The Star Trek franchise: which series has the single best episode(s)?

POSTED BY: chrisisall
UPDATED: Friday, February 1, 2008 10:10
VIEWED: 8064
PAGE 1 of 1

CHRISISALL

Tuesday, January 8, 2008 8:00 PM

For my money, City On The Edge Of Forever (OS) is the best Trek ep of all time.
Tapestry (TNG) comes VERY close, though...

Thoughts?

Mind-melding Chrisisall

MSB

Tuesday, January 8, 2008 8:13 PM

yeah Sarek from TNG.... showcases Patrick's amazing skills... oh and strangely Tin Man... as I think Harry Groener is underappreciated

Though I will say best performance I have seen with Patrick Stewart was when he dis Iago in Othello ...scared the hell out of me and turned my stomach. Very powerful and disturbing..

____________________________________________

Ain't Love GRAND!!!

CITIZEN

Tuesday, January 8, 2008 8:18 PM

Chain of Command TNG.

More insane ramblings by the people who brought you beeeer milkshakes!
No one can see their reflection in running water. It is only in still water that we can see.

CHRISISALL

Tuesday, January 8, 2008 8:28 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by citizen:
Chain of Command TNG.

Haven't seen it in a while- just got The Captain's Log collection so I'll refresh my memory with that ep and get back to ya on it, Citizen.

Trekkietotheendisall

JONGSSTRAW

Tuesday, January 8, 2008 8:35 PM

I like all the Treks, but they're too expensive to buy 'em all.

I did buy the "Fan Collective" - Time Travel set..it's Great!...includes some of the all-time best episodes:

Voyager :
End Game
Year of Hell

Next Gen:
Time's Arrow (2nd favorite, due to Mark Twain performance)
Yesterday's Enterprise
The Inner Light ( my favorite, on VHS)

Original :
City On The Edge......
Tomorrow Is Yesterday

Deep Space 9:
Trials & Tribbleations
Little Green Men

FREMDFIRMA

Tuesday, January 8, 2008 9:11 PM

Original - The Doomsday Machine.

Runner up - Balance of Terror.

-F

CHRISISALL

Tuesday, January 8, 2008 9:22 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by Fremdfirma:
Balance of Terror.

Outstanding ep- and in the Captain's Log Collection too

Chrisisall, with a Gortch!

THATWEIRDGIRL

Tuesday, January 8, 2008 9:30 PM

For overall enjoyment, I'd pick DS9 and TNG, but the best episode? Hrmmmm. Each of the series did a great job exploring the issues facing its viewers. I picked fun episodes over meaningful ones.

While not the best ever, I have a few episodes I always enjoy:
Inner Light (TNG)
Lower Decks (TNG)
The Corbomite Maneuver (OS)
I, Mudd (OS)
Far Beyond the Stars (DS9)
Profit and Lace (DS9)
I'll stop now. I found myself making a long list of DS9 eps.

---
Sometimes I lie awake at night, and I ask, "Where have I gone wrong?" Then a voice says to me, "This is going to take more than one night."
-- Charlie Brown

MSB

Tuesday, January 8, 2008 9:31 PM

For sheer sweetness and fun I'd say Data's Day

I do love Chain of Command not just for itself, but for the fabulous way it throws light onto " humane" torture.

Parallels because I enjoy the focus on Worf and the initiation of his relationship with Tory ( a move which proved too awkward for the actors to deal with considering their big brother/little sister relationship in real life)

Masks because Brent Spiner is truly one of the best actors around and he never gets any credit for it ( also see his tour de force performances in Night Court as Bob Wheeler)

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Ain't Love GRAND!!!

CYBERSNARK

Wednesday, January 9, 2008 12:16 AM

"Far Beyond the Stars" from DS9.

And not just 'cause I'm a sci-fi writer who tends to get too caught up in my own stories. Or because the men in my family have a history of senility and Alzheimers-like dementia (and my mind is the only part of myself that I've ever been proud of).

Brooks' performance when Benny had his breakdown was Oscar-worthy. That last scene in the asylum. . .

*gets chills*

-----
We applied the cortical electrodes but were unable to get a neural reaction from either patient.

