It is very rare I would write a review for something, but this is a special episode of television. While it would be easy to compliment the narrative structure of how it interweaves the arcs of the junior members of the enterprise with those more senior, that is not the headline attraction of this episode. This episode manages to distill the complexities of relationships with colleagues down to something pure and truly heartfelt. A remarkable episode, truly.

I'm pretty sure I'd only seen parts of 'Lower Decks' over the years, and seeing it in its entirety was an eye-opener. A creative look at the lower-level officers that populate the Enterprise, it also reframed the main cast (those all-too-familiar faces we see from week to week) as administrative department heads. Yeah, it's kind of a workplace episode. And as each character achieves clarity throughout the story, a fluffy ending is almost guaranteed; that is, until a late-hour plot twist turns that right on its head.

Highly potent stuff.

9/10

As it is with so many television series, we have a cast of a few characters that dominate. I remember watching MASH and thinking how, with all the medical staff they had, did everything happen to Hawkeye and his small contingent; why did they always have the commander's ear. Here the producers allow us into the fraternity behind the scenes. The young officers on the way up. One in particular, a young woman who was part of the careless activity that got Wesley almost drummed out of the academy, sees all her work nearly stifled by her past. This is her story of ascendancy and her story of risk. After Picard tells her she has no future, she comes to a conclusion to ditch the past and take the gifts she has accumulated and move forward. She goes on a mission of tremendous risk to become what she hopes to become. A sensitive episode.

Several newer members of the crew are up for promotion and you see the ways these various personalities respond to the pressure of vying for the same promotion (by the way, the Vulcan was a bit of a suck up if you ask me). At the same time, a Cardassian defector arrives on the ship. How will these two plots intersect?

This episode of "Star Trek: The Next Generation" is rather unique and I liked it. In many ways it's a bit more soap opera-like than some, as it is more about personalities than a big plot. One reviewer described it aptly as like "Upstairs/Downstairs". Exactly what happens to these eager young crew members is something you'll need to see for yourself--and the ending is a bit touching.

This is a stand out even in season seven, which is saying a lot. I have watched it a different points in my life ever since it came out in 1994: as a highschooler, as someone fresh out of college, and now as someone who is way too close in age to the senior officers. The interactions among the ensigns and senior officers is spot on and the surprisingly heavy subject material turned into a major gut punch. Well done, TNG, well done.

Really enjoyed this one especially compared to the other episodes in this season. Really a great episode that delves into the lower ranks and what it may look like from their point of view. I sure wish they had done more like this, they may have gotten an 8th season out of the series had they.

Unusual episode which shows what has probably very unintentionally been illustrated throughout the series and really throughout every Trek series; namely, the hierarchical class distinctions between executive officers low ranking officers. In addition to being interesting because of the latter, while Next Generation as a whole has loads of heart, "Lower Decks" is one of a relatively small number of episodes that is a bona fide tearjerker. Fantastic writing and acting.

We spend time with a group of lower ranked Enterprise crew members.

This is a strong episode with a novel idea that has some good character moments.

The obvious hook is seeing everything and everyone from a different perspective. This could have been gimmicky if the character interactions are not as strong as they are.

I personally do not find them hugely interesting as individuals, but the interactions with each other and the main characters are great. The highlights include Lavelle with Riker, Sato with both Picard and Worf, and all their interactions together. Sato easily has the best arc, especially as it follows up an intriguing story in 'The First Duty'. It ends very strongly and all feels rather poignant.

One of the best aspects is that it makes the show feel more than just the main cast every week with a load of extras thrown in to make up the numbers. The concept of Enterprise being a functioning starship with an actual crew is more plausible because of 'Lower Decks'.

This episode starts with a ridiculous level of unprofessionalisn from the Starfleet officers, literally talking about who is going to get promoted in TEN FORWARD where they can obviously be overheard. Add in Dr Crusher trying to be friends and gossip with her direct report and this is a failure of Management 101.

Beyond that, the episode is extremely well written and I had some flashbacks to my own early career, worrying about what my boss thinks of me and over reacting to every interaction. A great point of view episode from the junior officers, and a very moving ending to the episode make this a Top 10 in the series for me.

This has spinoff written all over it and I guess the upcoming animated series Lower Decks is doing just that albeit with more humor.

An excellent episode, and study into the complexities of being a leader, and a member of a team. Also, as a former Naval Officer, the tension between the senior officers and lower ranks (albeit still junior officers) was realistic, with the usual dramatic licence. But great to see a break away from the usual 'Wardroom' perspective of every other ST episode.

