Paramount Home Entertainment continues to roll out their Fan Collective series with this essential "Q" package containing all the episodes to feature the eponymous superbeing; a perfectly themed DVD set for one of Star Trek's most enduring characters. And since Q, love him or hate him, is one of the most fun characters to watch in Trek lore, this Fan Collective makes for an easy Editor's Pick.

Q, who started off as the annoying, petulant, powerful, yet thought-provoking smart aleck in "Encounter at Farpoint," actually grew as a character over the years. Although the road to Q-ness may have started a bit shaky with the premiere episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation, by the time Voyager's "Q2" rolled around we finally saw the all-powerful man-child in a more sympathetic light. Q's career as a fly buzzing around our Starfleet heroes was checkered at best. He offered Q powers to Riker (unsuccessfully), introduced us to the Borg (successfully) courted Janeway (unsuccessfully), got floored by Sisko (successfully), even had his powers temporarily revoked and ran off with Vash. But he also showed Picard a very valuable life lesson in "Tapestry" and he even showed the ability to sacrifice himself for his human friends in "Déjà Q." His episodes were a careful balance between his own self-centered motives versus his repeated claims that he was merely trying to help out humanity.

A fascinating conundrum for sure. But he is Q, our Q, and no one can take that away from him. Kudos to John de Lancie for such a brilliant realization of this difficult character. (And the writers, of course.) It's not easy to craft a personality that is so easy to love and hate simultaneously!

[Tim]