Rating: 
Summary: TNG's Fifth Season is Comfortable at the Top
Review: The fifth season of Star Trek TNG begins with the Klingon Empire in the midst of a civil war, and ends with Mark Twain. In between these two episodes lies a season of mostly great drama. I have previously written that seasons three and four were, in my opinion, TNG at its best. The fifth season continued to give us great entertainment, but we encounter a few more clunkers than we did in the previous two seasons. Others have mentioned that "Cost of Living," and "Imaginary Friend," were less than impressive and I have to agree. I also felt that "New Ground," and "Hero Worship," left much to be desired. Still, the few poor episodes are far outnumbered by great ones. For me, the brightest of the gems was the two-part story, "Unification," in which Spock makes his reappearance. It was a real treat for those of us who are fans of the original series to see our favorite Vulcan again. This story is what drew me to TNG and I stayed with it. More than that, Spock's character was interwoven with the continuing plot thread involving the Romulans. Since the beginning of the third season, the writers did a commendable job in maintaining ongoing plot threads with other major races, including the Romulans, Klingons and later, the Cardassians. "Unification," is an excellent example of this. In the second part of "Unification," we meet Tassha Yarr's evil Romulan daughter Sela, whom we first encounter in the season premier/second part of "Redemption." Also in the fifth season, we get to meet the fiery Ensign Ro, played to perfection by Michelle Forbes. Forbes is one of the few actors who found life after Star Trek, including major roles in the hit television series, "Homicide, Life on the Street," and "24." Wesley Crusher returns in two episodes, "The Game," and "The First Duty." Some of us aren't big Wes fans and it was nice to see him knocked from his idealistic pedestal in the latter. We get to see Picard as a family man in, "The Inner Light," and that episode produced one of the most beautiful musical scores I've come across in Star Trek. "I Borg," is powerful drama at its best as we watch Picard wrestle with the trauma of his ordeal with the Borg. The scene when he first confronts Hughe is priceless. It is similar to what might happen when a rape victim confronts her attacker and it showed a vulnerable side to Picard that we seldom see. "Darmok," is also a great episode in that it demonstrates how lack of adequate communication can make or break relations between two cultures. Other noteworthy episodes include "Cause and Effect," "Power Play," "Disaster," "A Matter of Time," and "The Next Phase." Unfortunately, the season climaxes with my least favorite of the two-part shows, "Time's Arrow." The time-travel scenarios have been done to death on Star Trek and the use of Mark Twain was ridiculous. Still, despite the few bad eggs, the fifth season of TNG is worth owning, whether you're just getting started or a long-time Trek fan.
Rating:
Summary: TNG's Fifth Season is Comfortable at the Top
Review: The fifth season of Star Trek TNG begins with the Klingon Empire in the midst of a civil war, and ends with Mark Twain. In between these two episodes lies a season of mostly great drama. I have previously written that seasons three and four were, in my opinion, TNG at its best. The fifth season continued to give us great entertainment, but we encounter a few more clunkers than we did in the previous two seasons. Others have mentioned that "Cost of Living," and "Imaginary Friend," were less than impressive and I have to agree. I also felt that "New Ground," and "Hero Worship," left much to be desired. Still, the few poor episodes are far outnumbered by great ones. For me, the brightest of the gems was the two-part story, "Unification," in which Spock makes his reappearance. It was a real treat for those of us who are fans of the original series to see our favorite Vulcan again. This story is what drew me to TNG and I stayed with it. More than that, Spock's character was interwoven with the continuing plot thread involving the Romulans. Since the beginning of the third season, the writers did a commendable job in maintaining ongoing plot threads with other major races, including the Romulans, Klingons and later, the Cardassians. "Unification," is an excellent example of this. In the second part of "Unification," we meet Tassha Yarr's evil Romulan daughter Sela, whom we first encounter in the season premier/second part of "Redemption." Also in the fifth season, we get to meet the fiery Ensign Ro, played to perfection by Michelle Forbes. Forbes is one of the few actors who found life after Star Trek, including major roles in the hit television series, "Homicide, Life on the Street," and "24." Wesley Crusher returns in two episodes, "The Game," and "The First Duty." Some of us aren't big Wes fans and it was nice to see him knocked from his idealistic pedestal in the latter. We get to see Picard as a family man in, "The Inner Light," and that episode produced one of the most beautiful musical scores I've come across in Star Trek. "I Borg," is powerful drama at its best as we watch Picard wrestle with the trauma of his ordeal with the Borg. The scene when he first confronts Hughe is priceless. It is similar to what might happen when a rape victim confronts her attacker and it showed a vulnerable side to Picard that we seldom see. "Darmok," is also a great episode in that it demonstrates how lack of adequate communication can make or break relations between two cultures. Other noteworthy episodes include "Cause and Effect," "Power Play," "Disaster," "A Matter of Time," and "The Next Phase." Unfortunately, the season climaxes with my least favorite of the two-part shows, "Time's Arrow." The time-travel scenarios have been done to death on Star Trek and the use of Mark Twain was ridiculous. Still, despite the few bad eggs, the fifth season of TNG is worth owning, whether you're just getting started or a long-time Trek fan.
