Not sure if this is already considered a classic, but DS9's "Siege of AR-558" is one of my favorite episodes. It explores the trauma and damage war can do to even the best people, and shows how despite how far human civilization has evolved and progressed, deep down we retain the animal ability to kill. And it has perhaps my favorite and most profound line from Quark: "Let me tell you something about Hew-mons, Nephew. They're a wonderful, friendly people, as long as their bellies are full and their holosuites are working. But take away their creature comforts, deprive them of food, sleep, sonic showers, put their lives in jeopardy over an extended period of time and those same friendly, intelligent, wonderful people...will become as nasty, and as violent as the most bloodthirsty Klingon."
I never thought Voyager's Dragons Teeth got enough love. At the end it's implied Voyager may have unwittingly spurred the resurgence of a species that would later conquer and dominate a big part of the quadrant. It almost had a Borg feel thinking of what they could later become. Also imagining them becoming powerful and going up AGAINST the Borg. That ending had many layers. I was also a huge fan of the robotic war episode, that was criminally underrated.
Love to see that you included "Latent Image" as it's one of my favourite Voyager episodes, but I still would have liked to see "Nor the Battle to the Strong" or "The Sound of her Voice" finally get a mention. They seem to fly under everyone's radar, but they're incredible
One that I rewatch with frequency is “Time’s Orphan” fro DS9 season 6. Such a powerful episode with many correlations to struggling parents. The O’Briens end up giving up Molly only to get her back miraculously in the end. When I first watched it in high school, it didn’t really connect; but as an adult with children of my own, it takes on a whole new meaning.
The main arc in DS9 actually begins in the season two episode "Acquisition" when the Dosi mention that all trade in that part of the Gamma Quadrant must be overseen and approved by the Dominion. Shadowplay and Sanctuary later cemented them as being a powerful, dangerous and ruthless empire.
Dead stop also has my favorite phlox quote. Reed : "It can't be ethical to cause a patient this much pain." Phlox : "It's unethical to harm a patient, I can inflict as much pain as I like."
Yes! I've mentioned this to my MD regarding physical therapy I underwent for sciatic about 13 years ago that was excruciating. But, it worked and still do the exercise routine and never nerve problems again.
Enterprise gets nowhere near enough praise for how it breathed new life into the Andorians as a people and as a culture. There are so many Shran episodes I could argue are classics, but I'm going to go for The Andorian Incident. It's an excellent introduction to the Andorians and Combs' performance especially sells their volatile nature that can quickly cool and even become curious or reasonable when new information is brought to their attention. To this day, imo, the Andorians (and Aenar) have never looked so good on screen as they did in Enterprise. I really do miss the amount of effort that went into bringing their antennae to life as a reflection of their current emotions.
One of my favorites is TNG's The Defector. A Romulan hero defecting because he wants a different future for his daughter than all out war, Data and Picard dabbling in Shakespeare at the beginning, then interweaving it through the story, the interplay between Picard and one of my favorites Tomolak (Andreas Katsulas), and then the surprise reveal only hinted at as the Klingons decloak in Picards final chess match move.
Its interesting you called it "Left Leaning," and although there is a lot of that. There are also several places where it becomes heavily "Right Leaning." Especially in TNG and DS9. Truly a show for everyone...
One of the TOS classics for me is "The Devil in the Dark" in which humans learn they were actually the bad guys. There are many good episodes in TNG and DS9 so it's hard to choose. "Quality of life" in TNG left an impression on me, but they had several good episodes on the ethics of when something can be considered a lifeform. For DS9 I liked "Nor the battle to the strong" for showing the ugly side of war Jake has come to terms with.
If memory serves me right "The Devil in the Dark" was the first TOS episode I ever seen. I've watched quite a bit of TNG, DS9, & Voyager in the 90s so I was familiar with Star Trek, but in 1998 that TOS episode strangely hooked its claws in me and didn't let go until I watched the whole episode.
Devil in the Dark was always one of my favorite TOS episodes. Nimoy does a fabulous job of acting with his mind meld and narration of what he is feeling from the Horta. (Such an impactful episode that I didn’t need to look up the name of the creature, even!)
@Maestro_Charlie_Abraham, I was always surprised they didn't follow up on that episode. Much like TNG's "Conspiracy" which just left us hanging on those bug things sending out a homing beacon.
I wish I could say that I was sophisticated and that "Measure of a Man" was my favorite episode. But it's "One Little Ship" because a fully working spaceship model shall forever be my dream.
Dead Stop was quite the good episode, having a proper horror element to it, but without all the gore and blood and guts spilling out that other horror stories apparently need to make them feel scary, cos it was like a fish catching the baited hook, with a malevolent computer harvesting people to power itself, up there with the early days of the Borg, but, somehow more sinister, it certainly did the job...
"The Visitor" is a certified classic. Practically nobody lists the best DS9 episodes without mentioning it. If anything, it may be overrated; if I weren't biased towards it personally, then I might rank it lower.
DS9 - For the Uniform - Sisko’s compulsion to bring in Eddington was such a great episode to show the complexity of both characters who both believe they are in the right and justified in their actions HOWEVER, if this IS considered a classic then never mind
@@goblynkyng8666 Nah. Captains have such ridiculously broad leeway in on-the-spot decision-making, he'd probably be fine even if it was an actually serious offense. Tbh, Starfleet admirals tend to be so cartoonishly evil that it might even get him consideration for promotion, lmao.
@@goblynkyng8666 Refusing to move on principle at the behest of the Federation & feeling sold out by them when that decision proved... shortsighted, was what eventually gave rise to the Maquis in the first place. So while I don't know that "poisoning" the planet was the right call, the fact of the matter is they were never going to willingly do *anything* on Federation command without drastic measures *of some kind* being taken against them. I believe they were observed to have quickly evacuated, so the immediate bodily harm poisoning implies was likely negligible. Realistically though, after getting dick-slapped like that, the Maquis would've likely massively stepped up attacks on/recruitment from Starfleet as soon as they were operationally capable again and become even more virulently anti-Federation than they already were. So there still would have most definitely been some serious harm done.
I'm happy to see Shadowplay and Dead Stop getting recognition. I love both of them, Dead Stop is one of my favourite Enterprise episodes. I made Shadowplay into D&D adventure that my Players loved!
