Favorite Star Trek

[Heradel]

I've been making my way through the whole 22 day, 8 hour, and 33 minute shebang and started wondering what people's favorites were.

Now, this isn't a TOS Vs. TNG Vs. DS9 Vs. Voyager Vs. Enterprise thread, it's an episode thread. The Wikipedia entry on most Star Trek episodes are fairly complete, so try to look it up so you can give a wikipedia link / season:episode numbers.

I'll start off:

TOS:1:28 City on the Age of Forever and TOS:1:16 The Menagerie. The first for being as cruel as was necessary, and that you felt it, something you don't in most of the newer series when they deal with Time Travel. The second, well, not really much to say, except that you always feel like Kirk was going to end like that.

[Listener]

TOS:  Balance of Terror (1.09; Season 1)
This one had everything -- space battles, high drama, loss and sorrow, and an enemy worth fighting.  When I saw Serenity, I saw shades of the Romulan Commander in The Operative -- it wasn't that the commander hated the Federation... he was just doing his duty, and if that involved destroying the Enterprise, so be it.  The commander influenced every Romulan that came after him.

TNG:  Frame of Mind (E147; P247; Season 6)
I really never liked Commander Riker.  I never thought he grew very much as a character.  But Jonathan Frakes really pulled this off well, and made the episode work.  Brannon Braga wrote a lot of great episodes (which leads me to believe that it was Rick Berman's influence that made him evil).

TNG:  Parallels (E163; P263; Season 7)
Hey, look, another Braga episode!  I liked this episode more for the parallel universes than anything else.  The mystery of how things kept changing was secondary.  Many Star Trek fans like thinking about "what if x had happened instead of y?"  This episode addresses that and keeps it exciting.

DS9:  Starship Down (E78; P479; Season 4)
When you want to destroy things, the first person you turn to should be David Mack.  This is a great ensemble episode reminiscent of TNG's "Disaster", where everyone has to work together toward the same goal without knowing if people on other parts of the ship are doing the same.  Plus, I like the emotion Nana Visitor shows when she's afraid Sisko will die.

VOY:  Living Witness (E90, P191; Season 4)
As a whole, Voyager isn't a bad show, cast in the mold of TOS, but by now we need more than TOS to keep our brains occupied.  This episode is another alternate-reality one, cowritten by (guess who!) Brannon Braga.  The Doctor got to be an annoying character sometimes, but in this episode it's not so bad.

ENT:  I couldn't think of any episodes I really liked.  *shrug*  The Terra Prime arc was decent.

[Leon Kensington]

TOS- Wraith of Kahn
TNG- First Contact
VOY- Every episode with Borg
ENT- NONE!

[Chodon]

Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country has always been my favorite.  The intrigue between the Klingons and the Federation was almost like a Clancy novel.  Also, the scene where the federation goons beamed aboard the Klingon Bird of Prey and assassinated Chancellor Gorkon was great.  Something about zero-g Klingon pepto-bismol blood.  I think that was the only time Klingon blood was pink.  Every other time it was red.  Weird.

Also, the scene where the Federation and Klingon leadership had dinner together was so awkward and great.  It showed the huge differences between the cultures, but how they were both looking to make peace.  The way the Klingons awkwardly dropped the napkins in their laps was priceless.

It's a testament to the fact that the even numbered Star Trek movies are the good ones (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Star_Trek_movie_curse) with the exception of Star Trek:Nemesis.  I actually demanded my money back after watching that movie.  Luckily I knew the manager of the theatre, so he let me watch Harry Potter for free instead of giving me my money back.  I think I banished the memory of Nemesis from my brain, because I don't even remember what happened; just that it sucked.  BAD.

[Listener]

Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country has always been my favorite.  The intrigue between the Klingons and the Federation was almost like a Clancy novel.  Also, the scene where the federation goons beamed aboard the Klingon Bird of Prey and assassinated Chancellor Gorkon was great.  Something about zero-g Klingon pepto-bismol blood.  I think that was the only time Klingon blood was pink.  Every other time it was red.  Weird.

If the blood had been red, the movie would've been rated R due to excessive gore.

[Bdoomed]

Ya know, im not a huge Star Trek fan, i like the show, but i cant say i know much about it. i leave that up to my mom. (tho my brother is starting to record every Voyager episode and watch it).  Anyways i really liked the Tribble episode.  Both the original and the one where (i forget which series) they travel back in time to Kirk's ship and are behind the scenes during the Tribble episode.

