The Episode That Defines Star Trek TNG

I remember this episode came out when I was in grad school studying Communication Studies. My prof was a Trekkie, as was I, and I was thrilled that we discussed it in class. It's so interesting from the point of view of human communications. As a polyglot interested in the difference not just in our words but in our behaviour when we speak other languages, this episode became my favourite and has remained so through many excellent Star Trek shows and movies. TNG in particular did not explore (probably because of its episodic nature and the short run-times) any depth to the cultures they encountered. Here is a culture who have no gender. Here is a culture who view politeness as weakness. But these cultures are never explored in more depth. It's a one-sentence description at the beginning of the episode that sets up the essential conflict, usually as a subplot, and then the crew have to deal with the problems that conflict creates for the signing of a peace treaty or similiar. In Darmok, we get a real exploration of an alien culture and how that makes communication of even simple concepts difficult... until Picard bridges the gap excellently. I love the end of the episode when the Tamarian coins the new phrase "Picard and Dathon at El-Adrel". It's just perfect!