I LOVE Bar Association! I've lost count how many times I've watched it. As for a classic that slipped by? I, Mudd leaps to mind. I actually find it funnier than The Trouble With Tribbles, which is also hilarious, but Harry Mudd is just so entertaining a foil.
Trip is really the only reason to watch _Enterprise,_ and I'm generously a 0.5 on the Kinsey Scale. Don't get me wrong-I love a good Hoshi, Mayweather or Phlox showcase, but there's, like, six of them combined across all four seasons.
The DS9 Episode "Hard Time" is a standout for me. O'Brien is such a steadfast character throughout the entire series and this episode is when he breaks. He doesn't break for selfish reasons, but because he's (temporarily) no longer the husband/father his family deserves. He put his family ahead of himself and couldn't live with what he has become.
P the problem with this episode is that it and mortal coil from voyager are way too similar. The events that actually occur are different but the whole concept of struggling with being suicidal and calling things that they believe in including their own selves into question is a common thread that makes these two episodes almost carbon copies of one another.
Really you could throw a dart at _TAS_ and more likely than not land on an underlooked classic. We had "The Slaver Weapon," "The Lorelai Signal," "Mudd's Passion," "Yesteryear," and "How Sharper Than A Serpent's Tooth," just off the top of my head. I also think "Lift Us Up To Where Suffering Cannot Reach" will be a classic that sparks a thousand thoughtpieces.
Absolutely. Pike confronting the leader about child sacrifice, only for her to come back with asking how many people in the Federation suffer unseen, then to close on Pike taking a contemplative drink in his quarters. Classic.
I recently re-watched Voyager's "Real Life." The initial premise is so cheesy and almost cringy but when the Doctor goes along with Torres's plan to modify his holo-family it takes a turn that is so dark and heartrending and touches on so many contemporary issues of living in a modern society. Honestly it reminds me a lot of Black Mirror, new tech being used in a new way with serious pain and suffering to follow. And then the Doctor just turns off the simulation and never goes back or mentions them again. Just an amazing episode
imo Bar Association is absolutely considered a classic these days. even non-Trekkies will reference it. for a personal account, the episode made my Trek Agnostic girlfriend become deeply invested in DS9, which we're now watching through together. my picks of should-be classics, with one from each show: TOS - Tomorrow Is Yesterday TNG - The Most Toys DS9 - Paradise VOY - Extreme Risk ENT - Marauders DIS - That Hope Is You, Part I PIC - Absolute Candor
That voyager episode about the fake uncrewed federation ship sent to rescue the crew of voyager had a brilliant and thought provoking ending with that alien who berates Janeway about her alliance with the borg.
You can really feel Arturis's pain as he's attempting to condemn Janeway for her choice to aid the Borg against 8472, which is only compounded by the fact that he couldn't have possibly known Species 8472 wanted to destroy life it deemed weaker or inferior.
Love tehe Enterprise Acquisition episode. Loved how T'Pol demonstrates her tactical ability and her physical prowess to move silently like a cat around the Ferengi to spread discord between them and also later demonstrating some sense of humour with Archer.
Like you said episodes don't need to have deep meanings to be good. For me there's two episodes of DS9 that I really like no matter how many times I've seen them. The House of Quark(S3E3) and the follow up Looking for par'Mach in all the wrong places(S5E3). Great comedy, Quark finds his courage for love and the beginning of Dax and Worf's relation. What more can you ask for.
Latent Image being on this list made my day! The Doctor is my personal favourite Star Trek character, and Latent Image is my favourite episode of Voyager.
I'm glad to see that Latent Image and Bar Association are on the list. I also like the fact that A Private Little War is mentioned because of the message that it was trying to send, especially during that time.
Enterprise: 'Observer Effect.' That's good a good solid premise and it works so well, simply because it lets all the characters have a good slice of the action in the story. Not just the main three. It stands out so much because of that. Original series: 'Let that be your last Battlefield.' It is a late third season bottle show. The make up is...memorable. But it's got a good premise which is genuine Trek. The two guest actors are superb. It's not stretched at fifty mins. And it has an ending with punch, not just a bit of light comedy with Spock. It's a gem for it's time.
I always felt "tacking into the wind' should be better remembered than it is. Its the episode where all of S7 various plot lines start to speed up and come together. The pacing is fantastic and the acting and dialogue top notch.
Watching Bar Association brings on new light, if you know that Max Grodénchik has been out with fellow actors picketing the SAG-AFTRA strike. Living up to his on-screen persona.
So happy to see "The Empath" get some love. I really like that episode but I'm a big fan of TOS music and the music in that episode is just so perfect.
For year, Worf's line in QPid, "Sir, I protest. I am not a merry man!" was my favourite line in pretty much all of Trek. It was only when rewatching Dead Stop that it was finally toppled. The superb interaction between Reid and Phlox during the physiotherapy session was perfection to make the Borg weep. ie Reid: It can't be ethical to cause a patient this much pain? Phlox: It would be unethical to harm a patient. I can inflict as much pain as I like. :D I love it so much, I printed it over an image of Phlox and sent it to my own physio, who has it hanging on her wall. :D
I had a very bad case of sciatica about 15 years ago. Went to a physical therapist and his therapy that was not only excruciating (with heavy breathing and copious sweating) but one that I slowly endured. I still do the exercise today. And that little conversation between Reid and Phlox is also one of my favorites. I always think of that therapy session when watching it. (As well ... I love Worf's protestation.)
I would like to mention the episode "Author, Author" from the final season of Voyager. This episode is somewhat equivalent to the TNG episode "Measure of a Man" in that it's trying to determine what is a sentient life form. In "Author, Author" they are discussing the rights of a hologram to be considered sentient.
I didn't see it listed, but for me underrated episode is Voyager''s "Resistance." It's from season 2, which also gave us "The Thaw" (another underrated episode imo), it deals with authoritarian governments, torture and imprisonment, and mental health issues in a single episode. The real crime comes from it never being brought up again, even though that ending has an insurgent dying in Janeway's arms.
DS9 "The Assignment". Some brilliant ratcheting suspense as the alien possessing Keiko forces Miles to sabotage the station. Plus the episode introduced the Pah Wraiths, who would become surprisingly important in the show's final arc, and set up that Rom was a lot smarter than he let on. "Why is the Federation trying to destroy the wormhole aliens?"