LWAVES

Wednesday, January 9, 2008 12:24 AM

As an overall best episode of all the series it has to be City On The Edge Of Forever. A superb episode from start to finish.

As for each series:

TOS: City On The Edge Of Forever followed by Mirror, Mirror.

TNG: Didn't see a lot of this series but The Best Of Both Worlds always stands out.

DS9: Trials And Tibble-ations followed by anything with Ezri in it.

Voyager: Year Of Hell.

Enterprise: Storm Front 1 + 2 were good if I remember correctly.

"I don't believe in suicide, but if you'd like to try it it might cheer me up to watch."

MUDKICKER

Wednesday, January 9, 2008 2:08 AM

The Visitor (DS9) - Season 4 Ep 2
The Way of the Warrior (DS9) - Season 4 Ep 1
Favor the Bold (DS9) - Season 6 Ep 5
Sacrifice of Angels (DS9) - Season 6 Ep 6
In the Pale Moonlight (DS9) - Season 6 Ep 19
Far Beyond the Stars (DS9) - Season 6 Ep 13

Of course there are many more episodes that I love, but Deep Space 9 by far had most of my favorites as a collective. This doesn't mean I don't love the other series', but Sisko is by far a more believable and realistic Captain by my standards.

:: ducks as the insults begin to fly ::

Seriously though... I love Picard and Kirk too, but Sisko... I mean, c'mon. I would give my life serving a Captain like him. Besides, I practically cried when I watched "The Visitor".

____________________________________

"We are not gonna die. You know why? Because we are so...very...pretty. We are just too pretty for God to let us die."

PVT Gabriel "Mudkicker" Sheppard, 76th Independent Battalion

ANTHONYT

Wednesday, January 9, 2008 2:48 AM

Hello,

There is an episode of DS9 which I will probably always consider the best of that series. That episode encapsulates what made DS9 different from other Trek series, and thus people either tend to love or hate it.

The episode is named "In the Pale Moonlight" and features the assassination of a Romulan representative by the Federation in order to manipulate the Romulans into joining the Dominion War as an ally.

I love it because it thoroughly breaches the narrowly defined bounds of what Trek had been in the past.

Some hate it because it craps all over the 'nice guy' rules and legacy of Gene Roddenberry.

I will always argue that the shades of gray and deeper plotlines pouring out of DS9 were a breath of fresh air.

--Anthony

"Liberty must not be purchased at the cost of Humanity." --Captain Robert Henner

JEWELSTAITEFAN

Wednesday, January 9, 2008 4:50 AM

Although I consider ST:OS and Voyager to be my fave series, Yesterday's Enterprise in ST:NG is my fave episode. Only time we ever see Enterprise C (as well as Battleship Enterprise D.)

PONYXPRESSINC

Wednesday, January 9, 2008 9:30 AM

Quote:
The episode is named "In the Pale Moonlight" and features the assassination of a Romulan representative by the Federation in order to manipulate the Romulans into joining the Dominion War as an ally.

I love it because it thoroughly breaches the narrowly defined bounds of what Trek had been in the past.

Yes! That is the first one I thought of when I read the first post for exactly those reasons.

The TNG and Voyager Q episodes were usually good for a giggle.

The first TNG thing that sprung to mind was not a whole episode but just a line (which means I'm wandering from the parameters of the thread, sorry). The episode itself was not great, but something made me think about it a couple of days ago so it's right at the front of my brain.

"Maybe if we felt any human loss as keenly as we feel one of those close to us, human history would be far less bloody."

William Riker to Data in "The Bonding" Season 3.

FILLYGIRL

Wednesday, January 9, 2008 11:09 AM

"A Fistful of Data's"......ST:TNG
Brent is sooooo good!!

Chaplain of the 76th Independant Battalion

...it's worse than you know...Operative
...it usually is.....Mal

CHRISISALL

Wednesday, January 9, 2008 2:37 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by jewelstaitefan:
Yesterday's Enterprise

Awesome episode, it's been said

.

Time-bendy Chrisisall

CHRISISALL

Wednesday, January 9, 2008 2:40 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by citizen:
Chain of Command TNG.

Undeniably one of the best...hmmm Ron Moore...he does love-y the torture...

