The 12 Best Star Trek Episodes for Celebrating Captain Picard's Return

The return of Jean-Luc Picard in Star Trek: Picard airs on January 23 on CBS All-Access. Patrick Stewart's run with the character from 1987 through 1994—continuing on with films through 2002—solidified Star Trek as transformative piece of sci-fi. While the show's ensemble cast was crucial to its success, the fate of The Next Generation clearly hung on Stewart's portrayal of a tough-minded, fair, and empathic captain who's equal parts Atticus Finch and Captain America—and now he's back.

The bar was set high from the beginning. In the show's first episode, "Encounter at Farpoint," Picard enters an inter-dimensional courtroom where he is put on trial for all of humanity's crimes. By the episode's end, he's given time to prove the worth of our species, using the next seven seasons to make the case.

Although Picard makes nearly every episode of The Next Generation a better one, these 12 help define Picard as The Next Generation of starfleet and the captain for a new generation of Star Trek fans.