Bold take, but it gets an upvote from me. Classic "break the haughty" setup clearly designed to teach Bashir some humility... but ending with him saving the entire planet as a giant middle finger to the Trope Gods. Makes the "genetically modified" retcon a bit harder to take later on, but dang it if he doesn't play the Uno Reverse Card on that hand in episodes like "Statistical Probabilities" (which IMO also deserves a slot on this list).
It might be the first time we ever saw Bashir REALLY humanized and "put in his place." I like how he wasn't able to save them in the way he wanted. It was a great exploration of the Federation contrasting with those outside of their "Utopia" and a possible view of what was to come should the Dominion take them out. It does mess a bit with his genetic history, but I guess you could still say that the only reason he was able to get the results he was able to IS because of this IDK. Statistical Probabilities is a good watch. The authors of the sequel books loved to run with those ideas too.@@GSBarlev
Explorers, DS9. Sisko builds a Bajorsn light ship and sails currents of the quadrant with Jake over to Cardassian space. Thus proving an early Bajoran accomplishment that was long denied by the Cardassians.
"Thankfully Star Trek has never again even ventured to the left side of the conversation... COUGH" I could feel you staring sarcastically at the camera for that one (even though there isn't a camera for this one) 😂😂
I have always loved "The Empath". It is an incredible look at TOS' Triumvirate. Add to it the beautiful music score, the very effective minimalist set design, and the top form acting. The Empath will always be a classic to me.
All that plus the message at the end - don’t let your pursuit of your ideals in others rob you yourself of those same qualities. Kirk’s speech at the end of the episode is one of Shatner’s best performances in the series.
Very a much a classic in my book too. I think of her when I need to be reminded that taking on other people’s pain has a cost to myself. As an aspiring therapist, I sometimes need to remember that I need to take xtra good care of myself, even if I don’t show the wounds on my body the way she does. It still hurts and costs energy, so I have to be careful not to take on too much, and to do my best to allow the other person to do their own healing whenever possible. I can guide and sometimes help, but I can’t do it from them as she does.
Shadowplay has always been one of my favorite episodes. For the most part is a lot of fun, and it is a little sad learning at the end that the old man was one of the last of his people after they were conquered by the dominion, but the episode as a whole is just so engaging. I would have liked to see more of Taya.
On Enterprise, the episode Cogenitor, Season2 E-22, where Trip gets involved with a surrogate mother/ treated like an "almost/ borderline slave" of another species is a very strong episode on issues and rights! It is one of the only times, most would think Trip was right to help the girl, and Captain Archer was vastly wrong in how he handled the situation, when the girl wanted Asylum from her race, and Archer did not want to interfere, in order to not mess up their trade agreement with the species and keep the prime directive. The girl would rather die than go back to her race. Worth watching!
I'm surprised that Sacred Ground (Voyager) is rarely mentioned. Love the dialogue and the 'process' that Janeway goes through (all for naught!). The 'guide' is one of my favorite characters in all ST-Lore.
New Eden definitely deserves to be considered a classic, I’d like to add SNW’s Memento Mori and Under The Cloak Of War, TOS All Our Yesterdays and TNG The Cost Of Living
I love New Eden. It also should that an episodic story works on Discovery. DSC should have used a mix of stand-alone episodes and continuous story arcs, much like DS9 used.
I think for something to be considered a classic (or underrated potential classic), it has to have been released for at least five years. So SNW, recent Discovery, Picard, Prodigy, and Lower Decks are all too new. New Eden fits just under the wire. The more recent shows could be on a list of potential future classics.
I will always have an odd soft spot for "Disaster" from TNG's fifth season. It's an Irwin Allen disaster movie through a Star Trek lens, splitting up the core cast and putting many of the characters into some unenviable positions: Troi finds herself the commanding officer on the bridge due to her rank, Worf is overseeing triage in Ten Forward when Keiko goes into labor, and Picard is stuck on a turbolift with a trio of children. While mostly played for laughs (more on that in a moment) everyone gets a moment to stand out. And it perhaps does the most to change Picard from someone who dislikes children to someone who takes them on a tour of the battle bridge. And on the subject of laughs, this episode has to have the record for quotable lines of any episode of TNG, if not all of Trek. Worf, especially, gets one of the best lines EVER.
I think Albatross is a VERY underrated episode of TAS. Another personal favorite Trek episode that is one of my favorites but most of friends HATE is Deja Q. While not a TV episode, I've always though Search for Spock to be extremely underrated.
I recall I’d been fairly meh on DS9 until Duet. To this day, it’s second on my list of all time episodes after In The Pale Moinlight. For a story written to save money, it’s an undeniable piece of absolute class. The writing and premise are both sound and the acting from Harris Yulin & Nana Visitor is some of the finest seen in the franchises run. They are both totally committed to their parts and their characters reasonings make you look the terrorist and the oppressor in a new light.
Is Enterprise's CARBON CREEK a classic? It's one of my favorites from that series. It has everything I like about a Star Trek time travel episode without actually being a time travel story.
The Devil in the Dark. Showed you need to listen and 2 groups can be mutually beneficial for each other. And side note...Horta is the name of various boiled vegetable dishes and a town in the Azores. Mind blown. Always figures it was a made up word.
I would have to add the episode rejoined from Deep Space Nine. The trill scientists working on the development of a wormhole Drive/generator seemed like a plot device that Star Trek would have Revisited again
New Eden is the episode that hooked me on DIS. Easily one of the best episodes of Trek of all time. I really hope we get a follow-up in the 4th season of DIS. The planet is clearly capable of interstellar communication by the 32nd century, but I'd love to see how the culture evolved over 1,000 years.
"Family" TNG. Picard struggling to come to terms with being Locutus and his brother being an ass, but still loving, was great. And Worf's parents were great.
Honestly I think _Prodigy_ will get more respect over time, despite Paramount memory-holing it. To nominate an unappreciated episode, "All The World's a Stage". They could have taken the easy road and made the Enderprizians a simple cargo cult mimicking Star Trek fandom, but apart from the Garrovick speech near the end one moment stands out: the Enderprizian doctor admitting they know they're not the real "Starflight". By basing their culture on what they understand of the manuals Garrovick left they honor the "En-Son" and his life.
