The “let’s blow up the Enterprise in the cold open” episode, “Cause and Effect” isn’t just an opening gimmick. (Though, you have to admit, as far as opening gimmicks go, it’s a pretty good one.) It’s an example of how a simple premise can be elevated by good writing and, perhaps even more importantly, excellent direction.
“Cause and Effect,” your classic stuck-in-a-time-loop episode, could have been a snoozer—if not for that facts that it a) allows the team (rather than just one character) to work together to find the clues and solve the mystery of the time loop and b) Jonathan Frakes’ (aka Riker) top-notch direction. Rather than relying on the same shots to save time, Frakes worked to make each trip through the time loop feel distinct, using tools like shot length. This makes what could have been a redundant hour of television into a thoroughly entertaining hour spent with these characters we love.
I’m a big fan of episodes that give Dr. Crusher something to do, as well as episodes that feature the famous poker games between the Enterprise’s senior officers. Throw in a guest appearance from Kelsey Grammer as the captain of a ship that has been stuck in the time loop for 90 years, and you’ve got yourself a TNG classic! — KB
“The First Duty” (5×19)
Written by Ronald D. Moore and Naren Shankar / Directed by Paul Lynch
The one where Picard yells at Wesley—no, really yells at him. And for a good reason.
When an academy training accident involving cadet Wesley Crusher ends with a fellow student dead, Picard orders his crew to investigate the incident. It soon becomes clear that the squadron was attempting a dangerous, banned flight maneuver that resulted in the death of their friend. When Picard confronts Wesley about it, he refuses to incriminate himself and his team.
Torn between his Enterprise family and his academy friends, Wesley must decide whether to betray his squadron’s pact of silence and tell the truth—which could spell the end of his nascent Starfleet career—or to betray Picard’s faith in him. I’m a sucker for the Picard/Wesley relationship, and this uncomfortable challenge of Wesley’s character is one of the most mature looks at its complexities.
(Side note: It is super distracting watching this after Star Trek: Voyager came out because Wesley’s dickish squadron leader is played by Robert Duncan McNeill, aka Voyager‘s Tom Paris. Actually, this is all kind of one, long audition for the Tom Paris role…) — KB
“The Inner Light” (5×25)
Written by Morgan Gendel and Peter Allan Fields / Directed by Peter Lauritson
Star Trek: The Next Generation hit its stride in seasons three, four, and five, capping that run with one of the most powerful and moving episodes in the series’ history.
The Enterprise encounters an unidentified probe that sends a beam into Picard’s head, rendering him unconscious. When he awakens, he finds himself living on a planet called Kataan, where everyone refers to him as Kamin. While his shipmates attempt fruitlessly to revive him, they discover that the probe originated in a solar system whose star went nova 1,000 years ago.
Meanwhile, Picard lives (to his reckoning) 40 years as Kamin—getting married, having children and grandchildren, learning to play the flute, and eventually facing the end of his civilization as their sun goes nova. The probe, it turns out, contains memories of Kamin and his people, with Picard selected as the one who will retain them.
Patrick Stewart has cited this as his favorite TNG episode, and fans rate it as one of the five best of the series. It also won the 1993 Hugo Award for Best Dramatic Presentation. The last time a TV show had won was 25 years earlier, in 1968, when TOS won for “The City on the Edge of Forever.” With their twin themes of loss and memory, the two stories share some DNA, but “The Inner Light” is the more profoundly moving of the two, and Picard’s final scene as he grasps the flute—all that is left of Kamin and his race—is perhaps Stewart’s single best moment in the series.
Star Trek, in all its incarnations, is occasionally capable of great beauty, even poetry. This episode is one of those times. — DK
“Chain of Command, Parts 1 and 2” (6×10, 6×11)
Part 1: Story by Frank Abatemarco, Teleplay by Ronald D. Moore / Directed by Robert Scheerer, Part 2: Written by Frank Abatemarco / Directed by Les Landau
There. Are. Four. Lights.
In large thanks to 24, a majority of torture depicted on TV tends to be effective in securing useful information—something that has been proven a misnomer in real life. Torture doesn’t get people to tell the truth so much as get people to say what their torturer wants them to hear.
There’s a lot going on in “Chain of Command,” a two-part epic in which Picard is captured and tortured by Cardassians, but one of the major themes that is explored through Patrick Stewart’s phenomenal turn as an almost-broken Picard is that even the most honorable men will do what they have to do to avoid torture. At a certain point, inflicting pain is the only point.
Elsewhere in this episode, Riker’s pompous rogueishness is put to good use when the sometimes-incompetent Captain Jellico takes over command of the Enterprise. I would have liked to see this storyline pushed just a little bit further—the big climax comes in Jellico visiting a petulant Riker in his quarters to ask him to pilot an important mission—but there’s something admirable about a “villainous” force who isn’t actually villainous.
Jellico isn’t a bad guy; he’s just kind of bad at his job. He micromanages and is a poor communicator and likes to be in control, even if it means leading his crew into disaster. Ultimately, Jellico manages to save the day (with Riker’s help), but—more than anything—his turn as ship’s captain makes us appreciate Captain Picard that much more. — KB
“Tapestry” (6×15)
Written by Ronald D. Moore / Directed by Les Landau
Any episode that gives Patrick Stewart an intriguing premise and lets him run with it tends to be on the better side of the TNG episode ranking, but add Q and a clever, It’s a Wonderful Life-like premise that allows Picard to go back to his Starfleet days to right a perceived wrong, and you’ve got yourself a Next Generation classic.
The episode has one of the best intros in TNG history, throwing us into the aftermath of a random energy blast that leaves Picard dying on one of Dr. Crusher’s sickbay tables, his artificial heart seeming unable to handle the trauma. Enter Q, who gives Picard the chance to go back to the Starfleet-era fight with some Nausicaans that led to his needing an artificial heart in the first place.
What follows is a somewhat unpredictable musing on what part risk-taking and regret can play in our lives, and to what extent our fates are changeable. The banter between Picard and Q is, as always, hilarious and full of energy, and, though the structure may be somewhat formulaic, the twists are not. In the words of Picard: “There are many parts of my youth that I’m not proud of. There were loose threads, untidy parts of me that I would like to remove. But when I pulled on one of those threads, it unraveled the tapestry of my life.” — KB
“Starship Mine” (6×18)
Written by Morgan Gendel / Directed by Cliff Bole
Sometimes, a man just needs his saddle. And, sometimes, that saddle-fetching leads to Die Hard in space. Such is the lot of Captain Jean-Luc Picard who get trapped with some thieves on an nearly abandoned Enterprise while a fatal-to-humans baryon sweep makes its way across the ship in this action-packed hour of The Next Generation. Meanwhile, on the array the Enterprise is docked at, the rest of the crew is taken hostage during a boring cocktail reception.
“Starship Mine” is competency porn at its most addictive, an homage to the ’80s action film genre (complete with requisite humor) that casts Patrick Stewart—who we are more used to seeing delivering Shakespearean speeches or staring down an alien spaceship on the bridge than using crossbows to take out bag guys—as Bruce Willis. Part of the dedication to this homage means that this episode of TNG is a bit stupider than the average installment, but “Starship Mine” makes up for it with action adventure fun.
Extra points for Data’s determination to get small talk right, going to the lengths of creating a subroutine. Riker comments to Troi: “I have to admit that it has a sort of strange fascination—how long can two people talk about nothing?’” — KB
“Lower Decks” (7×15)
Teleplay by Rene Echevarria, Story by Ronald Wilkerson and Jean Louise Matthias / Directed by Gabrielle Beaumont
On other shows, this series regular-lite episode would be a throwaway episode that no one would ever remember. Not on TNG, where the installment is used to look at what life is like for a group of junior officers and friends serving on the Enterprise’s “lower decks.”
Though we see several of the main cast members through their occasional interaction with Sam, Sito, Ogawa, and Taurik, the story centers around the young crew members and climaxes in a tragic conclusion that not only hammers home the, at times, high stakes of Starfleet, but also he fact that—though we stay close to the command characters we know and love—there are hundreds of crew members who work, live, and die on the Enterprise.
