Watch to the end. It has some new stuff. I admit I was misled at the beginning as well.
I think it also helped that we got more character out of Ortegas than we did in “Among the Lotus Eaters” which she dominated the B plot. The cast was all used well.
Debatable.
TNG did have a crossover with a forgotten sitcom named Webster. https://blog.trekcore.com/2015/03/tng-webster-crossover/
And who can forget Voyager having a wrestling episode.