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[ SECRET POST #2197 ]

⌈ Secret Post #2197 ⌋

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Inspired by the X-Files thread yesterday, and the thread above, I started thinking about how much I enjoyed Star Trek (personally: TOS is my favorite, but I think TNG and DS9 are technically superior and Voyager and Enterprise, while generally lackluster, have the most innovative and fascinating ideas).

So, what's your favorite episode(s) of Star Trek TOS, TNG, DS9, Voyager, and Enterprise?

I never watched TNG or DS9 (the former I disliked what I saw, the latter never seems to be on where I am), but the rest, sure!

TOS: The Corbomite Maneuver and Assignment: Earth are probably tied. They're such delightful twists on the standard formula, the character interactions are interesting and pretty damn convincing too.

Voyager: Basics--the entire two parter, Before and After, Worst Case Scenario, Message in a Bottle, Living Witness, Night, Bride of Chaotica!, Someone to Watch Over Me, 11:59, The Haunting of Deck 12, Drive, Shattered, Q2, and Friendship One...eheh. Voyager was and still is my favourite series, I love a lot of it.

Enterprise: Shuttlepod One and Similitude, depends on what mood I'm in. The former is for funnies, the latter if I really need something upsetting.

Well, you obviously have well-known episodes like City on the Edge of Forever, Trouble With Tribbles, Inner Light, Measure of a Man, Best of Both Worlds, Yesterday's Enterprise, things like that, which are great.

I don't know, I think in general I have less affection for individual episodes of Star Trek than I do for individual episodes of X-Files - maybe because it doesn't change as much episode to episode, maybe it's just me, but to me it's more about the whole scope of the thing than about any particular episode that I really love. But I do have a soft spot for "The Royale" (most people think it sucks, but it has a goofy quality that I really like), and the baseball episode from DS9. As well as the Casablanca episode from DS9, because I love Casablanca and it always makes me happy to see Garak, Odo, and Quark doing the Casablanca thing. And "Disaster" is a fun one from TNG, the more so when it gets referenced in DS9.

TOS

"Space Seed"--this is the episode where we first meet Khan Noonien Singh (yes, that Khan). It's must see backstory for what is arguably the best Trek movie of all time in addition to being some very insighful commentary on the fear of where manipulation of the human genome might lead.

"Court Martial"--Kirk is accused of causing a crewman's death. Who comes to the rescue? Two guesses to name the pointy eared bastard.

"The Devil in the Dark"--this is not the best episode ever of this show. But it is an episode in which the crew of the Enterprise encounters a being wholly alien and must deal with the ramifications of that difference.

"City on the Edge of Forever"--this is not just awesome for the Joan Collins guest spot. This is the episode of TOS that truly highlights for me the consequences of all the high-tech hikinks the crew gets up to. You can't screw around with time and the laws of the universe on a weekly basis and expect to walk away unscathed. Tear jerker out the wazoo.

"Amok Time"--this is the origin of the Vulcan mating cycle Pon Farr, currently happily infecting SGA. :)

"Mirror Mirror"--alternate universe! The bad guys wear goatees! *squee*

"The Trouble With Tribbles"--heeeeeeeeeee!

"Day of the Dove"--one of the gifts of Star Trek, any franchise, is that it takes very current issues and reworks them, much like the DOINKDOINK of Law and Order. This episode is no exception with its still prescient discussion of race relations.

"For the World is Hollow and I Have Touched the Sky"--um, dude. McCoy. I'm totally done with this description.

"Let that be your Last Battlefield"--again, another episode about race and the ridiculous and dangerous distinctions we draw between ourselves.

TNG

"Elementary, Dear Data"--the Holodeck is a seriously awesome invention and here's what happens when it develops a mind of its own

"The Measure of a Man"--what makes a being sentient? What gives it agency? What gives it autonomy? Big ole questions, people.

"The Emissary"--because Suzie Plakson is never not hot. And Worf doing Suzie Plakson is never not hot.

