TNG: Season Two Essentials

If you're interested in picking up where TNG really gets started, try out Season 2. Some of the most iconic, classic episodes are to be found in this excellent season.

1- Elementary Dear Data
-Any time you get Geordi and Data dressed up in period costumes pretending to be Watson and Holmes, it's guaranteed to be great.
-If you're sitting around being mad because the Season 2 finale was so shoddy, watch this and see where they spent all their money.
Stand Out Line: He can be reached at 221B Baker Street! 

2- The Measure Of A Man
-It's widely thought that this is the first truly outstanding TNG episode. I'm not sure that I 100% agree with this statement but is the first (of several) TNG episodes that straight up make me cry.
-This is a prime example of the big, ongoing question in Star Trek--"What does it mean to be human?"
-The relationships between Data and his friends, his first officer, and his captain are all beautifully displayed here.
-The episode that brought us the "fully functional" joke pays off here in a brilliant, poignant way.
Stand Out Line: A courtroom is a crucible; in it we burn away irrelevancies until we are left with a pure product: the truth, for all time.

3- Q Who
-This episode features Q, Guinan, and our very first look at the Borg. 'Nuff said.

4- A Matter of Honor
-This is the episode wherein Riker serves on a Klingon Bird of Prey as part of an officer exchange program.
-It's our first real brush with Klingon culture and daily life and Riker's go-with-it attitude make him the perfect character to show us this stuff.
Stand Out Line: He is not very attractive, but I will have him.

5- Samaritan Snare
-I already wrote about this episode in depth and you're welcome to go read that post. 
-I love this one because of its straightforwardness and simplicity.
Stand Out Line: Would you like another sandwich? 

Runners Up

The Royale
This is a great, rompy episode that feels a whole lot like older, TOS episodes such as "Spectre of the Gun." Basically, Riker, Worf, and Data all get trapped inside a physical manifestation of a badly written book about a 1920's era hotel. Oh yeah and it's NOT a holodeck episode.

Loud As A Whisper
This episode features a talented treaty negotiator who also happens to be deaf. He communicates through three telepathic translators and, when they're all burned to a crisp, he has to figure out something else. The concept alone make this one worth watching but the acting is pretty great too.