Not Acquisition. It can be argued that it just barely avoided breaking canon by the skin of its teeth, but it stretched credulity to breaking point instead. This potentially dangerous alien species nearly succeeded in hijacking an Earth ship that had range limited by the speed it could manage at the time, and it was as much luck as anything else that stopped them, and then they don’t turn up again for another 200 years and nobody recognises them? That suggests nobody bothered to keep the images of the Ferengi on the NX-01 that T’Pol was watching, and that there was no follow up to find out who they were. Apparently neither Archer nor T’Pol, still working for Vulcan High Command at this point, thought to ask the name of their species before sending the hijackers on their way. Come on, pull the other one. I get almost as cross about Regeneration because it means that Picard’s crew never bothered to make sure all traces of Borg were found and destroyed before returning to their own time in First Contact, but what really annoys me about Acquisition is they could’ve avoided all the problems by just using some disposable alien of the week instead of the Ferengi.
TAS episode "Bem" has the hallmarks of classic Trek. An enemy who isn't an enemy in the form of the God on the planet protecting her children. The alien Bem and the crew of Enterprise who learn from their mistakes and grow because of them. Mix in the humorous banter between Kirk and Spock.... classic.
all of the Tribble episodes. if that was the way i was gonna go, i couldn't be mad about being suffocated by fluff balls. on another note, this was surprisingly something that made me happy. i wonder if Captain Kirk was the only reason the Federation has a clause about interfering in the affairs of under developed planets...🤔
While there are quite a few, and many have been mentioned, I overall think TAS has been maligned quite a bit. Two episodes I'd give shout outs to are "One of Our Planets is Missing" and "How Sharper Than a Serpent's Tooth"
9 - Where No One Has Gone Before is my favorite Season 1 episode. 5 - Acquistion is hilarious. Your hate boner for Enterprise has to be raging not to laugh at the wackiness. 4 - Dead Stop is excellent and works great as a companion to the previous episode, Minefield. They feel like two acts of the same story. 1 - Bar Association set the speed of Rom's character development from half impulse to maximum warp.
I would add From Voyager: Critical Care. Talks about the current state of healthcare in many countries. Not enough TC ( money ), no healthcare DS9: The Quickening. The next generation will be free of the blight. I choke up whenever I see Trevean hold up the blight free baby for all to see!
6:31 How did this not break any Canon rules if Archer promises/threatens to let his higher-ups know about the Ferengi, only for Picard to later not have a clue about them on the Stargazer, and even assume they were cannibals in Encounter at Farpoint?
Is _Siege of AR-558_ considered a classic? Because I think it absolutely is one of the best Trek episodes bar none, not just one of the best DS9 episodes. Quark's speech to Nog at the end of the episode as the Jem'Hadar begin to overrun their position is profound. One of the more profound things ever spoken in Trek and it came from Quark of all people. The follow up episodes of Nog going through his PTSD are also incredibly powerful. _It's Only a Paper Moon_ and others.
Slight correction, Owo didn't have a religious upbringing, her family were Luddites, rejecting technology, but as she describes them "we were non-believers."
This was quite a good list, well done. I fully agree about Bar Association. Didn't give it much thought when it first aired, much more poignant on rewatch.
Not sure if this is already considered a classic, but DS9's "Siege of AR-558" is one of my favorite episodes. It explores the trauma and damage war can do to even the best people, and shows how despite how far human civilization has evolved and progressed, deep down we retain the animal ability to kill. And it has perhaps my favorite and most profound line from Quark:
"Let me tell you something about Hew-mons, Nephew. They're a wonderful, friendly people, as long as their bellies are full and their holosuites are working. But take away their creature comforts, deprive them of food, sleep, sonic showers, put their lives in jeopardy over an extended period of time and those same friendly, intelligent, wonderful people...will become as nasty, and as violent as the most bloodthirsty Klingon."
I never thought Voyager's Dragons Teeth got enough love. At the end it's implied Voyager may have unwittingly spurred the resurgence of a species that would later conquer and dominate a big part of the quadrant. It almost had a Borg feel thinking of what they could later become. Also imagining them becoming powerful and going up AGAINST the Borg. That ending had many layers. I was also a huge fan of the robotic war episode, that was criminally underrated.
Love to see that you included "Latent Image" as it's one of my favourite Voyager episodes, but I still would have liked to see "Nor the Battle to the Strong" or "The Sound of her Voice" finally get a mention. They seem to fly under everyone's radar, but they're incredible
One that I rewatch with frequency is “Time’s Orphan” fro DS9 season 6. Such a powerful episode with many correlations to struggling parents. The O’Briens end up giving up Molly only to get her back miraculously in the end. When I first watched it in high school, it didn’t really connect; but as an adult with children of my own, it takes on a whole new meaning.
The main arc in DS9 actually begins in the season two episode "Acquisition" when the Dosi mention that all trade in that part of the Gamma Quadrant must be overseen and approved by the Dominion.
Shadowplay and Sanctuary later cemented them as being a powerful, dangerous and ruthless empire.
Foreshadowing done right.
Even earlier. They begin unfolding the hints about Odo's people in S1E11. Much of it is lies, but not all.
Dead stop also has my favorite phlox quote.
Reed : "It can't be ethical to cause a patient this much pain."
Phlox : "It's unethical to harm a patient, I can inflict as much pain as I like."
Yes! I've mentioned this to my MD regarding physical therapy I underwent for sciatic about 13 years ago that was excruciating. But, it worked and still do the exercise routine and never nerve problems again.
“Spock’s Brain” didn’t make this list--I’m shocked (rather, I’m Spocked)
Being 'shocked' by its absence is not logical.
@@joe9739 it also doesn’t make sense. 🥴
@@thebullet7874it’s not the worst episode. That goes to THE ALTERNATIVE FACTOR
This but semi-unironically. *Deeply* silly premise, but rather nicely executed.
Enterprise gets nowhere near enough praise for how it breathed new life into the Andorians as a people and as a culture. There are so many Shran episodes I could argue are classics, but I'm going to go for The Andorian Incident. It's an excellent introduction to the Andorians and Combs' performance especially sells their volatile nature that can quickly cool and even become curious or reasonable when new information is brought to their attention. To this day, imo, the Andorians (and Aenar) have never looked so good on screen as they did in Enterprise. I really do miss the amount of effort that went into bringing their antennae to life as a reflection of their current emotions.
i love to see More on the Andorians.
