The Dominion War is probably the biggest Long Story Arc in Star Trek's history.  It takes up several seasons of Deep Space Nine's story, and it will reverberate through Lower Decks and Picard in future seasons.We also continue to monitor Voyager's prgress through the Delta Quadrant, and have a couple very heavy episodes of Strange New Worlds.

Given how breezy and fun last season was, it makes sense that things get really dark for a bit. 

1101. By Inferno's Light (DS9)
(Sisko,  Garak, Kira, Bashir, Dax, Odo, Worf, Gul Dukat, O'Brien, Nog, Rom, Martok, Jake)

It's official, The Dominion War is underway. Who will the Cardassians align with? How about the Klingons? Will Worf, Bashir, and Garak escape the internment camp? Will Bashir succeed in his...hang on, are there two Bashirs?


1102. Episode 20: Call To Arms (DS9)
(Sisko,  Garak, Kira, Bashir, Dax, Odo, Worf, Gul Dukat, O'Brien, Weyoun, Nog, Rom, Martok, Jake)

The Dominion War is already, and will continue to be depressing, but here's a somewhat upbeat episode where Jake and Nog try to cheer everyone up through some unusual means.


1103. Ultimate Computer (TOS)
(Kirk, Spock, McCoy, Scott, Sulu, Uhura, Chekov, Leslie)

So many of TOS episodes are just the crew of The Enterprise versus crazy or incompetent Starfleet personell that it's nice to see them have to battle technology every once in a while.


1104. Where Pleasant Fountains Lie/I Excretus (LD)
(Boimler, Freeman, Rutherford, Mariner, Tendi, Billups, Ransom, T'ana)

While the Upper Decks crew deals with their own rogue computer, Billups, who has had minimal screen time gets to be the focus of an episode when his mother, a member of a very Rennaisance style race, needs his help to save the planet where he is supposed to be the next ruler. Then the crew is tested on how well they would function as lower decks crew, and lower decks crew would function on the bridge. 


1105.  Sacrifice Of Angels (DS9)
(Sisko, Gul Dukat, Odo, Kira, Rom, Ziyal, Weyoun, Quark, Jake, Garak, Worf, Martok)

Both sides in the Dominion War begin to suffer horribly.


1106. Lift Us Where Suffering Can Not Reach (SNW)
(Pike, Spock, Chapel, 1, M'Benga, Uhura, Ortegas, Sam Kirk, Kyle)

Pike's old girlfriends don't seem as dangerous as Kirk's old girlfriends, and yet, when one shows up asking for help protecting the messiah of her paradise planet, everything quickly falls apart.


1107. Waltz (DS9)
(Sisko, Gul Dukat, Odo, Worf, Kira, O'Brien, Dax, Bashir, Weyoun)

This is a defining moment in the series, and I considered making it the end of a previous season but, uhm, there are some events that happen that I don't want to give the sense of importance that the original series of Deep Space Nine did.


1108. Who Mourns For Morn? (DS9)
(Quark, Sisko, Worf, Odo, Kira, Dax, O'Brien, Bashir)

Quark's most reliable, most silent customer, who's been in almost every episode in our chronology, and yet has never spoken a single line, dies and leaves Quark a fortune.


1109 & 1110. A Year Of Hell  (VOY)
(Janeway, 7of9, Tuvok, Chakotay, Paris)

There are species that even The Borg avoid. When this new threat attacks Voyager, they try a series of increadingly desperate tactics to survive. Nah, something ain't right here.


1111. In The Flesh (VOY)
(Janeway, Chakotay, Tuvok, Doctor, Boothby, 7of9, Torres, Paris, Neelix, Kim)

I remember thinking that Barclay was the weirdest legacy character to show up on a Star Trek series where they're lost in an uncharted region of space. But then Riker showed up. And now ... Boothby? The crew of Voyager is back on Earth at, of all places, Starfleet Academy. Nah. Something ain't right here, either. 


1112. All Those Who Wander (SNW)
(Pike, Ortegas, Hemmers, Uhura, Spock, Chapel, 1, M'Benga, Sam Kirk, Kyle)

A regular old, every day, let's respond to a distress signal mission turns into an homage to Ridley Scott's Alien. It's another great example of how this series manages to seem fun and light, despite having sometimes greater consequences than the very dreary "Discovery" series that preceded it.


1113. Change Of Heart (DS9)
(Worf, Dax, Sisko, O'Brien, Bashir, Kira, Quark)

Worf's relationships have traditionally Not Gone Well. His first wife died just after surprising him with the existence of their son. Then he was married to Troi in a parallel timeline. Now he's married to Dax, the parasitical symbiont who can be any species, race or gender. And it's been going really well. But can he prioritize his most recent marriage over his duty to Deep Space Nine?


1114. Inquisition (DS9)
(Bashir, Sisko, Worf, Odo, O'Brien, Quark, Kira, Weyoun)

Wait...is Bashir a spy for The Dominion? Section 31 (Holy Holy, we haven't seen them since the Discovery story arc. Finally, we see their origin in the Star Trek Universe.) is determined to find out.


1115. One (VOY)
(7of9, Doctor, Janeway, Paris, Torres, Kim, Chakotay)

When radiation from a nebula threatens the lives of everyone else on the ship, 7of9 becomes the crew's favorite member as she and The Doctor team up to save the ship.


1116. In The Pale Moonlight (DS9)
(Sisko, Garak, Bashir, Quark, Weyoun, Odo, Kira, Dax, Worf, O'Brien)

War is a constant shifting of allegiances and ethical dillemas, so nobody should be surprised at how wrong everything goes when Sisko tries to bring the Romulans into the Dominion War.
​

1117. The Sound Of Her Voice (DS9)
(Sisko, Bashir, O'Brien, Kira, Odo, Quark, Dax, Worf, Yates, Jake, Morn)

In the midst of The Dominion War, The Defiant hears a distress call and sets out to rescue a woman stranded on an alien planet. During the trip she gives advice to several members of the crew about their personal lives. Quark also dispenses love advice to one of DS9's newest couples.


1118. ​Message In A Bottle (VOY)
(Janeway, 7of9, Doctor)

It's finally time, the crew of Voyager sends a message back to the Alpha Quadrant, hoping that The Federation will acknowledge that they're still alive.


1119. Tears Of The Prophets (DS9)
(Sisko, Dax, Dukat, Worf, Kira, Bashir, O'Brien, Quark, Odo, Garak, Nog, Weyoun, Martok, Ross, Jake)

Every war has to have its great casualty. When Dukat returns to the picture to help the Cardassian/Dominion alliance win the war, he sets events in motion that change the whole feel of the show. 


1120. Latent Image (VOY)
(Doctor, Janeway, Kim, 7of9, Chakotay, Torres, Neelix, Tuvok, Naomi)

Can a hologram have a psychotic break? Is it morally ethical to erase the memories of someone who isn't precisely sentient in order to help them do their job when it is imperative that they can always do their job to the best of their ability?

Obviously I love all the seasons from this reimagined headcanon. Otherwise, why would I have spent all this time watching and writing about them? This season, however, is probably my favorite. There are a ton of nostalgic adrenaline hits in this season from the first episode to the last. We start with the TOS/TNG crossover film, Worf joins the cast of DS9, Lower Decks gives us some quality callbacks in eac of their episodes, and we also have the brilliant DS9/TOS crossover where new footage is seamlessly added to the "Trouble With Tribbles" episode of The Original Series.

If I ever decide to watch a full season out of the context of the other seasons, it will be this one.

1001. Generations (TOSM/TNGM)
(Picard, Kirk, Riker, Data, Laforge, Worf, Troi, Scotty, Chekov, Crusher)

Not the greatest Star Trek film by a long shot, but we do get to see a prolonged sequence with Picard and Kirk working together to stop the villain from A Clockwork Orange, I mean the villain from Tank Girl, I mean Mad Mod from Teen Titans. It's....watchable, and a fun adventure to start off the season.


1002. Tomorrow Is Yesterday (TOS)
(Kirk, Spock, McCoy, Scott, Sulu, Uhura)

Sometimes you just need a basic time travel story to calm your nerves. In this one, the TOS crew return to the 1960s (hey, that's when the series was airing!) to stop a time paradox. This is the introduction of the ol' slingshot the ship around the sun time travel method that series will return to several times.


1003. Future Tense (ENT)
(Archer, Phlox, T'Pol, Reed, Mayweather, Sato, Tucker)

An episode from the Temporal Cold War, the crew of the Enterprise discovers a corpse inside a pod from the future. This episode provides with both a timeloop (still one of my favorite tropes) and involves the Tholians, who we just never have enough time with over the entire course of the franchise, so this is a little treat.


1004. Way Of The Warrior (DS9)
(Worf, Sisko, Odo, Kira, Dax, Garak, O'Brien, Gowran, Quark, Gul Dukat, Bashir)

The Klingons haven't been a big part of Deep Space Nine. Sure, Dax and some of her Klingon friends went on an adventure, and yea, the sisters of Duras were around for an early episode, but for the most part, they haven't been very present. But when Gowran decides The Klingon Empire should protect the wormhole from The Founders, he incites a war between The Klingons and The Cardassians, and it gets so intense that Deep Space Nine recruits Worf from Enterprise to join their crew. Take that, Riker.


1005. Homefront (DS9)
(Sisko, Odo, Jake, Nog)

What if The Founders reached Earth, which has been a paradise since the beginning of this series (apart from the whole Borg attack in Best Of Both Worlds a few seasons ago, and the whale problem from The Voyage Home)? Sisko, Odo, and Jake return to San Francisco (say that five times fast) to help prepare the planet, only to discover The Founders may already be there. This is a particularly good episode about fear mongering and the loss of freedom due to the fear of terrorism (and this was a pre 9/11 series). It's technically part one of a two-part arc, but the second half undoes the power of this episode, if it existed in a vacuum.


1006. To The Death (DS9)
(Sisko, Worf, Dax, Bashir, Kira, Odo, Quark)

After Deep Space Nine is attacked by a faction of the Jem'Hadar, the crew of The Defiant run into another faction of Jem'Hadar who were also attacked. The two crews work together to take down the first faction. There are some great moments of culture examination in this episode between The Jem'Hadar, humans, Klingons, and The Founders. Deep Space Nine was truly the best Star Trek series when it comes to examining how every side in a war is actually The Bad Side.​


1007. Broken Link (DS9)
(Odo, Sisko, Worf, Garak, Drax, O'Brien, Quark, Bashir, Kira, Gowron)

Odo isn't doing very well, and needs the help of The Founders to get better. Of course, shenanigans ensue as Worf and Garak are amongst the crew that heads to The Founders' home planet. This episode sets up a ton of different storylines for the rest of the season.


1008. Apocalypse Rising (DS9)
(Sisko, Odo, Worf, Kira, Bashir, O'Brien, Gul Dukat, Gowran, Quark, Dax, Jake)
​
Last season, it seemed like The Jem'Hadar were the all powerful enemies, but it turned out that they just serve The Founders. Then the Klingons got involved. Then we went to Earth and it looked like maybe The Founders had taken over Starfleet. But what if they actually took over the Klingons? They are Everywhere. And Sisko, Odo, O'Brien, and Worf have to go undercover to unmask Gowran (who, apart from Worf, has the longest ongoing storyline this season). And Sisko makes A Fantastic Klingon. It's a joy to watch.


1009 & 1010. First Contact (TNGM)
(Picard, Riker, Worf, Data, Crusher, Troi, Laforge, Ogawa, Doctor)

It's fun to see the TNG cast in action again (aside from Worf who just won't leave Deep Space Nine). Especially without the baggage of the TOS cast. In what's easily the best TNG movie, the crew follows the Borg into Earth's past, where everyone's favorite assimilators (unless you're a Cyberman fan) attempt to keep Earth's first contact with Vulcans from taking place.


1011 & 1012 .Scorpion (VOY)
(Janeway, Chakotay, Tuvok, Kim, Kes, Torres, 7of9, Doctor, Paris, Neelix)

What could possibly frighten The Borg? Why, a mostly terrible new alien race from another dimension who The Borg just can't seem to assimilate. This new enemy is such a threat that The Borg and the crew of Voyager must team up to stop them.


1013. The Gift (VOY)
(7of9, Kes, Janeway, Doctor, Tuvok, Chakotay, Kim, Torres, Neelix)

The newest member of Voyager is A Borg! And it's up to the rest of the crew to teach her how to be more human. It's somewhat Data-ey, but with more  potential murder than holodeck detective work.


1014: Begotten (DS9)
(Odo, Kira, O'Brien, Keiko, Bashir, Quark, Sisko, Worf)

Quark finds a baby changeling, and gives custody of it to Odo, causing him to rethink his relationship with the doctor who raised him. Alsowhile, Kira is having O'Brien and Keiko's baby and it is awwwwwwwwwwwwkward for everyone.


1015. The Trouble With Edward (ST)/An Embarrasment Of Dooplers (LD)
(Mariner, Boimler, Tendi, Rutherford, Freeman, Ransom, Shax, T'ana)

After we meet the Starfleet moron responsible for the Tribble outbreaks for the entirety of the Star Trek franchise, we meet a different race of reproducing aliens. These ones, however, are a member race of the Federation who happen to duplicate whenever they're embarrassed, and they embarrass easily.


1016. Trials & Tribbilations (DS9/TOS)
(Sisko, O'Brien, Bashir, Worf, Dax, Odo, Kirk, Chekov, Scott, Kira, Uhuru, Spock)

This may be my favorite episode in the whole franchise. Filmed like a TOS episode, the crew of Deep Space Nine goes back in time to keep the Klingon villain from "The Trouble With Tribbles" from changing history.  There are a few scenes from the original TOS episode spliced in, and a lot of fun non-interactions between the two casts. I find this much preferable to the original "Trouble With Tribbles" episodes, so I felt no need to include the original episode.


1017: Affliction (ENT)
(Archer, Phlox, T'pol, Reed, Tucker, Sato, Mayweather)

Why do The Klingons look so different between The Original Series, the Next Generation/Deep Space Nine era, and Discovery? Well, the crew of The Enterprise is back to try and answer that question as best as possible.


1018. Divergence (ENT)
(Archer, Phlox, T'pol, Reed, Tucker, Sato, Mayweather)

A disease has been threatening to make Klingons look more humanoid (as they do in The Original Series). It's up to some rogue Klingons and Doctor Phlox to come up with a cure to save the Klingon identity so that they can all look like Worf again by the time we get to Next Generation. It's a neat explanation, but, uh...why do they look like Glittery bathbombs in Discovery?


1019. In Purgatory's Shadow (DS9)
(Sisko,  Garak, Kira, Bashir, Dax, Odo, Worf, Gul Dukat, O'Brien, Nog, Rom, Martok, Jake)

The standoff with The Dominion gets a whole lot tougher when Gul Dukat leads The Cardassians into an alliance with The Dominion to take on Starfleet. There's a changeling spy on Deep Space Nine, AND Worf and Garak get trapped in a Jem'Hadar prison. This is the episode that cemented Garak as my favorite Cardassian, and soured me on Gul Dukat


1020. Darmok (TNG)/Kayshon (LD)
(Picard, Riker, Data, Laforge, Worf, Crusher, Troi, O'Brien)
(Mariner, Boimler, Tendi, Rutherford, Freeman, Ransom, Shax, T'ana)

Another of my all-time favorite episodes. No spoilers. The TNG episode is about metaphor and languaged. Anyone who tells you why this isn't a great episode or who argues about how the language doesn't make sense is not worth having in your life. I mean this, anyone who dislikes this episode is a joyless buzzkilling troll who does not deserve your time or friendship. I'm willing to disagree about pretty much any book, movie, TV episode, whathaveyou, but I will hold firm on this, if you don't love this episode, that's totally ok. If you hate it and need to suck the joy out of this episode for other people, please join a silent monestary, none of your opinions in life are valid.

The follow-up Lower Decks episode is a fun adventure that re-introduces the race we meet in Darmok. It's also a blast.

Last season, we learned some things about the Cardassians and the Ferenghi, as well as meeting the crew of the Cerritos on Lower Decks, and the crew of Voyager​. Now we find out that the real problem for The Federation is actually on the other side of the wormhole as The Founders and the Jem'Hadar enter the fray. Plus, transporter accidents, espionage, and the introduction of the Pakleds!

This is an intensely fun season of stories that weave together seamlessly.

901: Jem'Hadar (DS9)
(Sisko, Jake, Quark, Nog, Odo, Kira, Dax, O'Brien, Bashir)

A father/son bonding trip between Sisko and Jake (as well as Quark and his nephew Nog) goes horribly awry when they are kidnapped by the new Big Bad of Deep Space Nine. Forget the Cardassians, the Jem'Hadar are nonfuckwithable warriors from the other side of the wormhole, and they're about to change the whole feel of the series.


902: A Piece Of The Action (TOS)
(Kirk, Spock, McCoy, Scott, Uhura, Chekov)

"City On The Edge Of Forever" took place in New York City, during the Depression. This episode takes place on an alien world, but an alien world that has based their system of government on 1930s Chicago gangster rule. Kirk does a hilariously and probably intentionally bad gangster accent for most of the episode. This is a truly silly episode that encapsulates some of the potential that most of The Original Series aspired to but didn't quite reach.


903: Second Chances (TNG)
(Riker, Laforge, Crusher, Data, Worf,  Troi, Picard)

A transporter accident splits a crew member into two distinct entities which is going to have minor but long-reaching consequences for the entire universe.


904: Cupid's Errant Arrow/Much Ado About Boimler  (LD)
(Boimler, Tendi, Rutherford, Mariner, Freeman, Ransom, T'ana, Ramsey, Docent, Barbara)

Mariner suspects Boimler's girlfriend has ulterior motives for liking him. A stressed captain from another ship wishes to transfer to the more borning Cerritos. And sure, some transport accidents give you a cool clone with fake sideburns, but in Lower Decks they make it so that Bornier is slightly out of phase, so he's sent to The Farm for ... a better life? 


905 & 906: The Search (DS9)
(Sisko, Odo, Quark, Kira,  Bashir, Dax, O'Brien, Garak)

So, it turns out the Jem'Hadar are just soldiers who work for The Founders, and they are the unfuckwithable adversaries for the season. Starfleet uses their newest ship, The Defiant, to try and track them down. But the Jem'Hadar have other plans. Oh, and Odo ends up finally meeting aliens just like him. 


907: The Defiant (DS9)
(Riker, Kira, Sisko, Dukat, Bashir, Dax, O'Brien, Quark)

Here's some consequences from "Second Chances" that I wouldn't have predicted: Starfleet has their first cloakable ship and it's been hijacked by one of their own. Erm. Sort of one of their own.


908. Worst Case Scenario / Crisis Point (VOY)/(LD)
(Paris, Tuvok, Janeway, Torres, Seska, Doctor, Neelix, Les, Kim)

A Holodeck program pits the Starfleet members of Voyager against the Maquis members, and a few members of the crew find themselves trapped in the program.

On the Cerritos, a Holodeck adventure teaches Boimler something the audience has known for a while but will change the relationships between the Lower Decks crew.



 909 & 910: Improbable Cause/Die Is Cast (DS9)
(Garak, Odo, Bashir, Sisko, O'Brien, Dax, Kira, Eddington)

It has been inferred since the beginning of Deep Space Nine, that Garak, a Cardassian tailor, is actually a high ranking spy. So when his shop is blown up under mysterious circumstances, Bashir and Odo delve into his past.


911: The Adversary (DS9)
(Sisko, Dax, O'Brien, Eddington, Jake, Quark, Kira, Odo, Bashir)

Like Odo, The Founders are all changelings, so imagine the damage they could do if they infiltrated Starfleet and Deep Space Nine. Oh, shit, did that already happen?


912:  Doomsday Machine/Veritas (TOS)/(LD)
(Kirk, Spock, McCoy, Scott, Sulu)
(Mariner, Boimler, Tendi, Rutherford, Freeman, Ransom, Shaxs, Tana, Billups, Q)

After discovering several ravaged star systems, Enterprise encounters The Constellation, another Federation ship, but one that's been badly damaged. Like every Starfleet Captain they encounter, Constellation's has gone cuckoo pants. When the planet killing machine that damaged The Constellation starts to follow The Enterprise, Captain Cuckoo Pants takes over the ship before Kirk can get back on board. The planet killer is deduced to be from an alternate dimension. Wait...so...there are other Star Trek dimensions?

The Cerritos lower decks crew is put on trial to defend the actions of the bridge crew but something is very, very amiss.


913 & 914: Descent (TNG)
(Data, Picard, Riker, Crusher, Worf, LaForge, Troi, Lore, Hugh)

The Borg are back, and a couple of characters we haven't seen for a while resurface and threaten the Federation with imminent destruction.


915. The Samaritan Snare (TNG)
(Riker, Laforge, Troi, Picard, Wesley, Data, Pulaski, Worf)

Introducing, the Pakleds, an unevolved race that seeks the immediate satisfaction of technology and weapons. But, alas, Picard is away getting surgery, so it's up to Riker, Data, Troi, Worf, and Pulaski to rescue Laforge when the Pakleds take him hostage.


916. Return Of The Archons / No Small Parts (TOS)/(LD)
(Kirk, Spock, McCoy, Sulu, Uhura)

We go all the way back to OG Kirk/Spock times as the most familiar crew of The Enterprise ends up on a planet where a cult is all prim and proper during the day but at night it's All Purge All The Time. How is this connected to a previous Starfleet mission?

On the Cerritos, we travel from "Return Of The Archons" to "The Samaritan Snare" to "Second Chances" references in this delightful episode where Boimler accidentally reveals a secret he shouldn't know.


917. The Chase (TNG)
(Picard, Riker, Worf, Crusher, Troi, Data, Laforge)

It's all about unity when the Federation, The Klingons, The Romulans, and The Cardassians chase down an ancient artifact on a strange planet.


918.  Deadlock (VOY)
(Janeway, Torres, Kes, Doctor, Chakotay, Paris, Neelix)

Two Voyagers? This seems like it could be a problem. Can one Janeway see through the rift in time and save her crew where the other Janway failed?


919 & 920. All Good Things (TNG)
(Picard, Crusher, Troi, Laforge, Worf, Data, Riker, Q, Yar, O'Brien)

Picard is having memory problems causing us to bounce around the Star Trek timeline a bit more than usual.

801 & 802. The Caretaker (VOY)
(Janeway, Kim, Paris, Chakotay, Torres, Tuvok, Neelix, Doctor, Kes, Quark)

The Maquis situation is out of control, and The Federation has called in Voyager to handle it. Our new cast of officers follows our new cast of villains through a wormhole and end up waaaaaaaaaaaaay far away from home, and might even have to work together to survive. Cool concept, right? Well, it will go out the window pretty shortly, so enjoy the tension while it lasts.


803. First Contact (TNG)
(Picard, Riker, Troi, Crusher, Data, Worf)
​
Prime Directive episodes are usually tedious interactions where different crew members argue over whether or not to help some world that they probably imperiled in the first place. I've spared you from most of them. In this episode, they've pretty much been caught violating The Prime Directive, despite their best efforts to blend in to an alien populace. This is a damage control episode where the crew tries to work diplomatically to rescue Riker, who was undercover as a Malcorian. There's a lot of American political allegory that is still, sadly, relevant, twenty-six years after this episode aired, but it's not as heavy handed as Star Trek allegory often is.


804. Second Contact / Envoys (LD)
(Boimler, Mariner, Tendi, Rutherford, Freeman, Ransom, T'ana, Barnes)

In this episode, we meet the crew of the Cerritos, whose mission is to visit planets that have had some limited contact with The Federation. Instead of the bridge crew, we spend more time seeing things through the eyes of the less-experienced crew. Then we watch ensign Boimler worry that Mariner is better at everything than he is.


805. Timescape (TNG)
(Picard, Data, Troi, Laforge, Crusher, Riker, Worf)

While several key officers are on an away mission, The Enterprise attempts to rescue some Romulans and everything goes wibbly-wobbly-timey-wimey. The away team thinks they've figured out a way to overcome the time problems, but can they fix The Enterprise or the Romulan vessel before either or both of them explode?