This episode has been cited by Doctor Who showrunner Russell T Davies as an inspiration for the Doctor-lite episode “Love and Monsters,” which also (somewhat controversially) also holds a special place in my TV-loving heart. — KB
“All Good Things” (7×25, 7×26)
Written by Brannon Braga and Ronald D. Moore / Directed by Winrich Kolbe
Ending a TV series is no easy task, as you probably have already noticed from all of the terrible series finales out there in the world. Endings are difficult, even more so on television dramas that tend to have longevity and some sort of formula built into their very DNA. And this is without taking into account the fact that TV shows tend to end when they are past their narrative prime. In other words, series finales are hard—which is why “All Good Things,” the final episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation, is such a miracle.
In “All Good Things,” Picard finds himself jumping to three different points in time: the series’ present, just prior to the Enterprise’s first mission in the series premiere, and 25 years into the future where an older Picard is retired and living on his family’s vineyard. The whole episode is an exercise staged by the Q continuum, of course, in their efforts to test humanity’s potential to evolve. (No pressure.)
Ultimately, the episode is the perfect bookend to “Encounter at Farpoint,” the series premiere, and an impressive cap to a seven-season show that was many different things throughout its run. The show ends in the only way it could have: with faith in the future of humanity and with Picard finally joining the senior officers’ poker game.
“So, five-card stud, nothing wild… and the sky’s the limit.” I’m not crying. You’re crying. — KB
Star Trek: Deep Space Nine
“Duet” (1×19)
Teleplay by Peter Allan Fields, Story by Lisa Rich and Jeanne Carrigan-Fauci / Directed by James L. Conway
Though Deep Space Nine intrigued through its first season, it arguably didn’t hit its stride until “Duet,” a deeply personal, complicated, and tragic look at the lingering effects of the Cardassian occupation of Bajor.
Loosely based on a dramatization of the Nuremberg Trials, “Duet” sees a sick Cardassian seek treatment on Deep Space Nine. Kira’s first-hand knowledge of the Cardassian occupation leads her to believe that Marritza, the Cardassian in question, was present at one of the most brutal labor camps on Bajor—and therefore a war criminal who must stand trial for his crimes.
The following hour is a fascinating, deeply-affecting unraveling of truth, lies, guilt, and consequence that was an early indication of just how good Deep Space Nine would become. We learn a great deal about Kira in this episode (“Enough good people have already died. I won’t help kill another”), as well as the fragile relationships between the Bajorans, the Cardassians, and the Federation. The final scene remains one of the most affecting in Star Trek history.
“Duet” is a testament to what can be done in a self-contained episodic story (though the themes of this story would be present in much of DS9‘s storytelling)—the kind that’s been almost completely lost in an age of highly-serialized storytelling. And, though much remains morally murky in this episode’s conclusion, the episode remains adamant in its statement that no one remains unscathed by the atrocities of war—neither victim, nor victor. — KB
“Necessary Evil” (2×08)
Written by Peter Allan Fields / Directed by James L. Conway
When Quark is left critically wounded in an attack, Odo is thrown back into investigating the unsolved murder case that first drew him into station security five years prior. Watching Deep Space Nine, I was always fascinated into any peeks we got into what life on the space station was like in the time before the Federation gained control, when it was still under Cardassian occupation. Season two’s “Necessary Evil” gives us just that.
There is a larger, stirring frame tale about Bajoran collaborators, but the best part of this episode comes with the greater insight into Odo’s character. He started as a station security officer not because he felt any particular calling, but because he was a neutral party who Gal Dukat requested. As an outsider, his ability to read people was honed over years surviving at the mercy of others. Deep Space Nine, even under Cardassian rule, gave him a chance to put that skill to good use.
The story is told via noir-like voiceover from Odo, who is begrudgingly filing his Starfleet log. The structure is both humorous and effective, and the murder mystery is diverting, but “Necessary Evil” really pulls on the heartstrings with its development of the Odo/Kira dynamic. During the course of Odo’s flashback murder investigation, we get to see how Kira and Odo met five years prior, when Kira was questioned for the case. On present-day Deep Space Nine, we see how close the two have become in that time, most specifically in the last, quietly heartwarming scene.
In the words of Odo: “Everything’s under control. End log entry.” — KB
“The Wire” (2×22)
Written by Robert Hewitt Wolfe / Directed by Kim Friedman
Garek was one of the most fascinating characters on Deep Space Nine—a Cardassian exiled from his home world for mysterious reasons. Tinker? Tailor? Soldier? Spy? “The Wire” was the first DS9 episode to really dig into Garek’s past…
When Garek collapses during one of Garek and Dr. Bashir’s lunch dates, but refuses to seek treatment, Bashir goes to great lengths to find out what’s wrong with his friend. It’s not a pretty process.
This is an important hour not only for Garek, but for Bashir, as we learn the lengths he will go to help a patient—the lengths he will go to help a friend. The breakdown scene that sees an tormented Garek berating Bashir for his pathetic human ways (when, really, he is berating himself) as Bashir passively takes it—and the subsequent scene in which Garek asks for his forgiveness—are two of my favorite moments in all of DS9.
Exploding a transport ship with dozens of people on board, letting Bajoran children escape during an interrogation, framing his best friend for his own “cowardly” actions. Pick your poison—or should I say mind-altering drug? What’s true? “My dead doctor, they’re all true.” “Even the lies?” “Especially the lies.” A fascinatingly enigmatic episode for a fascinating enigmatic character. — KB
“The Search, Parts 1 and 2” (3×01, 3×02)
Teleplay by Ronald D. Moore, Story by Ira Steven Behr and Robert Hewitt Wolfe / Directed by Kim Friedman; Teleplay by Ira Steven Behr, Story by Ira Steven Behr and Robert Hewitt Wolfe / Directed by Jonathan Frakes
Deep Space Nine is often talked about as the first Star Trek series that embraced the long story arc. Though this was best exemplified in later seasons (especially the sixth and seventh), it was in the show’s DNA since day one. “The Search” is a great example. The episode picks up roughly where the season two finale ended, with Sisko and co. trying to decide what to do about the looming and mysterious Founder threat…
Sisko is not one to sit around and wait for the problem to come to him. With the show’s shiny new Defiant warship, Sisko puts together a trusted group (plus Quark) and heads through the wormhole. His mission? To find the Founders and convince them that the Federation isn’t a threat. Things get dicey rather quickly, with Part 1 ending with Dax and O’Brien left behind on a random relay station, the Defiant thoroughly defeated, and Sisko & co. in the hands of the Jem’Hadar.
What does Odo choose to do in this situation? Nab an unconscious Kira and head to the Omarian Nebula… because he had this feeling like he was meant to go there. Yep, it turns out the Omarian Neblua is home to Odo’s, well, home. The Founders are his Changeling brethren and they’re kind of dicks. (What kind of monster race launches infants off into the cold, cruel embrace of the universe?)
Ultimately, The Founders let Odo and his friends go, but with the implication that the Federation is not safe from the chaos-hating band of Changeling overlords. “The Search” isn’t DS9‘s best two-parter, but it is an epic statement about what kind of show DS9 would be from here on out… and it’s a whole lot of fun. — KB
“Destiny” (3×15)
Written By David S. Cohen & Martin A. Winer / Directed By Les Landau
When Cardassian scientists arrive at the station to set up a communications relay on the other side of the wormhole, a Bajoran Vedek warns they have fulfilled a prophecy foretelling great destruction. Since the wormhole aliens live outside of linear time, Sisko can’t completely dismiss him, but he can’t justify scrapping the mission over some ancient texts either. The episode takes place shortly after a peace treaty between Cardassia and Bajor is signed.
Rather than a clumsy way to foreshadow or instigate events, prophecy in “Destiny” is a destabilizing factor making our heroes question their every move. Confirmation bias encourages them to correlate every new development with a line from scripture. Trinities abound: The “three vipers” of the prophecy, three Cardassian scientists, Kira and Dax alternately pulling Sisko toward religion or proven science—to name just, well, three.
