Star Trek Day
It’s the 60th anniversary of Star Trek. That’s a pretty amazing statistic.
In honor of the anniversary, I thought I’d share my favorite episodes of every series I’ve seen (sorry Starfleet Academy and Prodigy). I’m also not counting the Short Treks or any fan productions.
Star Trek - “Mirror, Mirror” I’m a huge sucker for alternate universe stories. This was one of the first I’d ever seen, and it stuck with me. “The Trouble with Tribbles” is a close second.
Star Trek The Animated Series - “Yesteryear” It’s between this one and “The Counter-Clock Incident,” and I like this one a touch more. Young Spock and I-Chaya are heartbreaking.
Star Trek The Next Generation - “The Best of the Both Worlds Parts I & II/Family” This is when Star Trek The Next Generation finally figured itself out. These three episodes should always be watched as a trilogy. In fact, I’d argue that “Family” should have been named “The Best of the Both Worlds Part III.”
Star Trek Deep Space Nine - “Take Me Out to the Holosuite” “Far Beyond the Stars” is by far the better episode, but it isn’t my favorite. Benjamin Sisko enjoys baseball, and I love that he has one on his desk. The whole game against the Vulcans is great.
Star Trek Voyager - “Bride of Chaotica!” “Year of Hell” or “Endgame” are probably better episodes, but I like the silliness of this one.
Star Trek Enterprise - “In a Mirror, Darkly Parts I & II” The last season of Enterprise was quite good, and ultimately they found their footing right when the series was canceled. As you might guess from the title, it’s a Mirror Universe story, and this one is particularly cool.
Star Trek Discovery - “Brother” I’m not a big fan of Discovery. I tend to think of it as a Star Trek show set in an alternate universe. This one introduces Anson Mount as Captain Pike, who was so good here that they built a whole new series around him.
Star Trek Strange New Worlds - “A Quality of Mercy” While “Subspace Rhapsody” and “Those Old Scientists” are standouts, they are also gimmick episodes like “Bride of Chaotica!” This time-travel/alternate-universe story was the perfect end to the first season.
Star Trek Lower Decks - “wej Duj” Lower Decks is really quite fun overall. This episode uses a clever approach, having “lower decks” characters on Klingon and Vulcan ships interact with the Cerritos.
Star Trek Picard - “The Last Generation” Really, all of season 3 of Picard is one big love letter to The Next Generation. This one just wraps it all up.