806. Crossover (DS9)
(Kira, Bashir, Sisko, Odo, Dax, O'Brien, Quark, Garak)

It's really a Golden Age of Star Trek. Next Gen overlaps with Deep Space Nine, which then overlaps with Voyager. Such good times. So why not have a crossover. But let's have Deep Space Nine crossover with, oh, I don't know, THE MIRRORVERSE DEEP SPACE NINE. Dun dun dun. Any timeline with Smiley O'Brien in it, seems like a fine timeline to me.


807. Learning Curve (VOY)
(Janeway, Tuvok, Torres, Chakotay, Neelix, Doctor, Kes, Paris, Kim)

One of the rare Voyager episodes that spent time dealing with the differences between Starfleet and The Maquis. Also, Neelix accidentally causes some unique chaos.


808. Lower Decks (TNG)
(Picard, Worf, Crusher, Riker, Laforge, Troi, Data, a bunch of people you'll never see again)

Did you know there are other people on the Enterprise besides the usual crew? In this episode we watch a bunch of ensigns vying for promotion on the ship. It's a cool way to explore the relationship between the senior staff, and how they've grown over the duration of the show.


809. Relics (TNG)
(Scott, Laforge, Picard, Riker, Crusher, Worf, Data)
​
One of the best episodes of the series, the crew of The Enterprise finds Commander Scott from TOS trapped in a transporter loop. Not only is this the best episode featuring Scott of the series, it's one of the best Laforge episodes, too. That's three "best"s in one paragraph. It seems as though I enjoyed this treatise on how quickly technology makes the old seem obsolete.


810. I Borg (TNG)
(Picard, Crusher, Laforge, Guinan, Data, Riker, Troi, Worf)

The Borg are interesting villains in that they don't care to kill or acknowledge individuals, they are only interested in assimilating entire species at once. So when the crew of The Enterprise rescues a single Borg, against the wishes of Picard, Guinan, and most of the crew, everyone has to reevaluate their position on TNG's biggest bad. This episode gave me one the most positive visceral reactions to a Star Trek episode I've ever had.


811. Changeling (TOS)
(Kirk, Spock, McCoy, Scott, Uhura, Sulu, Chapel)

It's the original series cast vs. Wall-E, as a friendly little Starfleet droid threatens to destroy the entire universe if it doesn't get its way.


812. Dreadnought (VOY)
(Torres, Janeway, Chakotay, Doctor)

There isn't enough of the Maquis storyline in Voyager, given its pilot episode. This is a nice glimpse of what might have been as Torres encounters a Cardassian weapon she reprogrammed when she was a part of the Maquis. Can she stop it from destroying a completely innocent planet full of life?


813. Whispers (DS9)
(O'Brien, Keiko, Sisko, Bashir, Odo, Jake, Quark)

Is O'Brien having memory problems? Or is he just fine, and the entire crew of Deep Space Nine, including his wife, has turned evil? This is a fun twist on the alternate universe trope in Star Trek. 


814. Flashback (VOY)
(Tuvok, Janeway, Sulu, Rand, Neelix, Kes, Doctor, Chakotay, Kim, Kang)

On Voyager, Tuvok seems to be having an emotional response to a memory. In order to determine the cause, he mind melds with Janeway and they go back to his most important memory, when he served under Captain Sulu, during the plot of "The Undiscovered Country", way back in season three of this continuity. I think this would have been a solid episode, even if it didn't feature cast members from TOS, but seeing Sulu and Rand again is an absolute blast. Plus, Kang from a terrible TOS epsode, "Day Of The Dove," is back again (and yes, he is the basis for the Treehouse Of Horror alien from The Simpsons).


815. Frame Of Mind (TNG)
(Riker, Picard, Crusher, Worf, Data, Laforge)

Is Riker insane? While practicing a play about losing his mind, Riker wakes up in solitary confinement. Uh-oh.


816. Eye Of The Needle (VOY)
(Janeway, Torres, Tuvok, Paris, Kim, Doctor, Neelix, Kes)

Is the crew of Voyager saved already?  They find a wormhole back to the Alpha Quadrant. Ok, it's too small to fit a ship through, but they can send a message and get rescued, right?


817. A Matter Of Perspective (TNG)
(Riker, Picard, Laforge, Troi, O'Brien, Worf, Crusher, Data, Wesley)

Guilty until proven innocent is the law of the land for a planet where Riker is accused of murder. It's a court drama episode that's mainly hear as a comparison for the next episode


818. Ex Post Facto (VOY)
(Tuvok, Paris, Janeway, Chakotay, Tprres, Kes, Neelix, Doctor, Kim)

Now it's Paris's turn to be accused of murder, and it's up to Tuvok to save him, which involves a good, old-fashioned Vulcan mind meld! 

​
819 & 820. Chain Of Command (TNG)
(Picard, Worf, Crusher, Riker, Troi, Laforge, Data)

There are FOUR lights, and they all point to a war with the Cardassians on the horizon.

This is about as focused a season of Star Trek as you're ever likely to see. We begin with a look into Ferengi culture, which is usually presented with disdain by hu-mons and other members of The Federation but put on your No-Bigotry glasses and check out Quark's perspective and how it does and doesn't properly reflect Ferengi culture.

But the big focus of the season is The Cardassian/Bajoran conflict. Yes, it's The Heart of Deep Space Nine's first couple of seasons, but we're also going to explore it via The Enterprise, as Ensign Ro joins the crew, giving us some non-Kira Bajoran perspective. A lot goes down in the conflict this season, as we're introduced to the Bajoran terrorist cell called The Maquis, who are going to be a big part of Voyager, which well dive into next season.

701-02: Unification (TNG)
(Picard, Spock, Data, Riker, Worf, Laforge, Crusher, Troi, Sarek, Gowran, Sela)

Woohoo! It's Spock on TNG. But, um, has he defected to the Romulan side of the Vulcan/Romulan conflict? And what does this have to do with Tasha Yar's Romulan daughter or Spock's father?


703. Acquisition (ENT)
(Archer, Tucker, T'Pol, Phlox, Reed, Sato, Mayweather)

Tucker is the only crew member of The Enterprise conscious when they're invaded by an alien race seeking to loot their ship. No bonus points for guessing it's Ferengi.


704. The Nagus (DS9)
(Quark, Sisko, Kira, Odo, Nagus, Bashir, Jake, O'Brien, Dax,  Rom, Nog, Zek)

It's time to learn about Ferengi culture with the station's favorite bartender, and a slew of strangers who may be important down the line. Also, O'Brien is substitute teacher for his wife's school.


705. Duet (DS9)
(Kira, Sisko, Bashir, Odo, Gul Dukat, Dax, Quark)

Someone who appears to be a Cardassian war criminal with ties to Kira's past shows up on Deep Space Nine. Kira wants him tried on Bajor, Gul Dukat wants him returned to the Cardassians.  Despite a moderately weak and predictable ending, most of this episode is a very interesting look at the guilt of not-necessarily-innocent bystanders during acts of war.


706-708. The Homecoming/The Circle/The Seige (DS9)
(Kira, O'Brien, Sisko, Odo, Bashir, Dax, Quark, Rom, Keiko)

A Bajoran resistance group called The Splinter comes to play in the war with The Cardassians. Their plans to rise to power include eliminating all alien life on Bajor, including the non-Bajoran staff on Deep Space Nine.


709. Ensign Ro (TNG)
(Picard, Ro, Guinan, Riker, Data, Worf, Crusher, Troi, Laforge)

Starfleet shenanigans put a court martialed officer of a race made refugee by The Cardassians on The Enterprise. It's an interesting look at prejudice, and how politicians use terrorism and tragedy for their own ends. Something Star Trek often attempts, but rarely pulls off.


710. Disaster (TNG)
(Picard, O'Brien, Ro, Troi, Riker, Data, Crusher, Laforge, Worf)

Several disaster movie cliches are overlapped in the most character-driven episode since "Family". The O'Brien/Ro/Troi interplay is my favorite non-main character study so far in the chronology. Also, it's nice to see a story where kids are just annoying children as opposed to spooky, powerful menaces.


711. Cardassians (DS9)
(Bashir, Sisko, O'Brien, Garak, Gul Dukat, Keiko, Odo)

A Cardassian orphaned child raised by Bajorans ends up in the middle of a custody dispute. I really enjoy the writing on Deep Space Nine, but like most Star Trek shows, the episodes are usually pretty well telegraphed. This one doesn't have any M Night Shyamalan twists, it just doesn't take the easiest way out.


712. Cause And Effect (TNG)
(Picard, Riker, Crusher, Data, Worf, Laforge, Ro)

Another time loop episode! How will they figure their way out of the loop this time?


713.  Conundrum (TNG)
(Picard, Riker, Worf, Data, Troi, Crusher, Laforge, Ro)

A strange ship begins scanning the Enterprise, and then suddenly no one in the crew knows who they are. They still retain all of their skills and talents but they can't place their own identities. Then they are told Starfleet is being threatened by a technologically impaired alien race, and they must completely wipe them out.


714. Rules Of Acquisition (DS9)
(Quark, Kira, Dax, Nagus, Sisko, Rom, Odo)

Staying with The Deep Space Nine crew, but taking a break from all the Cardassian/Bajoran problems, we focus on the Ferengi bartender of the ship as he attempts to expand Ferengi business contacts to the other side of the Wormhole. Most of the focus of this episode is on gender politics in Ferengi culture, which is wildly misogynist, even for a Star Trek species. Also, his brother is a moron. And his even more misogynist mentor thinks intelligent Ferengi females are "inconceivable", though he may not know what that word means.


715. Next Phase (TNG)
(Ro, Laforge, Picard, Crusher, Riker, Data, Worf)

From aging to death. And, once again, a transporter is at the center of it, as Ro and Laforge are believed dead, but have actually been phased in such a way that they can observe the crew but can not be observed, except by each other. 


716. Preemptive Strike (TNG)
(Ro, Picard, Riker, Troi, Crusher, Worf, Data)

Newly promoted Lieutenant Ro goes undercover in a Maquis terrorist cell. But will she go rogue and leave the Federation to help her Bajoran brethren battle the Cardassians? Nah, this is a Star Trek episode. I'm sure everything will go back to status quo by the end.


717 & 718. The Maquis (DS9)
(Sisko, Dax, Gul Dukat, Quark, Bashir, Kira)

In the last episode, we learned of The Maquis, a Bajoran terrorist cell that will begin to reform the Star Trek universe. Now we see the group the lens of Deep Space Nine.


719. The Wire (DS9)
(Bashir, Garak, Dax, Quark, Sisko, Kira, O'Brien)

Garak is either a spy, or a Cardassian going against stereotype to assist the federation. It's always been unclear which side he's on, but, unlike Gul Dukat, there seems to be no menace to him. But when Doctor Bashir discovers a malfunctioning chip in Garak's head, he decides to go further into his investigation of Garak's motives.


720. Collaborator (DS9)
(Kira, Odo, Dax, O'Brien, Quark, Videk Winn, Sisko)

Bajorans working with Cardassians must mean shenanigans. And look at how many people AREN'T in this episode. No Bashir, no Dukat, no Garak, no Jake, even Captain Sisko is barely in this episode. She. nanigans.

This first half of the season gives us a focus on Starfleet's relation with The Klingons. Kirk's Enterprise deals with Kirk's prejudice against them while The Next Generation spends much of this season dealing with Worf's family.

Then, meet the cast of Deep Space Nine! Bajorans! Cardassians! Whatever Odo is! Their human captain who seems like a nice guy but boyyyyyyy does he hate Picard (with good reasons). We also spend more time with time problems, and there's a sort of crossover between Enterprise and The Next Generation.

Episode 601: The Undiscovered Country (TOSM)
(Kirk, McCoy, Spock, Sulu, Uhura, Scott, Chekov, Rand, Sarek, Worf)

This is it, the end of The Original Series cast. That offhanded joke I made about The Wrath Of Kirk? Wellllll, he may have gone a little bit speciesist, and his behavior makes him the prime suspect when a Klingon Peace Advocate is assassinated. It's up to the crew of The Enterprise, along with Captain Sulu from The Excelsior (a ship The Enterprise sabotaged back in Search For Spock) to clear Kirk's name. Again, we get a Rand cameo, and we also see Michael Dorn, who played Worf in The Next Generation and Deep Space Nine, play an unnamed Klingon lawyer, who I like to believe was Worf, and that the kangarooness of the court proceedings led him to quit the bar and join Starfleet. Wave goodbye to the crew. You might see one or two of them pop up in future seasons, but this is the last time the bulk of the cast gets to interact, as it's finally time for The Enterprise to be decommissioned.


Episode 602: Sins Of The Father (TNG)
(Worf, Picard, Riker, Data, Wesley, Laforge, Crusher, Troi)

Last season, we saw Riker transferred to a Klingon ship as part of an exchange program. This season, a Klingon officer comes to work on The Enterprise. But, OH SHIT, it's Worf's younger brother, and he has some distressing family news.


Episode 603: Reunion (TNG)
(Worf, Picard, Riker, Data, Wesley, Laforge, Crusher, Troi)

The fallout of "Sins Of The Father" come into play, and one of Worf's exes shows up to help mitigate it. She's brought a surprise, and so have they.


Episode 604: Allegiance (TNG)
(Picard, Riker, Crusher, Troi, Worf, Laforge, Data, Wesley)

It wasn't so long ago that Picard was captured by The Borg and assimilated, so you'd think they'd up security on The Enterprise, but, no, I am unsure if there is a single season where whomever is captaining The Enterprise at any given moment, isn't abducted by someone he can't identify (or Q, it is often Q). This episode serves as a morality play for Picard while the rest of the crew contends with a mostly ineffectual Picard doppelganger.


Episode 605: Future Imperfect (TNG)
(Riker, Picard, Crusher, Laforge, Data, Worf, Troi)

After a noxious gas incident with Worf and Laforge, Riker wakes up to discover he's forgotten sixteen years of his life, and he's now Captain of The Enterprise. This is what Kirk would have called a Tuesday. Will this episode mean the entire chronology jumps forward sixteen years?                                                   No.


Episode 606: Clues (TNG)
(Data, Picard, Crusher, Worf, Laforge, Riker, O'Brien, Guinan)

Data regains consciousness after some sort of event knocks out everyone on board The Enterprise. He believes that thirty seconds have been stolen from the entire crew, but all signs point to something larger and more disconcerting.

​
Episode 607: A Matter Of Time (TNG)
(Picard, Crusher, Riker, Data, Laforge, Worf, Troi)

An annoying time traveler (Max Headroom...aka Dr. Leekie from Orphan Black) shows up to observe what he claims is a pivotal mission for The Enterprise. It's a fun twist on a Prime Directive episode as the crew are the ones being kept in the dark to preserve the time continuum Or Whatever. It's mainly fun to watch an actor portray an annoying character and not have it be agonizing to watch.


Episode 608: The Defector (TNG)
(Picard, Riker, Data, Worf, Crusher, Laforge, Troi)

For most of the series, the Romulans have been an offscreen threat. We don't even know precisely why they're at war with Starfleet, other than they both want to explore the world and claim it as their own. In this episode, a top officer from The Romulans defects to Starfleet, claiming he knows about a weapon that will change the tide of war.  


Episodes 609 & 610: Emissary (DS9)
(Sisko, Picard, O'Brien, Kira, Odo, Jake, Quark, Dax, Bashir, Keiko, Nog, Gul Dukat)

What war, you might ask? Well, way back in Season Five of this continuity, Capt. Picard became a borg named Locutus who blew up a bunch of Federation ships on his course to destroy Earth (which he failed to do). One of the ships he blew up contained Benjamin Sisko who is now traveling with Picard to an abandoned Cardassian space station called Deep Space Nine. Picard totally killed this guy's wife, so he is Not Pleased with him or the assignment, but he and his son decide to join the crew of Deep Space Nine, anyway, and are joined by Enterprise transporter engineer O'Brien, and his wife, Enterprise botanist Keiko. Plus a ragtag crew of Bajorans, Ferenghi, Trill, and whatever the hell Odo is. The Cardassian space station is the center for the war we learned about in the previous episode.


Episode 611: Amok Time (TOS)
(Spock, Kirk, McCoy, Sulu, Uhuru, Chekov, Chapel, T'Pring, T'Pau)

Vulcan love rituals are sooooooooo archaic. Witness Spock's pon farr from the era of The Original Series.


Episode 612:. Spock Amok (SNW)
(Spock, T'Pring, Chapel, Pike, Singh, Uhura, M'Bega, 1, Ortegas, April, Kyle)

It's classic body swap shenanigans when Spock's fiancee visits during a very important diplomatic meeting with a race of moody aliens who are trying to decide whether to align with Starfleet or The Klingons. Oh, and the two "fun-killers" on staff play Enterprise Bingo to get a better emotional connection with the crew. Oh, hey, isn't this pretty much just an alternate version of the previous episode? It even has Chapel in it!


Episode 613 & 614: Redemption (TNG)
(Worf, Picard, Guinan, Data, Riker, Yar)

Let's cool off from that steamy Vulcan lust with a tie into a major storyline, as we revisit the chaos of The Klingon empire. It's a direct sequel to "Reunion", though much time has elapsed. It's a satisfying conclusion(?) to the story arc begun in "Sins Of The Father".


Episode 615: Past Prologue (DS9)
(Kira, Sisko, Bashir, Garak, Odo, O'Brien, Dax, Keiko)

Much of this season focuses on Cardassian and Bajoran war criminals, and how to keep the peace after all the terrible things they did to one another during the war. Deep Space Nine's first officer, Kira, was once a member of a Bajoran underground movement that the Cardassians consider terrorists. When one of her old cohorts shows up, the newly assembled crew needs to figure out how much they can trust each other, and how much they can trust The Cardassians. And what the hell are the sisters of Duras from Redemption doing on Deep Space Nine?


Episode 616: Man Alone (DS9)
(Odo, Sisko, Dax, O'Brien, Keiko, Bashir, Nog, Jake, Quark)

Deep Space Nine's security officer, Odo, has held the post since the station was run by Cardassians, and while some of the Bajorans trust him, everyone is put on edge when a criminal he sent to prison shows up on board and is swiftly murdered.


Episode 617: Pegasus (TNG)
(Riker, Picard, Worf, Data, Troi, Laforge)

After Riker graduated from Starfleet Academy, he served on a ship called Pegasus where Bad Shit Went Down. He and the Captain, another tropey incompetent Starfleet Asshole (a younger John Locke from Lost!) were the only two who escaped. But what did they escape from, and why are the Romulans interested? DUN DUN-DUNNNNN.


Episode 618: The Are The Voyages (ENT/TNG)
(Riker, Archer, T'Pol, Trip, Shran, Soto, Troi, Mayweather, Reed, Phlox, Data)

This is one of the most hated episodes of Star Trek. But more for its context than its content. It was aired as the final episode of Enterprise, which was a slap in the face to the cast of Enterprise, because it's actually a TNG episode. During the events of "Pegasus", Riker goes to the holodeck to examine his problem from multiple angles. To do so, he recreates The Enterprise from Enterprise (I know, I know), and acts as cook, talking with each crew member about different decisions they've made during their Starfleet Career. It would have probably been liked or loved if it had been in the middle of the season instead of the end. I like it as a non-canon chance for Enterprise and TNG to crossover. Because we're going to come back to Enterprise at least once more, and nothing that happens in this episode will have ever happened to them, but it has helped Riker make a difficult decision during "Pegasus".


Episode 619: Babel (DS9)
(Bashir, O'Brien, Sisko, Quark, Odo, Kira, Jake, Dax)

More a companion to Darmok than Journey To Babel or Babel One, the episode focuses on the effects of a Cardassian engineered virus that causes aphasia in its victims. And then they die, of course, unable to express what they're going through.


Episode 620: The Inner Light (TNG)
(Picard, Crusher, Riker, Data, Laforge, Troi)

A probe seeks information from Picard, and to get it, makes him live an entire lifetime where his new family and friends convince him that his life on The Enterprise was a dream.

One of the fun parts of curating your own continuity, is that you can twist episodes around and create entirely new storylines. So this season will introduce us to Q and The Borg, and the concept of The Traveler. But it will also explain Beverly Crusher's long absence from the show, as she disappears in "Remember Me", is replaced by Pulaski with zero explanation, and then returns, along with Tasha Yar after a tear in the fabric of reality occurs in "Yesterday's Enterprise". After that, Pulaski is never mentioned again.

We also get to meet The Gorn this season. We got a brief glimpse of them in the mirrorverse in Season 2 but now we get the original terrible episode of The Original Series, and then see them become a major threat in Strange New Worlds.

I love watching this altered season.

Episode 501: Where No One Has Gone Before (TNG)
(Wesley, Picard, Riker, Crusher, Laforge, Data, Traveler)

An annoying faux-engineer and his alien counterpart, The Traveler, are trying to improve The Enterprise's warp drive. They end up causing the ship to be hurtled far beyond charted space, where they are left at the end of the episode. This is a pro-Wesley episode.


Episode 502: Q Who (TNG)
(Picard, Q, Riker, Troi, Data, Laforge, Crusher)

I LOATHE Q. He's my least favorite recurring character in all of the Star Trek franchise. But there's no denying his existence, as he pops up in some crucial episodes. For my continuity's sake, the crew mever got back to charted territory in the last episode, so they're still trying to figure out where to go when they encounter the weird Q moron, who leads them straight into the cubey hands of the newest Star Trek enemy race: The Borg!


Episode 503: Remember Me (TNG)
(Crusher, Picard, Wesley, Traveler,  Laforge, Wesley, Data, Troi, Worf, O'Brien)

Returning from their Borg mission, Enterprise docks at a Starfleet base. One of Dr. Crusher's old professors visits the ship, but soon after his arrival, he disappears, and there is no record of him ever existing. Slowly, but surely, the whole Enterprise Crew also starts to disappear. This sounds like some Traveler shenanigans.


Episode 504: Peak Performance (TNG)
​(Picard, Riker, Data, Worf,  Wesley, Troi, Pulaski, Laforge, O'Brien)

It's time for war games between Picard and Riker, with the bridge crew being divided between them, as well as Data and a strategy expert (think of an entertainingly weasley chess master) battling over a game of Strategem (think of a Nintendo Wii version of speed chess, that they never explain the rules to...which is to the benefit of the episode). Naturally, something happens that turns the war games into an important life or death struggle. This episode features Pulaski instead of Crusher, as I like to imagine she is still missing from the events of the last episode.


Episode 505: The Emissary (TNG)
(Worf, Picard, Riker, Troi, Data, Laforge, Pulaski, Clancy)

Not my favorite episode but it introduces Worf's ex, a half-Klingon/half-human political ambassador whose existence is vital to later continuity.  Also, still no Beverly Crusher. 


Episode 506: A Matter Of Honor (TNG)
(Riker, Picard, Data, Worf, Wesley, Pulaski, Laforge)

Klingon culture is complicated, and the early episodes of TNG that focus on Worf and his relation with his heritage are Not Very Good. In this episode, we see the Klingons through the lens of Riker, who is assigned as First Officer on a Klingon ship. Some chaos ensues when someone similar to Wesley's friend from the first episode fails to alert either The Enterprise or the Klingon that there is something on the Klingon hull that could destroy the ship.


Episode 507: Elementary My Dear Data (TNG)
(Data, Laforge, Picard, Pulaski, Moriarity, Riker, Worf, Troi, Clancy)

Pulaski suggests that Data work on his problem solving skills on the holodeck, where he and Laforge discover the joys of playing Sherlock Holmes. Then, as they often do, things go awry.


 Episode 508: Contagion (TNG)
(Picard, Riker, Laforge, Worf, Data, Troi, Wesley, Pulaski, O'Brien)

A computer related  problem, a lost Starfleet vessel, Romulans, and Pulaski. It's not a great episode, but it has an interesting conceit. And ... no Crusher.