[Chodon]

If the blood had been red, the movie would've been rated R due to excessive gore.

I hadn't heard that before, but I guess I buy it.  They do it all the time in video games.  It just goes to show you how silly most rules are: "We can show fluids leaking out of a creature while it's dying, just so long as the fluids aren't red.  That would be too graphic."   Doesn't make a lot of sense to me.

[Russell Nash]

If the blood had been red, the movie would've been rated R due to excessive gore.

I hadn't heard that before, but I guess I buy it.  They do it all the time in video games.  It just goes to show you how silly most rules are: "We can show fluids leaking out of a creature while it's dying, just so long as the fluids aren't red.  That would be too graphic."   Doesn't make a lot of sense to me.

If you give them a Paisley pattern, you can get a G rating.

[Alasdair5000]

Let's see:

TOS-Balance of Terror.  Submarine combat in space and a very human cost to it.  That beign said, there's about another ten I could mention as well.

TNG-The Host.  Yes, that's right everyone I am the fan of that episode.  It just works, supremely well, as a straight up romance story with a very alien twist.  Plus, no one turns into a ball of light.  Win!

DS9-I can never, ever remember the name of the episode but there's one which is, essentially, DS9 does Magnolia.  Lots of inconsequential little stories, which finishes with a straight up and down happy ending for absolutely everyone, even Weyoun.  It's an amazingly sweet little episode that packs an emotional punch like a freight train.  The bit where Jake gives his Dad a baseball card makes me cry every single time.

Voyager-...yeah...Oddly, it's a toss up between 'Twisted', a season one episode that even the cast apparently hated and 'Bride of Chaotica'.  'Twisted' works as a straight piece of science fiction, and there's a palpable air of danger to it (Perhaps because no one knew seven years of the reset button being pressed every.single.week. would follow).  However, 'Bride of Chaotica' edges it as not only the best holodeck amok episode of any show but also as just forty five minutes of total fun.  Doctor Satan's robot and his camera hogging tactics are priceless.

Enterprise-None.  I bailed out halfway through the second year (I think during the god awful Ferengi episode) and am reliably informed that most of the final two years were actually very good.  It had nice NASA style flightsuits, it had Scott Bakula and in the end I STILL didn't care.

[wherethewild]

If the blood had been red, the movie would've been rated R due to excessive gore.

I hadn't heard that before, but I guess I buy it.  They do it all the time in video games.  It just goes to show you how silly most rules are: "We can show fluids leaking out of a creature while it's dying, just so long as the fluids aren't red.  That would be too graphic."   Doesn't make a lot of sense to me.

Yes, well certain hygiene products can only be shown with a blue liquid after all.

[Chodon]

If the blood had been red, the movie would've been rated R due to excessive gore.

I hadn't heard that before, but I guess I buy it.  They do it all the time in video games.  It just goes to show you how silly most rules are: "We can show fluids leaking out of a creature while it's dying, just so long as the fluids aren't red.  That would be too graphic."   Doesn't make a lot of sense to me.

Yes, well certain hygiene products can only be shown with a blue liquid after all.

Heh...funny story.  As a kid I had no idea what those products were for.  It was probably college before I realized what that blue liquid was supposed to represent.  I thought they were like a mini-diaper for women who had bladder problems or something. 

[Rigger]

I figured this would be a good way to jump into the Escapepod forums, given that I don't see any threads for "Hi, I'm a new member!". So I figured "Hey, why not go into the thread that I am heavily opinionated about?".

So I've finally caught up with EscapePod, listening to it either at work or during my morning walk. I have to say commenting in a Star Trek thread is not what motivated me to join the forums, but I'm sure I will find (or be guided to) an appropriate thread.

Besides, Star Trek is what introduced me to Science Fiction. While I am not a huge fan of the universe now, it will forever hold a fond place in my heart. It was a fun, and fantastic introduction into the genre.

Personally, I am kinda surprised that nobody has mentioned TNG's "Inner Light". I first saw this episode when I was fairly young, and just about every aspect of it captured my imagination. I enjoyed watching Picard coming to love his new family & people.