"Best of Both Worlds Pts. 1-2"--Borg. Locutus. Lots of casualties. Will become a linchpin for the DS9 franchise.

"Half a Life"--featuring Oberoth. LOL This is a really great look at the way in which all these different societies with different rules and mores attempt to coexist in the Federation. Also, Majel Barrett Roddenberry! Yayness!

"Darmok"--what are the limitations of language? How can we communicate with those who have zero referents for our ideas?

"Ethics"--Worf is paralyzed and the medical crew rushes to restore his health. My mom used to show this episode to her nursing students to spur conversation on medical ethics.

"Time's Arrow Pts. 1-2"--cause a good ole romp back to the 1800s is never unfun

"Parallels"--Worf! Deanna! AUs! Yay!

"Lower Decks"--because all good shows should have an episode focused on minor characters.

"All Good Things"--because they come to an end; *sniff*

DS9

This is my favorite of the Trek franchises. As awesome as both TOS and TNG are, we get very little character development and most of the epiosdes are one-offs. DS9 gives just as much character growth to those characters on the periphery as it does the main cast and it is one long story arc that takes seven seasons to tell. I herein give up any pretense at keeping this at ten.

"The Emissary Pts. 1-2"--this is the set up for the whole show and lays out all the political and social issues that are mined for the next seven seasons

"Progress"--a planet is being evacuated and a farmer doesn't want to go; why do people stay in their homes even in the face of certain death? How can we ethically respond to that refusal?

"In the Hands of the Prophets"--Keiko's teachings don't jive with Bajoran religion; this is Bad News

"Blood Oath"--Dax's former host was BFF with a bunch of Klingons; Jadzia's affinity for Klingons will continue to be an integral part of the show; here she is kicking ass and taking names

"Crossover"--this is Mirror!verse DS9 style; oh, Mirror!Kira is so hot

"The Search Pt. 1-2"--the real bad guys rear their ugly heads and Odo learns more about who he is and where he came from

"Past Tense Pt. 1-2"--a handful of DS9 crew get thrown back in time and discover they play an integral role in Earth's history

"Visionary"--O'Brien! Sacrifice! Paradoxes! *sniffle*

"Family Business"--Quark's mom is stirring up the Ferengi with her feminist monkey business. What is Quark to do?

"The Visitor"--HANDS DOWN MY ABSOLUTE FAVORITE TREK EPISODE EVER OF ALL TIME EVER; if this doesn't make you cry and your heart swell two sizes two big for your chest, you are broken and I can't help you. How much do one father and son love each other? How much will they sacrifice?

"Rejoined"--thanks for having some balls, Trek. You took that facepalmy episode with Crusher and the Trill and did it *right*. Genderqueer exploration.

"Nor the Battle to the Strong"--Jake learns that cowardice and honor are not the cut and dried categories he's always believed; the truths he learns about himself are hard to swallow but he faces them with the courage he doesn't believe he possesses

"Trials and Tribble-ations"--BECAUSE TRIBBLES NEVER GET UNAWESOME!!!!!!!!!!! Nor does the DS9 crew interacting with the TOS crew through the marvel of CGI.

"The Ascent"--one of my absolute favorite things about this franchise is the begruding friendship between Quark and Odo; this episode is a great example of that

"You are Cordially Invited"--Worf and Dax are getting married! Wooo woooo! and *preemptive sob*

"Far Beyond the Stars"--SO AWESOME YOU NEED NO PRIOR TREK KNOWLEDGE--this is about race relations in the 50s and about pulp writers and about the representation of women and African Americans in sci-fi and fantasy at that time; another tear jearker

"Tears of the Prophets"--RIP, Jadzia Dax *sob*

"Afterimage"--how the crew deals with Dax's new host

"It's Only a Paper Moon"--Nog has PTSD and he deals with it in an unconventional way

"Badda-Bing Badda-Bang"--DS9 could do fun like no other Trek franchise; this is just all smiley hearts and giggles

"What You Leave Behind"--even though I don't like how they leave Sisko's character (I find it pretty depressing actually), this is a good ending for the series

Voyager

This is my second favorite Trek.