Episode 509: Time Squared (TNG)
(Picard, Pulaski, Riker, Data, Laforge, Troi, O'Brien)

For our continuity's sake, the technological problem from Contagion is the cause of another glitch, this one phases Picard slightly out of synch with the universe. The crew, including Doctor Pulaski, barely manage to fix the problem, and save Picard. But the slight rip in time leads to...


Episode 510: Yesterday's Enterprise (TNG)
(Picard, Data, Yar, Guinan, Riker, Worf, Laforge, Wesley, Crusher)

A rip in time causes a dimensional change that's a bit like The Mirror Universe we explored in Season Three. The crew isn't evil, but their timeline has changed, and Yar, who died last season, is back. When they encounter a previous Enterprise crew (the crew from between TOS and TNG), they know they have to send the ship back to its original time, where they all will die, in order to prevent the Starfleet/Klingon war that dominates this Mirrorverse.  Any scenes with Beverly Crusher before the time rip are edited out. So that there's some shock for the viewers (but not the crew, who don't know that their timeline has been altered) when both she and Tasha Yar are alive again and part of the crew. Unlike Yar, though, Dr. Crusher gets to stick around, and much like in the actual series, Pulaski is never mentioned, as though she never existed at all.


Episode 511: Evolution (TNG)
(Wesley, Picard, Riker, Data, Laforge, Crusher, Worf, Troi)

Dr. Bob Kelso from Scrubs was an insufferable prick in the Star Trek universe, as well. His science mission comes in conflict with one of Wesley's school experiments, which is in conflict with The Enterprise's computer. This is one of the best Wesley episodes in the series, and has him acting like his mom was merely away for a while on a mission, and not that she ceased to exist for a while.


Episode 512: Carbon Creek (ENT)
(T'Pol, Archer, Tucker)

Over dinner, T'Pol is asked to explain a trip she took to Pennsylvania before joining the crew of Enterprise, and we learn that First Contact between humans and Vulcans isn't the story we thought it was. 


Episode 513: Arena (TOS)
(Kirk, Spock, McCoy, Uhuru, Scott, Sulu, Lesley)

There's a reason we skipped over this episode when we were deep in The Original Series. It is TERRIBLE. The acting, the fighting, the alien costumes. Just one of the worst episodes of the series. But comically The Worst as opposed to The Most Boring. And while I don't remember the Metatrons returning, we do encounter The Gorn again in Strange New Worlds, so I figured we should check out their terrible origin.


Episode 514: Momento Mori (SNW)
(Pike, Singh, Spock, 1, Ortegas, M’Benga, Hemmer, Chapel, Uhura)

Oh hey, look, it's The Gorn again! This time, instead of a slow moving, fake looking alien, they're an unseen dangerous menace who wipe out entire colonies. Luckily, Singh has some experience with them and can help try and save The Enterprise from imminent doom.


Episode 515: Sarek (TNG)
(Picard, Sarek, Riker, Crusher, Data, Laforge, Worf, Troi)

The crew of The Enterprise hosts Spock's dad and his ... new wife? It turns out that Sarek has what's essentially Vulcan dementia, and it completely messes with the crew.


Episode 516: Simultude (ENT)
(Trip, Archer, T'Pol, Phlox, Reed, Sato, Mayweather)

While we're basking in our sadness, let's check back with the crew of the first Enterprise. During repairs, Trip is gravely injured, and Phlox suggests a controversial technique, wherein a clone of Trip, with a fifteen day life cycle is created purely to harvest parts of its brain to help Trip recover. It is Dark and Emotionally Draining to watch, but well-written, and fast paced.


Episodes 517 & 518: Best Of Both Worlds (TNG)
(Riker, Picard, Data, Worf, Laforge, Crusher, Wesley, Guinan, Troi)

The Borg are back in town! And they abduct one of The Enterprise crew and turn them into The Borg before heading to Earth to assimilate the human race.


Episode 519: Regeneration (ENT)
(Phlox, Archer, T'Pol.. Reed, Mayweather, Sato, Tucker)

What if, and hear me out on this, Picard's crew Weren't the first humans to interact with The Borg? What if Archer's Enterprise encountered them but just didn't know what they were? What if the cure for assimilation was discovered hundreds of year before Locutus?


Episode 520: Family (TNG)
(Picard, Worf, Troi, Riker, Crusher, Wesley)

After the cataclysmic events of "Best Of Both Worlds", the crew has some down time, and we get some insight on the off-mission lives of Picard, Worf, and the Crushers. This is unlike any other TNG episode, and it's a cool change of pace. And a precursor to something that will take place several seasons in the future.

The purpose of this project was to present a fun chronology for people new to Star Trek or even long term fans who are looking for a new way to watch the series. As such, I've tried to steer clear of the worst episodes of Star Trek. But, I guess if you don't see Any terrible episodes than you don't realize just how good the rest of them are.

This season is our introduction to The Next Generation cast. Now that we've shunted the crew of Discovery into the future, it's time to meet Picard and his crew. because there are no rules to my continuity, I can skip most to all of season one of Next Generation. Spoiler alert: It was awful. The blandest episodes were just homages to the original series, the best episodes tended to focus on Data, and the worst episodes usually involved Q, who we'll meet next season. 

While I've edited out most of the eye-rollingest episodes, there are some bad episodes of TNG that you sort of need to experience to appreciate how they're rectified as the season matured. They're also sort of necessary for major continuity points. Sorry.

I've even shuffled in a bad episode of TOS (and TOS had three seasons of episodes, and maybe three-quarters of a season's worth of good episodes) so you can see that the tropes of Starfleet being incompetent and possibly brimming with madmen has been true since the series first debuted.

Episode 401: Coming Of Age (TNG)
(Picard, Riker, Wesley, Crusher, Troi, Worf, Data, Laforge)

In the actual viewing order, this episode of The Next Generation shows up about halfway through the first season, and one of the biggest criticisms of it, is that it has false consequences, as the two major storylines center on crew members possibly leaving the show, which was obviously not going to happen. But while this is not a great episode to endure after you've spent a bunch of time with the crew, it's a great intro.

Starfleet is bastards. We see them from two angles in this episode as an Admiral orders an annoying auditor to investigate Captain Picard's competency while Honorary Ensign Wesley Crusher applies to Starfleet Academy to become an official crew member. As you might expect, not much is at it seems. 


Episode 402: We'll Always Have Paris (TNG)
(Picard, Riker, Data, Crusher, Worf, Laforge, Troi)

Starfleet may be bastards, but it's scientists who keep mucking things about TNG. In this case, a disgraced Starfleet scientist has caused time issues not completely unlike "Magic To Make The Sanest Man Go Mad". Data is chosen to solve the problem, as Picard has the very Kirkian problem of having one of his favorite exes show up on board.


Episode 403: Whom Gods Destroy (TOS)
(Kirk, Spock, Scott, McCoy, Sulu, Uhura, Hadley)

Make no mistake, this is a TERRIBLE episode of Star Trek. It's here to show just how awful Starfleet Bastards can be, as well as give us some Original Series flavor to this season. But it's a bad episode. If you enjoy drinking games, you can probably come up with a couple for this episode.


Episode 404: Conspiracy (TNG)
(Picard, Riker, Data, Crusher, Worf, Laforge, Troi)

A group of rogue Starfleet captains approach Picard about the possibility that Starfleet has been corrupted by an outside source. So when Starfleet orders The Enterprise to a star base, Picard is understandably concerned. When it turns out that the jerky auditor from the first episode, as well as the admiral who sicked the auditor on the ship in the first place, are involved, the crew of The Enterprise springs into action.


​Episode 405: Too Short A Season (TNG)
(Picard, Crusher, Riker, Yar, Worf, Data, Laforge, Troi)

Elderly Starfleet bastards journey to Enterprise to help diffuse a hostage situation. But they are BAD at it.


Episode 406: Strange New Worlds (SNW)
(Pike, Spock, Singh, Ortegas, 1, M’Benga, Hemmer, Chapel, Uhura, T’Pring, April)

Shortly after last season's Discovery fiasco, Cmdr. Pike took a sabattical. Well, it didn't last long before he was called back to Starfleet to track down his missing first officer with a new crew, on his new ship, Enterprise.


Episode 407: Data's Day (TNG)
(Data, O'Brien, Picard, Keiko, Crusher, Troi)

See the ship through Data's eyes, and meet O'Brien's future wife, Keiko. See how Data nearly ruins a wedding but also saves the ship. Also, a cat.


Episode 408: Datalore (TNG)
(Data, Picard, Riker, Yar, Worf, Wesley, Laforge)

It turns out that Data isn't the only android like him. His "brother", Lore, is A Jerk. What happens if he replaces Data as an officer?


Episode 409: Borderlands (ENT)
(Archer, T'Pol, Soong, Phlox, Sato, Trip, Reed, Mayweather)

Was the guy who made Data and Lore evil? We may never know. But the original crew of The Enterprise has to deal with a Klingon problem while they're transporting one of Dr. Soong's ancestors who has been messing around with augmented humans who, as it happens, are wreaking havoc with the Klingons.


Episode 410: The Naked Now (TNG)
(Laforge, Wesley, Crusher, Data, Riker, Picard, Yar)

I'm sorry again. This is another Terrible Trek episode but it has major implications for future episodes, including, and especially, Data. This is basically an echo of the TOS episode "Naked Time" but with more naked consequences.


Episode 411 & 412: Cold Station 12/The Augments (ENT)
(Archer, Soong, Phlox, Trip, Reed, T'Pol, Mayweather, Sato)

Back to the original Enterprise's Klingon and Soong problem, The Augments take over the medical facility that holds thousands of augmented embryos. The situation causes Soong to have to choose between humans and Augments, doctors to choose between the potential for life and their already living colleagues, and The Klingons to choose between killing The Augments, killing the humans, or just killing everyone.


Episode 413: The Most Toys (TNG)
(Data, Picard, Riker, Wesley, Laforge, Worf, O'Brien)

DATA IS NOT A TOY. But there is a collector who values the android's worth, and decides to fake Data's death and steal him from Starfleet, and Data makes a Very Human decision to try and escape. This has one of the few I Am Evil villains that I don't mind, as his motives are purely villainous but believable.


Episode 414: Skin Of Evil (TNG)
(Yar, Troi, Picard, Riker, Worf, Laforge, Data, Crusher, Wesley)

This is the worst TNG episode on the list. By far. It's poorly written, has lackluster effects, and it redshirts a major character for contract reasons. Unfortunately, we kind of need to see the character die for ... reasons.


Episode 415: Charlie X (TOS)
(Kirk, Spock, McCoy, Uhura, Rand, Leslie, Nellis)

We reach all the way back to the second ever episode of Star Trek for this story of a god-like teenager wreaking havoc on the crew. It's a solid episode, and the only reason I held it back until now was because there are some excellent Uhura moments, and I wanted to pair it with the following episode.


Episode 416: Q&A/Children Of The Comet (SNW)
(1, Spock, Pike)
(Uhura, Pike, Spock, Singh, Ortegas, 1, M’Benga, Hemmer, Chapel)

On his first day on Enterprise, Spock gets stuck on a turbo lift with #1.

You can tell me all you want about how progressive the Star Trek universe is, and how we live in a post-racial society because we elected a Black President in 2008, but let it be known that it took SIXTY YEARS before Star Trek did an episode centered on Uhuru. Yea, yea, yea, Burnham is the lead in Discovery and she's a woman of color, but the Uhuru character has been around since the 1960s and she didn't get her moment in the spotlight until 2022. It's a really good episode about becoming part of a team, and I hope it means we'll get another Uhura-centric episode before 2081.


Episode 417: Hollow Pursuits (TNG)
(Laforge, Riker, Barclay, Picard, Data, Wesley, Troi , Worf, Crusher)

I hate holodeck episodes, and this is not generally considered one of the best of them, but it does introduce Barclay who ... sigh ... we will be seeing again later.


Episode 418: Mudd's Passion/The Escape Artist (TAS/ST)
(Mudd, Spock, Kirk, Chapel, McCoy, Uhura, Scott)
(Mudd)

I loathe Barclay. The character is an incel who will eventually get completely undeserved redemption, despite still being a misogynist shitbag. The actor who plays him is a bigoted bag of sewage in a human suit. Just typing about the actor or the character make me angry, so to rectify that, here's a character who's a misogynist villain who is actually a delight to watch and is played by someone who seems to have spent his entire career trying to be a better, more tolerant and loving person. Here, we see Mudd trying to escape from his past sins. And it's fun.


Episode 419: Measure Of A Man
(Data, Picard, Riker, Laforge, Pulaski, Worf, Wesley)

Another Starfleet Bastard tries to interfere with The Enterprise by ordering Data to be dismantled so that he can build more androids for Starfleet. When Data, and then Picard refuse, the issue of Data's status as a lifeform goes to trial with Starfleet's JAG (yea, like the court procedural TV show). This is probably the best episode of the season.


Episode 420, brah: Ghosts Of Illyria (ST/SNW)
(1, Singh, Pike, Spock, Ortegas, M’Benga, Hemmer, Chapel, Uhura)

Invasion of the moth people! The crew of The Enterprise is sent to investigate a planet where an entire colony has disappeared. A virus spreads amongst the crew that gets them addicted to light, and we get some great background on the crew.

The Star Trek Movies era was a delight for long time fans who hadn't seen their beloved cast in a decade. And while the first movie is A Chore to sit through, The Wrath Of Khan began a new, self-aware, and sometimes deliberately silly era of Star Trek.

For this season, we're going to spend the first half focused on Spock. He goes missing in the Motion Picture universe AND he was already missing in the Discovery timeline, so it's fun to see various crews trying to track him down. 

We also spend some time with the other first officers, T'Pol and Saru.

The real story of this series, though, is that it's the end of our voyages with Discovery for a looooooooong time.  Also, the cast of The Original Series (and Movies) is going to be seen less frequently going forward. Don't be sad, though, they'll be flashed back to several times in the continuity as reference points for some of the more modern shows.

​

Episode 301: The Wrath Of Khan (TOSM)
(Kirk, Spock, McCoy, Chekov, Khan, Scott, Sulu, Uhura, Saavik)

Sure, we're back in the original dimension, but it's many years later. Kirk is an admiral, Spock's back on Vulcan, and Chekov is a commander on The Reliant. On a research mission, Chekov runs into Khan from last season, and is forced into a trap intended to ensnare Kirk. But what's more important to Khan? Killing Kirk or getting his hands on The Genesis Device?


Episode 302: Brother (DIS)
(Burnham, Pike, Saru, Tilly, Stamets, Sarek, Grayson, Reno, Linus)

Something major happened to Spock at the end of The Wrath Of Khan, so now we're going to go all the way back to when he was a child, and explore his relationship with Burnham. And, oh yea, Pike is now the temporary captain of The Discovery, as the ship goes off in search of the cause of the Seven Lights. We'll be seeing a lot of him this season.


Episode 303: An Obol For Charon (DIS)
(Burnham, Pike, Saru, Tilly, Stamets, Reno, Linus)

Like one of the classic episodes, an unidentified sphere takes control of Discovery, messes with its computer, and turns the whole ship higgledy-piggledy. It also triggers an illness in Saru that is fatal to his species.


Episode 304: Fallen Hero
(Archer, Ph'lox, T'Pol, Reed, Mayweather, Sato, Trip)

First officers having cultural identity problems occur all over the Star Trek timeline. During the Enterprise era, T'Pol must balance her loyalty to the crew with her Vulcan heritage. 


Episode 305: The Sound Of Thunder (DIS)
(Saru, Burnham, Pike, Tyler, Stamets, Culber, Linus)

Everything Saru knew about his species lifespan was a lie, so he decides to break The Prime Directive to set his species free. Plus, Culber is alive again, and Tyler is back on the ship. Awwwwwkwaaaaaaaaaaard.


Episode 306: The Search For Spock (TOSM)
(Kirk, McCoy, Scott, Saavik, Uhura, Sulu, Chekov, Sarek, Spock)

The Wrath Of Khan is considered by most to be The Best Star Trek movie, and I don't disagree. It sets all the rest of The Star Trek films into motion as a really cool storyarc on aging military personnel desperately clinging to power. Here, the crew of The Enterprise must defy Starfleet to rescue their missing friend. Also, Klingon bastards do Something that will incur The Wrath Of Kirk.


Episode 307: If Memory Serves (DIS)
(Spock, Burnham, Pike, Saru, Stamets, Tilly, Tyler, Georgiou, Culber)

It looks like The Enterprise wasn't the only ship to find Spock. Young Spock is back with Burnham trying to get to the Discovery via Thalos IV, the planet from The Menagerie. What will his involvement due to help them discover the purpose of The Red Angel, and how will it affect Discovery's relationship with Starfleet and Section 31?


Episode 308: Project Daedalus (DIS)
(Spock, Burnham, Pike, Saru, Stamets, Tilly, Ariam, Nhan)

Everyone is on edge on the Discovery. Spock and Burnham, Stamets and Culbert, Pike and Tyler, Ariam and Nhan. Ok, not Tilly. She's still delightful. But someone on board has either been feeding information to Section 31 or else taking information from the Sphere they encountered last season. And it's unclear what they're doing with it. But the now fugitive Discovery is in Section 31 territory and the proverbial fan is oscillating in proverbial feculince.


​Episode 309: The Voyage Home (TOSM)
(Kirk, Spock, McCoy, Chekov, Uhura, Scott, Sulu, Sarek, Saavik, Rand)

After the events of The Search For Spock, the former Enterprise crew must journey back to 20th century Earth in an unfamiliar vessel in order to bring some whales back to Earth to keep it from being obliterated by an amok probe. It's a weird premise, and the movie is filled with more Colorful Metaphors than you'd expect in a Star Trek film. This is the most honestly funny chapter in TOS, as its humor is based on the various crew members' failure to understand 20th century culture. And it's very much a mid 1980s comedy. It's also fun to see Rand show up again, even if it's Very Briefly.


Episode 310: Cold Front (ENT)
(Archer, T'Pol. Phlox, Sato, Mayweather, Tucker, Daniels, Sillik)

A secret war is being waged throughout time, and Archer's Enterprise is somehow stuck in the midst of it.


Episode 311: Perpetual Infinity (DIS)
(Burnham, Spock, Saru, Stamets, Tillly, Culber, Tyler, Pike, Georgiou)

The identy of The Red Angel is finally revealed.


 Episode 312: Through The Valley Of Shadows (DIS)
(Burnham, Tyler, Pike, Spock, Saru, Stammets, Culber, Amanda, L'rell, Reno)

Back to Klingons and family problems, as Burnham, Pike, and friends must visit the home of the Time Crystals which are ... guarded by Tyler and L'rell's son? Oh, Time Crystals, how your wackiness allows us to overcome things like, the passing of time, in order to have an emotional conundrum.


Episodes 313 & 314: The Menagerie (TOS)
(Spock, Kirk, McCoy, Scott, Pike, Uhura)

A reshoot of TOS's pilot features Spock appearing to commit mutiny (man, Sarek is a Bad Influence) in order to take his previous captain (and current captain of The Discovery in our chronology) Pike, back to a planet where he was once part of a zoo. Part flashback, part trial, part sci-fi adventure, this two-part episode shows that it was Pike, not Kirk who was into making out with multi-colored aliens.


Episode 315: Twilight (ENT)
(Archer, Phlox, Tucker, T'Pol)

While we're futzing around with time travel, wes check back in with Archer's Enterprise. In trying to save T'Pol, Archer becomes gravely wounded. We flash forward a bit to see how, without Captain Quantum Leap, the crew can't save the world. So Phlox attempts to go back in time and set everything right.


Episode 316:  Deadly Years (TOS)
(Kirk, McCoy, Spock, Chekov, Sulu, Scott, Chapel, Uhura)

A seemingly abandoned planet turns out to actually be a deathtrap, as it causes most (but not all) the people who visit it to age rapidly. That's right, you'll get to see Grandpa Kirk, Wizardly Spock, and a whole bunch of other crew members grow grey over a single episode. Shockingly, no one is mind controlled into thinking they're young. 


Episodes 317 & 318: Shockwave (ENT)
(Archer, Reed, T'Pol. Tucker, Mayweather, Sato, Daniels, Sillik, Forrest, Soval)

More cold war time travel shenanigans make Captain Archer seem responsible for a massive tragedy. Will this be the end of our journey with Archer's Enterprise?


Episodes 319 & 320: Such Sweet Sorrow (DIS)
(Burnham, Spock, Pike, Saru, Stammets, Georgiou, Stammets, Tilly, Tyler, Culber, Sarek, Amanda, Reno,  L'rell)

It's not at all going to be the end for our journey with Archer's Enterprise but this episode will mark our final adventure with the crew of Discovery for a long while. Maybe ever? *clears throat* Discovery! Enterprise! Control! Starfleet! A thing that must be destroyed lest it fall into the wrong hands! Timestream manipulation! Sacrificed characters! Nannites! It's a game changing adventure for everyone as we say goodbye to the USS Discovery and Season Three.

Star Trek introduced some of the greatest tropes in TV history. While some of the episodes can be difficult to watch through a modern lense, you can't deny that, despite many well-intentioned missteps, the original series did many long-term wonderful things for cultural diversity in television, as well as bringing us ridiculously fun ideas that other sci-fi shows, books, movies, and comics would pay homage to.

We saw a few in season one, and we get a few minor ones early on here with some time travel shenanigans, and running into a ship in distress that turns out to be filled with criminals. The big one for this season, though? THE MIRRORVERSE.

That's right, after Kirk's crew encounters a weird space anomaly with The Defiant sticking out of it (a ship we will see again...mostly in Deep Space Nine), the crew of not just Kirk's Enterprise but also Archer's Enterprise and Lorca's Discovery all end up in a universe where there are different versions of themselves with different motivations. Many of them have goatees and Are Evil. 

We will end this season coming out of the mirrorverse and seeing what is in store for the various crews in the blissfully restored reality we got used to in season one and the front half of season two.

We also introduce a new show this season, The Animated Series. There are no new characters, as it's basically just an extension of The Original Series but in animated form. 

Episode 201: This Side Of Paradise (TOS)
(Kirk, Spock, McCoy, Sulu, Uhura)

Mellow out, man. Even Spock gets groovy in this tale of a planet that keeps everyone chillaxed and on the serious harmonius vibology. Will someone narc them out to Starfleet so they can get back to The Man's duty?


Episode 202: Yesteryear / Lethe (TAS/DIS)
(Spock, Kirk, McCoy, Scotty, Sarek, Amanda)
(Burnham, Sarek, Amanda, Saru, Tyler, Tilly, Stammets, Lorca, Culber, Detmer)

An animated episode? Yes. Fun with Spock and time travel and portals! On the way back from a time adventure, Spock and Kirk return, only to find that nobody on The Enterprise knows who Spock is. Let's see if poorly animated space travelers can restore the timeline!

Then, we learn that Spock's mummy and daddykins raised an adopted human daughter named Mike Burnham. You know, the protagonist of Discovery. So when Sarek ends up on the brink of death, it's his fully human daughter who comes to his rescue.


Episode 203: Magic To Make The Sanest Man Go Mad (DIS)
(Burnham, Tyler, Mudd, Stammets, Lorca, Saru, Tilly)

It's time loop madness when Mudd comes back to exact his revenge on Lorca and Tyler for leaving him in the Klingon prison last season.


Episode 204: I, Mudd 
(Kirk, Spock, McCoy, Mudd, Scott, Uhura, Sulu, Chekov)

And now it's time for Mudd to have his revenge on Enterprise for what *they* did to him last season. Why so angry Muddsy? You have an entire planet of hot cloned androids to keep you company. Why would you ever want to get away from them?


Episode 205: Operation Annihilate! (TOS)
(Spock, Kirk, McCoy, Scott, Uhura)

Kirk's family lives on an outpost where something is going horribly awry.  Hopefully,  they'll be able to help out with---oh, it's another mind control thing? Yikes. This seems to be happening an awful lot. Maybe this time they'll just kill all the mind controllers in the universe, and they can start trusting each other again.


