Star Trek has become one of the most legendary franchises in pop culture history. It was the ’60s brainchild of Gene Roddenberry, and was produced by Desilu Studios, the home of I Love Lucy. The show premiered on NBC to low ratings with “The Cage” and then was retooled, with William Shatner added as Captain Kirk, along with an entirely new cast, joining Leonard Nimoy as Spock for a five-year mission aboard the U.S.S. Enterprise. Nowadays, we look back on the show as a legendary piece of TV, but back then, it was anything but. The three-season series was constantly on the edge of cancellation, being shuffled all over the broadcast schedule.
After its cancellation (and I say this a Trekkie – the third season was atrocious), something funny happened. It became a hit in syndication, with a whole new generation of viewers watching it. An animated series led it to theaters and its success on the big screen led to Star Trek: The Next Generation, Deep Space Nine, Voyager, and an entire universe of other series, stretching back to the days before the Federation all the way to the farflung 32nd century. Over the years, Star Trek has changed TV and over its various eras, its been home to some of the best sci-fi you could ever want. These five episodes, one each from the various eras of show, are Star Trek‘s best, amazing examples of what the franchise does best.
5) Modern Era – “wej Duj”, Star Trek: Lower Decks
The Modern Era of Star Trek has been something of a mixed bag. The show was brought back to TV with Star Trek: Discovery, an all-new show set in the days before Star Trek: The Original Series, that would follow the titular ship through in its adventures in the 23rd and then 32nd centuries. Star Trek: Picard was the story of the legendary captain after his days in Starfleet, Star Trek: Strange New Worlds spun out of Discovery, following the adventures of Christopher Pike while he commanded the Enterprise before Kirk, and Star Trek: Starfleet Academy took viewers to the legendary educational establishment in the 32nd century. However, the crown jewel of Modern Trek is Star Trek: Lower Decks.
The show follows the junior members of the crew of the Cerritos, itself a junior ship in the fleet, and was full of Trek-based humor. The show has some amazing episodes, but the coolest is easily “wej Duj”, the 9th episode of Season 2 of the show. It took viewers to the Klingon side of things; instead of seeing the Empire’s best warriors, we get their lower decks guys, leading to a confrontation that is bound to go wrong. It’s a hilarious episode, taking the central conceit of the show and using it on another corner of the Star Trek universe.
4) The Second Death of Trek Era – “In a Mirror, Darkly” Part One and Two
So, I went with the melodrama for this era’s name – we could just call this the “end of the Berman era” and it would work out – but it fits because Trek would die for on television for a long time after this. Eventually, The Next Generation and Deep Space Nine ended and Star Trek: Voyager was completely on its own. Voyager isn’t bad by any stretch; it’s basically TNG-lite, when it should have been something a bit more serialized. It was joined by the first major prequel series in 2001, Star Trek: Enterprise, which was set between 2151 and 2161, ending over a century before The Original Series was set.
Enterprise was honestly never really given a chance to shine, cut down from the seven seasons that everyone expected to four. It was a combination of “monster of the week” episodes and serialized storytelling that had a lot of ups and downs. However, there were some bright spots as the show ended and the best moments came from the two-parter “In a Mirror, Darkly”. This episode took viewers to the Mirror Universe, where everyone was evil, and served as a prequel of sorts for “Mirror, Mirror”, revealing a crucial piece of the Terran Empire’s backstory. It’s not a high-brow episode, but it’s the kind of Trek fun that you can show to anyone and they’ll get a kick out of it.
3) The Golden Age of Trek – “In the Pale Moonlight”, Star Trek: Deep Space Nine
The Golden Age of Trek is often thought of as the late ’80s, when Star Trek: The Next Generation became a surprise hit but it wouldn’t get really golden until the 1993 premiere of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, which would be followed by 1995 premiere of Voyager. The connecting glue between the two is Deep Space Nine. It’s considered the best Trek show of all-time, combining the monster of the week episodes – that usually ended up revolving around the cast more than any sci-fi problems they had to solve unlike some of the other shows – with long-term, serialized storytelling that stretched back to the show’s start. Character was the watchword of the series, with Captain Sisko becoming a fan-favorite, in a very different way from Picard, leading a cast that has some of the best actors in Trek history.
There are some brilliant episodes I could have chosen here (go watch “Duet” and “Far Beyond the Stars”, among so may others), but the best of them is easily “In the Pale Moonlight”, Season 6, episode 19. This episode takes place in the worst days of the Dominion War, with casualties mounting, leading Sisko and simple Cardassian tailor Garak and nothing else no matter what anyone says to effect a plan to bring the Romulans in the war on their side. However, to get there, they have to do things that Starfleet captains don’t usually do and honestly putting it that way is an understatement. It’s an episode about ethics and survival and just how far you’ll go with both. It’s a tour de force from Avery Brooks and Andrew Robinson, one of the best hours of television you’ll ever see.
2) The Next Generation Era – “Family”, Star Trek: The Next Generation
So, from 1987 until January 1993, there was only Star Trek: The Next Generation on TV and it was amazing. Sure, you got the last two original crew movies during this period, but the true standard bearer of the franchise was the show. It became a powerhouse, with the third season finale “Best of Both Worlds” Part One and its fourth season opening continuation giving viewers two of the best hours of TV ever. Part One was huge, with new viewers catching up via reruns over the summer and jumping in on the fourth season. While “Best of Both Worlds” got them in the door, it was “Family” that made them stay there.
The second episode of the fourth season saw the crew of the ship getting a much needed break after defeating the Borg, with Captain Picard visiting his brother Robert at the family vineyard on Earth. Jean-Luc had just been assimilated by the Borg, losing his personality and slaughtering thousands of Starfleet personnel. He’s broken and going to wisit his brother, someone who never agreed with his choices, leads to one of the most heartbreaking scenes in TV history as the most composed man in the universe finally lets what happen to him register (it will also come back to haunt him in the movies as well). It’s one of those scenes that will stick with you, even decades after the last time you’ve watched it.
1) The OG Era – “Balance of Terror”, Star Trek: The Original Series
Star Trek premiered 60 years ago, its original three-season run leading to everything we know and love today. If I’m being honest, the first season is the best one; Roddenberry was getting stories from some of the best names in science fiction (including several woman, like DC Fontaine, Margaret Armen, Jean Lisette Aroeste, and others back when that wasn’t a thing in sci-fi or really even TV in general) and that quality shone through the entire season; the second was pretty great as well but the third was where it completely fell apart, a perfect storm of diminishing returns – the lower the ratings, the less the budget, the less they could pay for anything, including quality stories.
There are some amazing episodes I could be recommending (oh wait, never mind, I will anyway– watch “City at the Edge of Forever”, “Doomsday Machine”, “Mirror, Mirror”, “Space Seed”, “Amok Time”, “The Trouble With Tribbles”, “The Devil In the Dark”, and “Where No One Has Gone Before”), but I’m going to go with Episode 8 of the first season “Balance of Terror”. The Enterprise is called to Romulan and Neutral Zone and ends up chasing down a cloaked ship armed with plasma torpedoes that let it one-shot any target. What follows is what amounts to a submarine movie in space, with viewers spending time with Romulans as well (with Mark Leonard, who would also play Spock’s dad Sarek, playing the Romulan Commander brilliantly). This episode was able to make a highstrung 11-year old enjoy a submarine movie; it’s amazing and shows just what was possible in the first season of Star Trek.
What’s your favorite episode from each era of Star Trek? Anything here you want to yell at me about? Sound off in the comments section below.
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