5 Best Star Trek Episodes With Patrick Stewart's Jean-Luc Picard, Ranked

The entire entertainment world is mourning the loss of Sir Patrick Stewart, who died earlier this week at age 86, but no one is feeling the loss more than Trekkies, who got to watch Stewart as Enterprise captain Jean-Luc Picard for seven seasons on "Star Trek: The Next Generation."

Stewart was a classically trained Shakespearean actor when he joined the "TNG" cast in 1987, and some fans doubted that he could live up to the high standard set by William Shatner's Captain Kirk on the original "Star Trek" series. But Stewart brought wisdom and elegance to the Enterprise captain's chair, his rich voice booming with authority, and his Jean-Luc Picard quickly became as loved and respected as Kirk among "Trek" fans.

TVLine had the great pleasure of speaking with Stewart on multiple occasions about his time as Jean-Luc, with him returning to the role decades later for the Paramount+ series "Star Trek: Picard." In light of his recent passing, we thought we'd look back and rank his greatest episodes as Jean-Luc Picard in the "Star Trek" universe. Now to be clear: Instead of choosing the best overall "Trek" episodes featuring Jean-Luc, we thought we'd focus on Stewart's best performances as Jean-Luc — and it just so happens that those are some of the best "Star Trek" episodes of all time.

Read on to see which Jean-Luc episodes made our Top 5, and hit the comments below to share your favorite Jean-Luc episodes of "Trek." 

In this Season 5 standout, Jean-Luc and the Enterprise crew ran into a major communication problem when they crossed paths with the Tamarians, an alien race who spoke in an impenetrable language made up of myths and riddles. Jean-Luc ended up stranded on a planet with the Tamarian captain and fighting for his life when a native beast attacked them, but the dire circumstances gave Patrick Stewart the chance to up his acting game, as Jean-Luc stubbornly tried to find common ground with the Tamarian captain. He unlocked the answer when he turned to classic literature like the ancient epic of Gilgamesh to convey his thoughts, and it was a joy just to watch Stewart recite those centuries-old lines in his sonorous voice. Jean-Luc came away from the experience with a newfound appreciation for the Tamarians' culture... and we came away with an even greater appreciation for Stewart's talents.

In this grindingly intense two-parter, Jean-Luc was taken hostage by the Cardassians and subjected to brutal torture by a nasty Cardassian interrogator played by "Star Trek" movie veteran David Warner. The episode put a harsh spotlight on the horrors of war, and Patrick Stewart was certainly put through the wringer as Jean-Luc was starved, beaten, and humiliated in an attempt to break his will. But it also brought out the best in Stewart as he traded barbs with a fellow Shakespearean actor and pushed Jean-Luc to his absolute psychological limits, defiantly insisting that "there are four lights!" lit up behind the interrogator, even when the Cardassians tried to force him to say there were five. It was an exhausting ordeal that nearly left Jean-Luc a broken man, but it was also a chance to see Stewart tap into Jean-Luc's inner resolve and do some of his finest work.

The trauma of being captured and transformed by the Borg in "The Best of Both Worlds" — another "TNG" all-timer — lingered in Jean-Luc's psyche for years to come, and it resurfaced at odd times, like when the Enterprise took in a lone Borg drone in this Season 5 installment. Geordi tried to rehabilitate the childlike drone, even giving him the name "Hugh." but Jean-Luc was absolutely unforgiving, determined to use Hugh as a kamikaze weapon to destroy the Borg collective. At one point, Jean-Luc confronted Hugh and slipped back into his own Borg persona as Locutus, hammering Hugh with questions — and it's one of Patrick Stewart's best scenes in the entire series, letting us see the pain and fear Jean-Luc was still harboring underneath all the anger. Jean-Luc eventually saw the light and warmed up to Hugh, and it was a big step forward in him processing his Borg abduction... as well as another reminder of Stewart's prodigious strengths as an actor.

The very last episode of "The Next Generation" is also one of the very best, with the series finale sending Jean-Luc on a time-tripping adventure through multiple timelines, courtesy of (who else?) the trickster god Q. Patrick Stewart carried the finale on his back, playing a doddering old Jean-Luc from the future along with younger and more agile versions, and his verbal sparring with John de Lancie's Q was never better. But the finale also allowed plenty of time for reflection, and Stewart was able to say goodbye to playing Jean-Luc (at least until the movies) in grandly satisfying fashion. The final scene, where Jean-Luc finally joined his crewmates for a game of poker, was a masterclass in subtlety, with Stewart's eyes growing wistful as he surveyed the table and poignantly declared, "I should have done this a long time ago." (Our eyes are growing wistful just thinking about it.)  

In a way, this episode is an odd choice for the top spot, since Patrick Stewart spent so much of it playing a character that isn't Jean-Luc Picard. Instead, he lived a full life as Kamin, an everyday man on an agrarian planet, after being zapped by a mysterious probe. Stewart packed 40 years' worth of memories into one hour of television, taking Kamin all the way to being a doting grandfather, and Jean-Luc eventually eased into his life as Kamin, with Stewart expanding his range and exploring the road not traveled. Jean-Luc was eventually returned to his ship, with only a few minutes having passed, but not without the flute that Kamin learned to play, and the sight of Jean-Luc playing that flute alone in his quarters was the perfect capper to an enormously moving episode. Stewart also gave us 40 years' worth of memories as Trekkies through his work as Jean-Luc... and we'll be forever grateful. 

What are your favorite "Star Trek" episodes with Patrick Stewart's Jean-Luc Picard? Let us know in a comment below.