Episode 206: Immunity Syndrome (TOS)
(Kirk, Spock, McCoy, Chekov, Scott, Uhura, Chapel)

Another new type of...alien?...planet?...galaxy?...dimens---what is going on in this episode? Will the crew have to make an ultimate sacrifice to save the universe? I mean, probably not. We are only six episodes into the second season. But maybe one of the cast will die this time to establish some stakes. Maybe?


Episode 207: Space Seed (TOS)
(Kirk, Spock, Khan, McCoy, Scott, Uhura)

The Enterprise stumbles on an abandoned ship filled with prisoners once jettisoned from Earth, including a certain sexpot with the name Kirk most likes to yell in his sleep. That's right, it's the debut of KHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAANNNNNNNN!!!!!


Episode 208: Shore Leave (TOS)
(Kirk, McCoy, Spock, Sulu, Uhura)

This season has been so taxing. The crew rather desperately needs some R&R, so they find an abandoned planet, send Sulu and McCoy to check it out, and prepare for a nice, uneventful time. Wait. Did McCoy just see The White Rabbit from Alice In Wonderland? Is he on shrooms? Are there people here? Are we back in mind control territory? Damn it, will the crew ever get to properly relax?


Episode 209: Dead Stop (ENT)
(Archer, T'Pol, Reed, Trip, Mayweather)

The Tellarites give the crew of The Enterprise some terrible advice, and they end up getting repairs from a surreal space station. Crew members will die! Plots will twist. 


Episode 210: For The World Is Hollow And I Have Touched The Sky (TOS)
(McCoy, Kirk, Spock, Scott, Sulu, Uhura, Chekov, Chapel)

A McCoy-centric episode where they visit a ship full of people who don't know they're on a ship. There's a love plot, the possibility of a character being left behind, and some mind-control, so it's pretty tropey, but fun!


211: Metamorphosis (TOS)
(Kirk, Spock, McCoy, Scott, Sulu, Uhura, Leslie, Zefram)

Particularly during TNG and Enterprise, the Star Trek franchise loves to wax poetic abnout the inventor of warp technology, Zefram Cochrane. Well, here's his first appearance in our watchthrough.  Here, he falls in love with an intangible ball of living energy. Ahhh, the classic forbidden love.


212 & 213: Broken Bow (ENT)
(Archer, T'Pol, Phlox, Reed, Mayweather, Sato, Tucker, Zefram)

Hey, it's Zefram again! Here we see his first inteaction with aliens (which we'll see again in a few seasons), and also see the origin of this version of the Enterprise's crew. Oh, sure, we've already seen them a bunch in this chronology, but these were the first episodes of the series that was aired, so it's sort of a flashback origin story for us!


Episode 214: Tholian Web (TOS)
(Spock, McCoy, Scott, Sulu, Uhura, Chapel, Chekov, Kirk)

The beginning of a dimension expanding saga finds The Enterprise Crew encountering The Defiant, another Starfleet ship that appears to be phasing through dimensions. When Kirk also phases, Spock decides the ship can't leave the location, even though an alien species called the Tholians are ensnaring The Enterprise in a web that could doom them to the same fate.


Episode 215 & 216: In A Mirror, Darkly (ENT)
(Archer, T'Pol, Phlox, Sato, Mayweather, Reed, Forrest)

So where did The Defiant go when it phased? The Mirrorverse. An alternate dimension where good and evil are flip-flopped, and nobody behaves in a familiar way. The crew of The Mirrorverse Enterprise become embroiled in a political conundrum where they think their best chance of survival is to take The Defiant as their new ship.


Episode 217: Mirror, Mirror (TOS)
(Kirk, Spock, McCoy, Scott, Uhura, Chekov)

It's TOS's crew's turn to explore the Mirrorverse, as Kirk ends up in the topsy-turvy world where crew members must kill to be promoted. Will Spock help him return to his home dimension? I mean, he must, otherwise this would be the end of the series, right?


Episode 218: Despite Yourself (DIS)
(Burnham, Saru, Tyler, Stamets, Tilly, Lorca)

Oh no! Discovery is ALSO caught in the Mirrorverse? This is crazypants. But unlike the other series, there seems to be a reason for them being here besides random chance. 


Episode 219: Vaulting Ambition (DIS)
(Burnham, Saru, Tyler, Stammets, Tilly, Lorca, Georgiou)

There is Definitely a reason that Discovery ended up in The Mirror Universe, and as they try and figure their way back into the regular universe, we (the audience...not so much the crew) learn the messed up truth behind all of their adventures so far.


Episode 220: What's Past Is Prologue (DIS)
(Lorca, Georgiou, Burnham, Saru, Tyler, Stammets, Tilly)

Once the crew catches up with the audience, they are even more motivated to get the hell out of the Mirrorverse. Turns out pretty much nothing is ever as it seems. I'm sure their return to the regular universe will make everything status quo again, though. Isn't that how Star Trek works?

In 2017, I first crafted my pared down guide to watching Star Trek in a way that I hadn't seen suggested on other websites. It's not chronological by stardate. It's not in the order it was aired on television. It's an attempt to create storylines by thematic conversations between the various television series and movies in the Star Trek franchise.

At the time, that meant The Original Series, The Animated Series, Next Generation, Deep Space Nine, Voyager, and Enterprise. Well, it wasn't long before a new show, Discovery first aired, adding an entire new crew and set of storylines to continue. Then Lower Decks began. Then Picard. Then Prodigy. Then Strange New Worlds. And there are still more on the horizon. It's MADNESS.

There were 550 hours of tv shows and movies in the franchise when I began this project. There are currently over 840 hours.

This first season is an introduction to three different crews of the USS Enterprise. The first chronological crew from Enterprise, the first canonical crew from The Original Series, and the first crew from the revival series, Discovery. 

The three interweave pretty easily, as there are races and characters that carry us from one crew to another. In this season, we'll get to know the Klingons (and go to war with them on two different fronts), the Romulans (and try to avoid war with them), the Vulcans, the Andorians, and the Tellarites. We'll also see at least one character show up in multiple series.

There's a large arc near the end of this season about Starfleet's relationship with the Andorians, and the season is bookended by encounters with the Romulans.

I am nearly at the end of a group watchthrough of my original reimagining, and am unlikely to sit down and watch this reimagining soon, but I hope someone else will, and tell me what they think about how this season comes together.

Episode 101: The Balance Of Terror (TOS)
(Kirk, Spock, McCoy, Rand, Sulu, Scott, Uhura)

Kirk is one of the worst parts of The Original Series (TOS). He's frequently possessed, crazy, or trapped on a planet while his ship is in peril. He's always off on ill-advised away missions, and if you cut out Shatner's dramatic pauses, the average TOS episode is only four minutes long. But in this episode, we see him at his best. "The Balance Of Terror" introduces us to The Romulans, a species whom The Federation is at war with. Kirk engages in what would be a submarine chase movie, if submarines were starships, and water was...well, you get the idea. This is my favorite episode of TOS, and a decent introduction to its major players.


Episode 102: Dear Doctor (ENT)
(Phlox, Cutler, Sato, T'Pol, Archer, Mayweather, Reed, Trip)

The series Enterprise is a prequel to TOS, but to watch it first, and then follow it with TOS is a disservice to both, as is watching it after the other modern series, so I'm sprinkling Enterprise as backstory during the entire series. In this first glimpse into the days before TOS, we witness The Enterprise through the eyes of the ship's Doctor Phlox, and meet the crew of the original Enterprise, as they grapple with an odd stage of evolution in an alien species.


Episode 103: Galileo Seven (TOS)
(Spock, Scott, Kirk, McCoy, Sulu, Uhura)

While on a research mission, led by Spock, a small crew of Enterprise officers is stranded on a planet. For once, Kirk is not on the away mission, and so he and The Enterprise search for Spock and the shuttlecraft. The focus on the Vulcan logic vs the human crew's emotions is handled much better here than in most episodes. Plus, we rarely get to see Spock and Scotty play off each other as often as they do here.


Episode 104: Shuttlepod One (ENT)
(Reed, Trip, Archer, T'Pol, Phlox, Sato, Mayweather)

While on a research mission, led by Trip, a couple of Enterprise officers are stranded in space. For once, Archer is not on the away mission, so he and The Enterprise search for Reed and Trip on the shuttlecraft. The focus on Reed's dispassion vs Trip's.... This is So Familiar.  But also more fun, despite the lack of giants.


Episode 105: The Man Trap (TOS)
(McCoy, Kirk, Spock, Rand, Sulu, Uhura)

Moving on to the next Doctor on The Enterprise, McCoy ends up running into an old flame on a research station. This being Star Trek, things are not as they seem. This is on some peoples' Worst Episodes list, but I think it's ridiculous sixties sci-fi in a fun way, and it's focus on the often under-used McCoy makes me happy.


Episode 106: Naked Time (TOS)
(Kirk, Spock, Sulu, Riley, McCoy, Scott, Rand, Uhura, Chapel)

A disease that causes its victims to act irrationally ends up on Enterprise, severely affecting the crew, particularly Sulu and Riley.  Mind control is The Most Frequent trope in TOS, but here it's focused more on fun than on allowing Shatner to overact.


Episode 107: Conscience Of The King (TOS)
(Kirk, Riley, McCoy, Spock, Rand, Uhura)

Shakespeare in space! An acting troupe may be hiding a mass murderer, and it's up to Kirk (who's totally in love!) to draw him out. Sadly, this is the last time we'll see Rand and Riley for a very, very long time.


Episode 108: Dagger Of The Mind (TOS)
(Kirk, McCoy, Spock, Uhura)

An escaped mental patient (from a planet-sized asylum, of course) beams onto The Enterprise. When Kirk and one of McCoy's staff go to examine the psych ward, they discover something nefarious, naturally.


Episode 109: Errand Of Mercy (TOS)
(Kirk, Spock, Sulu, Uhura, Leslie, Kor)

The Klingon War begins in the TOS timeline. Kirk and Spock are sent to a strategically important neutral planet to keep it from falling into Klingon hands. There, they meet a Klingon who will become an important figure waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay down the line in Deep Space Nine, and maybe everyone will learn a lesson about their rush to violence. But probably not.


Episode 110: Context Is For Kings (DIS)
(Burnham, Saru, Stamets, Tilly, Lorca, Landry)

In the very early days of the Klingon War, Starfleet's first mutineer is taken on board a science vessel comprised of some of her former shipmates. This is our very first episode from Discovery, which is a series from the late 2010s/early 2020s that serves as a prequel to TOS but takes place after Enterprise. Got it? This episode is a great balance of sci-fi and horror tropes, and a cool intro to the pre-TOS crew.


Episode 111: Devil In The Dark (TOS)
(Kirk, Spock, McCoy, Scott)

This little one-shot of a small portion of the crew trying to help out a mining planet was a ton of fun, and it turns out that it's on many of the actors' Favorite Episodes list. You can see how much fun they're having as they run into another new form of alien life. This time there's no mind control, this alien is just going to straight-up kill you. See, FUN!


Episode 112: The Butcher's Knife Cares Not For The Lamb's Cry (DIS)
(Burnham, Saru, Stamets, Lorca, Tilly)

The Discovery's sister ship, The Glen was destroyed by Klingons, but Burnham and the crew found a creature called a Tardigrade on board. It appears to be one of the missing pieces to help The Discovery make faster jumps. But Burnham suspects the creature may be sentient and that using it as fuel may be causing it irreperable harm.


Episode 113: Mudd's Women (TOS)
(Kirk ,Spock, Mudd, McCoy, Scott, Sulu, Uhura)

Ladies, amirite, gents? A sleazy con artist, lonely crystal miners, and three beautiful women combine to make one of the season's most stunning examples of Good Intentions In Writing Women In Twentieth Century Sci-Fi Haven't Aged Well. 


Episode 114:  Choose Your Pain (DIS)
(Burnham, Saru, Lorca, Tyler, Stammets, Tilly, Mudd)

Lorca is kidnapped by Klingons and jailed on one of their ships. The crew believes the only way to save him is to use the Tardigrade to make a massive jump into Klingon space. But Burnham and Stammets both believe this will kill it. Also, one of Lorca's cellmate turns out to be that pesky jerk we just met in the last episode of The Original Series!


Episode 115: The Andorian Incident (ENT)
(Archer, T'Pol, Phlox, Sato, Mayweather, Reed, Trip, Shran)

Back in the time before The Federation Of Planets, The Vulcans were showing we bumbling humans around space. So it makes sense that we would want to know a little more about our tour guides. But while visiting a Vulcan monastery planet, the crew ends up in a showdown with some very crabby (I guess irritable is a better word, as they don't walk sideways or have claw appendages) blue antennaed jerks. Luckily, space is so vast that, once you encounter an alien race,  you never see them ever again.


Episode 116: Journey To Babel (TOS)
(Kirk, Spock, McCoy, Chekov, Uhura, Sarek, Amanda)

It's Meet The Parents, Vulcan style, as Spock's mumsy and dadsy are sent as ambassadors to broker some peace, when a fight breaks out between the Tellarites and the Andori-- (Wait seriously? More blue jerks already? What is this Avatar?). This is a really good episode about diplomacy in both the political and family setting, and gives us an interesting glimpse into Spock. Plus, those blue jerks eventually grow on me. Like antennae.


Episode 117: Shadows Of P'Jem (ENT)
(Archer, T'Pol, Shran, Phlox, Reed, Mayweather, Sato, Tucker)

Falling out from the previous episode, the Vulcans are unhappy with T'Pol's performance on Enterprise and also wish to interrogate Archer about what happened on the monestary planet. But before they can get to them, Archer and T'Pol are kidnapped. 


Episode 118 & 119: Babel One/United (ENT)
(Archer, Shran, Reed, Trip, T'Pol, Phlox, Mayweather, Sato)

Oh, for fuck's sake. An Andorian ship is attacked by some Tellarites, who were attacked by some Andorians, and Klingons are in the mix and--wait, someone is pitting aliens against each other, which is super easy, since they're all such incredible jerks...just like us humans! The villainous species turns out to be another returning threat from "Journey To Babel". Somehow, Reed and Trip end up getting separated from the ship and the crew again (hold it together, guys, how are you always together on the brink of death?), and we learn about another new technology that confuses our simple human brains. This is technically the first 2/3rds of a three story arc, but the last third is irrelevant to our season, so we're going to skip it.


Episode 120: The Enterprise Incident (TOS)
(Spock, Kirk, McCoy, Scott, Uhura, Chekov, Sulu, Chapel)

We started this season with The Enterprise chasing down Romulans, but haven't seen them since. Well, Starfleet has decided that the crew needs to go on board a Romulan vessel and steal a Romulan cloaking device. We've seen Kirk get creepy with the ladies, but this time good old Spock will be the catfish bait for the Romulan captain. He will, of course, me-ow logically.

It's hard to believe that we're almost caught up with the current seasons of Star Trek franchise shows, but we are. There are, at the time of this posting, 850 hours of Star Trek programming. Obviously, we haven't watched all of it. But all of it worth watching? We're getting there.

In this season we get a very abbrevriated mirrorverse timeline for Picard. Strange New Worlds and Lower Decks battle to be The Most Fun Star Trek Series, even crossing over with one another. There's a ton of Voyager lore in Lower Decks and Prodigy this season, so we'll even revisit them. 

1. The Trial Never Ends
(Picard, Q, 7of9, Guinan, Rios, Raffi, Jurati, Elnor, Dahj)

It's a shock to see a Q episode without the letter Q in the title but here we are. This episode sets up an entire season long Mirrorverse adventure. It's ... So Boring. We'll be skipping most of it. But the setup was mostly fun, which is what we get here.


2. The Broken Circle
(Spock, Uhura, Chapel, M'Benga, Pelia, La'an, Ortegas, Pike, 1, April, Jay)

It's been a while since we checked in with the crew of the USS EverythingsGreat Partytime, but let's see what they've been up to. Oh no! #1 has been arrested for being an Augment within Starfleet. While Pike leaves the ship to help her out, Spock STEALS THE ENTERPRISE, along with the rest of the crew, to answer a distress call from La'an that insinuates the possible beginning of a Klingon uprising against Starfleet. Also, there's a new engineer played by Carol Kane, and she is a delight.


3. The Slingshot Effect
(Picard, 7of9, Rios, Raffi, Jurati, Borg Queen, Elnor, Q)

The old Slingshot maneuver comes through in the clutch again. As Picard's crew finds themselves in an alternate timeline, they must assemble and go into the past to fix something that Q did to mess up history. The kicker? In this world, they're all fascists and are about to exterminate the being most likely to help them reach the past: The Borg!


4. Crossroads/Masquerade 
(Dal, Janeway, Gwyn, Rok, Zero, Pog. Okana, Murf)

The crew of the Protostar realizes the only safew way to engage Starfleet is to abandon the ship for a bit. This does NOT go well, especially when Actual Janeway figures out where they are. Then we find out more about what Dal is before The Romulans show up to try and ruin everything. Stupid Romulans.


5. Ad Astra per Aspera 
(Pike, 1, Batel, Spock, Chapel, Ortegas, M'Benga, LA'an, Uhura, April)

Easily my favorite legal episode in the entire franchise. This is a whole episode about Civil Rights centered around The Augments. It's the best example in decades of what I've always imagined Rodenberry's intention was for the Star Trek franchise.


6.  Preludes/Mindwalk
(Dal, Janeway, Gwyn, Diviner, Vindicator, Rok, Zero, Pog. Murf)

We begin with the origin stories for The Protostar Crew unfolding as The Vindicator helps the amnesiac Diviner try and remember his past. Then we get a classic bodyswap as Dal and Actual Janeway switch places. 


7. Tomorrow And Tomorrow And Tomorrow
(La'an, Kirk, Pelia, Spock, Uhura, M'Benga, Ortegas, 1, Khan, Jay) 

When La'an is recruited to save the timeline from The Eugenic Wars, she ends up traveling meeting Kirk on her quest to kill her ancestory KHAAAAAAAAAAAAAN.


8. You Can't Have Your Mirror Glazed Cake And Eat It Too
(Picard, Soong, Dahj, Guinan, Q, 7of9, Raffi, Rios, Jurati, Elnor)

While we're investigating alternate timelines where a Soong messes everything else, let's check in with Picard in the 21st century as he and his crew have to figure out a way to repair their ship, fix the timeline, and get back to their reality. Unfortunately, a crew member merges with the Borg Queen and aligns with both Q and Soong to make everything extra extra difficult.


9. Inheritance
(Data, Picard, Riker, Worf, Laforge, Troi, Crusher)

So much of the Soong dynasty is about daddy issues, but sometimes they have mommy issues, too. Data ends up in that cursed Rigel system to learn more about his past from someone a bit more trustworthy than Lore or his creator. He hopes.


10. Among The Lotus Eaters
(Pike, La'an, M'Benga. Ortegas, Spok, Uhura, Chapel, Batel, 1, Jay)

Has anything good ever happened in the Rigel system? Oxes, terrible video games, doomsday devices, Riker in a bathrobe chasing prostitutes. Oh, and, of course, the whole Pike being captured and tormented and ending up paralyzed waaay back in TOS. Well, this time he's trapped again, and he and the crew on the ground lose their memory making it difficult for them to escape. Which seems fine as the crew back at the ship have also forgotten who they are and how to do their jobs so how can they possibly rescue the ground crew?
​

11. The Europa Prophecy
(Picard, 7of9, Raffi, Soong, Borg Queen/Jurati, Rios, Q, Guinan, Dahj, Elnor, Wesley)

Our Picard-era time travel journey comes to a close as dying Q, evil Soong, and conflicted Borg Queen's plans all either ravel or unravel (same thing) to place everyone back on the timeline where they belong. Well...not everyone.

12. Those Old Scientists
(Boimler, Pike, 1, Spock, Mariner, Uhura, Chapel, La'an, Tendi, Rutherford, M'Benga, Ransom, Pelia)

It's our first ever live-action/animated crossover as the crew of the Cerritos checks on a portal which results in them ending up on Pike's Enterprise!


13. Learning Curve
(Janeway, Tuvok, Torres, Chakotay, Neelix, Doctor, Kes, Paris, Kim)

One of the rare Voyager episodes that spent time dealing with the differences between Starfleet and The Maquis, this episode becomes very relevant to the next Lower Decks episode. Not as relevant as "Tuvix" but we did see that already in this chronology.


14. Twovix/I Have No Bones Yet I Must Flee
(Boimler, Mariner, Tendi, Rutherford, Freeman, Ransom, Rom, Leeta, Shaxs, T'ana, Billups, Kayshon) 

It's Voyager-mania! Boimler and the crew of the Cerritos end up on a mission to help move important artifacts from Voyager to a museum dedicated to the ship. Unfortunately, the same brouhaha that caused the original Tuvix problem gets involved and we end up with a whole Cerritos worth of  jumbled crew members. Then a visit to a space menagerie (which never go well for Starfleet), the crew is stalked by Star Trek's version of Nibbler from Futurama.


15. Faces
(Torres, Janeway, Chakotay, Doctor, Tuvok, Neelix, Paris, Chakotay, Kes, Kim)

Keeping on keeping on with the Voyager energy, we revisit the series to explore Torres's Klingon side as she explores how it balances her humanity.


16. Under The Cloak Of War
(M'Benga, Pike, Spock, Ortegas, 1, La'an, Uhura, Chapel)

On Pike's Enterprise, a Klingon war criminal/hero presents a very dire conundrum to the crew.


17. Supernova
(Dal, Rokh, Janeway, Zero, Gwyn, Pog, Noum, Diviner, Murf, Drednok, Chakotay)

It's the final (so far) episode of Prodigy as the crew of the Protostar and Starfleet unite to protect Gwyn's homeland, and then they must decide whether to enter a time portal in order to save Chakotay and the original Protostar crew.


18. Subspace Rhapsody
(1, Uhura, Pike, Kirk, Ortegas, Spock, La'an, Kirk, M'Benga, Chapel, Pelia, Batel, Sam Kirk)

Because no one demanded it! The musical episode of Star Trek Strange New Worlds. It ain't "Once More With Feeling!" but it is fun.


19. Empathalogical Fallacies/Parth Ferengi's Heart Place
(Boimler, Mariner, Tendi, Rutherford, Freeman, Ransom, Shaxs, T'ana, Billups, Kayshon

Betezoids & Ferengi? Clearly we've moved back a little from Voyager to TNG/DS9 times with a story about controlling emotions and a story that bring Rom & Leeta back to our screens!


20. Hegemony
(Pike, Spock, Chapel, Uhura, La'an, Ortegas, M'Benga, Scott, Pelia, Batel, April, Sam Kirk)

OH NO!!! The Gorn are back and that means death, destruction, and dissolution for the crew of Pike's Enterprise. Also, we sort of end on a cliffhanger for the first time in a long while.

​

Another really fun season that introduces the 21st century movie canon, as well as the sometimes needlessly dour Picard. I did do something a bit different this season as my Picard episodes are edited versions of what aired. Basically, there was a lot of fat to trim, and I managed to cut the episode count by two. (Wait until you see what I do with the second season of Picard). We get the entirety of the official first season of Picard's story in, and there are some more TNG, DS9, and TOS episodes sprinkled in to give context to Lower Decks and Prodigy. 

If there's a theme to this section of seasons (13-15), it's that The Romulans are way more annoying than The Klingons, and despite being less intimidating than The Dominion or The Borg, they still manage to be persistent trouble for The Federation, no matter when they are.

​In this season, one of them disrupts the timeline in such a fashion that TOS is rebooted with a new cast, and it sets up the main conflict of the first season of Picard. 

1. That Hope Is You, Pt 1
(Burnham, Booker, Sahil)

We haven't had a Discovery episode since Season Four! That's when Burnham and friends were flung into the future, which is where we pick up here, as Burnham is off trying to survive in this new era, making new friends, since her entire crew is now hundreds of years behind her.