"The Chute"--besides being one of the slashiest episodes of TV ever, I really like watching Kim and Paris come unravelled

"False Profits"--Ferengi masquerading as gods; humor abounds

"Before and After"--time traveling Kes

"Real Life"--the doctor makes a family on the holodeck; very moving

"Year of Hell" parts 1-2--Eric Foreman's daddy! Time travel again! Also, I love love watching what the crew is like when they're really living on the raggedy edge

"Mortal Coil"--Neelix is freaked out when he's revived from the dead but has no memory of an afterlife

"Living Witness"--doctor-centric and told in multiple narratives

"Once Upon a Time"--my second favorite episode of Trek ever; I love Naomi Wildman to pieces

"Timeless"--more time travel; Chakotay and Harry spend their lives trying to rectify an error that loses Voyager

I think I'll stop because I haven't even gotten through season five yet. LOL

"It's Only a Paper Moon"--Nog has PTSD and he deals with it in an unconventional way

"Badda-Bing Badda-Bang"--DS9 could do fun like no other Trek franchise; this is just all smiley hearts and giggles

I didn't list these two, but they are two of my favorites as well. Oh, Nog. *tear*

Oh, yes. Nog. Mad love.

One of my favorite moments in DS9 is when Sisko has been pissed the whole ep with Jake for running around with Nog and getting into trouble, and at the end of the episode, he'll all hellbent on punishing them and then he finds Jake teaching Nog how to read OMG MY HEART MY HEART MY HEART! so good

Off to see your list. :)

+1 on "The Visitor"

God, that's a good episode. I didn't mention it when I wrote up my own post but I should have because I really do love it. It's smart and it's well-acted but more than anything else, it's just deeply moving and full of emotion in a way that's not schmaltzy.

I also, for whatever reason, think of it as a gauntlet that the DS9 team was laying down - like, "look at what we can do, look what kind of television we can make." Both in general terms - of what kind of quality it wanted to produce - and especially in comparison to other Star Trek series. And I kind of love that about it.

I have so many strong feelings about that episode. The only other episode of Star Trek that has ever affected me like that (with the for reals sobbing) is one that I don't think is particularly good (the one where Lawaxanna remembers she has a child that died) but hits me in the same parental place.

One of my absolute favorite things about DS9 was always the relationship between Jake and Sisko, how Jake actually seemed like a real kid (unlike Wesley Crusher, say) who got into real kid trouble and was cute like a real kid and actually grew into an adult over the course of the series, and how Sisko seemed like a real dad who had to figure out how to let his kid grow up and be who he was gonna be. The very smallest things like Jake rolling his eyes or Sisko ribbing Jake and all the body language and the physical affection between them--truly my favorite parent-child TV relationship.

Favorite episode? Come on. No way can I choose a favorite.

(personally: TOS is my favorite, but I think TNG and DS9 are technically superior and Voyager and Enterprise, while generally lackluster, have the most innovative and fascinating ideas)

I agree with all of that (except DS9 is my favorite and I haven't seen Enterprise yet).

Hmm.

Easy answer: For TNG, pretty much any Data-centric or Q episode. For DS9, pretty much any Quark-centric episode. (Yes, even the infamous gay/trans-panic one. Sorry.) Also, any episode which heavily features Garak. For, Voyager... sorry, but I liked Neelix. He had some good episodes. For TOS, any episode where Kirk gets to kick lots of ass, but also be all tender-hearted and shit. I love that.

Hard answer:

TOS

Going by the episode order listed on Wikipedia, I'm going to choose a few favorites (and not obvious ones like 'Balance of Terror'.)

The first is 'A Taste of Armegeddon,' if just for the looks on Kirk and Spock's face when they are told there are no actual attacks or casualties, but affected citizens have to report to suicide booths instead. Kirk is like, "Oh, goddamn it. These fuckers are insane."

Next is "The Devil in the Dark." Yes. For the shippiness. Spock/Horta, what what!? Seriously though, love how emotional Spock is in this one, and how protective both he and Kirk are of each other.