The Prophets’ status as non-corporeal, non-temporal beings forces a legitimate debate over just how seriously to take their words, how to interpret their poetic language, and how to act when you think you might know the future. “Destiny” also serves as a crucial step toward Sisko accepting his role as Emissary. He’s developing, not a blind faith, but true belief based on his experiences. — John Andrews
“The Way of the Warrior” (4×01)
Written by Ira Steven Behr and Robert Hewitt Wolfe / Directed by James L. Conway
Much like season 3’s “The Search,” “The Way of the Warrior” is an intensely entertaining statement about the narrative thrust of the coming season. In this case, it is all about the Klingons… And not only because Worf joins the cast.
Just when Sisko and the Federation think they have their focus on their looming enemy—the Dominion—a new one makes itself known: the Klingon Empire. Understandably (but inconveniently) paranoid that a Changeling is behind the recent coup on the Cardassian homeworld, the Klingons decide to invade Cardassia. Because, at their hearts, Klingons care about conquering first and empire-maintenance way later. Apparently.
The Klingons might not be as scary as the Dominion—led by the could-be-hiding-anywhere shapeshifters—but they’re not something to thumb one’s nose at, either—especially when they have a couple dozen birds-of-prey to back up their latest harebrained attempt at empire-building.
“The Way of the Warrior” is a slow, steady story that doesn’t disappoint in its climax, which sees Sisko and a battle-ready Deep Space Nine defending itself against a chunk of the Klingon Empire. The stakes here feel very high—even if they aren’t the stakes we thought we would have to worry about going in. — KB
“The Visitor” (4×02)
Written by Michael Taylor / Directed by David Livingston
The relationship between Benjamin and Jake Sisko is one of the most understated, yet moving on the show. Deep Space Nine begins as a story about a father and a son still trying to move past the loss of their family’s third member. When Sisko becomes unstuck in time and thought dead by the crew of Deep Space Nine in “The Visitor,” his friends and crewmates do their best to move on—but Jake has an understandably difficult time doing so.
A year after the incident, Sisko reappears to Jake, and the crew learns the truth of his predicament—but Sisko disappears again after a few minutes, pleading with Jake: “I need to know that you’re going to be alright.” The entire story is told from the perspective of Old Jake, many years after the inciting incident. After a lifetime without his father, he is waiting to see him (and try to save him) one last time.
I don’t want to spoil all of the seriously affecting beats (so many tears) of this story because “The Visitor” is worth watching (or rewatching) without too much prior knowledge—though, even with knowledge of how it all ends, I don’t think it is possible to “spoil” this episode.
“The Visitor”‘s premise could be emotionally-manipulative, but it’s not. The story doesn’t sensationalize or trick. It relies on the honest, understated love between a parent and a child and understands that there’s no need to sensationalize the hardest realities of life. They are already filled with such tragic, life-affirming depth. — KB
“Trials and Tribble-ations” (5×06)
Teleplay by Ronald D. Moore and Rene Echevarria, Story by Ira Steven Behr, Hans Beimler, and Robert Hewitt Wolfe / Directed by Jonathan West
What an absolute joy of an episode! If “The Visitor” is a look at one of the hardest realities of life, then “Trial and Tribble-ations” is a testament to its delights—in particular, the joys of being a nerd. When a Klingon spy goes back in time to try to kill Captain Kirk (with a booby-trapped Tribble, no less!), the crew of Deep Space Nine follow to stop the history-changing assassination. What follows is an hour of Star Trek inside jokes, bright colors, and non-stop fun.
It’s hard to pick a favorite moment in this episode. Is it Worf’s attempt to explain why Original Series-era Klingons look nothing like later-series Klingons? Or is it when O’Brien confidently mis-identifies Kirk? Or, perhaps, it is the exasperated bureaucracy of the Temporal Agents who everyone seems to want to avoid?
I love all of those moments, but I might have to give it to the scene that sees Sisko shamelessly introducing himself to Captain Kirk on the bridge of the original Enterprise. “Trials and Tribble-ations” actually uses footage from The Original Series to make it look like the Deep Space Nine cast members are there, and it is an amazing effect—yet another great example of how well Star Trek was rocking the shared fictional universe model long before the MCU came on the scene. — KB
“Sacrifice of Angels” (6×06)
Written By Ira Steven Behr & Hans Beimler / Directed By Allan Kroeker
You like space battles? This one has space battles.
As the conclusion to the six-episode Dominion invasion arc that launched DS9’s season six, “Sacrifice of Angels” has a lot riding on it. The station has been occupied since last season’s finale, open interstellar war has been raging for months, and the only thing standing between massive enemy reinforcements and Federation defeat is a single minefield in front of the wormhole.
Sisko leads the largest fleet of starships we’ve ever seen to retake Deep Space Nine, but the combined Dominion and Cardassian forces are more than a match for them. If ever a deus ex machina were necessary, it was here. The ending could have easily felt like a copout, but Sisko’s impromptu appeal to the Prophets is thoroughly earned and convincingly argued. It’s ultimately far more satisfying than a purely military victory ever could have been.
The drama taking place on the station, meanwhile, is classic tragedy and epic heroism. Quark is a good guy, Odo realizes he’s been a bad guy, and we once again can’t help but empathize with Gul Dukat. — JA
“Far Beyond the Stars” (6×13)
Teleplay by Ira Steven Behr and Hans Beimler, Story by Marc Scott Zicree / Directed by Avery Brooks
“You are the dreamer. And the dream.”
When Sisko starts doubting his role in Starfleet, the Prophets decide to remind him why he is committed to the cause—through a series of visions that take Sisko back to 1950s New York City where he is living life as Benny Russell, a struggling science fiction writer dealing with the dehumanizing effects of institutionalized racism. His life there is populated by human versions of his DS9 crewmates, and it’s fun—but really weird—to see the DS9 regulars out of their alien makeup.
Watching this episode now, it is still extremely powerful, as so many of the issues are, sadly, still very relevant. There is a police brutality through-line, in particular, that cuts deep given America’s current national discourse.
But “Far Beyond the Stars” isn’t all depressing. It’s also incredibly inspirational, as Benny refuses to give up on his dream of publishing a story about a black starship captain named Benjamin Sisko. Avery Brooks beautifully directed the episode and turns in a powerful performance that, if there were any justice in the world, should have won an Emmy.
“Far Beyond the Stars” is an impressive example of just how flexible the Star Trek narrative formula has always been. This episode works great as a standalone story for someone who has never even seen Star Trek, while also including so many treats for loyal fans. It is a joyful tribute to the science fiction writers of the 1950s, while, plot-wise, works to reaffirm Sisko’s commitment to Starfleet and the Dominion War. — KB
“In the Pale Moonlight” (6×19)
Teleplay by Michael Taylor, Story by Peter Allan Fields / Directed by Victor Lobi
I legitimately want to see “In the Pale Moonlight” on stage as a one-act morality play. That’s how powerful and perfect this episode of Deep Space Nine is.
It would have been easy to show this turning point in the Dominion War as a more typical, plot-focused episode of Deep Space Nine. Instead, the Star Trek series chose to make it into a character-driven exploration of morality and what is an acceptable evil when you are talking about the fate of an entire war, an entire Federation.
“In the Pale Moonlight” is told in retrospect via a fourth wall-breaking monologue from Sisko, as he recounts it to the only “person” he can—the computer, via a captain’s log. During the course of the hour, we learn how Sisko tricks the Romulans—with the blessing of the Federation authority—into joining the Dominion War. It is a dirty business, where one bad decision quickly snowballs into more bad decisions and ends with Sisko complicit in forgery, bribery, and murder. As Quark tells Sisko, “Every man has a price.”
“In the Pale Moonlight” is so powerful because it directly challenges the inherent optimism of the Star Trek universe. This is a franchise built upon the belief that there is a future where teamwork, unity, and steadfast good-guy-ism will always solve the problem in the end. This episode—or at least Sisko’s character—muses that this isn’t always the case. Or, if it is, there will inevitably be terrible, bloody choices that you will have to live with. That you can live with.
