Question about Star Trek episodes...just the good ones (1 Viewer)

[Tony Whalen]

That's putting it mildly.

"Goin' out to Eden, yay brother!" - One of Charles Napier's proudest moments, I'm sure.

I've developed an appreciation for some third season episodes as an adult that I wasn't crazy about as a kid...

Is There In Truth No Beauty - Great story.

Spectre of the Gun - Love how surreal this is with the partially complete sets. (For years, I thought the Earps were the villians of the infamous OK Corral thanks to this episode playing when I was a kid!)

The Mark of Gideon - Really didn't get this as a kid. Great story. Although I'm still trying to figure out how they had room to build a full-scale replica of the Enterprise.

Requiem for Methuselah - Another that I didn't get as a kid. How boring & lonely immortality must be. It also disturbs me how hot Louise Sorel is in this.


Interesting... I was just looking at a list of guest-stars for TOS. I didn't realize that Barbara Babcock ("Philana" in "Plato's Stepchildren" and "Mea3" in A "Taste of Armageddon" ) did the voice of the Beta5 in "Assignment: Earth" and the voice of Commander Loskene in "The Tholian Web".

 

[Todd Calhoun]

Interesting discussion. I've ordered the book mentioned, and I'll refer to the opinions expressed as we go through the seasons. And I'll think about checking out the first movie as well.

 

[David Norman]

If you want to look at another list of show ranking as voted by groups of fans.

Star Trek TOS TV Tome Ranks

You can get the other series as well by going to the show episode list, click any title and then the ranks. Obviously, still just other people's opinion.

 

[DaveF]

Watching The Best of Both Worlds Part I/II and Inner Light for the first time! I envy you. I wish I could re-watch those for the first time again. Especially Inner Light.

If you survive TOS and TNG, look into DS9. I didn't get into it until third season, maybe, when Worf joined the crew. And there were some tremendous episodes, as good or better than the best TNG offered.

Hopefully your son will be able to re-visit these shows again in about 10 years, when he can better appreciate the emotional content of some of the episodes.

 

[Tony Whalen]

Couldn't agree more. Those are just amazing pieces of television.

I also concur about DS9. From Season 3 on, it's bloody amazing. IMHO.

 

[Jack Briggs]

As with TNG, though, there are some genuine gems in DS9's first two seasons.

 

[Rob Gardiner]

DS9 Season 1:

The Emissary
Past Prologue (first appearance of GARAK, and an interesting plot twist that is not a cop-out)
Q-Less (the presence of 2 beloved TNG characters doesn't save this from wretchedness)
Move Along Home (this one is not well liked, but I think it has 2 *great* Quark scenes)
Progress (this was my first indication that DS9 wasn't my father's Star Trek -- great drama)
Duet (simply one of the best dialogue-driven episodes of Star Trek ever)
In the Hands of the Prophets (introduces Vedek Wynn and kicks off season 2's "Bajoran politics" plot thread)

Season 2:

The Homecoming / The Circle / The Siege (watch for Frank Langella in a great supporting role)
Cardassians (Cardassian orphans on Bajor are raised by Bajorans and taught to hate their own kind -- O'Brien faces his racism)
Necessary Evil (unbelievable, jaw-dropping ending -- indicative of more bold writing to come)
Second Sight (by the end of the TEASER, I had this ep figured out)
Sanctuary (first mention of The Dominion, and another great, dramatic ending)
Rivals (truly without any redeeming value -- the "Spock's Brain" of DS9)
Whispers (the first of many great "torture O'Brien" eps)
Blood Oath (fun romp with the original Klingons from TOS)
The Maquis Pts 1 & 2
The Wire (some of the best dialogue in all of Trek -- Garak is such a fascinating character)
Crossover (first of DS9's Mirror Universe eps - see the result of Spock-2's decision at the end of Mirror Mirror!)
Tribunal (fascinating look at Cardassian justice -- poor O'Brien is the defendant )
The Jem'Hadar (the first "holy shit!" moment of the series -- introduces a conflict that would be settled 5 years later -- you'd better have season 3, disc 1 ready to go when you watch this!!!!)