"The Doomsday Machine" is great for Kirk kicking ass. I love Decker too. He had such an expressive face, and I will watch that episode just for his face.

Full disclosure, I haven't seen all of season 3, so there are probably more I'm missing, but I think three is enough.

TNG

'The Measure of a Man,' man. What a great and heartbreaking episode. I love any episode that deals with the nature of Data and his rights. VOY tried with holograms, but I don't think it had quite the same impact.

'The Defector' made me cry. I love Romulan episodes, and this is a great one.

'Cause and Effect' because TIME LOOP YAY!

'I, Borg' because HUGH!

'The Inner Light' is an obvious choice. But, I find the whole episode rather frightening, so I think maybe I enjoy it differently than most(?).

'Face of the Enemy' because 1.) Romulans, 2.) Troi being awesome, 3.) Troi as an awesome, hot Romulan.

DS9

Okay, so almost all of season 4, 5 and 6. Outside that:

'Duet,' is a wonderful Kira episode which forces her to confront her hatred of Cardassians. A great character episode.

'The House of Quark' is a great episode in that it really shows Quark being brilliant. I love when Quark (and Rom and Nog) gets to be brilliant.

'Second Skin' is another great 'Kira reevaluates Cardassians' episode. With bonus Kira being a hot Cardassian.

'Inter Arma Enim Silent Leges' because Romulans.

VOY

I love 'Real Life,' but thinking about it makes me want to cry again. There were tons of episodes dealing with the Doctor trying to experience humanity (maybe too many), but this was the most poignant.

'Distant Orgin' introduced some great characters (and an interesting society and origin story). I wanted a show about the dinosaur aliens that used this episode as jumping off point. (This episode also reminded me of Robert Sawyer's 'Farseer' series. A recommended read if you like dinosaurs doing science.)

'Mortal Coil' is one of the best Neelix episodes and it deals with some heavy and interesting issues.

'Course: Oblivion.' SCARIEST EPISODE EVER. I'll never forget this episode for how much the concept frightened and depressed me.

(Bonus VOY confession: I hated 'Lineage' so much that I had to stop watching VOY for months and it soured me on the whole show. I found B'Elanna's actions that repugnant and I hated that people liked her character so much.)

Apparently I have a lot of Star Trek feelings.

Edited 2013-01-08 02:59 (UTC)

We have similar Star Trek feelings. I agree with all of your choices (and your Neelix love; I know that the character was often played for laughs, but there's nothing I love more than humor with depth, than funny followed by pathos; Neelix was fun and he was funny and he was lighthearted, but he was not *light*. Also, Tuvok/Neelix FTW!)

Which one is Lineage again?

Yes. My exact thoughts on Neelix as well. I was sad when they packed him off at the end of the last season. I wanted to see him go to Earth, damn it.

'Lineage' is the one where B'Elanna wants to genetically alter her daughter so that she has no Klingon traits. I think the issues presented were handled too irreverently. (Especially since she was barely punished for REPROGRAMING THE DOCTOR AND LYING TO THE CAPTAIN!) I just thought the whole episode was disgusting and none of the issues they brought up were written or managed well, if they were addressed at all. (Did they even address B'Lanna's apparent self-loathing?)

Yes! I remember that one now. I remember thinking at the time how sad her internalized racism was and I also side-eyed that she didn't really get in trouble for egregious breaches of trust in her position. I think the issue itself is really interesting but that they chose to handle it in a stupidly dramatic way.

I haven't seen TOS in such a long time that I don't remember much, except for how "Trouble with Tribbles" is a classic, etc. I've barely seen any Voyager and no Enterprise whatsoever, so that leaves the two I'm most familiar with.

I haven't seen the entirety of either of these (scattered episodes from TNG, and a little over halfway through watching DS9) - but I can say with certainty that "Measure of a Man" is my favorite TNG episode, possibly my favorite Trek episode overall (though I have to wonder if DS9 will manage beat it out in some way, we'll see).