In “In the Pale Moonlight,” Deep Space Nine wonder if, sometimes, the ends do justify the means—even if the means are horrible. And it dares not to give us a clear answer. It lets us struggle uncomfortably with the question of what we would be capable of in the right, dire circumstance. — KB
The Siege of AR-558 (7×08)
Written by Ira Steven Behr and Hans Beimler / Directed by Winrich Kolbe
Deep Space Nine is often singled out within the Star Trek universe for how dark it is willing to go—and “The Siege of AR-558” is, perhaps, the best example. This episode hurts, but it also feels necessary. Because DS9 is telling a war story—and war is hell.
When Sisko, Worf, Dax, Bashir, Nog, Quark, and Rom bring supplies to the embattled, weary Starfleet officers holding planet AR-558 from the Jem’Hadar, we get to see, first-hand, the effects of the Dominion War on those on the front lines—and it’s not pretty. As Quark phrases it to Nog:
“Let me tell you something about humans, nephew. They’re a wonderful, friendly people—as long as their bellies are full and their holosuites are working. But take away their creature comforts, deprive them of food, sleep, sonic showers, put their lives in jeopardy over an extended period of time, and those same friendly, intelligent, wonderful people will become as nasty and violent as the most bloodthirsty Klingon.”
Ultimately, our friends get pulled into the fight. Non-series regulars die. Nog loses a leg. At the end of “The Siege of AR-558,” Worf tells Sisko that the battle was a great victory worthy of songs. A tiny consolation. — KB
“It’s Only a Paper Moon” (7×10)
Teleplay by Ronald D. Moore, Story by David Mack and John J. Ordover / Directed by Anson Williams
The siege of AR-558 may be over, but Nog is still recovering from the experience. The most tangible effect of the battle on Nog is the loss of his leg, but he is also severely depressed. Still on medical leave and unable to confide with any of his loved ones on the station, Nog retreats into the holosuite and shacks up with Vic Fontaine. Through his friendship with the hologram, Nog learns to face reality again. Ironic, right?
As heart wrenching as Nog’s storyline in this episode is, Vic gives it a run for its money. His admission that he will never get to have a life like Nog does is the push that gets Nog to finally leave the holosuite and live again. Even if Quark is keeping Vic’s program running, it’s not exactly the same thing, is it? As Vic puts it: “Look, kid, I don’t know what’s going to happen to you out there. All I can tell you is that you’ve got to play the cards life deals you. Sometimes you win, sometimes you lose, but at least you’re in the game.”
Both Aron Eisenberg and James Darren are great in this episode, which also features a haunting rendition of “I’ll Be Seeing You” that will stay in your head long after this powerful hour of TV has passed… — KB
Star Trek: Voyager
“Caretaker, Parts 1 and 2” (1×01, 1×02)
Teleplay by Michael Piller and Jeri Taylor, Story by Rick Berman, Michael Piller, and Jeri Taylor / Directed by Winrich Kolbe
In this epic, series-launching episode, we meet Voyager—one of the most advanced and maneuverable ships in Starfleet—just as it is transported to the other side of the galaxy in pursuit of a vessel piloted by rebel Maquis. The ship suffers damage from its too-swift journey to the Delta Quadrant, and several of her crew are dead. A Star Trek series-opener has never felt quite so dire, so quickly. It’s an auspicious start.
Captain Janeway immediately begins trying to restore order, but after repairs are started and the sick bay is organized, the crew disappears from Voyager. They are taken to what looks like an Earth farm, but is in reality a technologically advanced array, where they—along with the Maquis crew—are forced to submit to medical testing in a creepy, creepy sequence. When they are returned to Voyager, Janeway discovers her operations officer is missing, while the Maquis Captain, Chakotay, is missing his chief engineer.
The two crews unite in figuring out where their people have gone. Eventually, after rescuing the missing, Janeway pieces together the full story: The Caretaker on the array is dying, and is trying to find a way to keep the Ocampa people safe before he does. It’s a strong episode that sets the ethical tone for the rest of the series: How does the Prime Directive apply when the crew is so far from home?
Janeway, unwilling to let the Ocampa die to save herself and her crew, gets directly involved in the conflicts of the Delta Quadrant, destroys the array, and blends her crew with the Maquis, creating a diverse group with many different motives and backgrounds. This is a landmark episode not only for its introduction of a female captain series lead, but for the way it expands the mission to go where no one has gone before. — Alana Joli Abbott
“Scorpion” (3×26, 4×01)
Written by Brannon Braga and Joe Menosky / Directed by David Livingston and Winrich Kolbe
Seven of Nine’s addition to the cast improved Voyager immensely, but this two-parter is great for more than just her introduction. It’s notable for Janeway flipping the script on what we can expect from a Starfleet captain and forging an alliance with the Borg. Because this lady will do anything to ensure that her crew makes it home to Earth.
It isn’t just Janeway’s choice that is so notable about this episode. It’s the cause for the necessity of that choice: Species 8472. The episode ends with Voyager living to see another day, but with a tenuous alliance with the Borg and a mysterious new crew member—a pretty great start to the fourth season. — KB
“Year of Hell, Parts 1 and 2” (4×08, 4×09)
Written by Brannon Braga and Joe Menosky / Directed by Allan Kroeker, Mike Vejar
In rewatching many of these Voyager episodes in preparation for contributing to this feature, I watched “Year of Hell” first. This was a mistake because—from where I’m standing—this two-parter is Voyager at its absolute height. Nothing that came before or that would come after would top this exploration of just how dark things could get on the other side of the galaxy or just how determined Janeway could be in her pledge to get her crew home.
First, the premise: With the help of a new astrometrics lab, the crew of Voyager have found a new path home that cuts five years off their journey. Unfortunately, it brings them into Krenim space where a grief-driven Krenim temporal scientist works to change history to create his desired timeline.
The result is a year of Janeway and co. facing off against Kreim warships in an increasingly desperate struggle that sees Voyager’s slow, devastating destruction. The starship loses her outer hull, many decks, countless crew members, and the replicator system. Eventually, Janeway launches all but the senior crew in escape pods. Frankly, stakes for a Star Trek crew and ship have rarely been this effectively escalated.
Kate Mulgrew is phenomenal in this episode as we watch Janeway become so consumed by her responsibility to her crew that she literally throws herself into a fire to save the ship, suffering third-degree burns over 60 percent of her body. Part 1 ends with a particularly unsettling, well-acted scene that sees Janeway ordering her crew to leave the ship:
“Each of you has done your best, but determination alone isn’t going to hold this ship together. It’s time we faced reality. We’ve lost nine decks, more than half this ship has been destroyed. Life support is nearly gone; Voyager can no longer sustain its crew. I promised myself that I would never give this order, that I would never break up this family; but asking you to stay… would be asking you to die.”
The premise ultimately has to rely on a reset ending that negates a bit of the effect of the two-parter, but this remains a powerfully dark two-parter. Word on the street is that Bragga and Menosky wanted to make this story an entire season, but the network wouldn’t let them.
Ronald D. Moore, who served as an executive producer on Voyager and who would go on to create Battlestar Galactica—has said that he wished all of Voyager had this type of tone. In re-watching the “Year of Hell” arc, it’s not hard to see the parallels between this darker depiction of the Voyager story and Battlestar Galactica. Or to imagine the dramatic heights Voyager could have reached if it were allowed to explore this tone over more than just two episodes. — KB
“Living Witness” (4×23)
Written by Bryan Fuller, Brannon Braga, and Joe Menosky / Directed by Tim Russ
There’s something deeply depressing about the Doctor’s dilemma in this episode. Seven hundred years in the future, on an alien planet, The Doctor’s backup version is discovered and activated. What was seconds for him, has been centuries for everyone he knew and loved. He has no idea what happened to the crew of Voyager, and if they ever made it home. Their voyage is literally history.
But The Doctor has other fish to fry in this ep. His program is now part of an exhibit about Voyager’s supposed war crimes centuries prior. Desperate to set the record straight on what really happened, The Doctor struggles to bring long-dead history into the present and convince the alien society that Janeway’s motto wasn’t really: “When diplomacy fails, there’s only one alternative: violence.”