2.  wej Duj/First First Contact 
(Mariner, Boimler, Tendi, Rutherford, Freeman, Ransom, Shaxs, T'ana, Billups, Gomez)

The LD Cerritos crew is in the background of this story where Vulcan Lower Deckers and Klingon Lower Deckers each disagree with their respective bridge crews about how to deal with the Pakleds, who are headed to Earth in order to destroy it. Later, Mariner turns the Cerritos crew against her mother hoping to prevent her promotion, and Rutherford, while trying to preserve his memories of Tendi learns dark secrets about his cybernetic implants.


3. Far From Home
(Saru, Stammets, Tilly, Georgiou, Reno, Detmer, Owosukun, Rhys, Nhan, Culber, Burnham)

Oh, hey, Discovery is in the far flung future, too! And they're on a quest to find Michael. You know, if they can survive after their ship has crash landed on a planet so far in their future that their knowledge is pretty much useless.


4. People Of Earth
(Burnham, Saru, Stammets, Tilly, Georgiou, Booker, Adira, Reno, Detmer, Owosukun, Rhys, Nhan, Culber, Sahil)

Burnham tries to discover precisely what happened to Starfleet in the days between when she and Discovery disappeared and the time they arrived. And we meet a new Trill! We haven't seen any of these outside of Deep Space Nine's Dax.


5. Starship Down
(Bashir, Dax, Sisko, Quark, Kira, Worf, O'Brien)

And speaking of DS9 and Dax, let's flip back to an adventure about Starfleet making trade agreements with a planet in The Dominion. I know that doesn't sound exciting, which may be why we skipped it during the previous seasons, but it will be important to the next episode. And not because that also inolves trade negotiations.
​


6. Reflections/Hear All, Trust Nothing
(Mariner, Boimler, Tendi, Rutherford, Freeman, Ransom, Shaxs, T'ana, Billups, Gomez, Quark, Kira, Aberdeen)

A recruitment drive goes awry turning Boimler into Starfleet's most prized attraction and revealing Rutherford's past and why he has his cybernetics. Then it's a very special adventure on Deep Space Nine as the crew has to undo Quark negotiations.
​

7. Die Trying (D) 
(Burnham, Saru, Stammets, Tilly, Georgiou, Booker, Adira. Reno, Detmer, Owosukun, Rhys, Nhan, Culber, Vance)

The Discovery crew becomes part of the new, futuristic Starfleet after a successful mission that involves the seeds from their spore drive. Whew. They're lucky they didn't show up in The Enterprise or one of those other useless ships from the past.

8. The Trouble With Edward (Short Treks)/Crisis 2: Paradoxus (LD)
(Pike)
(Boimler, Mariner, Rutherford, Ransom, Tendi, Sulu)

More trouble with tribbles. Then, it's a Holodeck episode where Mariner tweaks a Boimler program after the crew gets sad news about the Boimler clone.

Serial 1: Romulan Reboot (M)
(Kirk, Spock, McCoy, Uhura, Scotty, Sulu, Chekov, Pike, Sarek, Amanda)

It's a Not Quite Reboot when a Romulan travels through time to avoid a major tragedy to his his people creating a whole new ... timeline ? dimension ? where we see an entirely new cast as the classic TOS characters (and yet another Spock). It's like The Original Series with a Beastie Boys soundtrack.

11. Children Of Mars (Short Treks)/Remembrance (Pic)
(Picard, Data, Jurati, Raffi, Narek, Laris)

Romulan refugees from the movie's incident are prevalent in this episode about what Picard is up to as a retired admiral. There's also a return to studying the Singh/replicant storyline that was so prevelant in TNG and Enterprise.

12. Maps, Beginnings, Legends & Endings (Pic)
(Picard, 7of9, Hugh, Soji, Jurati, Raffi, Narek, Laris, Rios)

The Borg are back. Like, your favorite Borg from TNG and Voyager. They join Picard on his quest to save the assasin clone of the Data descendent we met in the first episode.

13. Asylum/Let Sleeping Borg Lie (Prod)
(Dal, Gryn, Pog, Zero, Rok, Murf, Janeway, Chakotay, Noum, Diviner)

The crew of the Protostar, along with Hologram Janeway are now being pursued by The Dauntless, which includes real Janeway and real Chakotay. But this chase is more of a curiosity and concern issue rather than a wrathful father's vendetta, so everyone should be fine.

14. Reclamation (Pic)
(Picard, Soji, Jurati, Raffi, Narek, Elnor, Maddox)

Heists abound!

15. Symbiosis (TNG)
(Picard, Riker, Laforge, Worf, Troi, Data, Crusher, Tasha Yar, Wesley)

A truly terrible episode about warring planets. But it's not as bad as "Let That Be Your Last Battlefield", and it gets a nice callback in the next episode.

16. Trusted Sources/The Stars At Night (LD)
(Boimler, Mariner, Rutherford, Ransom, Tendi, Aberdeen)

In the last episode, Picard helped the Omarians overcome an addiction, and now the Cerritos shows up to see how how it's going. Well. So well that a journalist uses past secrets about Freeman to get her shipped off to Starbase 80 while the Cerritos has to deal with The Breen. Then Aberdeen is back. It turns out her financial backer is someone very familiar.


17. Conduits (Pic)
(Picard, Riker, Troi, Hugh, Soji, Jurati, Raffi, Narek, Elnor, Maddox, Rios)

Picard and Soji seek refuge from with some familiar faces from TNG. Meanwhile, Elnor and Hugh have an exciting teamup on a Borg ship that's been turned into a museum.​


18. Obsession (TOS)/All The World's A Stage (Prod)
(Kirk, Spock, McCoy, Scott, Uhura, Checkov, Chapel, Leslie, Garrovick)
(Dal, Gryn, Pog, Zero, Rok, Murf, Janeway, Noum)

Captain Kirk is the living embodiment of the Old Man Yells At Cloud meme from The Simpsons but his actions in this episode affect a planet that The Protostar visits when they receive a distress call.


Serial 2: Et in Arcadia Ego (Pic)
(Picard, Data, 7of9, Soji, Jurati, Raffi, Narek, Elnor, Maddox, Rios)

A trip to Soji's home planet is interrupted by a Romulan attack. Picard isn't just old, now he's sick. So sick that he ends up conferencing with everyone's favorite android crew member...which may have something to do with the fact that Soji's home planet is run by one of the Singhs.

When we left the crew of Discovery, they were slingshotted nearly 1,000 years into the future, leaving behind Captain Pike, Spock, and some other members of the pre-Kirk Enterprise crew. So now that we're (sort of) done with the main timeline of TOS/TNG/DS9/VOY era, we're going to double back and find out what that Enterprise is up to, while also learning what happened after TNG & VOY as we introduce Lower Decks and Prodigy, two animated series, one for children, one not for children, into continuity.

"Lower Decks" is filled with references to the classic shows, while also being an amusing character study of the non-bridge crew of a starship. "Prodigy" is a follow up to Voyager featuring some rebellious kids who steal a spaceship that has a holographic interface which happens to be Janeway.

​1. Strange New Worlds
(Pike, Spock, Singh, Ortegas, 1, M’Benga, Hemmer, Chapel, Uhura, T’Pring, April)

Shortly after The Discovery fiasco waaaaaaaaaaay back in our Season Four...that's right Nine Seasons Ago in our continuity, Cmdr. Pike took a sabattical. Well, it didn't last long for him, even if it's been ages for us, and he's being called back to Starfleet to track down his missing first officer with a new crew, on his new ship, Enterprise.


2. Lost & Found (Prod)
(Dal, Gryn, Pog, Zero, Rok, Murf, Dreadnought, Diviner, Janeway)

This all-age, animated Star Trek series brings us to a new section of the galaxy where one of hundreds of enslaved aliens accidentally assembles a crew and stumbles upon a Starfleet ship called the Protostar which comes equipped with a training program: Janeway in hologram form. They set out to escape the planet and ... uhhh ...  there's probably more of a plan eventually.


3. Children Of The Comet (SNW)
(Uhura, Pike, Spock, Singh, Ortegas, 1, M’Benga, Hemmer, Chapel)

You can tell me all you want about how progressive the Star Trek universe is, and how we live in a post-racial society because we elected a Black President in 2008, but let it be known that it took SIXTY YEARS before Star Trek did an episode centered on Uhuru. Yea, yea, yea, Burnham is the lead in Discovery and she's a woman of color, but the Uhuru character has been around since the 1960s and she didn't get her moment in the spotlight until 2022. It's a really good episode about becoming part of a team, and I hope it means we'll get another Uhura-centric episode before 2081.


4. Starstruck (Prod)/Threshold (Voyager TAS)/Second Contact (LD)
(Dal, Gryn, Pog, Zero, Rok, Murf, Janeway, Dreadnought, Diviner)
(Chakotay, Tuvok, Kim, Janeway, Paris, Doctor, Seska, Neelix)
(Boimler, Mariner, Tendi, Rutherford, Freeman, Ransom, T'ana, Barnes)

A trilogy of animated episodes. We open with Hologram Janeway and the new crew of The Protostar trying to figure out what their mission should be now that they've escaped Tars Lamora. Then we go back to Voyager times (but animated this time) to see the abbreviated version of the time Real Janeway and Paris ended up evolving into ... something different. And, finally, we meet the crew of the Cerritos, whose mission is to visit planets that have had some limited contact with The Federation. Instead of the bridge crew, we spend more time seeing things through the eyes of the less-experienced crew.


5. Ghosts Of Illyria (SNW)
(1, Singh, Pike, Spock, Ortegas, M’Benga, Hemmer, Chapel, Uhura)

Invasion of the moth people! The crew of The Enterprise is sent to investigate a planet where an entire colony has disappeared. A virus spreads amongst the crew that gets them addicted to light, and we get some great background on the crew.


6. Much Ado About Bornier /Veritas (LD)
(Boimler, Tendi, Rutherford, Mariner, Freeman, Ransom, T'ana, Ramsey)

Sure, some transport accidents give you a cool clone with fake sideburns, but in Lower Decks they make it so that Bornier is slightly out of phase, so he's sent to The Farm for ... a better life? Then the bridge crew is captured and the lower decks members are put on trial to discover how good the bridge crew is at their job?


7.  Return Of The Archons (TOS)
(Kirk, Spock, McCoy, Sulu, Uhura)

We go all the way back to OG Kirk/Spock times as the most familiar crew of The Enterprise ends up on a planet where a cult is all prim and proper during the day but at night it's All Purge All The Time. How is this connected to a previous Starfleet mission?


8. Crisis Point (LD)/Kobayashi (Prod)
(Mariner, Boimler, Tendi, Rutherford,  Freeman, Ransom, Migleemo)
(Dal, Gryn, Pog, Zero, Rok, Murf, Janeway, Dreadnought, Diviner)

A holodeck adventure reveals a surprising truth to Boimler that we, the audience already knew. Plus, we're introduced to a villain that could only really work on this animated show. Then, Dal tries to beat the Kobayashi Maru to prove he is worthy of being the captain of The Protostar, while Hologram Janeway works with the rest of the crew. 

​
9. Arena (TOS)
(Kirk, Spock, McCoy, Uhuru, Scott, Sulu, Lesley)

There's a reason we skipped over this episode when we were deep in The Original Series. It is TERRIBLE. The acting, the fighting, the alien costumes. Just one of the worst episodes of the series. But comically The Worst as  opposed to The Most Boring. And while I don't remember the Metatrons returning, we do encounter The Gorn again in Strange New Worlds, so I figured we should check out their terrible origin.

10. Momento Mori (SNW)
(Pike, Singh, Spock, 1, Ortegas, M’Benga, Hemmer, Chapel, Uhura)

Oh hey, look, it's The Gorn again! This time, instead of a slow moving fake looking alien, they're an unseen dangerous menace who wipe out entire colonies. Luckily, Singh has some experience with them and can help try and save The Enterprise from imminent doom.


11. The Samaritan Snare (TNG)
(Riker, Laforge, Troi, Picard, Wesley, Data, Pulaski, Worf)

In addition to cringey TOS episodes, we also skipped over some seemingly mundane TNG episodes that ended up being relevant to the current crop of shows. In this one, we meet the Pakleds, an unevolved race that seeks the immediate satisfaction of technology and weapons. But, alas, Picard is away getting surgery, so it's up to Riker, Data, Troi, Worf, and Pulaski to rescue Laforge when the Pakleds take him hostage.


12. No Small Parts/Kayshon, His Eyes Open (LD)
(Mariner, Boimler, Tendi, Rutherford, Freeman, Ransom, Riker, Troi, Migleemo)

This is an absolute blast of callbacks. We travel from "Return Of The Archons" to "The Samaritan Snare" to "The Most Toys" to "Darmok" to "Second Chances" in this delightful pair of episodes where Boimler accidentally outs Freeman as Mariner's mother and then tries to get a promotion to the Titan with its Captain Riker, and Number One Troi.

13. Squire Of Gothos (TOS)
(Kirk, Spock, McCoy, Uhuru, Sulu, Scott, Leslie)

Spoiled children of the idle rich are always a disaster. And this alien is no different when he tries to turn Kirk into the target of The Most Dangerous Game. It's delightfully terrible with a Rennaisance Theme, which we will come back to in the next episode.


14. An Embarrasment Of Dooplers/Where Pleasant Fountains Lie (LD)
(Boimler, Freeman, Rutherford, Mariner, Tendi, Billups, Ransom, T'ana)

A race of aliens who multiply whenever they're embarrassed send an emissary to Cerritos which results in some Tribble-esque duplication. Then, Billups, who has had minimal screen time gets to be the focus of an episode when his mother, a member of a very Rennaisance style race, needs his help to save the planet where he is supposed to be the next ruler.


15. Spock Amok (SNW)
(Spock, T'Pring, Chapel, Pike, Singh, Uhura, M'Bega, 1, Ortegas, April, Kyle)

It's classic body swap shenanigans when Spock's fiance visits during a very important diplomatic meeting with a race of moody aliens who are trying to decide whether to align with Starfleet or The Klingons. Oh, and the two "fun-killers" on staff play Enterprise Bingo to get a better emotional connection with the crew.


16. Time Amok (Prod)/I, Excretus (LD)
(Dal, Gryn, Pog, Zero, Rok, Murf, Janeway, Dreadnought, Diviner)
(Boimler, Mariner, Freeman, Tendi, Rutherford, Ransom, T'ana, Shaks, Borg Queen)

The crew of the Protostar gets stranded across time in The Enterprise and have to work together without being able to communicate with each other. While on the Cerritos, the crew is tested on how well the bridge crew would function as lower decks crew, and lower decks crew would function on the bridge. 


17. Lift Us Where Suffering Can Not Reach (SNW)
(Pike, Spock, Chapel, 1, M'Benga, Uhura, Ortegas, Sam Kirk, Kyle)

Pike's old girlfriends don't seem as dangerous as Kirk's old girlfriends, and yet, when one shows up asking for help protecting the messiah of her paradise planet, everything quickly falls apart.


18. All Those Who Wander (SNW)
(Pike, Ortegas, Hemmers, Uhura, Spock, Chapel, 1, M'Benga, Sam Kirk, Kyle)

A regular old, every day, let's respond to a distress signal mission turns into an homage to Ridley Scott's Alien. It's another great example of how this series manages to seem fun and light, despite having sometimes greater consequences than the very dreary "Discovery" series that preceded it.

19. A Moral Star (Prod)
(Dal, Gryn, Pog, Zero, Rok, Murf, Janeway, Dreadnought, Diviner)

It's the conclusion to our Prodigy arc as the crew returns to the planet where they were enslaved in order to exchange the Protostar for the freedom of the remaining prisoners. That's when the doublecrossing begins.
​
20. A Quality Of Mercy (SNW)
(Pike, Pike, Spock, Kirk, Ortegas, 1, Uhura, Chapel, M'Benga, Sam Kirk, Kyle)

"Lower Decks" isn't the only series that gets to do callbacks this season, as our season finale of SNW is a retelling of "The Balance Of Terror" (the very first episode of our continuity!) but with Pike in the captain's chair. Oh, and Kirk is there, too, as the captain of another vessel. How will Pike's differing techniques change the outcome of this pivotal TOS moment? And is this somehow connected to the next season where the Romulans are about to become Super Important again?

We've officially reached a point where, between The Original Series, The Animated Series, the original movies, The Next Generation, The Next Generation movies, Deep Space Nine, Voyager, Enterprise, the Kelvin movies, Discovery, Lower Decks, Prodigy, Picard, and Strange New Worlds, it would take over a month to watch all of Star Trek. That's with no bathroom breaks, no sleeping, over thirty-one days of watching back-to-back-to-bak-to back episodes and films. And that's not considering Short Treks, or any other short form content.

In. tense.

It takes a while to watch through even my Significantly Fewer Seasons list. And with this season, we reach the end of the 20th century Star Trek series. It's the end of The Dominion War for Deep Space Nine, and Voyager reaches the end of their trek across the Delta Quadrant. Both are some satisfying endings (though you could easily cut out most of the seven week-long curtain call during the last episode of Deep Space Nine). But don't fret, next season we encounter some new ships, and also see some old friends from The Discovery era who stayed out of the time travel debacle. There's way more content to come.

1. Once More Into The Breach
(Worf, Martok, Kor, Sisko, Odo, O'Brien, Quark, Jake, Dax, Bashir, Kira)

The original Klingon from The Original Series is ready for his last mission, and Worf must convince Martok to allow him to be a part of an attack on The Dominion. It doesn't go well.


2. The Seige Of AR-5581
(Nog, Sisko, Bashir, Dax, Quark, Vic Fontaine, O'Brien, Jake, Kira, Rom)

Part of the crew goes on a mission in The Defiant to deliver supplies to a front line planet in the Dominion War. When the Jem'Hadar attack, the Ferenghi part of the crew is tested in ways they never have been before.


3. Tinker Tenor Doctor Spy
(Doctor, Janeway, Seven, Chakotay, Torres, Paris, Neelix, Tuvok, Kim)

An alien race of observers follows the course of Voyager and accidentally alter The Doctor's subroutines, causing him to daydream, and disrupt the ship's progress.


4. Pathfinder
(Barclay, Troi, Janeway, Doctor, Seven, Chakotay, Torres, Paris, Tuvok, Kim, Neelix, Adm Paris)

Earth has not forgotten about Voyager. Enterprise's favorite Holodeck Addict is mostly living in a simulation of Voyager in order to figure out where they are and how to rescue them. When his supervisor asks him to take a break, he consults Deanna Troi about his interactions with the simulated Voyager crew, and how he intends to communicate with them before Admiral Paris (whose son is on Voyager) visits.


5. Blink Of An Eye
(Janeway, Doctor, Seven, Paris, Tuvok, Torres, Chakotay, Neelix)

Voyager encounters a planet where time travels much faster, so that centuries pass there while only hours pass on the ship. 


6. It's Only A Paper Moon
(Nog, Vic Fontaine, Dax, O'Brien, Bashir, Quark, Rom, Sisko, Jake, Odo, Kira)

Nog returns from the Seige of A-5581 missing a leg and his self-esteem. He decides to live in the Vic Fontaine holosuite and try and improve Vic's casino. I loathe the Vic Fontaine character, but he's used very well in this episode.


7. Collective
(Seven, Janeway, Kim, Torres, Chakotay, Paris, Doctor, Tuvok, Ichben, Mezoti, Azan, Rebi, Neelix)

A Borg Cube attracts the attention of Voyager. When it turns out to be staffed by Borg children, Seven and Janeway make plans to rescue them and bring them onboard Voyager. The children have other ideas.


8. Child's Play
(Janeway, Seven, Ichben, Doctor, Tuvok, Chakotay, Torres, Paris, Kim, Neelix, Mezoti, Azan, Rebi, Naomi)

Voyager discovers Ichben's parents are alive and would like him to return to their home planet. Seven would like him to stay as part of Voyager's crew. But Ichben's parents are, perhaps, not what they seem.


9. Life Line
(Doctor, Barclay, Troi, Janeway, Seven, Tuvok, Chakotay, Torres, Paris, Kim, Neelix)

Doctor's creator is dying and Barclay figures out a way to get Doctor to the space station to help him. Only ... he doesn't want to be helped. 


10: Inter Arma Enim Silent Leges
(Bashir, O'Brien, Sisko, Odo, Quark, Kira, Worf, Dax)

It's more Section 31 adventures with Bashir. 


Serial 1: Unimatrix Zero
(Seven, Janeway, Doctor, Torres, Chakotay, Paris, Tuvok, Kim, Neelix, Born Queen)

There's a dreamscape where Borg drones live free. They reach out to Seven shortly before the Borg Queen tracks them down with the intent on destroying the Unimatrix and removing any of their individuality.


13: Strange Bedfellows
(Sisko, Worf, Dax, Odo, Kira, O'Brien, Bashir, Quark, Dukat, Martok, Weyoun, Damar, Winn, Yates)

Sisko has angered The Prophets. Gul Dukat is posing as a Bajoran to win over Kai Winn. The Dominion has forged an alliance with The Breen. A virus is slowly wiping out the changelings of The Dominion. Worf and Dax have been captured by the Breen. Gul Damar, who replaced Dukat as head of the Cardassians, begins to doubt the benefit of Cardassia's alliance with The Dominion. A LOT of twists begin to unravel as we near the end of Deep Space Nine.


14: The Changing Face Of Evil
(Dukat, Winn, Weyoun, Damar, Worf, Dax, Sisko, Odo, Kira, O'Brien, Bashir, Quark, Martok, Nog, Yates)

When The Breen attack Earth and become a much larger threat than any previous Dominion ally, Damar begins a Cardassian rebellion to take them down. Meanwhile, Dukat is successfully turning Kai Winn away from her Bajoran faith in an attempt to take Bajor down.

 
15. Body And Soul
(Doctor, Seven, Kim, Tuvok, Paris, Janeway, Chakotay, Torres, Neelix)

Doctor and Seven must work together, in her body to escape from an enemy prison. Meanwhile, Tuvok is experiencing pon farr, and Paris uses the holodeck to help him overcome it.


16: Tacking Into The Wind
(Worf, Sisko, Odo, Kira, Garak, Bashir, O'Brien, Martok, Gowron, Damar, Weyoun, Dax, Quark)

Kira, Garak, and Damar lead an attack on The Dominion. Worf believes that Gowron's jealousy of Martok is leading the Klingon Empire astray. Dax realizes she may be in love with Bashir. And The Breen continue to seem unstoppable. 


Serial 2: ​What You Leave Behind
(Sisko, Worf, O'Brien, Kira, Odo, Bashir, Dax, Quark, Dukat, Garak, Nog, Winn, Martok, Weyoun, Jake, Yates, Keiko O'Brien, Vic Fontaine)

It's the end of The Dominion War as we know it, and Deep Space Nine feels fine.


19: Shattered
(Chakotay, Doctor, Janeway, Seven, Icheb, Naomi, Neelix, Torres, Paris, Tuvok, Seska)

Time shenanigans ... sorry ... chronal displacement fields are effecting Voyager, and Chakotay seems to be the only one who can travel between eras of the ship. 


​Serial 3: Endgame
(Janeway, Seven, Doctor, Chakotay, Tuvok, Paris, Torres, Neelix, Barclay, Adm Paris, Icheb, Borg Queen)

Admiral Janeway illegally time travels to the past to stop certain tragedies from affecting the crew of Voyager on their journey home. Part of her plan involves exchanging some of her future technology with The Borg. Captain Janeway thinks the plan is flawed, and begins develops her own plot to get Voyager home, perhaps a bit earlier than Admiral Janeway was able to.

When I started this journey of creating a guide to watching the best of Star Trek, there were over 550 hours of content. Well, a few years later, and we're over the 700 hour mark, as we've added four completely new shows: Strange New Worlds, Picard, Lower Decks, and Prodigy to the list. And there are more series coming (although Picard will end after Season Three).

I've watched some of each of those properties, and am excited that they'll eventually work their way into the chronology, but we're not quite there yet.

This season sees The Dominion War in full effect on Deep Space Nine, while the crew of Voyager plods their way back out of The Delta Quadrant. This is a season that really celebrates 7of9, Doctor, Dax, Sisko, Weyoun, and more. There's more loss in this season than there tends to be in pre-21st century Star Trek and that really gives it a bit more weight than some previous seasons.