One of my favorites is TNG's The Defector. A Romulan hero defecting because he wants a different future for his daughter than all out war, Data and Picard dabbling in Shakespeare at the beginning, then interweaving it through the story, the interplay between Picard and one of my favorites Tomolak (Andreas Katsulas), and then the surprise reveal only hinted at as the Klingons decloak in Picards final chess match move.
Its interesting you called it "Left Leaning," and although there is a lot of that. There are also several places where it becomes heavily "Right Leaning." Especially in TNG and DS9. Truly a show for everyone...
One of the TOS classics for me is "The Devil in the Dark" in which humans learn they were actually the bad guys. There are many good episodes in TNG and DS9 so it's hard to choose. "Quality of life" in TNG left an impression on me, but they had several good episodes on the ethics of when something can be considered a lifeform. For DS9 I liked "Nor the battle to the strong" for showing the ugly side of war Jake has come to terms with.
If memory serves me right "The Devil in the Dark" was the first TOS episode I ever seen. I've watched quite a bit of TNG, DS9, & Voyager in the 90s so I was familiar with Star Trek, but in 1998 that TOS episode strangely hooked its claws in me and didn't let go until I watched the whole episode.
Devil in the Dark was always one of my favorite TOS episodes. Nimoy does a fabulous job of acting with his mind meld and narration of what he is feeling from the Horta. (Such an impactful episode that I didn’t need to look up the name of the creature, even!)
Enterprise's Observer Effect. It brings the Organians into the series, and is quite dramatic.
The repair station episode of Enterprise is my favorite from the series!
@Maestro_Charlie_Abraham, I was always surprised they didn't follow up on that episode. Much like TNG's "Conspiracy" which just left us hanging on those bug things sending out a homing beacon.
They decided that Space Trilobites were a poor choice for a Big Bad, so they introduced the Borg instead.
@@roberthunter5059, ah. So then they just recycled the homing beacon plot for the end of Enterprise's "Regeneration" episode?
I wish I could say that I was sophisticated and that "Measure of a Man" was my favorite episode. But it's "One Little Ship" because a fully working spaceship model shall forever be my dream.
Dead Stop was quite the good episode, having a proper horror element to it, but without all the gore and blood and guts spilling out that other horror stories apparently need to make them feel scary, cos it was like a fish catching the baited hook, with a malevolent computer harvesting people to power itself, up there with the early days of the Borg, but, somehow more sinister, it certainly did the job...
I think timing wise, it originally debuted about halloween time, which I believe was intentional.
I always wondered what happened to the station in "Dead Stop". That deserves a follow up of some kind.
Ds9 The Visitor. I could be wrong but I’ve never heard it mentioned as a classic, and it should. It’s so moving!
"The Visitor" is a certified classic. Practically nobody lists the best DS9 episodes without mentioning it. If anything, it may be overrated; if I weren't biased towards it personally, then I might rank it lower.
@@TheZetaKai For me, what makes it great is Tony Todd as elderly Jake. He is brilliant and wonderful to watch.
DS9 - For the Uniform - Sisko’s compulsion to bring in Eddington was such a great episode to show the complexity of both characters who both believe they are in the right and justified in their actions
HOWEVER, if this IS considered a classic then never mind
Love the episode....was well written and acted. That said, there is NO way Sisko would avoid a court martial after poisoning entire planets.
@@goblynkyng8666 Yeah the whole solution of "in the end the colonists just traded planets so no harm done" seems very sketchy lol
@@NixonRules963 You're right. If it were that easy, the Marquis would never have been a problem to begin with, they would have been ok moving.
@@goblynkyng8666 Nah. Captains have such ridiculously broad leeway in on-the-spot decision-making, he'd probably be fine even if it was an actually serious offense. Tbh, Starfleet admirals tend to be so cartoonishly evil that it might even get him consideration for promotion, lmao.
@@goblynkyng8666 Refusing to move on principle at the behest of the Federation & feeling sold out by them when that decision proved... shortsighted, was what eventually gave rise to the Maquis in the first place. So while I don't know that "poisoning" the planet was the right call, the fact of the matter is they were never going to willingly do *anything* on Federation command without drastic measures *of some kind* being taken against them. I believe they were observed to have quickly evacuated, so the immediate bodily harm poisoning implies was likely negligible.
Realistically though, after getting dick-slapped like that, the Maquis would've likely massively stepped up attacks on/recruitment from Starfleet as soon as they were operationally capable again and become even more virulently anti-Federation than they already were. So there still would have most definitely been some serious harm done.
I'm happy to see Shadowplay and Dead Stop getting recognition. I love both of them, Dead Stop is one of my favourite Enterprise episodes. I made Shadowplay into D&D adventure that my Players loved!
Yes! Love both of them. Always go back to them again .... and again, and again ...Never tire of them.
I LOVE Bar Association! I've lost count how many times I've watched it. As for a classic that slipped by? I, Mudd leaps to mind. I actually find it funnier than The Trouble With Tribbles, which is also hilarious, but Harry Mudd is just so entertaining a foil.
Any episode that features Trip in his underwear will always be a classic in my books.
Trip is really the only reason to watch _Enterprise,_ and I'm generously a 0.5 on the Kinsey Scale.
Don't get me wrong-I love a good Hoshi, Mayweather or Phlox showcase, but there's, like, six of them combined across all four seasons.
The DS9 Episode "Hard Time" is a standout for me. O'Brien is such a steadfast character throughout the entire series and this episode is when he breaks. He doesn't break for selfish reasons, but because he's (temporarily) no longer the husband/father his family deserves. He put his family ahead of himself and couldn't live with what he has become.
P the problem with this episode is that it and mortal coil from voyager are way too similar. The events that actually occur are different but the whole concept of struggling with being suicidal and calling things that they believe in including their own selves into question is a common thread that makes these two episodes almost carbon copies of one another.
@@amandamatheny3675 thats quite possible, I only watched through Voyager once. Its possibly my least favorite trek.
Really you could throw a dart at _TAS_ and more likely than not land on an underlooked classic. We had "The Slaver Weapon," "The Lorelai Signal," "Mudd's Passion," "Yesteryear," and "How Sharper Than A Serpent's Tooth," just off the top of my head.
