Star Trek Adventure(RPG) TNG/ DS9 critical episodes primer list

[Tahu1809]

So I'm looking to maybe put together a group to maybe do a Star Trek Adventure game/quest set in the TNG era.Thus far I have one guy who is interested, but he hasn't really watch Trek sense he was a kid. (And if I'm honest I owe it to myself to give some of them a re-watch as well.)Given both how long it's been sense these shows were on the air, and that both were seven sessions long I thought I would put together a list of Essential and Iconic Episodes of Star Trek: The Next Generation, and Star Trek: Deep Space Nine to watch and re-familiarize themselves with the era this prospective game will be set in. What I'm looking for are episodes (Good or bad) that will have plot relevance for the rest of the franchise, and the episodes that in some way encapsulate the spirit of the shows.

With that in mind...
Star Trek: The Next Generation

Spoiler

Encounter at Farpoint
The Battle
Datalore
Heart of Glory (First look at modern Klingon)
Skin of Evil
Elementary, Dear Data
Unnatural Selection
The Measure Of A Man
A Matter Of Honor
Q-Who
Pen Pals
The Emissary
The Enemy
Déjà Q
Yesterday's Enterprise
The Offspring
Sins of the Father
Hollow Pursuits
The Most Toys
Sarek
The Best of Both Worlds
Reunion
Data's Day
The Wounded (Introduction of the Cardassiens)
Redemption (The set-sup for the current status-quo with the Klingon government.)
Darmok
Ensign Ro
Unification
New Ground
I Borg
The Inner Light
Chain of Command
Birthright
Second Chances
Force of Nature
Inheritance
The Pegasus
Journey's End
Preemptive Strike
All Good Things...
Generations (Film)

Star Trek: Deep Space Nine

Spoiler

Emissary
Past Prologue
The Nagus
Vortex
Battle Lines
The Forsaken
In The Hands Of The Prophets
The Homecoming, The Circle, The Siege
Cardassians
Rules of Acquisition
Sanctuary
The Alternate
Shadowplay
The Maquis (The Introduction of said freedom fighters/ terrorists)
The Wire
The Collaborator
The Jem'Hadar
The Search (The Introduction of the Domain)
The Abandoned
Defiant
Life Support
Heart of Stone
Destiny
Improbable Cause, The Die Is Cast
Shakaar
The Adversary

Given this is supposed to be a primer for a game/ story set in the Next Gen era One would not necessarily need to watch beyond session three, but for completeness sake....
Star Trek Deep Space Nine continued...

Spoiler

The Way of the Warrior
Hippocratic Oath
Indiscretion
Homefront, Paradise Lost
Crossfire
Return to Grace
Sons of Mogh
Bar Association
Accession
For The Cause
To the Death
Broken Link
Apocalypse Rising
The Ship
The Assignment
Trials and Tribble-ations
Rapture
The Darkness and the Light
The Begotten
For the Uniform
In Purgatory's Shadow, By Inferno's Light
Dr. Bashir, I Presume
Blaze of Glory
First Contact (Film)
In the Cards
Call to Arms
A Time to Stand
Rocks and Shoals
Sons and Daughters
Behind the Lines
Favor the Bold
Sacrifice of Angels
You Are Cordially Invited
Statistical Probabilities
Inquisition
In the Pale Moonlight
The Reckoning
Tears of the Prophets
Image in the Sand
Shadows and Symbols
Afterimage
Treachery, Faith, and the Great River
The Siege of AR-558
It's Only a Paper Moon
Inter Arma Enim Silent Leges , and EVERY DS9 EPISODE AFTER THIS. The show didn't have so much a final ark, but a "Made for TV" Movie trilogy.

So have I missed anything? Please again note this is to get people up to speed on the events taking place at the start of Star Trek Adventures time line PC time line, so anything after Season Three of Deep Space Nine is subject to PC interaction. Again I'm looking for episodes that will either be relevant down the line, or help capture the feel of the show really well, so if you have a suggestion please include an explanation on why you think that episode in particular is so important to watch.

Any and all suggestion are welcome, and if your interested in helping or joining this up coming game/ project fell free to contact me hear, or PM me.

 

[no.]

The way I see it, if you're not wading through the dumb bullshit, is it really Star Trek? The episode where Worf's spine gets obliterated by dark matter super-barrels may not advance the plot, but it's still required viewing in my heart.

 

[SwiftRosenthal]

Star Trek: Deep Space Nine

Click to shrink...

Would you also count fan-favorite episodes that aren't necessarily plot-important? Duet was a highlight of S1 and you skipped right over it. The same goes for The One Where Sisko Punches Out Q.

 

[The Narrator]

DS9 is tricky because it had a lot more continuity than other Trek series. It wasn't serialized, but events of episodes had consequences for future episodes and would be referenced later, so there aren't as many that you can just skip without noticing.

I'm surprised how many episodes from the first two seasons you included, given how terrible those were. Why have "The Battle" on the list? They wound up quietly dropping their attempt to make the Ferengi a threat, so basically nothing in that episode matters except that Picard's last ship was called the Stargazer. Why "Unnatural Selection"? That one's not only not important, it creates a continuity snarl because it's got people doing genetic engineering when the rest of the franchise says it's banned.

I would add "The Defector" to that list. There's a kind of quasi-story arc in Season 3 involving the Romulans (that arguably leads into the one involving the Klingons and Duras), and that's part of it.

Dude, you don't have "The Tapestry" on there? That one's pretty important and really good.

While I'm not sure if it's plot-critical, I feel like "The Drumhead" is an episode that's definitely worth watching. And I'm seconding the recommendation for "Duet".