It has come to my attention that there is no dedicated Star Trek topic here.
I’ve been a fan of Trek since I was a child, and I’ve watched all of Trek, with the exception of peacing out about 30 minutes into the Section 31 movie.
My partner and I are always watching a Trek series and watch an episode or two at night befor ebed. We’ve seen most of them multiple times at this point. Recently, we started a new watch-through of The Next Generation, and we just started season 2.
TNG Season 1 was as rough as ever, and Season 2 starts with The Child, which is pretty bad. I do like the scene where everyone discusses the merit of aborting Deanna’s alien fetus, and Deanna just speaks up and tells everyone that she’s having the baby. Picard just says, “Well, I guess that discussion is over.”
Last night we watches S2e6, The Schizoid Man. This is the one where Data’s “Grandpa” uploads his consciousness into Data as he is dying at takes over his body. “Data” gives a hilarious eulogy to himself.
Those who knew him, loved him, while those who did not know him, loved him…from afar.
Anyway, here’s a video where the crew says “fuck” a lot in the opening recap of The Best of Both Worlds Part 2.
There are dozens of Star Trek video games and somehow the only one I’ve played is Voyager: Elite Force, which is essentially a Quake 3 campaign with Trek baddies. I’ve thought about getting into the point-and-click games because they sound like secret extra episodes.
Elite Force is good. I really want to play Star Trek: Deep Space 9: The Fallen, but after much trying, i’ve never gotten it to work. One time got it loaded up but it crashed repeatedly around the 10min mark.
Last night we saw TNG s2e7 Unnatural Selection and s2e8 A Matter of Honor.
Unnatural Selection:
My partner could not stop laughing at the “aging” makeup on Diana Muldaur (as Dr. Pulaski). Apparently, looking older is a matter of having chimney-sweep levels of soot on your face, and your lipstick falls off. Picard and Riker have this look on their faces of severe discomfort when talking to her.
A Matter of Honor:
Frakes is so convincing as Riker feigning enthusiasm while eating gross foods. The subplot with Mordok Mendan is bleh, but Riker on the Klingon ship is great.
“Measure of a Man” was one of the first episodes I saw! I’d caught a few randoms bits here and there (I remember watching Picard wrestle his brother on BBC America), but then went to the theater to see this when they came out with the Blu Ray remaster of The Next Generation. It was a double feature with “Datalore” and ended up getting me into trek. Indeed, a great episode and a very Next Generation episode.
I’ve been slowing watching through Deep Space 9 with a friend. It’s her first time seeing it but my second time (I first watched it with another friend in college, so despite it being my favorite I’ve basically never watched it on my own). We finally made it to the season 2 finale, “The Jem’hadar.” There’s a lot of good stuff here: Ben+Jake Sisko family moments, funny jokes, great character moments for even the ensamble members not in the spotlight. And of course, the monologue from Quark about why humans look down on ferengi. Great stuff.
remember that TNG behind the scenes special where Riker says the Enterprise only has one toilet and he points to it on the ship schematic with a big smile on his face
Last night we saw TNG s2e9 The Measure of a Man and s2e10 The Dauphin.
As I stated earlier, The Measure of a Man is the first truly great TNG episode. It’s also the first courtroom drama of TNG (unless you count Q’s “trial” in Encounter at Farpoint). Trek has a long history of courtroom dramas, from TOS s1e11-12 The Menagerie in 1966 to SNW s2e2 Ad Astra Per Aspera in 2023, and they’re usually pretty good. But I do think The Measure of a Man might be the best one. It deals with so many philosophical concepts: the definition of life, the Turing test, inalienable rights, the morality of creation, slavery, etc. Riker’s savage condemnation of Data truly hurts. Picard’s closing argument speech is an all-time classic. The ending scene with Data and Riker is heartwarming and such a release after the tension of the episode.
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The Dauphin has really great moments with an actor in a giant fur suit.
I was exposed to Star Trek even before Star Wars as a kid via very accessible reruns of TOS in syndication, so I’ve been marinating in it longer than video games, funnily enough. For years I spent a bunch of time telling people that I wasn’t much of a fan until a few years back when I was like “oh shit, I’m actually a massive fan”.
So anyway, my Trek is the Animated Series, followed by TNG. I used to love TOS, but honestly knowing how much of an absolute shit Shatner is, and knowing how badly women were treated on set during TOS has made it harder for me to watch. So I love it still, I’m just not sure I love it as much as I used to.
I came up with some of my favourite episodes of the broader franchise. I might write more on all these at some point. In no real order:
This Side of Paradise (TOS S1E25)
The Way to Eden (TOS S3E20)
Yesteryear (TAS S1E2)
The Infinite Vulcan (TAS S1E7)
The Royale (TNG S2E12)
Ghosts of Illyria (SNW S1E3)
A Quality of Mercy (SNW S1E10)
Star Trek: the Motion Picture (not an episode, but it’s probably my favourite since Trek thing)
I was trying to reach for a few others but honestly a bunch of the other series are more of a general vibe for me and it’s hard to come up with individual episodes. But I enjoyed almost all of it! I haven’t watched the Section 31 movie but I respect it because they had the guts to bring a Deltan character ini a modern Trek. I’m extremely skeptical of it for obvious reasons. Oh! And I also didn’t enjoy the 3 Kelvinverse movies in the slightest for so many reasons!
Anyway the Star Trek fandom iceberg was instrumental in showing me how out of control my fandom is. Hope it serves as a similar awakening for other folks!
Star Trek The Next Generation is my favorite series. Some of my first TV memories involve Majel Barrett’s voice saying, “Next time on Star Trek: The Next Generation.” I also watched TOS on repeat and some DS9, Voyager, and Enterprise as it came out, but TNG would be the one I rewatched first and (subsequently) most often as an adult. It’s also one of the key cultural touchstones between my siblings and me. One of them sent me this:
I may have some more specific anecdotes to share, but for now:
I enjoy all the films, even the bad ones. My favorite is Star Trek III: The Search for Spock.
With New Trek, I’ve watched the first seasons of Discovery and Picard and the two seasons so far of Strange New Worlds. I like Discovery, but it’s intense. Also, I only watch at the pace I get the discs.
The one thing I find in other series that I don’t have in TNG is the Mirror Universe. Love that stuff - Enterprise and Discovery have my favorite iterations of the MU.
I once taught an episode of TOS in class, Space Seed. It goes well with Paradise Lost.
Space Seed is one of those episodes that I’ve seen so many times, and that has been revisited so many times by subsequent works that I’m kinda worn out on it (I still love it though). THAT SAID, Ricardo Montalban left exactly nothing on the table with that performance!!