I also think "Lift Us Up To Where Suffering Cannot Reach" will be a classic that sparks a thousand thoughtpieces.
Absolutely. Pike confronting the leader about child sacrifice, only for her to come back with asking how many people in the Federation suffer unseen, then to close on Pike taking a contemplative drink in his quarters. Classic.
I recently re-watched Voyager's "Real Life." The initial premise is so cheesy and almost cringy but when the Doctor goes along with Torres's plan to modify his holo-family it takes a turn that is so dark and heartrending and touches on so many contemporary issues of living in a modern society. Honestly it reminds me a lot of Black Mirror, new tech being used in a new way with serious pain and suffering to follow. And then the Doctor just turns off the simulation and never goes back or mentions them again. Just an amazing episode
imo Bar Association is absolutely considered a classic these days. even non-Trekkies will reference it. for a personal account, the episode made my Trek Agnostic girlfriend become deeply invested in DS9, which we're now watching through together.
my picks of should-be classics, with one from each show:
TOS - Tomorrow Is Yesterday
TNG - The Most Toys
DS9 - Paradise
VOY - Extreme Risk
ENT - Marauders
DIS - That Hope Is You, Part I
PIC - Absolute Candor
Dead stop is a real standout to me. It really stuck with me particularly that last shot.
Great shout on Shadowplay, an emotive very trek episode.
That voyager episode about the fake uncrewed federation ship sent to rescue the crew of voyager had a brilliant and thought provoking ending with that alien who berates Janeway about her alliance with the borg.
"Hope and Fear"
You can really feel Arturis's pain as he's attempting to condemn Janeway for her choice to aid the Borg against 8472, which is only compounded by the fact that he couldn't have possibly known Species 8472 wanted to destroy life it deemed weaker or inferior.
Love tehe Enterprise Acquisition episode. Loved how T'Pol demonstrates her tactical ability and her physical prowess to move silently like a cat around the Ferengi to spread discord between them and also later demonstrating some sense of humour with Archer.
Thanks for citing The Magicks of Megas II; it and The Jihad are my fave episodes of Star Trek: The Animated Series. 🖖
Latent Image - I love that episode, so underrated and Bob Picardo at his absolute finest.
Like you said episodes don't need to have deep meanings to be good. For me there's two episodes of DS9 that I really like no matter how many times I've seen them. The House of Quark(S3E3) and the follow up Looking for par'Mach in all the wrong places(S5E3). Great comedy, Quark finds his courage for love and the beginning of Dax and Worf's relation. What more can you ask for.
Latent Image being on this list made my day! The Doctor is my personal favourite Star Trek character, and Latent Image is my favourite episode of Voyager.
guilty pleasure - Devils Due, Prophecy, The House of Quark, Stigma
I'm glad to see that Latent Image and Bar Association are on the list. I also like the fact that A Private Little War is mentioned because of the message that it was trying to send, especially during that time.
Enterprise: 'Observer Effect.' That's good a good solid premise and it works so well, simply because it lets all the characters have a good slice of the action in the story. Not just the main three. It stands out so much because of that.
Original series: 'Let that be your last Battlefield.' It is a late third season bottle show. The make up is...memorable. But it's got a good premise which is genuine Trek. The two guest actors are superb. It's not stretched at fifty mins. And it has an ending with punch, not just a bit of light comedy with Spock. It's a gem for it's time.
Wesley’s sweater in “Where no one has Gone Before” looks like a giant, worn out tube-sock! 😂😂😂
I always felt "tacking into the wind' should be better remembered than it is. Its the episode where all of S7 various plot lines start to speed up and come together. The pacing is fantastic and the acting and dialogue top notch.
Watching Bar Association brings on new light, if you know that Max Grodénchik has been out with fellow actors picketing the SAG-AFTRA strike. Living up to his on-screen persona.
So happy to see "The Empath" get some love. I really like that episode but I'm a big fan of TOS music and the music in that episode is just so perfect.
I love a Private Little War, Tholian Web, All our Yesterdays, Balance of Terror, Day of the Dove, the Doomsday Machine, Galileo Seven
DS9's "His way" is my #1 absolute favorite episode of ALL Star Trek. So what, if I'm a hopeless romantic? Bite me! lol
For year, Worf's line in QPid, "Sir, I protest. I am not a merry man!" was my favourite line in pretty much all of Trek. It was only when rewatching Dead Stop that it was finally toppled. The superb interaction between Reid and Phlox during the physiotherapy session was perfection to make the Borg weep. ie
Reid: It can't be ethical to cause a patient this much pain?
Phlox: It would be unethical to harm a patient. I can inflict as much pain as I like. :D
I love it so much, I printed it over an image of Phlox and sent it to my own physio, who has it hanging on her wall. :D
The Phlox/Reid bit is also one of my favorites ... and meaningful when I remember physical therapy about 12, 13 years ago.
I had a very bad case of sciatica about 15 years ago. Went to a physical therapist and his therapy that was not only excruciating (with heavy breathing and copious sweating) but one that I slowly endured. I still do the exercise today. And that little conversation between Reid and Phlox is also one of my favorites. I always think of that therapy session when watching it. (As well ... I love Worf's protestation.)
I would like to mention the episode "Author, Author" from the final season of Voyager. This episode is somewhat equivalent to the TNG episode "Measure of a Man" in that it's trying to determine what is a sentient life form. In "Author, Author" they are discussing the rights of a hologram to be considered sentient.
I didn't see it listed, but for me underrated episode is Voyager''s "Resistance." It's from season 2, which also gave us "The Thaw" (another underrated episode imo), it deals with authoritarian governments, torture and imprisonment, and mental health issues in a single episode. The real crime comes from it never being brought up again, even though that ending has an insurgent dying in Janeway's arms.
DS9 "The Assignment". Some brilliant ratcheting suspense as the alien possessing Keiko forces Miles to sabotage the station. Plus the episode introduced the Pah Wraiths, who would become surprisingly important in the show's final arc, and set up that Rom was a lot smarter than he let on. "Why is the Federation trying to destroy the wormhole aliens?"