DS9 - well, first, the caveat that I'm only halfway through the fifth season anyway and I understand there's quite a few excellent episodes I haven't seen yet. But for the more dramatic storylines - "The Wire" comes to mind, the episode which got me hooked in the first place. "Improbable Cause"/"The Die is Cast," as well. And "Hard Time" absolutely destroys me.

Then there's "Civil Defense," which despite being a fairly tense plotline, I always wind up laughing hysterically. Something about an episode which can be summarized with "well, that escalated quickly" and Dukat and oh, it's gold.

And "Our Man Bashir" deserves a mention for the sheer fun factor and placing my two favorite characters front and center, of course.

...I'll be honest, too, though I always hear about how variable the quality of DS9 is, I somehow can't hate the episodes everyone else seems to hate. Well, maybe except Meridian, that was kind of a drag. But I rather like the Ferengi episodes (Bar Association and Body Parts stand out as two of my favorites). I can't even bring myself to hate the Risa episode because Worf and Jadzia are pretty qt and I will never not be amused by Julian getting dumped for Rom. Seriously, though, there are way too many things I like about DS9 and I should stop now before I eat this thread with tl;dr.

Yeah this is basically my problem with an exercise like this - I would just end up listing every episode of DS9 that I didn't actively dislike, because it's just too hard to differentiate them.

Ha. That's why I just said pretty much all of season 4, 5 and 6 were my favorites.

Hmm, TOS... Probably either "The Empath", for the utter BALLS that Bones has in that episode (I think it may have been what cemented him as one of my top five fictional characters of all time), or "The Immunity Syndrome" because OMG SPOCK AND BONES. I shipped them already when I saw that episode, but the bit where Bones is walking with Spock to the shuttle bay... Oh, my heart. Even without the shipping, their friendship is just so messy and yet it's so obvious how much they respect and care about each other.

TNG... I haven't rewatched the entire thing for awhile, so I'm not sure. Pretty much anything with Q is awesome. "Q-Pid" was particularly epic, as I recall. XD Also loved "I, Borg". Since I started catching episodes as an adult, Geordi's become my favorite. =)

I... don't actually remember much of DS9 at all, sadly, and need to remedy that someday.

Voyager, hands down, "One Small Step". That episode made me almost start crying at work (I was watching it on my iPod at my desk while coding). I didn't even come near to crying at the end of Wrath of Khan, I haven't actually cried at media since I was four, but that episode... aughhhh. I just want to take it and smash it in the face of anyone who thinks the space program is a waste of resources, and rub it around a little.

Never got around to watching Enterprise.

For TOS, I love the 'Doomsday Machine'. Scared me when I first saw it as a kid! When I got older, I loved it for the absolutely ballsy way Kirk goes after the Commodore - 'not my ship, mister!' - even though, technically, the guy outranks him.

I hear you on the sexism, but I've got to admit, sometimes I love those awkward episodes for the laughs. How can you not laugh at the frigid ambassador who realized she missed out on life by not falling in love and having kids, and in the interim she even manages to serve coffee to the menfolk - (Zephran Cochrane ep, can't remember the title). The embarrassing spectacle of almost everything in 'Wolf in the Fold'. So many many more moments, you just gotta laugh at them!

I've actually only seen TOS and my favorite episode is one of the sillier ones: "I, Mudd"

idk I just love it. And Spock, with his "I love you, however I hate you" and Mudd telling his android wife to shut up, and Chekov being all skeevy with the robot babes...it's just really awesome ok.

And the best part is when the whole crew act like complete lunatics in order to cause the androids to malfunction. DEAD FROM LAUGHING.

I thought about listing that one too. It is silly and great.

I spent a lot of time joking that Star Trek Into Darkness was going to see the return of Harcourt Fenton Mudd when people were speculating about Khan

but actually I secretly kind of wish that it would, because that would be really funny and great

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[ SECRET POST #2197 ]

Star Trek Nostalgia

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THIS PLACE IS EVEN BETTER THAN LENINGRAD!

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