I was fine with them. They weren’t my favorite episodes, but as @zero_spelled_with_an_ecks@programming.dev mentions, it offers a different facet of the character. The idea of the stern, “stuffy” Picard indulging in 1940s American noir roleplay is amusing to me. It’s one of those things that’d come up in one of those awful “two truths and a lie” icebreaker activities.

You can also use the 4e skill challenge format for navigation. For example, I had my party engage in a skill challenge to find a secret enemy fortress, requiring five success before three failures. They rolled initiative and then took turns describing which skill their character would like to use to assist the party on the journey. One used Arcana to detect divination magic emanating from a clockwork ornithopter, allowing the party to hide from its view. Another used Athletics to scale the cliff of the canyon they were in to scout the path ahead. Everyone got to participate and they had the opportunity to be creative with some rarely used skills.