Rating:
Summary: TNG Fifth Season...More of the Best
Review: The fifth season of TNG would bring the greatest legend of Star Trek into the 24th century, boldly going where no human would dare to go. We also see Worf's honor restored and Data with no head...twice, we have another encounter with the Borg, Picard as a family man and see Wesley Crusher screw up. We get to witness the birth of the O'Brien baby, we meet the rebellious Ensign Ro Laren and see her and Geordi's funeral later in the season. These are just a few of the gems that make this season worth owning. TNG continues its superior entertainment throughout this season with high quality stories and improved special effects. The two-part episode, "Unification," is dedicated to the memory of Gene Rodenbury. Appropriate that we see Spock again, since Rodenbury had to fight to make him a part of the Trek universe in the beginning. The Romulan underground was a wonderful plot line and its potential for future stories was sadly ignored on the series after this two-parter. I should also mention that Sarek's final scene is a tearjerker, particularly for those of us who are also fond of the original series. While I gave the third and fourth seasons five stars, I only gave this season four because there are a few clunkers that bring the quality down a bit. Stories like, "Cost of Living," "Imaginary Friend," "Hero Worship," and "New Ground." I also didn't care for "Times Arrow," which was the two-part season finale that transitioned into season six. The time travel thing had been done to death by this time on TNG and the plot seemed tired and anti-climactic. Still, all and all, it was a great season. Some of the exceptionally good episodes included, "The Game," "Darmok," "I Borg," "The Inner Light," "Conundrum," "Ethics," and "the Next Phase." The bonus material is excellent on all DVD sets and adds to the enjoyment. This is another superb season of TNG at its best and I highly recommend it.
Rating: 
Summary: TNG still in it's peak in the 5th season.
Review: The high quality of the 4th season episodes continues in the 5th.Dispite such clinckers as Imaginary Friend,and the over hyped yet warmly welcomed apperence of Spock in Unification,five also included The First Duty,Darmok,and The Inner Light as well as many great episodes.The season also saw the passing of Gene Roddenberry,and Rick Berman finally in place of the heir apperent,which metephorically was seen in the final scene of Unification as Spock mind-melded with Picard,finally closing the "Generational Gap".
Rating:
Summary: Contains the best episode in the entire series
Review: The Inner Light makes the purchase of the entire fifth season worthwhile. This episode didn't win a Peabody as one reviewer thought. The Peabody went to TNG for he Big Good-Bye which was presented in the first season. Unquestionably, the Inner Light should have won a Peabody and a bunch of Emmies too. This episode is not just the best of TNG; it is one of the best hours ever put on series television.
Rating:
Summary: Star Trek done right
Review: This boxed set represents one of the best collections of one of the best television shows around. The picture and sound quality are phenomenal it's liking watching them for the first time, much better than when originally broadcast. The DVD's are easy to navigate with excellent menu configurations. Anyone who is a fan should experience STTNG the way it should be as presented here.
Rating:
Summary: The Best Season Hands Down
Review: This is the only season I really want, as it is by far the best. Seasons 3 and 4 were good, but without the polishing and wonderful dialogue & writing of the fifth year. After the peak of the fifth year, things went downhill, with the two-parter-saturated sixth and seventh years, where technobabble soared and real storytelling declined. The fifth year can boast two of Star Trek's best episodes: "Darmok", a truly Star Trek episode, one where you actually think there are real aliens that don't look and talk like your next door neighbor; "The Inner Light", which, along with DS9's "The Visitor" are the only two Trek episodes I ever actually teared up at - is truly outstanding. I thought "Unification" was okay, but I think Spock probably deserved a less political and more sci-fi storyline, "The Game" was fun (just love to see chases through the Enterprise), I thought Ro Laren ("Ensign Ro", "The Next Phase"), etc." was a great secondary character I wished we'd seen more of; I just liked that there was someone who didn't just fall into the stuffy chain of command. Overall a solid season with outstanding episode after episode. Other goodies include "Disaster", "A Matter of Time", "Conundrum", "Power Play", "Ethics", "Cause and Effect", "I, Borg" & "Time's Arrow".