I also was fascinated with the overall concept, because really you would think that something like this would be more common. Vessels filled with the knowledge or experiences of a people; from civilizations long gone. After all, given the vastness of space and the unlikelihood of faster than light travel, such time capsules would be a logical place to reach out from.

I suppose I am just incredibly sentimental. But this episode definitely gets my vote.

[Alasdair5000]

Welcome aboard:)   And top marks for pointing out one of any stripe of Trek's finest hours.  'Inner Light' is one of those hours of TV that works so incredibly well it looks effortless.  Loved the way it's acknowledged, very subtly, in later episodes too.

[Zathras]

Personally, I am kinda surprised that nobody has mentioned TNG's "Inner Light". I first saw this episode when I was fairly young, and just about every aspect of it captured my imagination. I enjoyed watching Picard coming to love his new family & people.

I also was fascinated with the overall concept, because really you would think that something like this would be more common. Vessels filled with the knowledge or experiences of a people; from civilizations long gone. After all, given the vastness of space and the unlikelihood of faster than light travel, such time capsules would be a logical place to reach out from.

I suppose I am just incredibly sentimental. But this episode definitely gets my vote.

I couldn't think of a "favorite" episode and haven't responded to this thread, but that has to be right up there on my list also.  Just fantastic.   

[Heradel]

I couldn't think of a "favorite" episode and haven't responded to this thread, but that has to be right up there on my list also.  Just fantastic.   

In retrospect I don't think favorite was quite the right word to use. Don't feel limited to having to pick one (or two) from any of the series. If you just want to say "I liked all the ones about The Doctor/Tom/Tom&B'Elanna in Voyager" or "Ones written by X in TOS", that's fine. It's more to have a conversation about Trek Episodes than see how many people like which episodes.

And having recently run through Voyager I'll add 'The Fight' (519) and 'Body and Soul' (707).

[Rigger]

Well I'll toss in "In the Pale Moonlight" from Season 6 of DS9.

This episode was interesting as it dealt with some darker aspects of morality. It also touched a bit more on politics, and I thought was a nice gem to add to the fairly robust storyline of the war with the Dominion. I also enjoyed the showcasing of Garak's abilities. One one level it made me wonder what DS9 would have been like if someone like Joss Wheadon had been guiding the story and writing for episodes.

Of course I am just a Joss fanboy. 

[Alasdair5000]

It's interesting looking at DS9 now, with three years of Ron Moore and David Eick's Galactica to compare it to.  There's a lot of parity in themes and characters and, looking back, Sisko becomes, under Moore's control, a very similar character to Adama.  Interesting to see the character tropes that interest Moore and the 'Patriarchal, slightly broken leader' is clearly one of them.

[Jonathan C. Gillespie]

Two of my all-time TNG favorites are "Darmok", which had arguably the best guest-performance in TNG history, AND was a damn good story to boot, and "The Measure of a Man", which just stood out as a gripping episode in its own right.

Some of the Worf and Klingon-centered episodes were quite good as well, but then the series as a whole was exceptional.

DS9 lost me somewhat early on.  Too slow, and relatively weak character development.  The later seasons' episodes I've seen were pretty good, however.  I particularly enjoyed the episode focusing on the ill-fated Red Squad.

Voyager doesn't hold any standouts for me other than the episode concerning the ship of alien clones trying to fight their eventual fate.

I actually liked Enterprise, for the record.  The first two seasons were weak, but everything from the Xindi plot line forward was pretty strong...except for the Nazi angle.

I never got into TOS that much, but what I've seen, I really enjoyed.

[jodymonster]

TOS: Episode 65, Plato's Stepchildren.  Most people cite this as the first interracial kiss on American TV, but that's not why I picked it, though I give them bonus points for having the courage.   Shatner gives a horseback ride to a midget.   C'mon! He and Spock also dance and sing 'Tweedledum and Tweedledee'.  This episode is one of my favorite examples of Nemoy being a great actor, and Shatner being amusingly not so great.  I love all of the original series (great camp value), and this isn't one of their best script-wise, but it is defiantly worth the time to see it. 
TNG?  Anything Borg or Data-heavy, esp. Picard as a Borg(a two part episode I didn't take the time to look up the episode #'s for but the script is great).  I don't have a specific Data episode, I like them all too much.   Anybody know where I can get my own, fully functional Data? Please let me know.