I think the episodic nature of TNG is felt very acutely when one considers an episode such as Suddenly Human. If you recall, Jono's sole surviving blood relative was his grandmother, a Starfleet admiral. The admiral was elated at the prospect of getting Jono back, and then Picard decides to return Jono to his adopted alien family with no indication that he even informed the admiral beforehand. And then the Enterprise flies away, and Jono is never brought up again.

Imagine the administrative shitstorm that Picard's decision would incur in real life, or at least in a reasonably true-to-life serialized storyline. There are no doubt many ways that a Starfleet admiral can make trouble for a captain, not least via a court martial. And yet, there's no indication that Picard received so much as a sternly-worded email from the admiral. Rather than showing this headache playing out for Picard over the course of weeks or months, the Enterprise just goes off to a new adventure, with the slate wiped clean.