Episode 1: Sacrifice Of Angels
(Sisko, Gul Dukat, Odo, Kira, Rom, Ziyal, Weyoun, Quark, Jake, Garak, Worf, Martok)

The Dominion War is truly underway, and it's about to go horribly awry for both sides.


Episode 2: Waltz
(Sisko, Gul Dukat, Odo, Worf, Kira, O'Brien, Dax, Bashir, Weyoun)

This is a defining moment in the series, and I considered making it the end of the previous season but, uhm, there are some events that happen that I don't want to give the sense of importance that the original series of Deep Space Nine did.


Episode 3: In The Flesh
(Janeway, Chakotay, Tuvok, Doctor, Boothby, 7of9, Torres, Paris, Neelix, Kim)

I remember thinking that Barclay was the weirdest legacy character to show up on a Star Trek series where they're lost in an uncharted region of space. But then Riker showed up. And now ... Boothby? The crew of Voyager is back on Earth at, of all places, Starfleet Academy. Nah. Something ain't right here.


Episode 4: Who Mourns For Morn?
(Quark, Sisko, Worf, Odo, Kira, Dax, O'Brien, Bashir)

Quark's most reliable, most silent customer, who's been in almost every episode in our chronology, and yet has never spoken a single line, dies and leaves Quark a fortune. Nah. Something ain't right here, either.


Episode 5: Change Of Heart
(Worf, Dax, Sisko, O'Brien, Bashir, Kira, Quark)

Worf's relationships have traditionally Not Gone Well. His first wife died just after surprising him with the existence of their son. Then he was married to Troi in a parallel timeline. Now he's married to Dax, the parasitical symbiont who can be any species, race or gender. And it's been going really well. But can he prioritize his most recent marriage over his duty to Deep Space Nine?


Episode 6: Inquisition
(Bashir, Sisko, Worf, Odo, O'Brien, Quark, Kira, Weyoun)

Wait...is Bashir a spy for The Dominion? Section 31 (Holy Holy, we haven't seen them since the Discovery story arc. Finally, we see their origin in the Star Trek Universe.) is determined to find out.


Episode 7: Timeless
(Chakotay, Kim, Janeway, 7of9, Doctor, Paris, Tuvok, Torres, Neelix, Laforge?)

Voyager toys with a new technology, hoping it might get them home faster. But Henry Kim fucks it all up and they lose fifteen years marooned on a planet. 


Episode 8:  In The Pale Moonlight
(Sisko, Garak, Bashir, Quark, Weyoun, Odo, Kira, Dax, Worf, O'Brien)

War is a constant shifting of allegiances and ethical dillemas, so nobody should be surprised at how wrong everything goes when Sisko tries to bring the Romulans into the Dominion War.
​

Episode 9: The Sound Of Her Voice
(Sisko, Bashir, O'Brien, Kira, Odo, Quark, Dax, Worf, Yates, Jake, Morn)

In the midst of The Dominion War, The Defiant hears a distress call and sets out to rescue a woman stranded on an alien planet. During the trip she gives advice to several members of the crew about their personal lives. Quark also dispenses love advice to one of DS9's newest couples.


Episode 10: Counterpoint
(Janeway, Chakotay, Torres, Paris, Neelix, Doctor, Tuvok, 7of9, Kim, Naomi)

The crew of Voyager takes on telepathic refugees in a portion of space where telepathy has been deemed illegal, and must figure out a way to protect the refugees from hostile forces.


Episode 11: Latent Image
(Doctor, Janeway, Kim, 7of9, Chakotay, Torres, Neelix, Tuvok, Naomi)

Can a hologram have a psychotic break? Is it morally ethical to erase the memories of someone who isn't precisely sentient in order to help them do their job when it is imperative that they can always do their job to the best of their ability?


12: Tears Of The Prophets
(Sisko, Dax, Dukat, Worf, Kira, Bashir, O'Brien, Quark, Odo, Garak, Nog, Weyoun, Martok, Ross, Jake)

Every war has to have its great casualty. When Dukat returns to the picture to help the Cardassian/Dominion alliance win the war, he sets events in motion that change the whole feel of the show. 


Serial 1: Dark Frontier
(Janeway, 7of9, Chakotay, Torres, Paris, Neelix, Doctor, Tuvok, Borg Queen, Naomi)

Booooooooooooooooooooorg drama, as Voyager's heist goes awry and 7of9 is confronted with her memories of her life when she was human.


15: Someone To Watch Over Me
(7of9, Doctor, Janeway, Chakotay, Torres, Paris, Neelix, Tuvok)

Do I need to say anything more than In This Episode 7of9 Explores The Idea Of Dating With Help From Everyone's Favorite Sort Of Sentient Hologram, Doctor?


16. Shadows And Symbols
(Sisko, Dax, Worf, Bashir, O'Brien, Quark, Martok, Kira, Weyoun, Jake, Ross)

Guess who's Dax? Dax again? Sort of? Lots of changes take place as Kira battles the Romulans, Sisko battles his faith and self-doubt, and the rest of the crew collide head-on with The Dominion.


17. Relativity
(70f9, Janeway, Torres, Chakotay, Paris, Kim, Tuvok, Doctor)

Time travel on Voyager is always pretty wonky. This time, 7of9 is sent into the past to find and deactivate a bomb that would shift the timeline, but a wily past-Janeway figures things out and everything gets all timey-wimey complicated-womplicated.

18. Treachery, Faith, And The Great River
(Weyoun, Odo, Sisko, O'Brien, Nog, Rom, Quark, Martok, Kira, Dax, Worf, Bashir)

Multiple Weyoun episode? Yes, please. While Odo and one of the Weyouns see if they can diffuse the Dominion War, O'Brien, Nog, and Rom try and fix smaller problems on the space station.


Serial 2: Equinox
(Janeway, 7of9, Doctor, Tuvok, Neelix, Torres, Paris, Kim, Chakotay, Naomi)

We end the season on the discovery (no, not The Discovery) that there's another Federation ship lost in the Delta Quadrant trying to get home. But instead of everyone being chummy and helping each other out, the crew of the Equinox decides to dispose of Voyager to speed up their journey.

Serial 1: The Basics
(Janeway, Tuvok, Chakotay, Suder, Kazon, Paris)

The Kazon threat reaches its strongest point yet when they overrun Voyager and strand the crew on a planet. This leaves only Doctor and ...*checks notes*... that guy who murdered someone way back in Meld to team up and try and take down the Kazon and rescue the rest of the crew.


Episode 3: Broken Link
(Odo, Sisko, Worf, Garak, Drax, O'Brien, Quark, Bashir, Kira, Gowron)

Odo isn't doing very well, and needs the help of The Founders to get better. Of course, shenanigans ensue as Worf and Garak are amongst the crew that heads to The Founders' home planet. This episode sets up a ton of different storylines for the rest of the season.


Episode 4: Apocalypse Rising
(Sisko, Odo, Worf, Kira, Bashir, O'Brien, Gul Dukat, Gowran, Quark, Dax, Jake)
​
Last season, it seemed like The Jem'Hadar were the all powerful enemies, but it turned out that they just serve The Founders. Then the Klingons got involved. Then we went to Earth and it looked like maybe The Founders had taken over Starfleet. But what if they actually took over the Klingons? They are Everywhere. And Sisko, Odo, O'Brien, and Worf have to go undercover to unmask Gowran (who, apart from Worf, has the longest ongoing storyline this season). And Sisko makes A Fantastic Klingon. It's a joy to watch.


Serial 2: First Contact
(Picard, Riker, Worf, Data, Crusher, Troi, Laforge, Ogawa, Doctor)

It's fun to see them in action again (aside from Worf who just won't leave Deep Space Nine). Especially without the baggage of the TOS cast. In what's easily the best TNG movie, the crew follows the Borg into Earth's past, where everyone's favorite assimilators (unless you're a Cyberman fan) attempt to keep Earth's first contact with Vulcans from taking place.


Serial 3: Scorpion
(Janeway, Chakotay, Tuvok, Kim, Kes, Torres, 7of9, Doctor, Paris, Neelix)

What could possibly frighten The Borg? Why, a mostly terrible new alien race from another dimension who The Borg just can't seem to assimilate. This new enemy is such a threat that The Borg and the crew of Voyager must team up to stop them.


Episode 9 (of 20): The Gift
(7of9, Kes, Janeway, Doctor, Tuvok, Chakotay, Kim, Torres, Neelix)

The newest member of Voyager is A Borg! And it's up to the rest of the crew to teach her how to be more human. It's somewhat Data-ey, but with more  potential murder than holodeck detective work.


Episode 10: Begotten
(Odo, Kira, O'Brien, Keiko, Bashir, Quark, Sisko, Worf)

Quark finds a baby changeling, and gives custody of it to Odo, causing him to rethink his relationship with the doctor who raised him. Alsowhile, Kira is having O'Brien and Keiko's baby and it is awwwwwwwwwwwwkward for everyone.


Episode 11: Trials & Tribbilations
Sisko, O'Brien, Bashir, Worf, Dax, Odo, Kirk, Chekov, Scott, Kira, Uhuru, Spock

This may be my favorite episode in the whole franchise. Filmed like a TOS episode, the crew of Deep Space Nine goes back in time to keep the Klingon villain from "The Trouble With Tribbles" from changing history.  There are a few scenes from the original TOS episode spliced in, and a lot of fun non-interactions between the two casts.


Episode 12: Affliction
(Archer, Phlox, T'pol, Reed, Tucker, Sato, Mayweather)

Why do The Klingons look so different between The Original Series, the Next Generation/Deep Space Nine era, and Discovery? Well, the crew of The Enterprise is back to try and answer that question as best as possible.


Episode 13: Divergence
(Archer, Phlox, T'pol, Reed, Tucker, Sato, Mayweather)

A disease has been threatening to make Klingons look more humanoid (as they do in The Original Series). It's up to some rogue Klingons and Doctor Phlox to come up with a cure to save the Klingon identity so that they can all look like Worf again by the time we get to Next Generation. It's a neat explanation, but, uh...why do they look like Glittery bathbombs in Discovery?


Episode 14: Message In A Bottle
(Janeway, 7of9, Doctor)

It's finally time, the crew of Voyager sends a message back to the Alpha Quadrant, hoping that The Federation will acknowledge that they're still alive.


Serial 2: A Year Of Hell 
(Janeway, 7of9, Tuvok, Chakotay, Paris)

There are species that even The Borg avoid. When this new threat attacks Voyager, they try a series of increadingly desperate tactics to survive.


Episode 17: One
(7of9, Doctor, Janeway, Paris, Torres, Kim, Chakotay)

When radiation from a nebula threatens the lives of everyone else on the ship, 7of9 becomes the crew's favorite member as she and The Doctor team up to save the ship.


Serial 3: In Purgatory's Shadow/By Inferno's Light
(Sisko,  Garak, Kira, Bashir, Dax, Odo, Worf, Gul Dukat, O'Brien, Nog, Rom, Martok, Jake)

The standoff with The Dominion gets a whole lot tougher when Gul Dukat leads The Cardassians into an alliance with The Dominion to take on Starfleet. There's a changeling spy on Deep Space Nine, AND Worf and Garak get trapped in a Jem'Hadar prison. This is the episode that cemented Garak as my favorite Cardassian, and soured me on Gul Dukat.


Episode 20: Call To Arms
(Sisko,  Garak, Kira, Bashir, Dax, Odo, Worf, Gul Dukat, O'Brien, Weyoun, Nog, Rom, Martok, Jake)

It's been building up for a few seasons, and now it's upon us. The Dominion War gets officially underway.

To watch all of The Star Trek franchise, it would take you nearly a month of no-sleep-marathoning. Nearly 550 hours at this point. Twenty-four days. AND THEY'RE STILL MAKING MORE. You don't have that kind of time.

I've attempted to put together a much more condensed series of Star Trek. Dividing it into ten episode seasons. For the most part, these are My Favorite Episodes. I've left out some that are historically important episodes, in favor of things that I found fun to watch. If you're a Trekkie or Trekker, or just consider yourself a fan, I may have left off your favorite episode. Sorry. But this is more a list for people like me, who had seen an episode here and there, were interested in seeing more, but don't want to invest in the whole 530+ hours. I'm doing it, so others don't have to.

With the ending of TNG, we are left with two atypical Star Trek series: Deep Space Nine, which takes place mostly on a space station near a wormhole, and Voyager, which is your typical federation starship, but lost on the opposite side of space from the federation, and made up of a crew that is half federation, and half Maquis terrorist. These are both brilliant conceptual twists on Star Trek. Sadly, Voyager never delivers on its potential. I'm not saying that it's terrible, I'm saying that the Maquis/federation angle is never fleshed out as well as the space station angle of Deep Space Nine.

This season focuses on the show Deep Space Nine, but focuses on episodes that mostly revolve around one of their ships, The Defiant, which is the first cloakable federation vessel. The Defiant gets much use as the federation gets embroiled in a constantly shifting war this season, which introduces new villainous aliens, and upgrades some old school aliens to new adversarial heights.

To watch all of The Star Trek franchise, it would take you nearly a month of no-sleep-marathoning. Nearly 550 hours at this point. Twenty-four days. AND THEY'RE STILL MAKING MORE. You don't have that kind of time.

I've attempted to put together a much more condensed series of Star Trek. Dividing it into ten episode seasons. For the most part, these are My Favorite Episodes. I've left out some that are historically important episodes, in favor of things that I found fun to watch. If you're a Trekkie or Trekker, or just consider yourself a fan, I may have left off your favorite episode. Sorry. But this is more a list for people like me, who had seen an episode here and there, were interested in seeing more, but don't want to invest in the whole 530+ hours. I'm doing it, so others don't have to.

With the ending of TNG, we are left with two atypical Star Trek series: Deep Space Nine, which takes place mostly on a space station near a wormhole, and Voyager, which is your typical federation starship, but lost on the opposite side of space from the federation, and made up of a crew that is half federation, and half Maquis terrorist. These are both brilliant conceptual twists on Star Trek. Sadly, Voyager never delivers on its potential. I'm not saying that it's terrible, I'm saying that the Maquis/federation angle is never fleshed out as well as the space station angle of Deep Space Nine.

This season focuses on the show Deep Space Nine, but focuses on episodes that mostly revolve around one of their ships, The Defiant, which is the first cloakable federation vessel. The Defiant gets much use as the federation gets embroiled in a constantly shifting war this season, which introduces new villainous aliens, and upgrades some old school aliens to new adversarial heights.

​Meld  SuderTuvok, Janeway, Suder, Doctor, Neelix, Paris, Chakotay, Kim, Kes
BasicsDS9 222/301 Seska, KazonJaneway, Chakotay, Doctor, Suder, Tuvok, Seska, Torres, Neelix, Kes, Paris, Kim

Episode 1: Jem'Hadar
(Sisko, Jake, Quark, Nog, Odo, Kira, Dax, O'Brien, Bashir)

A father/son bonding trip between Sisko and Jake (as well as Quark and his nephew Nog) goes horribly awry when they are kidnapped by the new Big Bad of Deep Space Nine. Forget the Cardassians, the Jem'Hadar are nonfuckwithable warriors from the other side of the wormhole, and they're about to change the whole feel of the series.


Episode 2: Projections
(Doctor, Janeway, Tuvok, Torres, Neelix, Barclay)

Going all the way back to the first season of our journey, the doctors on board the various Star Trek vessels really shine when an episode spotlights them. Mccoy's various lovelife problems, Phlox trying to fit in with humans on Enterprise, Crusher watching the entire crew vanish on TNG, Bashir...well, I'm sure Bashir will get interesting eventually. But Doctor on Voyager is just a hologram. How does that make him feel? And, wait, how is Barclay here?


Serial 1: The Search
(Sisko, Odo, Quark, Kira,  Bashir, Dax, O'Brien, Garak)

So, it turns out the Jem'Hadar are just soldiers who work for The Founders, and they are the unfuckwithable adversaries for the season. Starfleet uses their newest ship, The Defiant, to try and track them down. But the Jem'Hadar have other plans. Oh, and Odo ends up finally meeting aliens just like him. 


Episode 5: The Defiant
(Riker, Kira, Sisko, Dukat, Bashir, Dax, O'Brien, Quark)

Riker's back to check out Deep Space Nine's latest acquisition, We've already seen him hijack Enterprise's storyline for a while, is this just his way of weaseling into the cast of Deep Space Nine now that The Next Generation is over?


Episode 6: Prototype
(Torres, Janeway, Doctor, Tuvok, Kim, Paris)

There have been several continuity episodes of Voyager that we've skpped over because, well, they're not an interesting crew yet. But here, they come together to try and rescue a robot with memory problems who sort of reminds them of Data.

Serial 2: Improbable Cause/Die Is Cast
(Garak, Odo, Bashir, Sisko, O'Brien, Dax, Kira, Eddington)

It has been inferred since the beginning of Deep Space Nine, that Garak, a Cardassian tailor, is actually a high ranking spy. So when his shop is blown up under mysterious circumstances, Bashir and Odo delve into his past.


Episode 9: The Adversary
(Sisko, Dax, O'Brien, Eddington, Jake, Quark, Kira, Odo, Bashir)

Like Odo, The Founders are all changelings, so imagine the damage they could do if they infiltrated Starfleet and Deep Space Nine. Oh, shit, did that already happen?


Episode 10: Meld
(Tuvok, Janeway, Suder, Doctor, Torres)

A senseless murder leads Tuvok to do a mind meld with the confessed killer, and things don't go very well for him.


Serial 3: Generations
(Picard, Kirk, Riker, Data, Laforge, Worf, Troi, Scotty, Chekov, Crusher)

Not the greatest Star Trek film by a long shot, but we do get to see a prolonged sequence with Picard and Kirk working together to stop the villain from A Clockwork Orange, I mean the villain from Tank Girl, I mean Mad Mod from Teen Titans. It's....watchable.


Serial 4: Way Of The Warrior
(Worf, Sisko, Odo, Kira, Dax, Garak, O'Brien, Gowran, Quark, Gul Dukat, Bashir)

The Klingons haven't been a big part of Deep Space Nine. Sure, Dax and some of her Klingon friends went on an adventure, and yea, the sisters of Duras were around for an early episode, but for the most part, they haven't been very present. But when Gowran decides The Klingon Empire should protect the wormhole from The Founders, he incites a war between The Klingons and The Cardassians, and it gets so intense that Deep Space Nine recruits Worf from Enterprise to join their crew. Take that, Riker.


Episode 15: Deathwish
(Janeway, Chakotay, Doctor, Riker, Q, Quinn)

I can't believe I'm putting another Q episode in this continuity. But it's mainly because Riker, who wasn't successful on staying part of the Deep Space Nine cast, suddenly pops up here to help decide the fate of an errant Q (Quinn) who wants to commit suicide.


Episode 16: Dreadnought
(Torres, Janeway, Chakotay, Doctor)

There isn't enough of the Maquis storyline in Voyager, given its pilot episode. This is a nice glimpse of what might have been as Torres encounters a Cardassian weapon she reprogrammed when she was a part of the Maquis. Can she stop it from destroying a completely innocent planet full of life?
 
 
Episode 17: Maneuvers
(Janeway, Chakotay, Torres, Kim, Seska, Tuvok, Neelix, Paris)

The closest Voyager comes to making the Maquis/federation conflict work is the character Seska, a Cardassian who was living as a Bajoran. She defects from Voyager before this episode and joins up with the Kazon, who are The Big Bads of the first three seasons of Voyager, but who pale in comparison to The Klingons, The Romulans, The Cardassians The Borg, The Jem'Hadar, The Founders, the spooky children of The Original Series, Tribbles, evil Kirk from the Mirror Universe, a stick of gum that gets caught in your sneaker treads. They're a weak adversary, and they're rarely a threat. Until they get combined with Seska. 


Episode 18: Deadlock
(Janeway, Torres, Kes, Doctor, Chakotay, Paris, Neelix)

Two Voyagers? This seems like it could be a problem. Can one Janeway see through the rift in time and save her crew where the other Janway failed?


Episode 19: Homefront
(Sisko, Odo, Jake, Nog)

What if The Founders reached Earth, which has been a paradise since the beginning of this series (apart from the whole Borg attack in Best Of Both Worlds a few seasons ago, and the whale problem from The Voyage Home)? Sisko, Odo, and Jake return to San Francisco (say that five times fast) to help prepare the planet, only to discover The Founders may already be there. This is a particularly good episode about fear mongering and the loss of freedom due to the fear of terrorism (and this was a pre 9/11 series). It's technically part one of a two-part arc, but the second half undoes the power of this episode, if it existed in a vacuum.


Episode 20: To The Death
(Sisko, Worf, Dax, Bashir, Kira, Odo, Quark)

After Deep Space Nine is attacked by a faction of the Jem'Hadar, the crew of The Defiant run into another faction of Jem'Hadar who were also attacked. The two crews work together to take down the first faction. There are some great moments of culture examination in this episode between The Jem'Hadar, humans, Klingons, and The Founders. Deep Space Nine was truly the best Star Trek series when it comes to examining how every side in a war is actually The Bad Side.

Serial 1: Descent
(Data, Picard, Riker, Crusher, Worf, LaForge, Troi, Lore, Hugh)

The Borg are back, and a couple of characters we haven't seen for a while resurface and threaten the Federation with imminent destruction.


Episode 3: Cardassians
(Bashir, Sisko, O'Brien, Garak, Gul Dukat, Keiko, Odo)

A Cardassian orphaned child raised by Bajorans ends up in the middle of a custody dispute. I really enjoy the writing on Deep Space Nine, but like most Star Trek shows, the episodes are usually pretty well telegraphed. This one doesn't have any M Night Shyamalan twists, it just doesn't take the easiest way out.


Episode 4: Rules Of Acquisition
(Quark, Kira, Dax, Nagus, Sisko, Rom, Odo)

Staying with The Deep Space Nine crew, but taking a break from all the Cardassian/Bajoran problems, we focus on the Ferengi bartender of the ship as he attempts to expand Ferengi business contacts to the other side of the Wormhole. Most of the focus of this episode is on gender politics in Ferengi culture, which is wildly misogynist, even for a Star Trek species. Also, his brother is a moron. And his even more misogynist mentor thinks intelligent Ferengi females are inconceivable, though he may not know what that word means.


Episode 5: Frame Of Mind
(Riker, Picard, Crusher, Worf, Data, Laforge)

Is Riker insane? While practicing a play about losing his mind, Riker wakes up in solitary confinement. Uh-oh.


Episode 6: Lower Decks
(Picard, Worf, Crusher, Riker, Laforge, Troi, Data, a bunch of people you'll never see again)

Did you know there are other people on the Enterprise besides the usual crew? In this episode we watch a bunch of ensigns vying for promotion on the ship. It's a cool way to explore the relationship between the senior staff, and how they've grown over the duration of the show.


Serial 2: The Maquis
(Sisko, Dax, Gul Dukat, Quark, Bashir, Kira)

The beginning of an intriguing addition to the Bajoran/Cardassian conflict, as we learn of The Maquis, a Bajoran terrorist cell that will begin to reform the Star Trek universe. This conflict eventually leads to the introduction of Voyager, and features heavily in the intervening episodes.


Episode 9: Preemptive Strike
(Ro, Picard, Riker, Troi, Crusher, Worf, Data)

Newly promoted Lieutenant Ro goes undercover in a Maquis terrorist cell. But will she go rogue and leave the Federation to help her Bajoran brethren battle the Cardassians? Nah, this is a Star Trek episode. I'm sure everything will go back to status quo by the end.


Episode 10: Collaborator
(Kira, Odo, Dax, O'Brien, Quark, Videk Winn, Sisko)

Bajorans working with Cardassians must mean shenanigans. And look at how many people AREN'T in this episode. No Bashir, no Dukat, no Garak, no Jake, even Captain Sisko is barely in this episode. She. nanigans.