By the time Voyager rolled around in the Star Trek universe, so many science fiction ideas and structures had already been explored. But “Living Witness” manages to present a story in a way no prior Star Trek installation had explored. The fact that it’s centered around Robert Picardo’s Doctor, who was one of the consistently most delightful aspects of Voyager, only helps the situation. Also: the evil gloves help. So many evil gloves. — KB
“Drone” (5×02)
Teleplay by Bryan Fuller and Brannon Braga & Joe Menosky, Story by Bryan Fuller & Harry Doc Kloor / Directed by Les Landau
A transporter mishap results in Seven’s Borg nanoprobes assimilating the Doctor’s mobile holographic emitter. The extracted DNA of a hapless ensign (he’s fine, just knocked unconscious) is the final ingredient in a new drone. It replicates a maturation chamber for itself and grows to adulthood almost overnight—and, because the mobile emitter is from the Starfleet of the 29th century, the drone is effectively 500 years more advanced than any other.
It’s a complicated setup for a very simple story: Seven adopts a kid. The kid is taller than her and poses an existential threat to Voyager, but he’s new life and it’s her job to bring him up right. He chooses the name One and adopts a goofy eagerness to learn everything he possibly can.
Though there are elements of TNG‘s “I Borg” and “The Child” in this plot, “Drone” is so superbly acted that it transcends them both. The bond between Jeri Ryan’s Seven and J. Paul Boehmer’s One is palpable—painfully so at times. Much like both Hugh and Ian Andrew Troi, One becomes aware of how dangerous he is to his new family. Go ahead and call his actions cliché… if you can avoid crying. — JA
“Relativity” (5×23)
Teleplay by Bryan Fuller, Nick Sagan, and Michael Taylor; Story by Nick Sagan / Directed by Allan Eastman
Star Trek is known for its time travel storylines—and for good reason. This fictional universe never met a timestream it didn’t want to mess with for narrative value. In “Relativity,” Seven of Nine is recruited by a timeship called Relativity to locate a time paradox-creating bomb located on Voyager.
In her quest to find and destroy the bomb, Seven travels back to various points in Voyager’s mission—including Voyager in drydock and its early battles with the Kazon—to avert the disaster. It’s a fun conceit, made even kind of poignant for the fact that Seven is able to, in some way, be part of Voyager’s pre-“Scorpion” missions.
Ultimately, “Relativity” is a response to so many of the time travel-centric plots—from the good to the nonsensical—that the Star Trek universe had previously embraced. At one point, Janeway—who eventually gets clued into the time travel conceit—asks someone to stop with the time travel technobabble. It’s moments like this that make me confident Janeway is greatly undervalued as a Star Trek captain. — KB
“Equinox, Parts 1 and 2” (5×26, 6×01)
Teleplay by Brannon Braga and Joe Menosky, Story by Rick Berman, Brannon Braga, and Joe Menosky / Directed by David Livingston
If you’re a fan of the “Pegasus” arc in Battlestar Galactica, then you probably love “Equinox.” Much like the former, the latter sees the Voyager encountering another ship from their home (in this case, the Federation), the Equinox, after years by themselves in the cold, dark abyss of space. Also, like “Pegasus,” things don’t end up working out as swimmingly as either crew probably would have hoped.
At first, Voyager is more than happy to offer the Equinox protection from the alien onslaught that has cost them many of their crew members. But as the relationship between the two crews progresses, it becomes clear that the Equinox is hiding a terrible secret—and that they only see Voyager as something to be harvested for their own survival.
Like “Year of Hell,” “Equinox” feels like an episode that demonstrates what Voyager could have been, if it were allowed (or, perhaps, had the inclination to) embrace the darker storytelling that its premise called for. A truly great Star Trek two-parter. — KB
“Blink of an Eye” (6×12)
Teleplay by Scott Miller and Joe Menosky, Story by Michael Taylor / Directed by Gabrielle Beaumont
An homage to The Original Series episode, “Wink of an Eye,” “Blink of an Eye” tells the story of the Voyager’s interactions with a planet where time moves much faster than in space. Because of this discrepancy in temporal experience, Voyager is able to not only play witness to—but play a mythological role in—almost the entire history of the planet (or, as Naomi originally calls it: The Weird Planet Where Time Moved Very Fast and So Did the People Who Lived There).
Voyager was arguable the Star Trek show most interested in challenging The Prime Directive. After all, what does The Prime Directive mean when you are on the other side of the galaxy, incredibly far from the Federation, trying to make your way home? “Blink of an Eye” was just a continuation of this exploration—and one that ultimately argues that the guideline was made to be broken. — KB
Star Trek: Enterprise
“Broken Bow, Parts 1 and 2” (1×01, 1×02)
Written by Rick Berman and Brandon Braga / Dircted by James Conway
In another strong series opener, humanity is on the cusp of true space exploration, with the help (and hindrance) of the Vulcans, who have been overseeing their progress for a century, in the two-part Enterprise premiere.
Earth’s first Warp Five engine-powered starship, the Enterprise, is about to go on her maiden voyage when a Klingon, pursued by aliens of unknown race, is shot by a farmer in Broken Bow, Oklahoma. The Vulcan ambassadors think Enterprise should delay, but Captain Jonathan Archer persuades his superiors that returning the Klingon, alive (rather than as a corpse as the Vulcans suggest), is a perfect first mission. He quickly assembles what remains of his team—including Vulcan observer T’Pol as a science officer, much to the disgruntlement of both Archer and T’Pol.
As they transport the Klingon, Klaang, they are attacked by the Suliban, who kidnap Klaang and vanish, leaving one of their own behind, dead. T’Pol recommends abandoning the mission, but Archer is determined to get Klaang back, leading to the crew uncovering a Temporal Cold War. Lives are saved (and the saved return the favor), the teleporter is finally used, and the first mission succeeds not only in its goal, but in establishing the potential for the original crew of the Enterprise.
The episode manages to feel vintage and futuristic in the same moment, presenting technology that convincingly anticipates the gear from The Original Series, showing interactions between species that have grown and shifted and been turned on their heads in a way that calls to the imagination. How did they get from here to The Original Series? The winning cast, the willingness of the characters to admit to their own flaws and work toward fixing them, and the sheer gumption of humanity makes this a worthy pilot for the prequel series. — AJA
“Carbon Creek” (2×02)
Teleplay by Chris Black, Story by Rick Berman, Brannon Braga, and Dan O’Shannon / Directed by James A Contner
On any other Star Trek TV show, “Carbon Creek” would not make the top episodes list. When it comes to Enterprise, however, this episode was a delightful foray into what this TV series was so interested in doing: exploring that early the beginnings of the Vulcan/human relationship.
During dinner one night, T’Pol tells the story of her great-grandmother, T’Mir, and the first contact between humans and Vulcans—in small town 1957 Pennsylvania. (Side note: one of my favorite conceits of the Enterprise TV show were the dinners Archer, Trip, and T’Pol often had together. What I wouldn’t have given for a similar habit between Kirk, Spock, and McCoy on The Original Series.)
The story is a little hokey, but its charm and humor offset said hokiness in delightful ways. Ultimately, this episode isn’t very important in the larger arc of the show, but it is an entertaining hour of TV—not to mention one that gives T’Pol and Jolene Blalock a lot to do… OK, I need to go now. I Love Lucy is on tonight. — KB
“Dead Stop” (2×04)
Written by Mike Sussman & Phyllis Strong / Directed by Roxann Dawson
Enterprise is directed (lured?) to an automated repair station after hitting a Romulan mine. It’s a stroke of incredible luck, which of course turns out to be too good to be true. They’ll get the ship fixed, but the cost is much higher than the warp plasma they agree to pay.
Much of the creepy tone can be credited to Roxann Dawson, Voyager‘s very own B’Elanna Torres. She not only directed the episode, but also voiced the station’s stubborn and deceptively simplistic computer interface. Archer’s frustrated “I need to talk to a person” is a clear riff on customer service phone menus, and might be funny if his angry request weren’t due to a crewmember apparently dying.
With humanoid villains, “Dead Stop” might be fairly unremarkable. The crew accepts help and gets more than they bargained for, ho hum. But the automated station manages to be more sinister and alien than any guest star, with its clean and bright interiors.