Season 3:
The Search pts. 1 & 2
Second Skin I was fooled by this episode! When Kira smashes the mirror in frustration, I was convinced
we would go through the rest of the series knowing that she was a Cardassian in a Bajoran's body! LOL
The Abandoned
Civil Defense (probably the best "nuts and bolts" episode -- watch how the situation gets worse... and worse... and worse)
Meridian (boring)
Defiant
Past Tense, pts. 1 & 2
Destiny (the nature of "prophecy" is explored)
Visionary (poor, poor O'Brien )
Distant Voices
Through the Looking Glass (another fun Mirror ep)
Improbable Cause / The Die Is Cast (more satisfying than most of the feature films!!!!!)
Explorers (without conflict, there is no drama)
The Adversary (Dominion shenanigans begin to heat up -- be sure to watch until the very end! )

Season 4:

The Way of the Warrior, pts 1 & 2 (the Klingons are back! This 2-parter also puts most of the movies to shame)
The Visitor (tear-jerker along the lines of City on th Edge of Forever)
Hippocratic Oath
Indiscretion
Little Green Men (fun comedy episode, possibly the best Ferengi ep, a loving tribute to 50s sci-fi)
Homefront / Paradise Lost (amazing when you consider this came YEARS before 9/11 happened -- best line: "If the Dominion want to destroy the freedoms we've created, they'll have to come here and do it themselves. We won't do it for them." - Sisko
)
Crossfire (good character piece for Odo)
Return to Grace (Dukat has got to be one of the richest villains in all of Trek)
Sons of Mogh (Kern gets a raw deal)
Accession (Sisko embraces his role as Emissary for the first time -- very important event in Sisko's 7-year arc)
Hard Time (the ULTIMATE "torture O'Brien" episode -- DO NOT MISS)
Shattered Mirror (another Mirror ep, the quality starts to decline with this outing)
The Muse (writing is simply not an exciting activity to watch on the screen)
For the Cause
To the Death (one of the best brawls in all of Trek)
The Quickening (possibly Trek's greatest medical episode, ever)
Broken Link (sooo many great moments -- watch for Garak's confrontation with the Founder)

Season 5:

Apocalypse Rising (more Dominion shenanigans)
...Nor the Battle to the Strong
Trials and Tribble-ations (another fun comedy episode, fitting tribute to TOS -- watch for O'Brien & Bashir's "predestination paradox" talk )
Let He Who Is Without Sin... (preachy and very unbecoming of Trek)
Things Past (interesting counterpart to Necessary Evil)
Rapture (another important Emissary ep -- great ending!!)
For the Uniform
In Purgatory's Shadow / By Inferno's Light
Children of Time
Blaze of Glory
Empok Nor (a glimpse at Garak's darker side)
In the Cards (fun, lighthearted ep, the calm before the storm)
Call to Arms

Season 6:
A Time To Stand / Rocks and Shoals / Sons and Daughters / Behind the Lines / Favor the Bold / Sacrifice of Angels (yes, that is a 6-parter)
You Are Cordially Invited...
The Magnificent Ferengi (Iggy Pop is priceless as a Vorta)
Waltz
Who Mourns for Morn? (how is it that a character with no dialogue gets developed to a greater degree than someone like LaForge or Troi?)
Far Beyond the Stars
Change of Heart (Worf makes a tough decision and faces the consequences)
Wrongs Darker than Death or Night
In the Pale Moonlight (the ULTIMATE ethical dilemma -- asks a question that no other Trek has dared to ask -- absolute must see)
His Way (Vic becomes tiresome later on, but here he is pure gold)
The Reckoning (another piece in the Emissary arc)
Valiant
Profit and Lace (Quark cross-dresses -- nuff said)
Time's Orphan (heartbreaking "torture O'Brien" episode)
Tears of the Prophets (was disappointed with one particular plot development, yet this remains a necessary ep nonetheless)

Season 7:

Image in the Sand / Shadows and Symbols
Take Me out to the Holosuite (Baseball! Plus those snooty Vulcans get what's coming to them. I bet you can't guess how this one will end!)
Treachery, Faith, and the Great River
Once More unto the Breach
The Siege of AR-558 (war is hell)
Covenant
It's Only a Paper Moon
Badda-Bing, Badda-Bang
Inter Arma Enim Silent Leges (I always thought this was redundant, given ITPM a season earlier, but I'll put it in bold anyway)
Penumbra / 'Til Death Do Us Part / Strange Bedfellows / The Changing Face of Evil / When It Rains... / Tacking Into the Wind / Extreme Measures / The Dogs of War / What You Leave Behind pts 1 & 2 (ten-parter to cap off the series -- do them in one sitting, if you dare )