Ouch Chrisisall

MANWITHPEZ

Thursday, January 17, 2008 9:47 PM

I've said it 8bajillion times, but I'm still sticking with "Best of Both Worlds" eps 1 and 2.

Picard as Borg, Riker in command, bad Starfleet...bad.

Good stuff.

Kaylee: "What's so damn important about being proper? It don't mean nothing out here in the black."
Simon: "It means more out here. It's all I have..."

http://manwithpez.livejournal.com

CHRISISALL

Friday, January 18, 2008 4:18 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by manwithpez:
I've said it 8bajillion times, but I'm still sticking with "Best of Both Worlds" eps 1 and 2.

Don't forget "Family", the follow-up to those two- a must-see after IMO...

Chrisisall is futile

SIMONWHO

Friday, January 18, 2008 4:31 PM

Best of Both Worlds part one made me a Star Trek fan. I had only seen bits before then but it happened to be on TV when we were siesta-ing in Portugal. We watched it pretty much from the start and there was just this feeling of real danger, which kept building and building and then...

"Mr Worf. Fire!"

And those three dreaded words: To Be Continued...

Argh! But brilliant.

TINADOLL

Friday, January 18, 2008 4:37 PM

Yes

TNG: Best of both worlds is the best Cliffhanger EVER. I lost it when i saw that (as did my Mother and Father)

I think TOS: has Space Seed (Kahn!),City of the Edge of Forever and ofcourse- Trouble with Tribbles

DS9 and VOY had good episodes but nothing stand out right now.

Maybe Trials and Tribbulations from DS9-thats about it.

CHRISISALL

Sunday, January 20, 2008 3:36 PM

I just watched "These Are The Voyages", the final ep of Enterprise...is it just me (and the fans that voted it in the Captains' Log Collection)? I really LIKED that episode. Granted that I might not be able to detect character flaw nuances not being an Enterprise-watcher, but it was a great final ep of the franchise as far as I'm concerned.

NCC1701isall

POWEROFTHEVERSE

Sunday, January 20, 2008 5:15 PM

The two best episodes IMO:
TNG: Where his brain gets kidnapped by the floating spacecraft and he lives a life on the extinct world. I don't know the title, but it's when he gets his whistle.

DS9: When Sisko gets stuck outside of space-time and his son, Jake, lives his life in search of his father. Sisko comes back from time to time and tells his son to get on with his life. Very moving story.

CYBERSNARK

Sunday, January 20, 2008 6:47 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by chrisisall:
I just watched "These Are The Voyages", the final ep of Enterprise...is it just me (and the fans that voted it in the Captains' Log Collection)? I really LIKED that episode. Granted that I might not be able to detect character flaw nuances not being an Enterprise-watcher, but it was a great final ep of the franchise as far as I'm concerned.

My problem with it wasn't the character nuances, it was the fact that (A) it didn't really "fit" in Enterprise, and (B) it wasn't that great a series finale (especially after the "Terra Prime" two-parter, which would have made a perfect closing for the series).

It didn't fit because the "Enterprise" segments were set (10?) years after the rest of the series, which is a cheap cop-out to not actually show any character development, and also because Trip's fate was horribly contrived (although it did lead to a couple of good novels).

It basically seemed like it wanted to be Voyager's "Living Will" (the one where the Doctor has to set the record straight regarding Voyager's intervention in a planet's history), but without an actual link to explain what history got wrong.

Also, Chef (whose face was never seen onscreen) was totally a Picard. Remember how Jean-Luc once boasted that the Picards have always been "vital" to humanity's exploration of space? Yeah. One of them totally should've been a kitchen-slave.

-----
We applied the cortical electrodes but were unable to get a neural reaction from either patient.

GINOBIFFARONI

Sunday, January 20, 2008 7:49 PM

I really liked " In the pale moonlight " as well,
but my fav DS9 ep was " Once more unto the breach "

Once More Unto the Breach" is an episode from the seventh season of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine. The episode has an average rating of 4.3/5 on the official Star Trek website (as of August 20th, 2007).[1]

The episode was written by Ronald D. Moore, and directed by Allan Kroeker.

[edit] Plot

Kor comes to DS9 to ask Worf for a favor. Kor claims he has no influence within the Klingon Empire anymore and frets that he will die of old age, far away from battle. He wants command of a ship for the chance to prove himself in battle one last time.