Of course the transforming station that welcomes Enterprise by expanding a drydock and remixing its atmosphere for humans is more than meets the eye. We’re just never quite sure how. Even the conclusion offers no pat explanation, and the story is never followed up—and that’s okay, because sometimes weird things just happen… Especially in the Star Trek universe. — JA
“Twilight” (3×08)
Written by Michael Sussman / Directed by Robert Duncan McNeill
This season three episode, which sees Archer developing a condition that makes him unable to form long-term memory (think 50 First Dates) is a quiet episode, but manages to raise the stakes in some terrifying ways—as in: Earth is destroyed and there are only 6,000 humans left in the universe. Yeah, that probably got your attention.
The amnesiac Archer is our POV character, here, and we—like him—are blindsided by the devastation of the human race, the dismantling of much of the Enterprise’s crew, and (yes) T’Pol and Archer’s new relationship.
Ultimately, Enterprise hits the reset button on this one, but “Twilight” remains a jarring exercise of just how bad things could get at the dawn of humanity’s interaction with alien species—and a depressing parallel for real-world conditions like dementia and/or Alzheimer’s disease. It also features some pretty great performances from Jolene Blalock and Scott Bakula. — KB
“Similitude” (3×10)
Written by Manny Coto / Directed by LeVar Burton
Damn, this episode is depressing. Many science fiction TV shows, novels, and movies have dared to introduce the “clone is created for medical reasons” storyline (my favorite of which is the novel Never Let Me Go), and it gets me nearly every time. However, “Similitude”—which sees the Phlox create Sim, a symbiote of the comatose Trip—is a particularly graceful and affecting depiction of this morally-complex plot.
When Tucker is injured during an engine explosion, the Enterprise is left engineer-less. Archer gives Phlox the go-ahead to effectively create and raise a clone for the slaughter, to be used to save Trip. Surprise! The kid grows up, gets to know the crew members, and tries to escape because he understandably wants to live.
Enterprise takes a bit of the ethically easy way out by arguing that Trip is instrumental to Enterprise’s success—and, therefore, instrumental for the future of Earth—but it’s thin reasoning. Frankly, the Enterprise should be able to move forward without one of its crew members—even someone as charming and mechanically-savvy as Trip.
Ultimately, however, Sim makes the ultimate sacrifice, and it’s really, really sad. — KB
“In a Mirror, Darkly” (4×18, 4×19)
Written by Michael Sussman; Teleplay by Michael Sussman, Story by Manny Coto / Directed by James L. Conway and Marvin V. Rush
Every post-The Original Series Star Trek series has tried to recreate the magic of “Mirror, Mirror.” Surprisingly, none of them have been as successful as Enterprise. (Yay, Enterprise! You finally won one.)
The “In a Mirror, Darkly” two-parter follows the militaristic adventures of evil Commander Archer and his band of evil, mirror-universe crew members who serve the evil Terran Empire. (Have you cottoned on to the theme yet?) Tholian vs. Terran war plot aside, this episode is a lot of fun for the opportunity to watch these cast members ham it up as evil versions of themselves.
Ultimately, though, the reason the mirror universe has always worked so well is because it reminds us of the inherent optimism and emphasis on exploration and discovery that have always been at the center of the Star Trek mythos. To see that same challenge—and eventual reaffirmation—applied to Enterprise is particularly stirring because of the show’s setting at the beginning of the Federation.
Humanity’s (fictional) entrance onto the galaxy-wide stage could have been different—it could have been one defined by fear and militarism rather than hope and curiosity. Watching “In a Mirror, Darkly,” we’re reminded why it’s so important that it was the latter.
The best part, though? The altered, mirror-universe opening sequence. — KB
Star Trek: Discovery
“New Eden” (2×02)
Teleplay by Vaun Wilmott & Sean Cochran/Story by Akiva Goldsman & Sean Cochran/Directed by Jonathan Frakes
Initially, Star Trek: Discovery continued the series’ strange, wrongheaded decision to move backwards, not forward. For the most part, this decision hampered Discovery in every way, forcing it to simply expand lore instead of telling compelling character-driven stories.
The one exception to that rule came with the introduction of Anson Mount as Captain Christopher Pike, Kirk’s predecessor on the Enterprise. Pike, of course, was the original protagonist in the first pilot for Star Trek, and has returned in one form or another, as in the clever clip show “The Menagerie” from TOS’s first season to Bruce Greenwood’s inspirational leader in the Kelvin movies.
Mount’s Pike provides a much-needed shot of energy to Discovery. Instead of going along with the series’ oft-derided emoting, Pike is the understanding and fun big brother to Disco’s crew, even more so than Burnham’s adopted big brother Spock. “New Eden” immediately firms up Pike’s dynamic with the Disco crew, in part by giving writers a reason to add some backstory to Owosekun. — Joe George
“The Hope That Is You” (3×01)
Written by Michelle Paradise & Jenny Lumet & Alex Kurtzman/Directed by Olatunde Osunsanmi
Bryan Fuller initially imagined Discovery not as a franchise flagship, but as a weird anthology series that would explore various strange parts of the Trek universe. But when Fuller left and CBS needed a show to carry its new streaming service, Discovery became the new face of the franchise, a tall order for even a more traditional series.
After cycling through other showrunners and trying to square the circle of its pre-TOS timeline, Discovery finally found its footing by getting Michelle Paradise to join Alex Kurtzman as permanent showrunner and launching itself more than 900 years into the future. The series announced its new status quo in the best possible way, with a comedic showcase for star Sonequa Martin-Green as the protagonist Michael Burnham.
“The Hope That Is You” reveals that Burnham arrived in the future one year before the rest of her crewmates, in a time without dilithium and with the Federation in shambles. Burnham has been working as a courier alongside new beau Cleveland Booker, which sounds like a recipe for the usual Discovery dreariness. Instead, the episode provides a fun caper involving the Orion Syndicate, with Martin-Green at her charismatic best. — JG
“Forget Me Not” (3×04)
Written by Alan McElroy & Chris Silvestri & Anthony Maranville / Directed by Hanelle M. Culpepper
The great strength of Discovery has always been its unabashed embrace of emotion. Even if it sometimes went too far into weepy trauma sharing, Discovery at least tried to portray a side of humanity that other franchise entries avoid.
The most successful example may be in season three’s “Forget Me Not,” which dealt with the connection between Trill Gray Tal and his partner Adira. Since Gray’s death, Adira has been carrying the Tal symbiote. But as a human, they respond to the symbiote differently, which sends the Discovery to Trill to make sense of Adira’s condition. What follows is a moving tale about intertwined identities, a very Star Trek version of a romance story. — JG
“The Hope That Is You, Part 2” (3×12)
Written by Michelle Paradise / Directed by Olatunde Osunsanmi
While some fans rejected Discovery’s attempt to get emotional about Star Trek, there was one innovation that viewers welcomed. In Discovery, Starfleet finally found a competent Admiral in the form of Vance, played with warmth and competence by Oded Fehr.
Where Admirals Nechayev and Leyton and Cartwright were warmongers or dopes, Vance walked the line between hope and practicality while bartering with Osyraa, leader of the Emerald Chain. Fehr even somehow manages to sell lines about the replicator repurposing waste to make new food. He says, “It’s pretty good for shit,” without conveying the edgy wink that the writers surely intended.
Add to it all the inspirational re-establishment of the Federation and Burnham finally becoming Captain of the Discovery, and “The Hope That Is You, Part II” finishes a strong third season, which shows what Discovery could have been all along and, sadly, never really was again. — JG
“Whistlespeak” (5×06)
Written by Kenneth Lin & Brandon Schultz / Directed by Chris Byrne
For all that it does well, Star Trek has never really got its head around religion. TOS, with its endless god-like entities, set a standard that understood religion as primitive, more associated with the sexism and racism humanity overcame. Even DS9 largely put the Bajoran religion in the background when the far more interesting Dominion War plot presented itself.