This particular TNG episode focuses on a group of young officer trainees who are looking for promotion and there's limited slots available. All of them are responding to challenges in different ways. The one who seems most nervous is Dan Gauthier who is convinced that Commander Riker is out to deny him any way he can.

But Bajoran Shannon Fill has a different kind of hurdle and that's with Patrick Stewart. Going back a couple of seasons she was part of a group of cadets at Star Fleet Academy that included Wesley Crusher who covered up some dereliction of duty. Captain Picard took that incident to heart because Star Fleet Academy is close to his heart. He makes it blunt that he doesn't like and is waiting for her to screw up so he can bounce her off his ship and maybe out of Star Fleet

But life takes a funny old bounce and it turns out its Shannon Fills who has unique qualifications for a dangerous mission.

The confrontation scene with Fills and Stewart contains some of the best acting ever seen in TNG.. I also loved the scenes with the young trainees sharing their hopes and anxieties for the future.

And I loved what Shannon Fills did with her part as the young Bajoran cadet trying to prove herself. She does way more than that.

Gut wrenching episode. In other words: spot on. Do imagine you serve as junior staff aboard the USS Enterprise. Flagship of the Federation. The Chief Engineer is blind. The third-in-command is an emotionless Android. Chief of security is a Barbarian Klingon. It's almost like Starfleet deliberately pick the wrong people. You studied hard at a Starfleet Academy to get, at the very minimum, not blown into pieces. Ideally, you do want a life as top staff. You freshly arrive aboard the Enterprise, perfectly qualified, but feel desperate instantly - and can't even tell why! After all, there might be a good reason for putting handicapped people in charge. But no one told you that the Academy, or ideally, during the recruiting.

"You know, Sam, maybe you shouldn't try so hard with Riker." Says the junior female medical officers during a poker match. It's stuff like this that makes me feel tired when I try to watch this series.

Once again, original Star Trek was a plot driven show where Kirk and crew addressed malefactors that caused huge problems in society. Star Trek The Next Generation used plots as background story to explore character interactions.

In this way Star Trek The Next Generation, minus the jokes, had a Situation Comedy format in that that's what sit-coms explore; relationships and conflicts between and among characters, notably family, friends, neighbors and coworkers.

And that's what makes this show so bad, and why old school fans like me hated it, and quite frankly still do.

This was probably the next to last episode I ever saw, only like some of the other episodes I had this on in the background, but tried to pay attention while I did things around the home. Trying to watch it again via BBC America I understand why I disliked this series so much.

The stories plot again serves as a background for the examination of character interactions. It's a "let's talk about our feelings" kind of deal, and where 1960's Star Trek had some of that, it was essentially part of the background material; i.e. Spock and McCoy arguing to add some humor. But here the characters are the focus, as opposed to the objectives the characters are forced to meet.

In this episode we examine the junior officers serving the senior officers, and their relationships with one another. It's tiring stuff.

The plot boils forth towards the end, and hinted at throughout the episode, but you have to wade through another volume of examining feelings and relationships ...

So why did I keep watching? Because I'm stupid. Like I said in other reviews regarding this show, I kept hoping for actual plot and action oriented episodes, but instead got a very soft peddled therapist's office in space, complete with a counselor stationed on the bridge with some psychiatric powers.

The junior officers talk to one another, confide and discuss their feelings and relationships, and how to properly act on those feelings. This is the show's emphasis, and so the plot doesn't into focus until the third act. And even then you get more "here are my feelings on the matter" dialogue before the action comes into play.

Looking at some of the reviews by fans they seem to rate it somewhat high, but not very high. A kind of above average score. Well, both show and audience are very different from the fans and show I grew up with.

Reader; you should know that Hollywood is ruled by sociologists and other behavioral scientists; psychologists and so forth. So, it doesn't matter how good a story you have, the powers that be want to teach the audience about whatever it is they deem important. And so it is that Star Trek The Next Generation was an is an instruction in relationships as opposed to focusing on what and why ship and crew are in space.

So, to me it's puzzling that people give this episode praise, but dismiss or give poor reviews to episodes that are more plot oriented. But then I remind myself that this is a different show, and knowing the criteria for it makes me shrug my shoulders.

The truth is it angers me because it's more bait and switch; i.e. Slap the Star Trek label on something and then take away everything that made the old show so fun.

In the end the junior officers discuss the outcome of evaluations, and one other event happens that adds some emotional weight from the plot's events. But, again it's soft lighting, soft music, you never see the action just the results, and all of the episode are characters talking.

So, if you like that, this is the show for you.