Meanwhile, Martok tells Benjamin Sisko his plan to take five cloaked Birds of Prey deep into Cardassian space to quickly strike at several important Dominion targets and then disengage. Sisko recalls from Earth history that this plan sounds remarkably like a cavalry charge. He explains that in ancient battles men on horseback would be strong enough to disrupt activities behind enemy lines but still be too fast to get caught. He approves the plan and helps with the preparations, including having a number of starships on standby in case the remaining Klingon ships bring company home with them.

Worf tries to talk to Martok about Kor, but Martok won't listen. At length Martok relents and explains why he doesn't want to give Kor a ship. As a young man, Martok aspired to be an officer, but the decision rested with Kor, who rejected Martok's application. Even though Martok eventually overcame this obstacle, he's still not inclined to help Kor now.

Despite not being quite what Kor wanted, Worf appoints him third officer on the Ch'tang and urges him to stay out of Martok's way. This proves difficult as Kor is treated as a living legend by the crew of the Ch'tang as he is a famous Dahar master and thus a large source of attention. In the mess hall, the crew listens entranced as Kor tells the story of his victory against the Federation at Caleb IV.

General Martok explains the plan of attack for their strike against the Cardassian starbase at Trelka V. Two of the Birds of Prey will decloak and make a single strafing run and then head out of the system. Soon after when their repair crews begin to assess the damage, the rest of the squadron will continue the assault. Once they arrive the attack proceeds perfectly even though one of the ships is destroyed by a Cardassian warship as it is retreating. During the second half of the skirmish, both Martok and Worf are knocked unconscious. Kor takes command, but with a sudden display of senility, orders a boarding party despite the starbase's garrison of thousands of soldiers. Kor rants that "The Federation will rue the day they dared to challenge the might of the Klingon Empire! We will take Caleb IV, and raise our banner over the smoking ruins of their own post!" The bridge crew is puzzled and are unsure of what to do. Martok realizes what's going on and takes out his knife to throw it at Kor in an attempt to kill him. Worf starts to come to and in a quick sequence of events catches Martok's knife in midair, forcefully knocks Kor to the ground, and orders them to retreat.

In the mess hall, the crew mocks Kor mercilessly. Martok does too, but later admits he gets no satisfaction from it. At that point, long range sensors show that 10 Jem'Hadar ships are tracking the Klingons even though they are cloaked. At the current rate, the Jem'Hadar will catch up to them before they reach the rendezvous with the Federation ships. The only way to shake them, Worf says, is by sacrificing one ship to stay behind and disable the warp drives of each Jem'Hadar ship. Considering there are only four ships left in their group, and the fact that one of the other captains died while the remaining one is too inexperienced, and the third ship is too damaged, Worf himself volunteers to command one of the other ships in the venture. Knowing that survival is unlikely it is decided to transport everyone off the ship they are to use so as not to sacrifice the

MUDKICKER

Sunday, January 20, 2008 8:00 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by PowerOfTheVerse:
The two best episodes IMO:
TNG: Where his brain gets kidnapped by the floating spacecraft and he lives a life on the extinct world. I don't know the title, but it's when he gets his whistle.

DS9: When Sisko gets stuck outside of space-time and his son, Jake, lives his life in search of his father. Sisko comes back from time to time and tells his son to get on with his life. Very moving story.

The TNG episode is "The Inner Light", Season 5, Epi 25 & the DS9 episode is "The Visitor", Season 4, Epi 3. Great choices! :D

____________________________________

"We are not gonna die. You know why? Because we are so...very...pretty. We are just too pretty for God to let us die."

PVT Gabriel "Mudkicker" Sheppard, 76th Independent Battalion

CANTTAKESKY

Monday, January 21, 2008 9:50 AM

Quote:
Originally posted by GinoBiffaroni:
I really liked " In the pale moonlight " as well,

In the Pale Moonlight (DS9) is my fav episode of all the Trek series. Garak is easily my fav Trek character of all time.