Serial 4: The Caretaker
(Janeway, Kim, Paris, Chakotay, Torres, Tuvok, Neelix, Doctor, Kes, Quark)

The Maquis situation is out of control, and The Federation has called in Voyager to handle it. Our new cast of officers follows our new cast of villains through a wormhole and end up waaaaaaaaaaaaay far away from home, and might even have to work together to survive. Cool concept, right? Welll, it will go out the window pretty shortly, so enjoy the tension while it lasts.


Episode 13: The Wire
(Bashir, Garak, Dax, Quark, Sisko, Kira, O'Brien)

In "Lower Decks", we met a Cardassian going against stereotype and assisting the federation. Last episode, we saw Bajorans working with Cardassians. On Deep Space Nine, we've seen a Cardassian named Garak who is either a spy, or someone going against stereotype to assist the federation. It's always been unclear which side he's on, but, unlike Gul Dukat, there seems to be no menace to him. But when Doctor Bashir discovers a malfunctioning chip in Garak's head, he decides to go further into his investigation of Garak's motives.


Episode 14: Crossover
(Kira, Bashir, Sisko, Odo, Dax, O'Brien, Quark, Garak)

It's really a Golden Age of Star Trek. Next Gen overlaps with Deep Space Nine, which then overlaps with Voyager. Such good times. So why not have a crossover. But let's have Deep Space Nine crossover with, oh, I don't know, THE MIRRORVERSE DEEP SPACE NINE. Dun dun dun. Any timeline with Smiley O'Brien in it, seems like a fine timeline to me.


Episode 15: Whispers
(O'Brien, Keiko, Sisko, Bashir, Odo, Jake, Quark)

Oh man, now O'Brien is having memory problems? Or is he just fine, and the entire crew of Deep Space Nine, including his wife, has turned evil? This is a fun twist on the alternate universe trope in Star Trek. 


Episode 16: Parallels
(Worf, Troi, Riker, Data, Crusher, Laforge, Picard, Wesley)

And now Worf is having memory issues? This is becoming a huge problem. Is he married to Troi now? Is this going to end up being an alternate universe episode or is this whole season just a mess of red herrings?


Episode 17: Eye Of The Needle
(Janeway, Torres, Tuvok, Paris, Kim, Doctor, Neelix, Kes)

Is the crew of Voyager saved already?  They find a wormhole back to the Alpha Quadrant. Ok, it's too small to fit a ship through, but they can send a message and get rescued, right?


Episode 18: Flashback
(Tuvok, Janeway, Sulu, Rand, Neelix, Kes, Doctor, Chakotay, Kim, Kang)

On Voyager, Tuvok seems to be having similar problems to Garak, only instead of just physical pain, he's having an emotional response to a memory. In order to determine the cause, he mind melds with Janeway and they go back to his most important memory, when he served under Captain Sulu, during the plot of "The Undiscovered Country", way back in season three of this continuity. I think this would have been a solid episode, even if it didn't feature cast members from TOS, but seeing Sulu and Rand again is an absolute blast. Plus, Kang from a terrible TOS epsode ("Day Of The Dove") is back again (and yes, he is the basis for the Treehouse Of Horror alien from The Simpsons).

​
Serial 5:  All Good Things
(Picard, Crusher, Troi, Laforge, Worf, Data, Riker, Q, Yar, O'Brien)

Well, it's gone all the way to the top. In this, the final episode of TNG, Picard is having memory problems. This is a fun way to say goodbye to the series using character continuity, but very little plot continuity from previous episodes. Unlike Descent, which pulled from previous storylines, this would have been an interesting episode/movie even if we hadn't met any of these characters before. That we do know them, and that some of them haven't been seen for a while, makes this a fulfilling ending to this part of the Star Trek universe.

To watch all of The Star Trek franchise, it would take you over a month of no-sleep-marathoning. Nearly 800 hours at this point. And there are currently five different series still in production.  You don't have time to watch All the Star Trek content.

I've attempted to put together a much more condensed series of Star Trek. Dividing it into twenty episode seasons. For the most part, these are My Favorite Episodes. I've left out some that are historically important episodes, in favor of things that I found fun to watch. If you're a Trekkie or Trekker, or just consider yourself a fan, I may have left off your favorite episode. Sorry. But this is more a list for people like me, who had seen an episode here and there, were interested in seeing more, but don't want to invest in the whole 530+ hours. I'm doing it, so others don't have to.

Unlike the previous unstructured season, we return to an arc based season. From aging to death & the afterlife to the mistakes of our youth coming back to haunt us. This season also has The Next Generation spinning off into Deep Space Nine.​

Episode 1: First Duty
(Wesley, Picard, Crusher, Riker, Troi)

Wesley is back. And he has Fucked Up. In "Tapestry", we saw how Picard fucked up when he was in Starfleet Academy. Now he gets to go back there and help Wesley from ruining his life.


Episode 2: Data's Day
(Data, O'Brien, Picard, Keiko, Crusher, Troi)

See the ship through Data's eyes, and meet O'Brien's future wife, Keiko. See how Data nearly ruins a wedding but also saves the ship. Also, a cat.


Episode 3: Pegasus
(Riker, Picard, Worf, Data, Troi, Laforge)

Riker went to Starfleet once, too! And after he graduated, he served on a ship called Pegasus where Bad Shit Went Down. He and the Captain, another tropey incompetent Starfleet Asshole (a younger John Locke from Lost!) were the only two who escaped. But what did they escape from, and why are the Romulans interested? DUN DUN-DUNNNNN.


Episode 4: The Are The Voyages
(Riker, Archer, T'Pol, Trip, Shran, Soto, Troi, Mayweather, Reed, Phlox, Data)

This is one of the most hated episodes of Star Trek. But more for its context than its content. It was aired as the final episode of Enterprise, which was a slap in the face to the cast of Enterprise, because it's actually a TNG episode. During the events of "Pegasus", Riker goes to the holodeck to examine his problem from multiple angles. To do so, he recreates The Enterprise from Enterprise (I know, I know), and acts as cook, talking with each crew member about different decisions they've made during their Starfleet Career. It would have probably been liked or loved if it had been in the middle of the season instead of the end. I like it as a non-canon chance for Enterprise and TNG to crossover. Because we're going to come back to Enterprise at least once more, and nothing that happens in this episode will have ever happened to them, but it has helped Riker make a difficult decision during "Pegasus".


Serial 1: Time's Arrow
(Data, Picard, Gainan, Riker, Crusher, Laforge, Troi) 

An ancient artifact discovered on Earth turns out to be Data's head. Time travel shenanigans ensue featuring Samuel Clemens, a resourceful bellhop, card sharks, and everyone's favorite Enterprise bartender.


Episode 7: The Inner Light
(Picard, Crusher, Riker, Data, Laforge, Troi)

A probe seeks information from Picard, and to get it, makes him live an entire lifetime where his new family and friends convince him that his life on The Enterprise was a dream.


Episode 8: Timescape
(Picard, Data, Troi, Laforge, Crusher, Riker, Worf)

While several key officers are on an away mission, The Enterprise attempts to rescue some Romulans and everything goes wibbly-wobbly-timey-wimey. The away team thinks they've figured out a way to overcome the time problems, but can they fix The Enterprise or the Romulan vessel before either or both of them explode?


Serial 2: Chain Of Command
(Picard, Worf, Crusher, Riker, Troi, Laforge, Data)

There are FOUR lights, and they all point to a war with the Cardassians on the horizon.


Serial 3: Emissary
(Sisko, Picard, O'Brien, Kira, Odo, Jake, Quark, Dax, Bashir, Keiko, Nog, Gul Dukat)

Way back in Season Five of this continuity, Capt. Picard became a borg named Locutus who blew up a bunch of Federation ships on his course to destroy Earth (which he failed to do). One of the ships he blew up contained Benjamin Sisko who is now traveling with Picard to an abandoned Cardassian space station called Deep Space Nine. Picard totally killed this guy's wife, so he is Not Pleased with him or the assignment, but he and his son decide to join the crew of Deep Space Nine, anyway, and are joined by Enterprise transporter engineer O'Brien, and his wife, Enterprise botanist Keiko. Plus a ragtag crew of Bajorans, Ferenghi, Trill, and whatever the hell Odo is.


Episode 13: Past Prologue
(Kira, Sisko, Bashir, Garak, Odo, O'Brien, Dax, Keiko)

Much of this season focuses on Cardassian and Bajoran war criminals, and how to keep the peace after all the terrible things they did to one another during the war. Deep Space Nine's first officer, Kira, was once a member of a Bajoran underground movement that the Cardassians consider terrorists. When one of her old cohorts shows up, the newly assembled crew needs to figure out how much they can trust each other, and how much they can trust The Cardassians. And what the hell are the sisters of Duras from Redemption doing on Deep Space Nine?


Episode 14: Man Alone
(Odo, Sisko, Dax, O'Brien, Keiko, Bashir, Nog, Jake, Quark)

Deep Space Nine's security officer, Odo, has held the post since the station was run by Cardassians, and while some of the Bajorans trust him, everyone is put on edge when a criminal he sent to prison shows up on board and is swiftly murdered.


Episode 15: Babel
(Bashir, O'Brien, Sisko, Quark, Odo, Kira, Jake, Dax)

More a companion to Darmok than Journey To Babel or Babel One, the episode focuses on the effects of a Cardassian engineered virus that causes aphasia in its victims. And then they die, of course, unable to express what they're going through.


Episode 16: The Nagus
(Quark, Sisko, Kira, Odo, Nagus, Bashir, Jake, O'Brien, Dax,  Rom, Nog, Zek)

It's time to learn about Ferenghi culture with the station's favorite bartender, and a slew of strangers who may be important down the line. Also, O'Brien is substitute teacher for his wife's school.


Episode 17: The Chase
(Picard, Riker, Worf, Crusher, Troi, Data, Laforge)

It's all about unity when the Federation, The Klingons, The Romulans, and The Cardassians chase down an ancient artifact on a strange planet.


Episode 18: Duet
(Kira, Sisko, Bashir, Odo, Gul Dukat, Dax, Quark)

Someone who appears to be a Cardassian war criminal with ties to Kira's past shows up on Deep Space Nine. Kira wants him tried on Bajor, Gul Dukat wants him returned to the Cardassians.  Despite a moderately weak and predictable ending, most of this episode is a very interesting look at the guilt of not-necessarily-innocent bystanders during acts of war.


Serial 5: The Homecoming/The Circle/The Seige
(Kira, O'Brien, Sisko, Odo, Bashir, Dax, Quark, Rom, Keiko)

A Bajoran resistance group called The Splinter comes to play in the war with The Cardassians. Their plans to rise to power include eliminating all alien life on Bajor, including the non-Bajoran staff on Deep Space Nine.

Episode 1: First Contact
(Picard, Riker, Troi, Crusher, Data, Worf)

Prime Directive episodes are usually tedious interactions where different crew members argue over whether or not to help some world that they probably imperiled in the first place. I've spared you from most of them. In this episode, they've pretty much been caught violating The Prime Directive, despite their best efforts to blend in to an alien populace. This is a damage control episode where the crew tries to work diplomatically to rescue Riker, who was undercover as a Malcorian. There's a lot of American political allegory that is still, sadly, relevant, twenty-six years after this episode aired, but it's not as heavy handed as Star Trek allegory often is.


Episode 2: Allegiance
(Picard, Riker, Crusher, Troi, Worf, Laforge, Data, Wesley)

It wasn't so long ago that Picard was captured by The Borg and assimilated, so you'd think they'd up security on The Enterprise, but, no, I am unsure if there is a single season where whomever is captaining The Enterprise at any given moment, isn't abducted by someone he can't identify (or Q, it is often Q). This episode serves as a morality play for Picard while the rest of the crew contends with a mostly ineffectual Picard doppelganger.


Episode 3: Future Imperfect
(Riker, Picard, Crusher, Laforge, Data, Worf, Troi)

After a noxious gas incident with Worf and Laforge, Riker wakes up to discover he's forgotten sixteen years of his life, and he's now Captain of The Enterprise. This is what Kirk would have called a Tuesday. Will this episode mean the entire chronology jumps forward sixteen years? 

No.


Episode 4: Tin Man
(Troi, Picard, Data, Riker, Laforge, Wesley)

Despite being an ensemble-focused show, most TNG episodes have one character at the core of its storyline. Picard, Riker, and Worf stories are usually fantastic (after season two), Data and Crusher stories are interesting, Wesley stories can grate, Troi stories are insufferable, and Laforge stories are always focused on how much he sucks, even though he's fun and competent as a secondary character. This is, so far, the only Troi episode I've made it all the way through, and I quite enjoyed it. Another Betazoid joins the crew to learn about a seemingly sentient spaceship. There's an interesting angle with Data, some Romulans cause havoc, all-in-all, it's just a solid episode where the writers finally make interesting use of Troi.


Episode 5: The Game
(Wesley, Riker, Picard, Crusher, Data, Laforge, Worf, O'Brien)

The idea that games in the twenty-fourth century would look like a version of golf they designed for Windows 3.0 is quaint. Wesley is visiting from Starfleet Academy and is disappointed by how the crew is behaving as The Game becomes super popular. Like Wordle. It's a pretty heavy handed treatise on the addictiveness of video games, but it's So Ridiculous and Over The Top that it's hard to be annoyed by it.


Episode 6: Darmok
(Picard, Riker, Troi, Worf, Data, Laforge, Crusher)

I feel this episode is best if, like the characters, you have no idea what you're getting into. It's my favorite episode of the season.


Episode 7: Ensign Ro
(Picard, Ro, Guinan, Riker, Data, Worf, Crusher, Troi, Laforge)

Starfleet shenanigans put a court martialed officer of a race made refugee by The Cardassians (who we are seeing for the first time in this chronology, but who will be hugely important as we progress). It's an interesting look at prejudice, and how politicians use terrorism and tragedy for their own ends. Something Star Trek often attempts, but rarely pulls off.


Episode 8: Disaster
(Picard, O'Brien, Ro, Troi, Riker, Data, Crusher, Laforge, Worf)

Several disaster movie cliches are overlapped in the most character-driven episode since "Family". The O'Brien/Ro/Troi interplay is my favorite non-main character study so far in the chronology. Also, it's nice to see a story where kids are just annoying children as opposed to spooky, powerful menaces.


Episode 9: A Matter Of Time
(Picard, Crusher, Riker, Data, Laforge, Worf, Troi)

An annoying time traveler (Max Headroom...aka Dr. Leekie from Orphan Black) shows up to observe what he claims is a pivotal mission for The Enterprise. It's a fun twist on a Prime Directive episode as the crew are the ones being kept in the dark to preserve the time continuum Or Whatever. It's mainly fun to watch an actor portray an annoying character and not have it be agonizing to watch.


Episode 10: Clues
(Data, Picard, Crusher, Worf, Laforge, Riker, O'Brien, Guinan)

Data regains consciousness after some sort of event knocks out everyone on board The Enterprise. He belives that thirty seconds have been stolen from the entire crew, but all signs point to something larger and more disconcerting.

​
Serial 1: Redemption
(Worf, Picard, Guinan, Data, Riker, Yar)

After all these one-off adventures, we finally tie into a major storyline, as we revisit the chaos of The Klingon empire. It's a direct sequel to "Reunion", though much time has elapsed. It's a satisfying conclusion(?) to the story arc begun in "Sins Of The Father".


Serial 2: Unification
(Picard, Spock, Data, Sarek, Riker, Yar, Worf, Troi, Crusher, Laforge)

Let's put aside the Klingons for a bit and get back to Vulcans and Romulans. And not just any Vulcans and Romulans but Sarek and Spock from The Original Series, and Tasha Yar's evil daughter from "Redemption". It's one of the best political strategy episodes so far. 


Episode 15: I Borg
(Picard, Crusher, Laforge, Guinan, Data, Riker, Troi, Worf)

The Borg are interesting villains in that they don't care to kill or acknowledge individuals, they are only interested in assimilating entire species at once. So when the crew of The Enterprise rescues a single Borg, against the wishes of Picard, Guinan, and most of the crew, everyone has to reevaluate their position on TNG's biggest bad. This episode gave me one the most positive visceral reactions to a Star Trek episode I've ever had.


Episode 16: Relics
(Scott, Laforge, Picard, Riker, Crusher, Worf, Data)
​
One of the best episodes of the series, the crew of The Enterprise finds Commander Scott from TOS trapped in a transporter loop. Not only is this the best episode featuring Scott of the series, it's one of the best Laforge episodes, too. That's three "best"s in one paragraph. It seems as though I enjoyed this treatise on how quickly technology makes the old seem obsolete.


Episode 17: Cause And Effect
(Picard, Riker, Crusher, Data, Worf, Laforge, Ro)

Another time loop episode! How will they figure their way out of the loop this time?


Episode 18: Conundrum
(Picrard, Riker, Worf, Data, Troi, Crusher, Laforge, Ro)

A strange ship begins scanning the Enterprise, and then suddenly no one in the crew knows who they are. They still retain all of their skills and talents but they can't place their own identities. Then they are told Starfleet is being threatened by a technologically impaired alien race, and they must completely wipe them out.


Episode 19: Next Phase
(Ro, Laforge, Picard, Crusher, Riker, Data, Worf)

From aging to death. And, once again, a transporter is at the center of it, as Ro and Laforge are believed dead, but have actually been phased in such a way that they can observe the crew but can not be observed, except by each other. 

Episode 20: Tapestry
(Picard, Q, Riker, Worf, Troi, Crusher, Data, Laforge)

Young Picard made some foolish decisions that lead us to the death of current Picard. And, surprise, Q is in charge of the afterlife. Can Picard repair his mistakes so that he neither dies nor completely changes history? Probably not.

Episode 1: Where No One Has Gone Before 
(Wesley, Picard, Riker, Crusher, Laforge, Data, Traveler)

An annoying faux-engineer and his alien counterpart, The Traveler, trying to improve The Enterprise's warp drive. They end up being hurtled far beyond charted space, where they are left at the end of the episode. This is a pro-Wesley episode.


Episode 2: Q Who 
(Picard, Q, Riker, Troi, Data, Laforge, Crusher)

I LOATHE Q. He's my least favorite recurring character in all of the Star Trek franchise. But there's no denying his existence, as he pops up in some crucial episodes. For my continuity's sake, the crew mever got back to charted territory in the last episode, so they're still trying to figure out where to go when they encounter the weird Q moron, who leads them straight into the cubey hands of the newest Star Trek enemy race: The Borg!


Episode 3: Remember Me
(Crusher, Picard, Wesley, Traveler,  Laforge, Wesley, Data, Troi, Worf, O'Brien)

Returning from their Borg mission, Enterprise docks at a Starfleet base. One of Dr. Crusher's old professors visits the ship, but soon after his arrival, he disappears, and there is no record of him ever existing. Slowly, but surely, the whole Enterprise Crew also starts to disappear. This sounds like some Traveler shenanigans.


Episode 4: Peak Performance
​(Picard, Riker, Data, Worf,  Wesley, Troi, Pulaski, Laforge, O'Brien)

It's time for war games between Picard and Riker, with the bridge crew being divided between them, as well as Data and a strategy expert (think of an entertainingly weasley chess master) battling over a game of Strategem (think of a Nintendo Wii version of speed chess, that they never explain the rules to...which is to the benefit of the episode). Naturally, something happens that turns the war games into an important life or death struggle. This episode features Pulaski instead of Crusher, as I like to imagine she is still missing from the events of the last episode.


Episode 5: The Emissary 
(Worf, Picard, Riker, Troi, Data, Laforge, Pulaski)

Not my favorite episode but it introduces Worf's ex, a half-Klingon/half-human political ambassador whose existence is vital to later continuity.  Also, still no Beverly Crusher. 


Episode 6: A Matter Of Honor
(Riker, Picard, Data, Worf, Wesley, Pulaski, Laforge)

Klingon culture is complicated, and the early episodes of TNG that focus on Worf and his relation with his heritage are Not Very Good. In this episode, we see the Klingon's through the lens of Riker, who is assigned as First Officer on a Klingon ship. Some chaos ensues when someone similar to Wesley's friend from the first episode fails to alert either The Enterprise or the Klingon that there is something on the Klingon hull that could destroy the ship.


 Episode 7: Contagion
(Picard, Riker, Laforge, Worf, Data, Troi, Wesley, Pulaski, O'Brien)

A computer related  problem, a lost Starfleet vessel, Romulans, and Pulaski. It's not a great episode, but it has an interesting conceit. And ... no Crusher.


Episode 8: Time Squared 
(Picard, Pulaski, Riker, Data, Laforge, Troi, O'Brien)

For our continuity's sake, the technological problem from Contagion is the cause of another glitch, this one phases Picard slightly out of synch with the universe. The crew, including Doctor Pulaski, barely manage to fix the problem, and save Picard. But the slight rip in time leads to 


Episode 9: Yesterday's Enterprise
(Picard, Data, Yar, Guinan, Riker, Worf, Laforge, Wesley, Crusher)

A rip in time causes a dimensional change that's a bit like The Mirror Universe we explored in Season Three. The crew isn't evil, but their timeline has changed, and Yar, who died offscreen during the previous season, is back. When they encounter a previous Enterprise crew (the crew from between TOS and TNG), they know they have to send the ship back to its original time, where they all will die, in order to prevent the Starfleet/Klingon war that dominates this Mirrorverse.  Any scenes with Beverly Crusher before the time rip are edited out. So that there's some shock for the viewers (but not the crew, who don't know that their timeline has been altered) when both she and Tasha Yar are alive again and part of the crew. Unlike Yar, though, Dr. Crusher gets to stick around, and much like in the actual series, Pulaski is never mentioned, as though she never existed at all.


Episode 10: Evolution
(Wesley, Picard, Riker, Data, Laforge, Crusher, Worf, Troi)

Dr. Bob Kelso from Scrubs was an insufferable prick in the Star Trek universe, as well. His science mission comes in conflict with one of Wesley's school experiments, which is in conflict with The Enterprise's computer. This is one of the best Wesley episodes in the series, and has him acting like his mom was merely away for a while on a mission, and not that she ceased to exist for a while.


Episode 11: The Defector
(Picard, Riker, Data, Worf, Crusher, Laforge, Troi)

For most of the series, the Romulans have been an offscreen threat. We don't even know precisely why they're at war with Starfleet, other than they both want to explore the world and claim it as their own. In this episode, a top officer from The Romulans defects to Starfleet, claiming he knows about a weapon that will change the tide of war. 


Episode 12: Deja Q
(Q, Picard, Riker, Data, Worf, Laforge, Troi, Guinan, Crusher)

Q is a godlike creature with a penchant for drama. He's the Scrappy Doo of Star Trek but with unlimited power, which he only uses to be infuriating. But in this episode, he's had his powers stripped by other members of the Q continuum, and is not a threat, just a withstandable annoyance. Also, a moon is going to crash into its planet, killing millions if The Enterprise can't figure out a way to change its course. My continuity tweak would be to make his failure to help with the Borg situation earlier in the season the reason he is punished.


Episode 13: Sins Of The Father
(Worf, Picard, Riker, Data, Wesley, Laforge, Crusher, Troi)

Earlier this season, we saw Riker transferred to a Klingon ship as part of an exchange program. This season, a Klingon officer comes to work on The Enterprise. But, OH SHIT, it's Worf's younger brother, and he has some distressing family news.


Episode 14: Reunion
(Worf, Picard, Riker, Data, Wesley, Laforge, Crusher, Troi)

The fallout of "Sins Of The Father" come into play, and one of Worf's exes shows up to help mitigate it. She's brought a surprise, and so have they.


Episode 15: Sarek
(Picard, Sarek, Riker, Crusher, Data, Laforge, Worf, Troi)

The crew of The Enterprise hosts Spock's dad and his ... new wife? It turns out that Sarek has what's essentially Vulcan dementia, and it completely messes with the crew.


Episode 16: Menage A Troi
(Troi, Riker, Lwaxana, Picard, Crusher, Wesley, Data, Worf, Laforge)

Troi's mom is Trouble. While trying to hook her daughter up with Riker, she ends up ensnared in a Ferengi plot. Plus, Wesley is getting ready to leave The Enterprise for Starfleet Academy.