 

[Rob Gardiner]

Voyager Recommendations:

Season 3:
Distant Origins (watch this one Voyager episode and consider yourself lucky )

 

[Brian.L]

Great DS9 list, Rob. Makes me wish I owned the DVDs! I would also add a few episodes to the later seasons, when the show really found itself:

Season 4:
Our Man Bashir (Bashir, Julian Bashir)

Season 5:
The Ship (turns out to have big implications, also it's #100!)
Dr. Bashir, I Presume (also really important!)
The Darkness and the Light

Season 6:
Inquisition (a must-see if you are recommending "Inter Arma...")
Honor Among Thieves

Season 7:
Chimera

and I like "Sons of Mogh" better than you. But still a strong list.

 

[Sam Favate]

One of DS9's (and Star Trek's) best moments ever. Probably my favorite two-parter in the entire franchise.

 

[Chris]

Amen. I won't deny, DS9 is my favorite trek. But I want to sing special praises for a few of the above:

Season 1:

The Emissary A very bold setup that was carefully played throughout all seven years with great effect; unlike this episode immediately changed who characters -were- and the show lived with those changes and grew with them. Great start.

Progress This is what every other show failed to grasp. After watching it, I turned to my brother and said "this is the way Star Trek should be". All too often, the Federation was presented as sparkling clean, you saw their viewpoint of everything, agreed with them, even when you disliked it at times (prime directive). It basically said: all I want is X, and the "bad guys" wanted it, and now the "good guys" want it, what makes the good guys different from the bad? Fantastic episode.

Duet Fantastic dialog. Great intrigue. Good moral tale.

Season 2:

The Circle The middle portion of a three swing, the Circle firmly established that Bajor was not the typical presentation of a "happy go lucky" or "evil" trek encountered planet. It actually had pros/cons and real depth and division to it. Great acting in this ep.

The Wire Just listening to Garak do dialog is worth it.

The Maquis Pts 1 & 2 You know, the maquis subplot sometimes gets downplayed in DS9. But DS9 did far more with the maquis then Voyager, who tried to make it part of the construct. In DS9, the maquis were people who felt as though the federation had openly betrayed them, and they had a right to defend themselves. It was played out over several seasons, with convincing arguments, this being one of them. Down to Eddington's demise toward the end, DS9 sold the Maquis as people who truly believed they were just in their cause.. and made the cause believable.

The Jem'Hadar Holy crap. This was one of those eps that made me dread all summer for the show to come back.

Second Skin I agree. I was fooled to. Great ep.

Improbable Cause / The Die Is Cast Phenomenal acting. Far more entertaining then any of the new movies if back to back (IMHO).

Season 4:

Because I consider all of Season 4 good, I just want to single out 2:

Homefront / Paradise Lost Unbelievably well acted. And it continued the spin that the federation is not perfect. This is something that I wish B&B would have grabbed onto; instead of making the federation the "right" people just oppressed by others in the intros of Enterprise, etc. having it an organization with faults makes it easier to understand, plots more gritty and interesting. Great tension throughout all of this. And the ending of Paradise Lost.. classic.

Season 5:

I consider all of season 5 classic for the most part, but I'll lay word for a couple:

...Nor the Battle to the Strong Great TV. Not just great trek, Great TV.

In Purgatory's Shadow / By Inferno's Light Some of the best trek, ever. Great scifi in general.

And one I feel gets a lot of criticism which I really care for:

For the Uniform / Blaze of Glory Aired several weeks apart, I feel, for good effect, these two show both the fall and rise of characters. Great follow through.


Now, Season 6 & Season 7.. I consider these two seasons to be the best trek ever aired, period. Where I felt TNG ran short on ideas in Season 7, DS9 rolled from Season 6 and steamed through Season 7, building rivetting plots, fantastic acting, great direction.. there are very few episodes in these two seasons that are even a "merely good".

