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Nuke_Gunray
Reviews
Star Trek: The Next Generation: The Inner Light (1992)
Simply the best episode of TNG
Never in my life as an adult did I weep as much as I did in this episode.
It is touching on so many levels of feelings that I cannot even begin to analyze which part I love the most and I am sure everyone who has watched this piece of art will agree:
For me, the mere tought of space is always bound to give me goosebumps and feelings of sadness... Because I always think about how many worlds and civilizations may have been out there that have vanished maybe tenthousand years ago; wiped away by a meteor impact or a supernova.
And this episode just takes all these feelings and transforms them into a solid, almost theatrical performance of great actors. Captain Jean-Luc Picard is forced into the life that is not his own and even his character developement inside this episode - from trying to escape from the "dream" to accepting it and living his life there to the fullest - would be enough for a thrilling experience. But this episode goes much deeper: As we see Picard falling in love with "his" wife, having children, growing old and becoming a person so much different then what we would ever think of him, a feeling of sadness and melancholy emerges as we begin to comprehend that the planet he is living on is dying and the civilization about to become extinct.
Seeing his children rise from infants to adults, falling in love, starting careers and having children of their on with Picard becoming an old man is a great example of showing the "circle of life" inside a movie and combined with the approaching end of his civilization, this episode delivers a 45min long ode to life and its beauty.
This is by far my most favorite episode of Star Trek, maybe even of all TV-shows and to be honest I think this would have made a great movie... 10/10 any time of the day.