Serial 1: Best Of Both Worlds
(Riker, Picard, Data, Worf, Laforge, Crusher, Wesley, Guinan, Troi)

The Borg are back in town! And they abduct one of The Enterprise crew and turn them into The Borg before heading to Earth to assimilate the human race.


Episode 19: Hollow Pursuits
(Laforge, Riker, Barclay, Picard, Data, Wesley, Troi , Worf, Crusher)

I hate holodeck episodes, and this is not generally considered one of the best of them, but it does introduce Barclay who ... sigh ... we will be seeing again later.


Episode 20: Family
(Picard, Worf, Troi, Riker, Crusher, Wesley)

After the cataclysmic events of the last episode, the crew has some down time, and we get some insight on the off-mission lives of Picard, Worf, and the Crushers. This is unlike any other TNG episode, and it's a cool change of pace. And a precursor to something that will take place several seasons in the future.

To watch all of The Star Trek franchise, it would take you nearly a month of no-sleep-marathoning. Nearly 550 hours at this point. Twenty-four days. AND THEY'RE STILL MAKING MORE. You don't have that kind of time.

I've attempted to put together a much more condensed series of Star Trek. Dividing it into ten episode seasons. For the most part, these are My Favorite Episodes. I've left out some that are historically important episodes, in favor of things that I found fun to watch. If you're a Trekkie or Trekker, or just consider yourself a fan, I may have left off your favorite episode. Sorry. But this is more a list for people like me, who had seen an episode here and there, were interested in seeing more, but don't want to invest in the whole 530+ hours. I'm doing it, so others don't have to.

Now that we've finished with the original cast, it's time to see The Next Generation take over, as well as look back at the previous generation and how their actions affect the new crew.  The theme of this season is What Constitutes Life in the future. We'll examine this from several angles. Much like TOS, we'll be jumping around the first couple of seasons, mostly because the first two seasons of The Next Generation are Awful. As bad to worse than the third season of The Original Series, so we're skipping most of it.  It's logical.

Episode 1: Coming Of Age
(Picard, Riker, Wesley, Crusher, Troi, Worf, Data, Laforge)

In the actual viewing order, this episode of The Next Generation shows up about halfway through the first season, and one of the biggest criticisms of it, is that it has false consequences, as the two major storylines center on crew members possibly leaving the show, which was obviously not going to happen. But while this is not a great episode to endure after you've spent a bunch of time with the crew, it's a great intro.

As we learned last season, Starfleet is bastards (similar to "Timelords are assholes", I know, but equally true). We see them from two angles in this episode as an Admiral orders an annoying auditor to investigate Captain Picard's competency while Honorary Ensign Wesley Crusher applies to Starfleet Academy to become an official crew member. As you might expect, not much is at it seems. 


Episode 2: Conspiracy
(Picard, Riker, Data, Crusher, Worf, Laforge, Troi)

A group of rogue Starfleet captains approach Picard about the possibility that Starfleet has been corrupted by an outside source. So when Starfleet orders The Enterprise to a star base, Picard is understandably concerned. When it turns out that the jerky auditor from the first episode, as well as the admiral who sicked the auditor on the ship in the first place, are involved, the crew of The Enterprise springs into action.


​Episode 3: We'll Always Have Paris
(Picard, Riker, Data, Crusher, Worf, Laforge, Troi)

Starfleet may be bastards, but it's scientists who keep mucking things about TNG. In this case, a disgraced Starfleet scientist has caused time issues not completely unlike "Magic To Make The Sanest Man Go Mad". Data is chosen to solve the problem, as Picard has the very Kirkian problem of having one of his favorite exes show up on board.


Episode 4: Simultude
(Trip, Archer, T'Pol, Phlox, Reed, Sato, Mayweather)

Once again, we're back with the crew of the first Enterprise. During repairs, Trip is gravely injured, and Phlox suggests a controversial technique, wherein a clone of Trip, with a fifteen day life cycle is created purely to harvest parts of its brain to help Trip recover. It is Dark and Emotionally Draining to watch, but well-written, and fast paced.


Episode 5: Project Daedalus
(Spock, Burnham, Pike, Saru, Stamets, Tilly, Ariam, Nhan)

Everyone is on edge on the Discovery. Spock and Burnham, Stamets and Culbert, Pike and Tyler, Ariam and Nhan. Ok, not Tilly. She's still delightful. But someone on board has either been feeding information to Section 31 or else taking information from the Sphere they encountered last season. And it's unclear what they're doing with it. But the now fugitive Discovery is in Section 31 territory and the proverbial fan is oscillating in proverbial feculince.


Episode 6: Too Short A Season
(Picard, Crusher, Riker, Yar, Worf, Data, Laforge, Troi)

Elderly Starfleet bastards journey to Enterprise to help diffuse a hostage situation. But they are BAD at it.


Episode 7: Datalore
(Data, Picard, Riker, Yar, Worf, Wesley, Laforge)

It turns out that Data isn't the only android like him. His "brother", Lore, is A Jerk. What happens if he replaces Data as an officer?


Episode 8: Borderlands
(Archer, T'Pol, Soong, Phlox, Sato, Trip, Reed, Mayweather)

Was the guy who made Data and Lore evil? We may never know. But the original crew of The Enterprise has to deal with a Klingon problem while they're transporting one of Dr. Soong's ancestors, who's been messing around with augmented humans who, as it happens, are wreaking havoc with the Klingons.


Episode 9 & 10: The Undiscovered Country
(Kirk, McCoy, Spock, Sulu, Uhura, Scott, Chekov, Rand, Sarek, Worf)

This is it, the end of The Original Series cast. That offhanded joke I made about The Wrath Of Kirk? Wellllll, he may have gone a little bit speciesist, and his behavior makes him the prime suspect when a Klingon Peace Advocate is assassinated. It's up to the crew of The Enterprise, along with Captain Sulu from The Excelsior (a ship The Enterprise sabotaged back in Search For Spock) to clear Kirk's name. Again, we get a Rand cameo, and we also see Michael Dorn, who played Worf in The Next Generation and Deep Space Nine, play an unnamed Klingon lawyer, who I like to believe was Worf, and that the kangarooness of the court proceedings led him to quit the bar and join Starfleet. Wave goodbye to the crew. You might see one or two of them pop up in future seasons, but this is the last time the bulk of the cast gets to interact, as it's finally time for The Enterprise to be decommissioned.


Episode 11: Perpetual Infinity
(Burnham, Spock, Saru, Stamets, Tillly, Culber, Tyler, Pike, Georgiou)

The identy of The Red Angel is finally revealed.


 Episode 12: Through The Valley Of Shadows
(Burnham, Tyler, Pike, Spock, Saru, Stammets, Culber, Amanda, L'rell, Reno)

Back to Klingons and family problems, as Burnham, Pike, and friends must visit the home of the Time Crystals which are ... guarded by Tyler and L'rell's son? Oh, Time Crystals, how your wackiness allows us to overcome things like, the passing of time, in order to have an emotional conundrum.


Episode 13: 11001001
(Picard, Riker, Data, Crusher, Laforge, Worf, Yar, Wesley)

It's a communications error on The Enterprise that can only be solved by creatures who communicate in ... Binary? Seems a bit 20th century, but ok.


Episode 14: Skin Of Evil
(Yar, Troi, Picard, Riker, Worf, Laforge, Data, Crusher, Wesley)

This is the worst TNG episode on the list. By far. It's poorly written, has lackluster effects, and it redshirts a major character for contract reasons. Unfortunately, we kind of need to see the character die for ... reasons.


Episode 15 & 16: Cold Station 12/The Augments
(Archer, Soong, Phlox, Trip, Reed, T'Pol, Mayweather, Sato)

Back to the original Enterprise's Klingon and Soong problem, The Augments take over the medical facility that holds thousands of augmented embryos. The situation causes Soong to have to choose between humans and Augments, doctors to choose between the potential for life and their already living colleagues, and The Klingons to choose between killing The Augments, killing the humans, or just killing everyone.


Episode 17: The Most Toys
(Data, Picard, Riker, Wesley, Laforge, Worf, O'Brien)

DATA IS NOT A TOY. But there is a collector who values the android's worth, and decides to fake Data's death and steal him from Starfleet, and Data makes a Very Human decision to try and escape. This has one of the few I Am Evil villains that I don't mind, as his motives are purely villainous but believable.


Episode 18: Measure Of A Man
(Data, Picard, Riker, Laforge, Pulaski, Worf, Wesley)

Another Starfleet Bastard tries to interfere with The Enterprise by ordering Data to be dismantled so that he can build more androids for Starfleet. When Data, and then Picard refuse, the issue of Data's status as a lifeform goes to trial with Starfleet's JAG (yea, like the court procedural TV show). This is probably the best episode of the season.




Episodes 19 & 20: Such Sweet Sorrow
(Burnham, Spock, Pike, Saru, Stammets, Georgiou, Stammets, Tilly, Tyler, Culber, Sarek, Amanda, Reno,  L'rell)

Discovery! Enterprise! Control! Starfleet! A thing that must be destroyed lest it fall into the wrong hands! Timstream manipulation! Sacrificed characters! Nannites! It's a game changing adventure for everyone to close out the fourth season.

uEpisode 1: A Piece Of The Action
(Kirk, Spock, McCoy, Scott, Uhura, Chekov)

City On The Edge Of Forever took place in New York City, during the Depression. This episode takes place on an alien world, but an alien world that has based their system of government on 1930s Chicago gangster rule. Kirk does a hilariously and probably intentionally bad gangster accent for most of the episode. This is a truly silly episode that encapsulates some of the potential that most of The Original Series aspired to but didn't quite reach.


Episode 2: Doomsday Machine
(Kirk, Spock, McCoy, Scott, Sulu)

After discovering several ravaged star systems, Enterprise encounters The Constellation, another Federation ship, but one that's been badly damaged. Like every Starfleet Captain they encounter, Constellation's has gone cuckoo pants. When the planet killing machine that damaged The Constellation starts to follow The Enterprise, Captain Cuckoo Pants takes over the ship before Kirk can get back on board. The planet killer is deduced to be from an alternate dimension. Wait...so...there are other Star Trek dimensions?


Episode 3: Tholian Web
(Spock, McCoy, Scott, Sulu, Uhura, Chapel, Chekov, Kirk)

The beginning of a dimension expanding saga finds The Enterprise Crew encountering The Defiant, another Starfleet ship that appears to be phasing through dimensions. When Kirk also phases, Spock decides the ship can't leave the location, even though an alien species called the Tholians are ensnaring The Enterprise in a web that could doom them to the same fate.


Episode 4 & 5: In A Mirror, Darkly
(Archer, T'Pol, Phlox, Sato, Mayweather, Reed, Forrest)

So where did The Defiant go when it phased? The Mirrorverse. An alternate dimension where good and evil are flip-flopped, and nobody behaves in a familiar way. The crew of The Mirrorverse Enterprise become embroiled in a political conundrum where they think their best chance of survival is to take The Defiant as their new ship.


Episode 6: Mirror, Mirror
(Kirk, Spock, McCoy, Scott, Uhura, Chekov)

It's TOS's crew's turn to explore the Mirrorverse, as Kirk ends up in the topsy-turvy world where crew members must kill to be promoted. Will Spock help him return to his home dimension? I mean, he must, otherwise this would be the end of the series, right?


Episode 7: Despite Yourself
(Burnham, Saru, Tyler, Stamets, Tilly, Lorca)

Oh no! Discovery is ALSO caught in the Mirrorverse? This is crazypants. But unlike the other series, there seems to be a reason for them being here besides random chance. 


Episode 8: Vaulting Ambition
(Burnham, Saru, Tyler, Stammets, Tilly, Lorca, Georgiou)

There is Definitely a reason that Discovery ended up in The Mirror Universe, and as they try and figure their way back into the regular universe, we (the audience...not so much the crew) learn the messed up truth behind all of their adventures so far.


Episode 9: What's Past Is Prologue
(Lorca, Georgiou, Burnham, Saru, Tyler, Stammets, Tilly)

Once the crew catches up with the audience, they are even more motivated to get the hell out of the Mirrorverse. Turns out pretty much nothing is ever as it seems. I'm sure their return to the regular universe will make everything status quo again, though. Isn't that how Star Trek works?

​
Episode 10 & 11: The Wrath Of Khan
(Kirk, Spock, McCoy, Chekov, Khan, Scott, Sulu, Uhura, Saavik)

Sure, we're back in the original dimension, but it's many years later. Kirk is an admiral, Spock's back on Vulcan, and Chekov is a commander on The Reliant. On a research mission, Chekov runs into Khan from back in the first season, and is forced into a trap intended to ensnare Kirk. But what's more important to Khan? Killing Kirk or getting his hands on The Genesis Device?


Episode 12: Brother
(Burnham, Pike, Saru, Tilly, Stamets, Sarek, Grayson, Reno, Linus)

Something major happened to Spock at the end of The Wrath Of Khan, so now we're going to go all the way back to when he was a child, and explore his relationship with Burnham. And, oh yea, Pike is now the temporary captain of The Discovery, as the ship goes off in search of the cause of the Seven Lights.


Episode 13: An Obol For Charon
(Burnham, Pike, Saru, Tilly, Stamets, Reno, Linus)

Like one of the classic episodes, an unidentified sphere takes control of Discovery, messes with its computer, and turns the whole ship higgledy-piggledy. It also triggers an illness in Saru that is fatal to his species.


Episode 14: The Sound Of Thunder
(Saru, Burnham, Pike, Tyler, Stamets, Culber, Linus)

Everything Saru knew about his species lifespan was a lie, so he decides to break The Prime Directive to set his species free. Plus, Culber is alive again, and Tyler is back on the ship. Awwwwwkwaaaaaaaaaaard.


Episode 15: Fallen Hero
(Archer, Ph'lox, T'Pol, Reed, Mayweather, Sato, Trip)

First officers having cultural identity problems occur all over the Star Trek timeline. During the Enterprise era, T'Pol must balance her loyalty to the crew with her Vulcan heritage. 


Episode 16 & 17: The Search For Spock
(Kirk, McCoy, Scott, Saavik, Uhura, Sulu, Chekov, Sarek, Spock)

The Wrath Of Khan is considered by most to be The Best Star Trek movie, and I don't disagree. It sets all the rest of The Star Trek films into motion as a really cool storyarc on aging military personnel desperately clinging to power. Here, the crew of The Enterprise must defy Starfleet to rescue their missing friend. Also, Klingon bastards do Something that will incur The Wrath Of Kirk.


Episode 18: If Memory Serves
(Spock, Burnham, Pike, Saru, Stamets, Tilly, Tyler, Georgiou, Culber)

It looks like The Enterprise wasn't the only ship to find Spock. Young Spock is back with Burnham trying to get to the Discovery via Thalos IV, the planet from The Menagerie. What will his involvement due to help them discover the purpose of The Red Angel, and how will it affect Discovery's relationship with Starfleet and Section 31?


​
Episode 19 &20: The Voyage Home
(Kirk, Spock, McCoy, Chekov, Uhura, Scott, Sulu, Sarek, Saavik, Rand)

After the events of The Search For Spock, the former Enterprise crew must journey back to 20th century Earth in an unfamiliar vessel in order to bring some whales back to Earth to keep it from being obliterated by an amok probe. It's a weird premise, and the movie is filled with more Colorful Metaphors than you'd expect in a Star Trek film. This is the most honestly funny chapter in TOS, as its humor is based on the various crew members' failure to understand 20th century culture. And it's very much a mid 1980s comedy. It's also fun to see Rand show up again, even if it's Very Briefly.

To watch all of The Star Trek franchise, it would take you nearly a month of no-sleep-marathoning. Nearly 550 hours at this point. Twenty-four days. AND THEY'RE STILL MAKING MORE. You don't have that kind of time.

I've attempted to put together a much more condensed series of Star Trek. Dividing it into eighteenish episode seasons. For the most part, these are My Favorite Episodes. I've left out some that are historically important episodes, in favor of things that I found fun to watch. If you're a Trekkie or Trekker, or just consider yourself a fan, I may have left off your favorite episode. Sorry. But this is more a list for people like me, who had seen an episode here and there, were interested in seeing more, but don't want to invest in the whole 530+ hours. I'm doing it, so others don't have to.

Unlike my other reimaginings, I'm not saying how many seasons this will be, because I don't know yet. THEY ARE STILL MAKING MORE!
​
Last season, we got to meet and spend some time with all our major characters, watch them repeatedly fall in love with someone who either died or had to be left behind, defy Starfleet orders, and we spent some time in the pre-TOS (The Original Series) days with the cast of Enterprise and Discovery, who we'll revisit this season.  This season has more Federation Of Planets intrigue, a seemingly endless supply of new alien species, and more women from the crew's past and future (sorry Uhura and Chapel, no male exes are allowed on-screen this season).

Episode 1: Journey To Babel
(Kirk, Spock, McCoy, Chekov, Uhura, Sarek, Amanda)

It's Meet The Parents, Vulcan style, as Spock's mumsy and dadsy are sent as ambassadors to broker some peace, when a fight breaks out between the Tellarites and the Andor---seriously, More Blue Jerks? What is this Avatar? This is a really good episode about diplomacy in both the political and family setting, and gives us an interesting glimpse into Spock. Plus, those blue jerks are actually growing on me. Like antennae.


Episode 2: The Andorian Incident
(Archer, T'Pol, Phlox, Sato, Mayweather, Reed, Trip, Shran)

Back in the time before The Federation Of Planets, The Vulcans were showing we bumbling humans around space. So it makes sense that we would want to know a little more about our tour guides. But while visiting a Vulcan monastery planet, the crew ends up in a showdown with some very crabby (I guess irritable is a better word, as they don't walk sideways or have claw appendages) blue antennaed jerks. Luckily, we learned last season that, apart from the Vulcans and humans, space is so vast that, once you encounter an alien race,  you never see them ever again.


Episode 3 & 4: Babel One/United
(Archer, Shran, Reed, Trip, T'Pol, Phlox, Mayweather, Sato)

Oh for fuck's sake, more blue jerks, already? An Andorian ship is attacked by a race called the Tellarites, who were attacked by some Andorians, and Klingons are in the mix and--wait, someone is pitting aliens against each other, which is super easy, since they're all such incredible jerks. The villainous species turns out to be another returning threat from season one. Somehow Reed and Trip end up getting separated from the ship and the crew again (hold it together, guys, how are you always together on the brink of death?), and we learn about another new technology that confuses our simple human brains. This is technically the first 2/3rds of a three story arc, but the last third is irrelevant to our season, so we're going to skip it.


Episode 5: All Our Yesterdays
(Kirk, Spock, McCoy)

The Big Three from The Original Series get stuck in different eras on an unfamiliar planet and must figure out how to reunite and return to their present. It's the most Doctor Who-y episode of Star trek so far.


Episode 6: Lethe
(Burnham, Sarek, Saru, Tyler, Tilly, Stammets, Lorca)

Spock's mummy and daddykins raised an adopted human daughter named Mike Burnham. You know, the protagonist of Discovery. So when Sarek ends up on the brink of death, it's his fully human daughter who comes to his rescue.


Episode 7: This Side Of Paradise
(Kirk, Spock, McCoy, Sulu, Uhura)

Mellow out, man. Even Spock gets groovy in this tale of a planet that keeps everyone chillaxed and on the serious harmonius vibology. Will someone narc them out to Starfleet so they can get back to The Man's duty?


Episode 8: Operation Annihilate!
(Spock, Kirk, McCoy, Scott, Uhura)

Ok, now This outpost is having some actual problems. In fact, they're ready to kill The Enterprise crew. But Kirk has family here, so they'll be able to help out with---oh, it's another mind control thing? Yikes. This seems to be happening an awful lot. Maybe this time they'll just kill all the mind controllers in the universe, and they can start trusting each other again.


Episode 9: Magic To Make The Sanest Man Go Mad
(Burnham, Tyler, Mudd, Stammets, Lorca, Saru, Tilly)

It's time loop madness when Mudd comes back to exact his revenge on Lorca and Tyler for leaving him in the Klingon prison last season.


Episode 10: I, Mudd
(Kirk, Spock, McCoy, Mudd, Scott, Uhura, Sulu, Chekov)

And now it's time for Mudd to have his revenge on Enterprise for what *they* did to him last season. Why so angry Muddsy? You have an entire planet of hot cloned androids to keep you company. Why would you ever want to get away from them?


Episode 11: Mudd's Passion
(Kirk, Spock, McCoy, Mudd, Scott, Uhura, Sulu, Chekov, Chapel)

A bonus episode! We take a quick peek back into The Animated Series Universe for one more magic moment with Star Trek's favorite con-man.


Episode 12: Changeling
(Kirk, Spock, McCoy, Scott, Uhura, Sulu, Chapel)

It's the original series cast vs. Wall-E, as a friendly little Starfleet droid threatens to destroy the entire universe if it doesn't get its way.



Episode 13: Immunity Syndrome
(Kirk, Spock, McCoy, Chekov, Scott, Uhura, Chapel)

Another new type of...alien?...planet?...galaxy?...dimens---what is going on in this episode? Will the crew have to make an ultimate sacrifice to save the universe? I mean, probably not. We are only twelve episodes into the second season. But maybe one of the cast will die this time to establish some stakes. Maybe?


Episode 14: Shore Leave
(Kirk, McCoy, Spock, Sulu, Uhura)

This season has been so taxing. The crew rather desperately needs some R&R, so they find an abandoned planet, send Sulu and McCoy to check it out, and prepare for a nice, uneventful time. Wait. Did McCoy just see The White Rabbit from Alice In Wonderland? Is he on shrooms? Are there people here? Are we back in mind control territory? Damn it, will the crew ever get to properly relax?


Episode 15: Dead Stop
(Archer, T'Pol, Reed, Trip, Mayweather)

The Tellarites give the crew of The Enterprise some terrible advice, and they end up getting repairs from a surreal space station. Crew members will die! Plots will twist. 


Episode 16: Space Seed
(Kirk, Spock, Khan, McCoy, Scott, Uhura)

The Enterprise stumbles on an abandoned ship filled with prisoners once jettisoned from Earth, including a certain sexpot with the name Kirk most likes to yell in his sleep. That's right, it's the debut of KHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAANNNNNNNN!!!!!


Episode 17: The Enterprise Incident
(Spock, Kirk, McCoy, Scott, Uhura, Chekov, Sulu, Chapel)

We started this series with The Enterprise chasing down Romulans, but haven't seen them since. Well, Starfleet has decided that the crew needs to go on board a Romulan vessel and steal a Romulan cloaking device. We've seen Kirk get creepy with the ladies, but this time good old Spock will be the catfish bait for the Romulan captain. He will, of course, me-ow logically.


Episode 18: For The World Is Hollow And I Have Touched The Sky
(McCoy, Kirk, Spock, Scott, Sulu, Uhura, Chekov, Chapel)

A McCoy-centric episode where they visit a ship full of people who don't know they're on a ship. There's a love plot, the possibility of a character being left behind, and some mind-control, so it's pretty tropey, but fun!


Episode 19: City On The Edge Of Forever
(Kirk, Spock, McCoy, Scott, Uhura, Sulu, Chapel)

Many people have this as their favorite episode ever of The Original Series. I am not one of those people. I think this is a middle-of-the-road episode, but if you don't see this, your Trek friends will snub you at your next antisocial gathering. Joan Collins guest stars in this time travel tale where Kirk and Spock follow a crazed McCoy through a dimensional gate. Kirk falls in love with someone historically important, and decisions must be made.  May you love this episode as much as the people who expressed rage at my indifference.

​
Episode 20:  Deadly Years
(Kirk, McCoy, Spock, Chekov, Sulu, Scott, Chapel, Uhura)

A seemingly abandoned planet turns out to actually be a deathtrap, as it causes most (but not all) the people who visit it to age rapidly. That's right, you'll get to see Grandpa Kirk, Wizardly Spock, and a whole bunch of other crew members grow grey over a single episode. Shockingly, no one is mind controlled into thinking they're young.