Star Trek The Next Generation - The Complete Fifth Season (1992)

Star Trek NG Season 5

My husband and I are slowly watching all the NG episodes in order, we are still in the middle of season 4, but having season 5 here makes it easier to watch b/c any cliff hangers at the end of the season will not really be cliffhangers for me.
I wasn't a star trek fan until my husband made me watch several episodes of season 1, and since then I have become attached to the characters and notice a message in the episodes.
If you are a NG fan, you already want this season, if you aren't I recommend starting at the beginning. June 23, 2008

Price Increase?! WHY!?

I just watched the price of all Star Trek Boxsets jump over night from $35 to $50.....Why Amazon? May 3, 2008

Too Expensive

Too expensive. I paid over 60$ for it. I've noticed that the price has come down recently. I hope it's not a case of Amazon keeping track of their customers past purchases and then increasing the prices of items that they expect them to purchase later on. That would be a devastating thing to find out.

I gave it three stars. The content deserves five. The price brings it down to three. April 19, 2008

Thank you

It has taken me a while to find the fifth season. It is were my mom got the name for my brother and she wanted to him to see the episode that his name came from. Thank you December 23, 2007

The best TNG season, and the best Trek season from all the spin-off shows

The best shows seem to arise from adversity and limitation. As the Next Generation's season five was filming, the Star Trek universe was about to expand into two shows running simultaneously. Thus, new writers, producers, directors, etc. had to be brought in to fill in the gaps. Minor characters, who would cross over into DS9 were given more screen time to make the bridge. And Gene Roddenberry, creator and guiding light of the Star Trek universe, passed away. This is the crucible in which TNG Season 5 was forged, and it remains the best season of all the Star Trek series since the Original.

Not only are the shows consistently interesting, there are more standout episodes in this season than in the rest of the show's run combined. Even when stealing Original Series ideas, they are a completely new take on an old tune, like a remake of a '60s pop tune by a '90s heavy metal artist. True, neither the season premier's Klingon War nor the finale's time-travelling cliffhanger are very good. Resolution I (the first half of the Klingon war) and The Best of Both Worlds I and II are clearly superior. But in between these disappointments are the following great shows:

Darmok - a "remake" of the classic Trek episode "Arena". Picard and an alien captain are trapped together on a planet to do battle against a common foe, while learning about each other's cultures.

Ensign Ro - a veiled commentary on the Palastinian question that protrays the problem with negotiating with fractured ethnic groups - who do you negotiate with? Introduces Ro Laren and the Bajoran people.

Disaster - the best of the "kids" episodes. Picard is trapped in an elevator with the winners of the elementary school science fair when the Enterprise is hit by a quantum filament that knocks out main power and intraship communications.

Conundrum - yet another "Naked Time"-esque episode, where the crew has its memories erased and they must piece together their mission and their relative positions in the command hierarchy.

The Outcast - Riker falls in love with a member of an androgynous society. The catch - she thinks of herself as female only, which is considered a sexual perversion in her society.

Cause and Effect - the Enterprise is trapped in a time loop caused by an anti-matter accident. They are forced to live the same day over and over until they can figure out how to break the cycle. Filmed well before the more famous movie "Groundhog Day".

The Perfect Mate - another Original Series ripoff, this time of "Elaan of Troyus". An empath whose sole purpose in life is to be the perfect mate is promised in marriage to a foreign dignitary to cement a peace treaty. Unfortunately, she is prematurely "hatched" and raises havoc with the male parts of the crew.

The Next Phase - Geordi and Ro are "cloaked" in a Romulan cloaking device accident. Ro thinks she is in limbo to make peace with her living friends before she can move to the afterlife.

The First Duty - following an accident at Starfleet Academy, Wesley must choose between loyalty to the principles of Starfleet or loyalty to his friends.

Inner Light - the best Next Generation show, possibly the best Star Trek show over all series. Picard is selected by a probe and lives out a life on an alien planet. Winner of a Hugo for best dramatic presentation.

Sharp-eyed Trekkies will notice I left "Unification" off this list. I find it to be quite problematic. It was eagerly anticipated as episodes to feature both Spock and Sarek, which they did, but the brilliant parts (Spock's interactions with Data, for example) are counterbalanced by the silly Tasha-Yar's-daughter subplots that marred most of the Romulan episodes of this era. Similarly, there are some great sacrifices of science to the needs of the plot. Sometimes they are necessary - for example, Geordi and Ro can move through walls but not floors? ("Next Phase") What really irritates me, though, is the sacrifice of the laws of physics for no reason - for example, we are supposed to believe that a few phaser shots will cause planet-wide earthquakes/volcanoes, but a giant asteroid strike did not?? ("A Matter of Time")

Perhaps the main reason the 5th season is so successful is that the cast works together so well, also integrating new and recurring minor characters (e.g. Chief O'Brien, Ens. Ro). Even the Wesley shows (both "The Game" and especially "First Duty) are good. Even the kids shows are good (Alexander, Worf's son, quickly wears out his welcome in his 2 episodes, but the other episodes that prominently feature kids, like "Disaster", "Hero Worship", and "Imaginary Friend" are all enjoyable). Basically, the tried-and-true Trek formula of combining socially relevant statements, sci-fi action, and a feeling of family among the crewmembers is at its pinnacle in this season.

To sum up: if you only buy one TNG season, make it this one. All the best episodes, save possibly "Best of Both Worlds" and certain Q episodes, are in this season. October 24, 2007

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