So it’s all the more impressive that the Discovery episode “Whistlespeak” found a way to explore religious belief in a way that stays true to the core Trek ethos. Although Michael has to convince the people of Halem’no that their misunderstanding of an advanced technology left to them has led to unnecessary sacrifices, she does so in a way that recognizes the value of their beliefs. “Whistlespeak” embodies Stephen Jay Gould’s concept of “non-interrupting schema” between science and religion, finding space for both empirical fact and interpretation via religion. — JG
Star Trek: Picard
“Imposters” (3X05)
Written by Cindy Appel & Chris Derrick / Directed by Dan Liu
After two seasons of misery, Star Trek: Picard finally gave in and became the TNG revival series people wanted. But showrunner Terry Matalas wasn’t content with just bringing back Geordi, Worf, and other expected faces. Tuvok from Voyager and Commander Shelley from the classic “Best of Both Worlds” dropped by, as did fan-favorite Ro Laren, a surprise guest in the episode “Imposters.”
A late addition to the TNG guest cast, Ro was a Bajoran freedom fighter who often clashed with Riker and Picard. Trek producers hoped to bring Ro into DS9, but actor Michelle Forbes did not want to continue the character, making way for Kira Nerys on DS9 and an acrimonious exit for Ro, who abandoned Starfleet to join the Maquis.
“Imposters” doesn’t just reveal that Ro had rejoined Starfleet to work in secret against the Changeling plot, but also performed the type of critical reevaluation that eluded Picard for the first two seasons.
Where seasons one and two defaulted to exploring Picard’s legacy by basically treating him like garbage, season three presented Picard as a man who made mistakes but was brave enough to face them. In “Imposters,” Picard takes responsibility for his mishandling of Ro’s tenure on the Enterprise, leading to actual character growth for the beloved Captain and a shocking sacrifice by Ro. — JG
“The Last Generation” (3×10)
Written and directed by Terry Matalas
Picard’s avoidance of nostalgia bait made sense in theory, even if the dire first two seasons suffered in execution. Season three proved the fears about reuniting the Enterprise-D crew to be unfounded, especially the show’s final episode, “The Last Generation.”
Yes, the episode does begin with the voice of Walter Koenig as the son of his TOS character Chekov. Yes, it does have the bridge crew aboard a rebuilt Enterprise-D, in all its beige glory. And yes it does once again pit Picard against the Borg, an enemy grown toothless by familiarity.
But “The Last Generation” also points to the future of Star Trek. We see Jack Crusher come into his own and Seven take her place as Captain of the Enterprise-G, promising an exciting continuing mission… that will hopefully come to pass in Star Trek: Legacy. — JG
Star Trek: Strange New Worlds
“Spock Amok” (1×05)
Written by Henry Alonso Myers & Robin Wasserman / Directed by Rachel Leiterman
So inseparable from his famous character is Leonard Nimoy that he wrote not one, but two books about his complicated relationship with Spock. So it’s easy to see why anyone who would strap on Nimoy’s pointy ears would find themselves under a great deal of scrutiny—first Zachary Quinto’s emotional action hero Spock and then Ethan Peck’s brooding, bearded brother of Michael Burnham.
But Strange New Worlds has allowed Peck to come into his own, in part by giving him space to play with the humor behind the Spock character without betraying what Nimoy established. This is nowhere more apparent than in “Spock Amok,” in which Spock and his intended T’Pril get their minds swapped, just when her parents come to judge his fitness as a Vulcan.
What follows is a Star Trek version of sitcom plot, complete with a disapproving mother-in-law. While Anson Mount gets to have fun in the background as a Pike who wants to do right by his pal, the centerpiece is Peck, playing the 100% Vulcan T’Pril in the body of the half-human Spock. Peck’s performance elevates the episode past mere hijinks into a legitimate exploration of Spock’s dual nature, a rich theme established by Nimoy. — JG
“The Elysian Kingdom” (1×08)
Written by Akela Cooper & Onitra Johnson / Directed by Amanda Row
Although some Trekkies hate them, goofy episodes are an unavoidable part of the franchise, from the TOS adventures on alien planets that just so happen to resemble ancient Earth to the holodeck and holosuite stories.
“The Elysian Kingdom” continues that tradition, as an alien being encounters the Enterprise through M’Benga’s daughter, who has been trapped in the pattern buffer. The being interprets the fairy tale story that M’Benga reads to his daughter and sends the crew on a fantasy adventure.
Of course, the fun of “The Elysian Kingdom” comes from seeing the actors play different parts, such as Mount playing Pike as a cowardly scoundrel and Christina Chong playing La’an as a flighty princess. But the episode retains a core of pathos in M’Benga’s love for his daughter and the very Star Trek problem that he faces. — JG
“A Quality of Mercy” (1×10)
Written by Henry Alonso Myers & Akiva Goldsman / Directed by Chris Fisher
Discovery already showed the dangers of hewing too closely to already established episodes of previous franchises, adding only self-indulgent lore without developing the characters beyond what we saw in the original. And so, “A Quality of Mercy” seemed wrong-headed from the start, as it put the SNW cast into the TOS all-timer “Balance of Terror.”
Yet, “A Quality of Mercy” avoided the pitfalls encountered by previous episodes by focusing on Pike’s character development instead of easter eggs. Thanks to his work on the Discovery, Pike knows about his future as a burned invalid on Telos, a future he fears.
“A Quality of Mercy” gives Pike a pseudo-It’s a Wonderful Life story and a chance to see what his life would be if he doesn’t end up in that beeping chair. Brilliantly, the episode makes sure the viewers are ahead of the curve by putting Pike in “Balance of Terror,” immediately showing that something is wrong without making Pike articulate it.
The episode not only revisits a great episode from the past, but changes our understanding of Pike. He’s no longer a victim, but is now a hero who makes a principled decision to face his fate and do the right thing for others. — JG
“Ad Astra per Aspera” (2×02)
Written by Dana Horgan / Directed by Valerie Weiss
Despite what the famous opening narration says, the pleasure of Star Trek doesn’t really come from seeking out new life and new civilizations. It comes from the philosophical debates that these new forms of existence present. The greatest shortcoming of Trek after Enterprise has been the movies’ and shows’ reluctance to embrace these debates, choosing whiz-bang fight scenes and misery rants instead.
“Ad Astra per Aspera” returns to Trek’s noble past by literally putting Number One on trial. After revealing that she’s Illyrian, a race of people who embrace augments—something banned by the Federation—Number One must defend herself to stay in Starfleet.
What follows is a conflict that recalls great trial episodes such as “The Menagerie,” “Measure of a Man,” and “The Drumhead,” in which the letter of the law is posed against the spirit of the law. Without making anyone a pure bad guy, “Ad Astra per Aspera” reaffirms Starfleet principles and rights the franchise once again. — JG
“Those Old Scientists” (2×07)
Written by Kathryn Lyn & Bill Wolkoff / Directed by Jonathan Frakes
The magic trick of Lower Decks has always been the show’s ability to be a crazy adult animation comedy and also proper Trek show, staying within Trek continuity. The best example of that ability comes not on Lower Decks, but on “Those Old Scientists,” in which Jack Quaid and Tawney Newsome play live-action versions of Boimler and Mariner, sent back to Pike’s Enterprise.
Quaid and Newsome never dial down the rapid-fire, self-aware humor from their show, commenting on “hot Spock” and fumbling to do the Vulcan salute. But the show never violates Strange New Worlds’ reality, using ideas about failure to solve the show’s central conundrum. By the end of “Those Old Scientists,” no one can doubt that nu-Trek, for all of its fumbles out of the gate, is in good hands. — JG
Star Trek: Lower Decks
“No Small Parts” (1×10)
Written by Mike McMahan / Directed by Barry J. Kelly
Lower Decks isn’t a show for the uninitiated. It works best when it embraces the deep lore of Star Trek, revisiting aspects that other Trekkies would rather forget. “No Small Parts” contains not one, but two weird aspects of past Trek lore, first the killer computer Landru from TOS’ “The Return of the Archons” and then the exocomps from minor TNG episode “The Quality of Life.”
The latter plot gives Lower Decks its own fantastic villain in Peanut Hamper, the rogue exocomp. At first, Peanut Hamper’s plot seems like a riff on the old “Measure of a Man” story, in which a synthetic being embracing their autonomy. But then it goes hilariously wrong, as the exocomp first chooses its ridiculous name and then becomes a maniacal baddie.