The empath reminds me of a original TWLIGHT ZONE
Hmm not a bad list. I'd put forward "Devil in the Dark", Tin man, Nemesis (the Voyager episode), North Star, Visionary, and Critical Care
Dead Stop is one of my all time favorite episodes of Star Trek!
I would have to say "The Quickening" From DS9.
Bold take, but it gets an upvote from me. Classic "break the haughty" setup clearly designed to teach Bashir some humility... but ending with him saving the entire planet as a giant middle finger to the Trope Gods.
Makes the "genetically modified" retcon a bit harder to take later on, but dang it if he doesn't play the Uno Reverse Card on that hand in episodes like "Statistical Probabilities" (which IMO also deserves a slot on this list).
That was a good episode.
It really hit me when it was on during a recent rewatch. Came across as much better than it had any right to@@verhalenvrouwe
It might be the first time we ever saw Bashir REALLY humanized and "put in his place." I like how he wasn't able to save them in the way he wanted. It was a great exploration of the Federation contrasting with those outside of their "Utopia" and a possible view of what was to come should the Dominion take them out.
It does mess a bit with his genetic history, but I guess you could still say that the only reason he was able to get the results he was able to IS because of this IDK.
Statistical Probabilities is a good watch. The authors of the sequel books loved to run with those ideas too.@@GSBarlev
Latent Image has long been a favorite of mine, one that I've rewatched again and again. Nice to see it get some love.
"Dead Stop seems to slip through most nests ..." Absolutely .. and it's a shame. Rarely will rewatch Minefield but always go right to this episode.
Explorers, DS9. Sisko builds a Bajorsn light ship and sails currents of the quadrant with Jake over to Cardassian space. Thus proving an early Bajoran accomplishment that was long denied by the Cardassians.
"Thankfully Star Trek has never again even ventured to the left side of the conversation... COUGH"
I could feel you staring sarcastically at the camera for that one (even though there isn't a camera for this one) 😂😂
Thank you for mentioning "New Eden"! It deserves it!
I know it’s probably way too early to say, but if “Subspace Rhapsody” doesn’t become a classic, I don’t know what will!
I have always loved "The Empath". It is an incredible look at TOS' Triumvirate. Add to it the beautiful music score, the very effective minimalist set design, and the top form acting. The Empath will always be a classic to me.
All that plus the message at the end - don’t let your pursuit of your ideals in others rob you yourself of those same qualities. Kirk’s speech at the end of the episode is one of Shatner’s best performances in the series.
Plus the wonderful Kathryn Hayes....I found her later on, starring in As The World Turns...and said to myself "That's her, the EMPATH!" Love it.
Very a much a classic in my book too. I think of her when I need to be reminded that taking on other people’s pain has a cost to myself. As an aspiring therapist, I sometimes need to remember that I need to take xtra good care of myself, even if I don’t show the wounds on my body the way she does. It still hurts and costs energy, so I have to be careful not to take on too much, and to do my best to allow the other person to do their own healing whenever possible. I can guide and sometimes help, but I can’t do it from them as she does.
I've always thought that "Latent Image" never got enough credit for how great an episode it is.
Many of these deserve a Retro Ups and Downs.
Shadowplay has always been one of my favorite episodes. For the most part is a lot of fun, and it is a little sad learning at the end that the old man was one of the last of his people after they were conquered by the dominion, but the episode as a whole is just so engaging. I would have liked to see more of Taya.
I also like the twist in the similar ENT episode Oasis with René Auberjonois as the 'creator' of the holo characters.
On Enterprise, the episode Cogenitor, Season2 E-22, where Trip gets involved with a surrogate mother/ treated like an "almost/ borderline slave" of another species is a very strong episode on issues and rights! It is one of the only times, most would think Trip was right to help the girl, and Captain Archer was vastly wrong in how he handled the situation, when the girl wanted Asylum from her race, and Archer did not want to interfere, in order to not mess up their trade agreement with the species and keep the prime directive. The girl would rather die than go back to her race. Worth watching!
I love Latent Image. Of course, I love all the "I'm on my own on this ship, everyone is agaisnt me" conspiracy episodes.
Latent image definitely is the one that jumps out for me… I occasionally put that one one just because I like it
I'm surprised that Sacred Ground (Voyager) is rarely mentioned. Love the dialogue and the 'process' that Janeway goes through (all for naught!). The 'guide' is one of my favorite characters in all ST-Lore.
Throwing in Voyager’s The Thaw. I never hear it talked about but would argue it’s one of the best episodes in Trek.
New Eden definitely deserves to be considered a classic, I’d like to add SNW’s Memento Mori and Under The Cloak Of War, TOS All Our Yesterdays and TNG The Cost Of Living
I love New Eden. It also should that an episodic story works on Discovery. DSC should have used a mix of stand-alone episodes and continuous story arcs, much like DS9 used.
I think for something to be considered a classic (or underrated potential classic), it has to have been released for at least five years. So SNW, recent Discovery, Picard, Prodigy, and Lower Decks are all too new. New Eden fits just under the wire. The more recent shows could be on a list of potential future classics.
The Enterprise episode "First Flight" is awesome.
Good list 👍 I think TNG S2 Ep21 "Peak Performance" doesn't get enough love.
I will always have an odd soft spot for "Disaster" from TNG's fifth season. It's an Irwin Allen disaster movie through a Star Trek lens, splitting up the core cast and putting many of the characters into some unenviable positions: Troi finds herself the commanding officer on the bridge due to her rank, Worf is overseeing triage in Ten Forward when Keiko goes into labor, and Picard is stuck on a turbolift with a trio of children. While mostly played for laughs (more on that in a moment) everyone gets a moment to stand out. And it perhaps does the most to change Picard from someone who dislikes children to someone who takes them on a tour of the battle bridge.
And on the subject of laughs, this episode has to have the record for quotable lines of any episode of TNG, if not all of Trek. Worf, especially, gets one of the best lines EVER.
You may now give birth! 😄
"I think she looks like Chief O'Brien!"
I think Albatross is a VERY underrated episode of TAS. Another personal favorite Trek episode that is one of my favorites but most of friends HATE is Deja Q. While not a TV episode, I've always though Search for Spock to be extremely underrated.
