It’s been a long time since I had access to TNG, even as late-night reruns. But if I could, what episodes from the first two seasons would be worth watching?
I’ve seen most, maybe almost all, of 'em at least once, though many not since their original airing. I barely remember the first two seasons.
Patrick Stewart is one of my only celebrity crushes ever, so any Picard-centric episode gets bonus points. Extra bonus points if Riker’s almost never on camera.
“Datalore” was pretty good. “Conspiracy” would have been good if they hadn’t dropped the whole idea as soon as the episode ended.
“The Measure of a Man” in the second season is probably the best. And “A Matter of Honor” was also a good one. They were aired back to back and I remember at the time that the show had finally found its way. Alas, it deteriorated immediately after those two.
there are a bunch of “decent” to “good” episodes. the ones worth noting, after skimming the wiki list of episodes are: too shart a season, coming of age, arsenal of freedom (mentioned on the WORST thread), measure of a man, contagion, the emissary, and peak performance.
They revisited a lot of stuff from the first couple of seasons so they could do it right the second time around, like the Crystalline Entity. Just from looking at Wiki, the ones I remember liking are:
Season 1: The Big Goodbye, 11001001, The Arsenal of Freedom, Conspiracy, and The Neutral Zone.
Season 2: A Matter of Honor, The Measure of a Man, Q Who, and The Emissary.
Q Who was probably my favorite from the first 2 seasons.
Second that. It introduced arguably the most noteworthy enemies of the universe. Solid episode.
I like FordTaurus’ picks but a few I would add:
Season 2: Elementary Dear Data, Loud as a Whisper, A Matter of Honor, Peak Performance, The Emissary
The others that have been mentioned are good. I also think the very first one was good: Encounter at Farpoint Station.
11001001
Primarily because this was the first bad ass Picard episode. Up till then he was a rather boring stuff shirt. He didn’t like kids. Riker made sure he didn’t go on away missions. All Picard did was scowl and march around on the bridge.
11001001 it was Picard against a bunch of guys that had taken over the ship (by trickery). This Picard eventually was the bad ass that survived a Klingon assassination attempt in S3. Picard became my favorite character.
11001001 wasn’t a great episode. But it showed the potential in the Picard character.
To follow up…
Seasons 1 & 2 also showed the failings of Will Riker’s character. The actor was never believable as the man of action or a headstrong officer. Riker was always predictable and boring.
That’s why they gave Picard the “man of action” role. Patrick Stewart was bald and middle aged. But, I saw a strength, iron will, and determination, in Picard, that the guy playing Riker could never achieve.
“Skin of Evil,” aka The One Where Tasha Gets Killed, is actually pretty good, if only for Picard’s final showdown with the monster, Armus, and Tasha’s funeral, which features the first moments of genuine emotion on the show. It’s also interesting how Tasha bites it: no big heroic sendoff, no heavy final speech, she just takes a big step in the wrong direction and gets blasted like a hundred redshirts before her. It’s almost enough to make you wish she’d stuck around, but not really.
It’s almost enough to make you wish they’d ever developed her as a character.
I really love the end of the episode where Picard tries to lecture Q about the people who died at the hands of the Borg and Q essentially tells him to quit whining about it.
The best Picard episode was Starship Mine. Bad. Ass.
Wrong. Chain of Command. One of Sir Patrick’s finest on screen moments as Cap’n Picard. 
THERE
ARE
FOUR
LIGHTS!!!
Last night…
I got Starship Mine and 11001001 mixed up . They both involve a ship take over by trickery. But, Starship Mine was the Rambo moment I really remember.
11001001 had good Picard moments too. Especially when he triggers the Auto Destruct countdown.
In general, I probably couldn’t really recommend any first season episode. I’d watch them all again, and remember how great it was to enjoy them first time around as an eleven year old. I guess for a Picard fan, Symbiosis was pretty decent I guess, Picard weighing how to save a civilisation from its virtual slavery, while adhering to the Prime Directive. (Saying all that, would Kirk just have charged in and directly eliminated the drug labs on the other planet, told everyone to grow up?).
The second season is easier, besides the aforementioned Measure of a Man, and the excellent Q Who, The Schizoid man was an entertaining diversion, Spiner heavy of course.
Was Symbiosis the one where Tasha gave Wesley an anti-drug speech? That’s funny to watch now.
Probably, makes me want to rewatch it all the more now 
If I had to pick a must see from season 1 it would be Heart of Glory.
It introduced the updated Klingons and their culture. Best of all, no Wesley Crusher in this one.
Great line.
“Cowards take hostages, Klingons do not.”
- Worf[QUOTE=aceplace57]
They both involve a ship take over by trickery. But, Starship Mine was the Rambo moment I really remember.
[/QUOTE]
Is that the one that winds up with Picard crunched up into a tight corner, saying “Now would be good!”?