But these really, In the Pale Moonlight Is so good it's still one of the ones I plug in when I realy want a taste of DS9. Gritty. Challenging. Forward.

Inter Arma Enim Silent Leges / Penumbra / 'Til Death Do Us Part / Strange Bedfellows / The Changing Face of Evil / When It Rains... / Tacking Into the Wind / Extreme Measures / The Dogs of War / What You Leave Behind pts 1 & 2

Yep, all ten parts, as above.

The writers of DS9, Robert H Wolfe, Ronald Moore, Ira Behr, and others put together a show from beginning to end sought to be good Sci-Fi television FIRST, and they succeeded. DS9 came through with some incredible writing true character development, and stunning ideas about what Trek really meant. When Enterprise referenced Sec.31 recently, as a homage to the lore DS9 had created, it was almost a tip of the hat to some of the best writing that Trek ever had (period).

 

[DaveF]

DS9's greatest weakness, for me, was Terry Farrel (Jadzea Dax) leaving the show in S6. And for "Becker"? Tossing a new actress into an ensemble show in the final season does not work well. The momentun and emotional impact of the grand conclusion greatly suffered.

 

[Rob Gardiner]

Spoiler tags, please! Remember, this thread is for someone who hasn't seen all these episodes.

 

[Mike Graham]

The Visitor: easily Trek's most haunting episode. While the reset button must be hit at the end for the sake of the series, the final moment between Sisko and his elder son (played wonderfully by long time genre actor Tony Todd) is stunning.

 

[Doug R]

DS9 kicks ass.

I truly think it was vastly underappreciated at its time then when Voyager and Enterprise have both blew, fans have gone back and rewatched or even WATCHED for the first time the best Trek series ever. TNG is great when it's good but DS9 is incredibly consistent and maintained it through its end. TNG really fell off in season 6 and 7, imo.

 

[Chris]

I think, though, the fact that DS9 was in syndication and quickly thereafter came Voyager, which pulled off B&B to focus on that really helped DS9. The writing talent they pulled into that show: Behr, Wolfe, Moore, Fuller.. and more.. you had a collection of top tier writers, who were given more free reign then any other trek. DS9 is a show where writers, and dialogue, ruled.

 

[Aaron Silverman]

There was an episode in the first season of Voyager that I thought was incredible. . .I think it was called Emanations. It had to do with catacombs that the crew discovered on a seemingly abandoned planet and the meaning of death. Great stuff.

 

[Rex Bachmann]

Todd Calhoun wrote (post #1):


Ha! One who is versed and steeped in ST lore and history had better not let his head be turned by such hearsay. That's what I'd counsel.

I can think of only one episode of Enterprise I would seriously want to own: "The Crossing"http://www.tvtome.com/Enterprise/season2.html#ep44. It features an interesting bit of "classic" stock (a.k.a., derivative) science-fiction plot in a sort of spooky atmosphere. Derivative, but on the right track at least. I can't get excited about any of the rest of Enterprise, revisionist, epigonal, and "flat", as it is. It is "mediocrity made the norm" (yes, even post-Berman/Braga).

As to the movies, it seems to me that the most disliked of the original-crew films, I & V, were also the only ones that had any science-fictional ambition (machine attaining "sentience" and wishing to "know" its creator & the search for God" (i.e., mankind seeking its creator among the stars), respectively). This is not to say they were great, or even necessarily, good films, but at least they, unlike much of the semi-brainless stuff that was found in the other films (e.g., The Lurch Search for Spock), weren't totally determined to stay away from ideas, which, to my way of thinking, is what good science fiction is all about (or should be).

 

[Yee-Ming]

I'll certainly try -- yes, I had never watched DS9 before, but bought all 7 seasons and have been slowly getting through them. Now that I'm between jobs, I've finally been able to get through a fair bit and am now halfway through S6 (literally just watched Wrongs Darker Than Death Or Night).

Whilst I agree with those who rate The Visitor highly, conversely I was rather bored by The Inner Light. At least when something similar happened to Sisko in Far Beyond The Stars, there was an interesting background to it (racism in the 1950s).

Edit: Now just watched In the Pale Moonlight. Wow...

 

[Kevin Hewell]

This is probably my favorite ST ep, ever. They went places in that ep that I would have never guessed a ST show would go.