More than just a good joke, “No Small Parts” pokes fun at the ‘60s liberal imagination underpinning all of Trek, showing that sometimes respect and understanding create a monster. A ludicrous monster, but a monster nonetheless. — JG
“I, Excretus” (2×08)
Written by Ann Kim / Directed by Kim Arndt
For all of its talk about human progress and equality, Star Trek is fundamentally horny. That truth gave birth to the entire fan fiction movement, even if actual entries limited its sexual imagination to Riker plots and decontamination chambers on the NX-01.
Lower Decks has no such embarrassment, as demonstrated in “I, Excretus.” On a plot level, the episode is about a drill instructor whipping the lower deckers into shape by putting them through holodeck training programs. In actuality, “I, Excretus” is an excuse to revisit classic Trek plots and themes through a ridiculous lens.
And by “ridiculous,” I mean “horny.” In the most infamous part of “I, Excretus,” Mariner’s program forces her to deal with a “Naked Time” situation, where she witnesses a full-on Cerritos orgy, complete with Boimler spreading his legs for the camera. Such sexuality has always been part of Star Trek, but only Lower Decks was brave enough to put it on screen. — JG
“Twovix” (4X01)
Written by Mike McMahan / Directed by Barry J. Kelly and Jason Zurek
Look, even someone who loves weird Trek as much as I do can admit that “Tuvix” is a weird Voyager episode. The idea of Neelix and Tuvok getting blended is ridiculous and the episode resolves the problem in the most graceless way possible, with the Captain earning her “the right way is the Janeway” reputation.
Leave it to Lower Decks, then, to ignore all complaints and controversy and embrace “Tuvix” for “Twovix.” The episode begins with the same premise as the Voyager ep, as the Cerritos crew goes to Voyager to prepare it for its new life as a museum piece and end up recreating the Tuvix process with Dr. T’Ana and Billups combining into a new creature called T’Illups.
Although Captain Freeman does debate the ethics of separating the two and therefore killing this new lifeform, much like Janeway before her, the question becomes moot as T’Illups begins “Tuvixing” everyone, creating more and more grotesque combinations. In the end, the episode vindicates Janeway for separating Tuvix while celebrating the absurdity of the original plot. — JG
“The Inner Fight” (4×09)
Written by Mike McMahan / Directed by Brandon Williams
Nobody goes to Lower Decks for strong serialized storytelling, which makes it all the more wonderful when the show does actually dig into a larger plot. The Pakled plot of earlier seasons did not work at all, as the show couldn’t dodge the ablism inherent to the race, but the Nick Locarno plot from the end of season four is perfect.
Proving once again that Lower Decks never forgets, “The Inner Fight” reveals proto-Tom Paris Nick Locarno as the big bad, tying not only to the great TNG episode “The First Duty,” but also to the original “Lower Decks” episode from the same series.
Furthermore, “The Inner Fight” and the its follow-up episode, the season four finale “Old Friends, New Planets,” embraces the show’s central themes. It builds Mariner’s character and lends pathos to her deep-seated refusal to follow protocol while also showing why Lower Deckers matter within Starfleet. “The Inner Fight” celebrates the franchise’s egalitarian vision while having fun with the lore, making for an ideal Lower Decks episode. — JG
Star Trek: Prodigy
“Kobayashi” (1×06)
Written by Aaron J. Waltke / Directed by Alan Wan
For its first five episodes, Prodigy felt more like a modern animated Star Wars series than it did a Trek show. Beautiful animation and some recognizable elements, including Tellurite Jankom Pog, but only tangentially connected to the rest of the franchise.
All of that changed with the appropriately titled “Kobayashi,” in which the brash teen Dal tries to prove that he has what it takes to be a real Starfleet captain. To test his mettle, Dal runs a simulation that puts him alongside a crew of Star Trek all-stars. We see Dal with Odo, Uhura, Dr. Crusher, and others.
Beyond mere fan-service, “Kobayashi” gets at the primary thrust of Prodigy’s first season. The Protostar kids want to believe in the ethics of Starfleet and the Federation, as its their only hope for escaping slave life under the Diviner. But that hope comes with hard lessons to learn.. which is the whole point of the Kobayashi Maru. — JG
“Is There in Beauty No Truth?” (2×08)
Written by Keith Sweet II / Directed by Ruolin Li and Andrew L. Schmidt
In its second season, Prodigy went from the underdog Star Trek series that deserved better than to be shuffled off of Paramount+ to establishing itself as one of the best shows on television. “Is There in Beauty No Truth” demonstrates the show’s power, with a thoughtful and empathetic tale about a tough decision posed to the non-corporeal member Zero.
In “Is There in Beauty No Truth,” the Medusan Zero learns that their containment suit has been irreparably destroyed. At the same time, the Protostar visits a colony filled with non-corporeal beings, who offer Zero the opportunity to have a proper body.
The storyline offers obvious allegories for trans people or anyone else experiencing a type of dysmorphia, illustrating the excitement and fear involved with getting a body that matches your identity. Writer Sweet and directors Li and Schmidt throw some sci-fi twists into the mix, but they always remain on the side of empathy and understanding, letting Zero make their own way into a new existence. — JG
“The Devourer of All Things” (2×9-10)
Part One written by Jennifer Muro / Directed by Sung Shin, Part Two written by Aaron J. Waltke / Directed by Sean Bishop
Prodigy has often played like a revival of Voyager, complete with returns from Janeway, the Doctor, and Chakotay. But its most remarkable returning character came from TNG. As is appropriate for a show about Star Trek kids, the much-maligned Wesley Crusher revealed himself as the team’s hidden benefactor.
Wesley never really made sense on TNG. An obvious fan surrogate for young viewers, he was too precocious for most storylines, a weird fit who made audiences cheer when Picard growled, “Shut up, Wesley!” But its that very awkwardness that makes him such a role model for the Protostar kids, who reach Starfleet only to find themselves resented by the very people they hoped to join.
In “The Devourer of All Things,” we see that Wesley has figured it out. As the Traveler, he’s essentially the Doctor from Doctor Who. He still has that same know-it-all energy from TNG, but he’s become delightful and uplifting. Wesley doesn’t just get to offer some life-saving information. He also reminds the Protostar kids that, as bad as things seem, there is hope. They do indeed have a place in Starfleet. — JG
Short Treks
“The Trouble With Edward” (2×02)
Written by Graham Wagner / Directed by Daniel Gray Longino
The Short Treks episodes feel like content designed to bolster Paramount’s streaming services, and thus are mostly inconsequential. The spooky “Calypso,” strong as it is, can be largely skipped (despite getting a nod in the Discovery finale), as can the series’ worst episode, the dire Picard lead-in “Children of Mars.”
That inessential nature makes “The Trouble With Edward” all the more delightful. “The Trouble With Edward” tells the origin of the Tribbles, something nobody needed or wanted. We learn that they were once a standard species who were given the ability to rapidly reproduce by Starfleet scientist Edward Larkin, who was looking for a way to create a sustainable food source.
But because Edward is played by comedy great H. Jon Benjamin, and because he’s driven by deep insecurity more than any sort of desire for the greater good, “The Trouble With Edward” plays like a tragic joke. Is it better than “The Trouble With Tribbles” or “Trials and Tribble-lations”? No, of course not. But as a short bit of Star Trek comedy, “The Trouble With Edward” is hilarious. — JG
Very Short Treks
“Walk, Don’t Run” (Season 1, Episode 5)
Written and directed by Caspar Kelly
Very Short Treks exist as animated YouTube-only shorts, no more than five minutes long, designed to celebrate the anniversary of TAS. As such, the five entries are all harmless, Adult Swim-style fun (after all, they come from “Too Many Cooks” creator Casper Kelly, each doing their best to riff on standard Trek tropes.
“Walk, Don’t Run” works by combining a lot of fan favorites and going for warm, silly humor instead of the edgier humor of most adult animation. It begins with the always wonderful Tendi giving a history of Star Trek animation, until she gets into an argument with the TAS Scotty. The argument continues until animated Riker and Sulu arrive with a musical number about everyone getting along.
Is it corny? Yes. But it’s also very sincere, the weirdest possible way to celebrate the Star Trek concept of Infinite Diversity in Infinite Combinations. — JG
Did we miss any of your favorite Star Trek episodes? What do you look for in a Star Trek episode? Sounds off in the comments below!