolution particularly poignant, as well as the exploration of how faith and figureheads serve a society.

Second Chances
Like many episodes in Season Six, this one cleverly uses science fiction to explore character and how we grow as individuals. Riker's double (dubbed "Thomas") is eight years removed, and like all of us, Riker has grown and changed in those eight years. "Second Chances" reminds us all that we should always be growing and changing, even if we don't recognize it. This episode also sets up the return of Thomas Riker in the Star Trek: Deep Space Nine episode "Defiant."

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