--------------------------
Clothes make the man. Naked people have little or no influence on society.
-- Mark Twain

ASARIAN

Monday, January 21, 2008 10:33 AM

A few that haven't been mentioned yet, but which I consider to be among the best:

The Offspring - ST:TNG
The Survivors - ST:TNG

Duet - DS9

--
"Mei-mei, everything I have is right here." -- Simon Tam

EVILDEAD1971

Monday, January 21, 2008 5:47 PM

st:tng - the inner light

capt picard gets to have the family he always wanted. loved the ending when he plays the flute

http://www.boomstick.org

CHRISISALL

Thursday, January 24, 2008 12:30 AM

Any love here for "Unification" 1 & 2 from TNG? I've not seen it mentioned...

Spockisall

DOGGIE

Thursday, January 24, 2008 2:31 AM

Agreeing with most of the choices for DS9 and TNG and while i think DS9 and TNG are superior series (by a longish way) Voyager did have some stand out episodes. If push comes to shove i would go for "Timeless" as it's best.

MUDKICKER

Thursday, January 24, 2008 2:37 AM

Quote:
Originally posted by chrisisall:
Any love here for "Unification" 1 & 2 from TNG? I've not seen it mentioned...

Spockisall

Much love for "Unification" 1 & 2. However, Spock is left on Romulus to work towards Unification and the story has never been revisited. I'd love to know what progress he was able to make. I wonder why none of the later franchises explored that dangling thread...

____________________________________

"We are not gonna die. You know why? Because we are so...very...pretty. We are just too pretty for God to let us die."

PVT Gabriel "Mudkicker" Sheppard, 76th Independent Battalion

FARFLY

Thursday, January 24, 2008 3:06 AM

TNG: Inner Light is my favorite. Only watched parts of a few random episodes of Voyager, couldn't find any interesting characters. Pretty much the same for DS9, although Terry Farrell was hot. My cable company at the time stopped carrying UPN so I missed the last season of Enterprise. TOS was responsible for me being late to a lot of things because I had to watch each new episode, but can't say I had a favorite episode.

CYBERSNARK

Thursday, January 24, 2008 3:05 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by Mudkicker:
However, Spock is left on Romulus to work towards Unification and the story has never been revisited. I'd love to know what progress he was able to make.

The novels did.
( http://startrek.wikia.com/wiki/Spock#Romulus_and_Reunification)

Select to view spoiler:

Spock's mission kept getting sidetracked; he was needed to deal with the Thallonian Crisis, then the Dominion War broke out, and Spock tried to get the Empire to join the war effort. The war changed everything; returning Romulan crews brought with them new ideas and philosophies from outside the Empire's borders. This is what touched off Shinzon's coup and the Romulan civil war.

After Voyager returned, Starfleet sent Tuvok undercover to drag Spock back. He was there when Shinzon's coup happened, then (after Nemesis), Tuvok was rescued by the Titan.

Spock then negotiated a treaty between the Romulans, Remans, and Klingons, and was last seen heading to Qo'nos.

-----
We applied the cortical electrodes but were unable to get a neural reaction from either patient.

CHRISISALL

Thursday, January 24, 2008 4:14 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by Cybersnark:

The novels did.
( http://startrek.wikia.com/wiki/Spock#Romulus_and_Reunification)

Wow, that was truly fascinating! Thanks CS!!

To read makes our speaking treknobabble betterisall

MUDKICKER

Thursday, January 24, 2008 8:14 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by Cybersnark:
The novels did.
( http://startrek.wikia.com/wiki/Spock#Romulus_and_Reunification)

Wow is right! I'll second what Chrisisall said... thanks! I guess I have plenty of reading to do now. Heh. :D

____________________________________

"We are not gonna die. You know why? Because we are so...very...pretty. We are just too pretty for God to let us die."

PVT Gabriel "Mudkicker" Sheppard, 76th Independent Battalion

OPPYH

Tuesday, January 29, 2008 5:41 PM

Probably the original series. There are actually too many of them for me to list right now.

All the Trek series are fantastic and each have great episodes.

"Housekeeping from 1987 on dvd...c'mon people let's make this happen"

WYTCHCROFT

Friday, February 1, 2008 10:10 AM

my fave is Yesteryear from the animated series, it has the guardian of forever, sarek, a boy Spock and an andorian to boot! what more would i need?:)