"Justice" is the eighth episode of the first season, and initially aired on November 9, 1987. It's one of those multi-author episodes, and that's never a good sign. This particular episode is the work of Worley Thorne, based on a story by Ralph Wills and Worley Thorne. Wills is a pseudonym for John D. F. Black, the guy who also has to claim responsibility for the other contender of Worst TNG Episode Ever, "The Naked Now." When this first aired, it was clear in just a few minutes that this episode was going to suck. For one thing, no one was exerting any control, at all, over costumer William Ware "Bill" Theiss, known for his "Look Ma no Bra" costumes held on by strategic straps and a fair amount of costume glue. Theiss was the costume designer for the original series, and is generally acknowledged as the originator of a costuming theory that asserts that the attractiveness of clothing depends not on the amount of skin shown but rather, is directly related to how removable the costume appears. A more formal definition of the "Theiss Titillation Theory," as it is called in The Making of Star Trek (Stephen E. Whitfield and Gene Roddenberry. Ballantine Books. 1968, 360), is that "the degree to which a costume is considered sexy is directly proportional to how accident-prone it appears to be" is named after him.

The plot, such as it is (this episode is mostly a vehicle for scantily clad extras and pontificating about the Prime Directive) is about the Enterprise taking shore leave on the newly discovered idyllic planet Rubicun III, inhabited by the Edo, who are apparently innocent lechers ("They make love at the drop of a hat" as Geordi La Forge notes, and "Any hat," Tasha Yar confirms), living in a Utopia governed by a benevolent digital deity/dictator. It's an inversion of the original Trek's 1967 episode "The Apple," which had innocent primitives living an idyllic and chaste life. under the watchful eye of a digital benevolent dictator—and in complete celibacy. There are a couple of catches, however (I know! Who expected that?). There are invisible, unmarked "punishment zones" which are set randomly, and change frequently. Any infraction in those zones is punished by death. Wesley, naturally, possibly because of John D. F. Black's dislike for Wheaton, is the one who inadvertently commits an offense. And that's when the Enterprise discovers that there's an "orb" that appears to be only intermittently in the present dimension, and which refers to the Edo as "my children." The alternate purpose of this episode, beyond showing lots and lots of WASP skin (and blonde curly wigs), is to trot out a conflict between humane concern for the life of Wesley Crusher, and a necessity to obey the Federation's Prime Directive. Picard pulls it off with a little help from Riker and a lot of diplomacy; you can read a detailed plot summary here, and Wil Wheaton's rather smarter take on it here.

There's a point where the "ship" or station or whatever it is that represents the Edo God is very briefly shown (the one in the image above). It reminds me a bit of a ship or station or something that was associated with the "first ones" in Babylon 5. I can't seem to find the image I'm thinking of though.

The official trailer for "Justice"

The previous episode was "Lonely Among Us"; the next episode is "The Battle."