Rating:
Summary: TNG still going strong
Review: This may be the best overall season of TNG. As the show continued to progress and the characters became more well-defined (especially during season 4) they were able to come with some great storylines. This season has the first part of the best 2-part cliffhanger episode ever (and my favorite TNG episode) "Time's Arrow". There are also several other standout episodes: "Darmok", Conundrum", "Cause and Effect", "I, Borg", "The Next Phase", and of course "Time's Arrow, Part 1".
These really are some of the best episodes of the series, and there are very few weak ones ("Hero Worship" and "Imaginary Friend" are the only 2 that come to mind). I was also not very fond of the two-parter with Spock's return ("Unification"), but it was fairly entertaining. I didn't really like the inroduction of Ro Laren as a crew member, either. I always found her unneccesary.
Still, a great season and well worth the purchase.
Rating:
Summary: Still very good, but some wasted opportunities
Review: This season of Star Trek: The Next Generation is full of "society episodes" for example, Violations, the Masterpiece Society, the Outcast and the Cost of Living. They're all actually very good, it's the other episodes that the writers can't seem to get right this season. For a start the 2 part special "Unification" featuring Spock is long, drawn out and only has the last 5 minutes with any action. It's still good as a thriller but nothing really happens. Jonathan Frakes continues his directing with "Cause and Effect" - the Enterprise caught in a temporal loop, leading to it's continual destruction each time. Frakes manages to film each of the 5 or 6 times it happens from a different perspective stopping it from grating. "I Borg" features the return of the Borg with the twist - a faction of them are individuals now. We didn't expect another Borg episode to take such a different stance, that's why it works. "Power Play" and "Disaster" are action packed - Die Hard - type episodes, and this is where Star Trek tends to lose out over Babylon 5, is that everything goes back to normal the following week. Any trauma these characters might have experienced or any changes in their character aren't continued throughout the rest of the series. "The Inner Light" is often sited as one of the finest episodes, where Picard lives the rest of his natural life (or believes he does) and has to deal with returning to the Enterprise after having come to terms with his new "life." It's very well made and Stewart shines as always. The season finale "Time's Arrow" is an enjoyable romp but a bit pointless, it feels more like Doctor Who than Star Trek. Still, there are some good episodes here and this box set is well worth having. Episode List;
Redemption, Part II
Darmok
Ensign Ro
Silicon Avatar
Disaster
The Game
Unification, Part I
Unification, Part II
A Matter of Time
New Ground
Hero Worship
Violations
The Masterpiece Society
Conundrum
Power Play
Ethics
The Outcast
Cause and Effect
The First Duty
Cost of Living
The Perfect Mate
Imaginary Friend
I, Borg
The Next Phase
The Inner Light
Time's Arrow, Part I
Rating:
Summary: Some of the best TV episodes-EVER!
Review: This was a great season of the next generation, in fact it was the season that got me hooked on the show. It did have a few stincker episodes like 'imaginary friend' and 'the perfect mate', but i don't want to get into them. I want to talk about the episodes that left the rest of tv-and science fiction, looking at what was possible. First off there was 'Cause and Effect' similar to the theme behind Stephen King's the 'Waste Lands' as the Enterprise gets caught in a causality loop, throwing it back and forth in time, always to end in the same devistating outcome. Great cameo by Frasier Crane to boot. The next great episode was 'Unification parts 1&2' they brought back Spock with an amazing, Spock worthy tale. He is still fighting for what he believes in and he still has his damn vulcan stubburness. Great sparring matches with Picard while they try to develop peace between the Federation and Romulons. 'The Next Phase' is a personal favorite of mine as it looks at the relationship between Ricker and Ro, in a subtle fashion. Ro and Geordy seem to have died and as the crew try to put on a wake, while helping the devious romulons get back into romulous space, Geordy and Ro try to stop the Romulons plot and bring their lives back together at the same time. There were holes in the story, like how did their shoes retain contact with the decks? But other than that it is lots a fun. Other not worthy eps include 'Ensign Ro', "Cost of Living', my personal season ender(behind Best of Both Worlds) was Times Arrow. The episode that i really want to talk about. If you haven't seen it, i won't give any of it away, but to this day, this episode has a deeper effect on the way I think than any TV show I have ever seen, it introduced me to brilliant Sci/fi and radical thinking, "The Inner Light". This episode starts with the crew finding a derilect satillite floating through space. Well Picard gets trasported "Somewhere else" and the greatest journey begins. It asks us to open our eyes, look around and appreciate what we have, but nothing is forever-NOTHING. Not even diamonds. Our memories fade, loved ones die, and worlds collapse. It is perspective and dream recall, amalgamated into posssibly the greatest short story since "Plato's Allegory of the Cave". Enjoy
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