I recall I’d been fairly meh on DS9 until Duet. To this day, it’s second on my list of all time episodes after In The Pale Moinlight. For a story written to save money, it’s an undeniable piece of absolute class. The writing and premise are both sound and the acting from Harris Yulin & Nana Visitor is some of the finest seen in the franchises run. They are both totally committed to their parts and their characters reasonings make you look the terrorist and the oppressor in a new light.
Is Enterprise's CARBON CREEK a classic? It's one of my favorites from that series. It has everything I like about a Star Trek time travel episode without actually being a time travel story.
Carbon creek is a top 20 Star Trek episode. I agree with this opinion.
THE " NTH degree" was up there. DWIGHT Schizt was epic in this.
The Devil in the Dark. Showed you need to listen and 2 groups can be mutually beneficial for each other. And side note...Horta is the name of various boiled vegetable dishes and a town in the Azores. Mind blown. Always figures it was a made up word.
Horta is the 'capital' of the island Terceira.
Shadowplay was always one of my favorite episodes. I think "The Collaborator" could be on the list as well. Great video!
Latent Image is easily my favorite episode of Voyager.
"Dr. Bashir, I Presume" ecame a classic for me once I became a parent of a special needs child
I would have to add the episode rejoined from Deep Space Nine. The trill scientists working on the development of a wormhole Drive/generator seemed like a plot device that Star Trek would have Revisited again
New Eden is the episode that hooked me on DIS. Easily one of the best episodes of Trek of all time. I really hope we get a follow-up in the 4th season of DIS. The planet is clearly capable of interstellar communication by the 32nd century, but I'd love to see how the culture evolved over 1,000 years.
"Family" TNG.
Picard struggling to come to terms with being Locutus and his brother being an ass, but still loving, was great.
And Worf's parents were great.
Latent Image has always been one of my favorites. I’ve rewatched it plenty of times.
I'm a union carpenter and I bring up the episode in the number 1 spot to union brothers that have never seen start Trek
Honestly I think _Prodigy_ will get more respect over time, despite Paramount memory-holing it. To nominate an unappreciated episode, "All The World's a Stage". They could have taken the easy road and made the Enderprizians a simple cargo cult mimicking Star Trek fandom, but apart from the Garrovick speech near the end one moment stands out: the Enderprizian doctor admitting they know they're not the real "Starflight". By basing their culture on what they understand of the manuals Garrovick left they honor the "En-Son" and his life.
Atempt #6
Please do "Top 10 Greatest Friendships in Star Trek". 🖖💙
I'd like to see this made as well.
Not Acquisition. It can be argued that it just barely avoided breaking canon by the skin of its teeth, but it stretched credulity to breaking point instead. This potentially dangerous alien species nearly succeeded in hijacking an Earth ship that had range limited by the speed it could manage at the time, and it was as much luck as anything else that stopped them, and then they don’t turn up again for another 200 years and nobody recognises them? That suggests nobody bothered to keep the images of the Ferengi on the NX-01 that T’Pol was watching, and that there was no follow up to find out who they were. Apparently neither Archer nor T’Pol, still working for Vulcan High Command at this point, thought to ask the name of their species before sending the hijackers on their way. Come on, pull the other one. I get almost as cross about Regeneration because it means that Picard’s crew never bothered to make sure all traces of Borg were found and destroyed before returning to their own time in First Contact, but what really annoys me about Acquisition is they could’ve avoided all the problems by just using some disposable alien of the week instead of the Ferengi.
TAS episode "Bem" has the hallmarks of classic Trek. An enemy who isn't an enemy in the form of the God on the planet protecting her children. The alien Bem and the crew of Enterprise who learn from their mistakes and grow because of them. Mix in the humorous banter between Kirk and Spock.... classic.
The empath is on my
short list of favorite episodes. I first began to understand empathy through this episode.
all of the Tribble episodes. if that was the way i was gonna go, i couldn't be mad about being suffocated by fluff balls. on another note, this was surprisingly something that made me happy. i wonder if Captain Kirk was the only reason the Federation has a clause about interfering in the affairs of under developed planets...🤔
While there are quite a few, and many have been mentioned, I overall think TAS has been maligned quite a bit. Two episodes I'd give shout outs to are "One of Our Planets is Missing" and "How Sharper Than a Serpent's Tooth"
9 - Where No One Has Gone Before is my favorite Season 1 episode.
5 - Acquistion is hilarious. Your hate boner for Enterprise has to be raging not to laugh at the wackiness.
4 - Dead Stop is excellent and works great as a companion to the previous episode, Minefield. They feel like two acts of the same story.
1 - Bar Association set the speed of Rom's character development from half impulse to maximum warp.
I like it better than Minefield
Like the Empath! Always one of my favorite original series episodes. Even though it was in the3 3rd season.
Some of my absolute favourites are on this list. Nice one.
I would add
From Voyager: Critical Care. Talks about the current state of healthcare in many countries. Not enough TC ( money ), no healthcare
DS9: The Quickening. The next generation will be free of the blight. I choke up whenever I see Trevean hold up the blight free baby for all to see!
6:31 How did this not break any Canon rules if Archer promises/threatens to let his higher-ups know about the Ferengi, only for Picard to later not have a clue about them on the Stargazer, and even assume they were cannibals in Encounter at Farpoint?
I'm hoping for a part 2!!
Is _Siege of AR-558_ considered a classic? Because I think it absolutely is one of the best Trek episodes bar none, not just one of the best DS9 episodes. Quark's speech to Nog at the end of the episode as the Jem'Hadar begin to overrun their position is profound. One of the more profound things ever spoken in Trek and it came from Quark of all people.
The follow up episodes of Nog going through his PTSD are also incredibly powerful. _It's Only a Paper Moon_ and others.
It's on many/most best episodes list. A classic ... and incredible vehicle for Nog in 'Paper Moon.'
Slight correction, Owo didn't have a religious upbringing, her family were Luddites, rejecting technology, but as she describes them "we were non-believers."
This was quite a good list, well done. I fully agree about Bar Association. Didn't give it much thought when it first aired, much more poignant on rewatch.
I'm glad to see Dead Stop and Bar Association on this list. They always stuck in my mind thanks to their unique elements.
I've always felt that the TNG episode "Night Terrors" deserves more recognition. It's Twilight Zone creepy.
Correct. The Geordi holosuite scene is definitely creepy .. bit scary too.
"Latent Image" is such a disturbing story exquisitely told