The knee jerk reaction will be to say that all Star Trek productions are ins the same alternate universes, except for the alternate universes seen in "Parallels", and the Mirror Universe, and the Kelvinverse, etc.
But most works of fiction contain details which can be shown by research to be false in our universe. Therefore, a work of fiction can only be accurate in an alternate universe. Therefore to suspend disbelief in a work of fiction while reading or watching it is the same thing as imagining that work of fiction happens in an alternate universe to ours.
If one imagines that our universe exists and that one alternate universe exists in which a work of fiction happens, it is an easy step to go on to imagine a multiverse with many alternate universes branching off each second, with our universe and the work of fiction's universe being two of them, and both having countless alternate futures.
According to the concept of an infinite number of alternate universes, when someone takes a new job, like becoming captain of a starship for example, they will have an infinite number of possible future events happening to them in different alternate universes.
Thus in each second they will suffer failure in some alternate universes and gain success in other alternate universes.
The idea that a protagonist of a long running episodic television series goes through all the experiences in all the episodes one after another in the same alternate universe violates statistical probability.
Suppose the hero survives danger in 100 different episodes. Suppose that in each episode the protagonist has a 90 percent (0.90) chance of surviving and a 10 percent chance of dying. Their probability of surviving 10 episodes would be only 0.3486783, and their probability of surviving 100 episodes would be only 0.0000265.
Suppose that each episode is much less dangerous, so that the protagonist has a 99 percent (0.99) probability of surviving each episode. The protagonist would have a 0.9043818 probability of surviving 10 episodes and a 0.366031 probability of surviving 100 episodes.
In order for it to be statistically probable for a protagonist to survive 100 or 200 adventures, each adventure has to be safe enough that it is not very exciting or thrilling. Unless most of those adventures happen in their own alternate universes and various alternate universe versions of the protagonist survive facing only one or two exciting and dangerous adventures.
So if I like the protagonists of an adventure series, I wish to believe that their adventures happen in different alternate universes and that they have high probability of surviving in each alternate universe by only facing one or two dangerous adventures in each alternate universe.
I don't believe that each and every single Star Trek episode or movie is in its own alternate universe, I believe that most Star Trek episodes and movies are in their own alternate universes, but there are examples of Star Trek episodes and movies that happen in the same alternate universes, or at least very similar ones, as one or more previous productions.
I think that the only time an episode should be considered to happen in the same alternate universe after another episode is when the later episode is clearly a sequel to the previous one.
If the vast majority of episodes in a series happen in their own alternate universes and were selected as the most unusual and interesting events the protagonists experience out of millions and billions of possible alternate universes that avoids the vast statistical improbability of a long series of extremely improbable events happening one after the other.
Therefore, I think an interesting question is which Star Trek episodes and movies are among the minority which are sequels to previous episodes or movies.
For example, "Where No Man Has Gone Before", the second pilot episode, happens before all other TOS episodes in production order and in stardate order, though it is the third TOS episode in broadcast order.
Thus it is easy to imagine that all other TOS episodes happen in various alternate universes which branch off after "Where No Man Has Gone Before" and thus are sequels to "Where No Man Has Gone Before".
But there is no proof that each and every other TOS episode is a sequel to "Where No Man Has Gone Before". It is possible that some episodes happen in alternate universes where Gary Mitchell died from a poisoned dart on Dimorus or the Enterprise was never sent to the edge of the galaxy, etc., etc.
In "A Taste of Armageddon" on planet Eminiar VII:
In "By Any Other Name":
This establishes that "By Any Other Name" is a sequel to "Where No Man Has Gone Before", or at least a sequel to similar events.
And:
Thus "By Any Other Name" is a possible sequel to both "Where No Man Has Gone Before" and "A Taste of Armageddon".
In "That Which Survives":
So "That Which Survives" seems to be a sequel to "The Devil in the Dark" or very similar events.
So I am asking for examples of Star Trek movies and episodes of various series which are clearly sequels to other Star Trek movies and episodes
But most works of fiction contain details which can be shown by research to be false in our universe. Therefore, a work of fiction can only be accurate in an alternate universe. Therefore to suspend disbelief in a work of fiction while reading or watching it is the same thing as imagining that work of fiction happens in an alternate universe to ours.
If one imagines that our universe exists and that one alternate universe exists in which a work of fiction happens, it is an easy step to go on to imagine a multiverse with many alternate universes branching off each second, with our universe and the work of fiction's universe being two of them, and both having countless alternate futures.
According to the concept of an infinite number of alternate universes, when someone takes a new job, like becoming captain of a starship for example, they will have an infinite number of possible future events happening to them in different alternate universes.
Thus in each second they will suffer failure in some alternate universes and gain success in other alternate universes.
The idea that a protagonist of a long running episodic television series goes through all the experiences in all the episodes one after another in the same alternate universe violates statistical probability.
Suppose the hero survives danger in 100 different episodes. Suppose that in each episode the protagonist has a 90 percent (0.90) chance of surviving and a 10 percent chance of dying. Their probability of surviving 10 episodes would be only 0.3486783, and their probability of surviving 100 episodes would be only 0.0000265.
Suppose that each episode is much less dangerous, so that the protagonist has a 99 percent (0.99) probability of surviving each episode. The protagonist would have a 0.9043818 probability of surviving 10 episodes and a 0.366031 probability of surviving 100 episodes.
In order for it to be statistically probable for a protagonist to survive 100 or 200 adventures, each adventure has to be safe enough that it is not very exciting or thrilling. Unless most of those adventures happen in their own alternate universes and various alternate universe versions of the protagonist survive facing only one or two exciting and dangerous adventures.
So if I like the protagonists of an adventure series, I wish to believe that their adventures happen in different alternate universes and that they have high probability of surviving in each alternate universe by only facing one or two dangerous adventures in each alternate universe.
I don't believe that each and every single Star Trek episode or movie is in its own alternate universe, I believe that most Star Trek episodes and movies are in their own alternate universes, but there are examples of Star Trek episodes and movies that happen in the same alternate universes, or at least very similar ones, as one or more previous productions.
I think that the only time an episode should be considered to happen in the same alternate universe after another episode is when the later episode is clearly a sequel to the previous one.
If the vast majority of episodes in a series happen in their own alternate universes and were selected as the most unusual and interesting events the protagonists experience out of millions and billions of possible alternate universes that avoids the vast statistical improbability of a long series of extremely improbable events happening one after the other.
Therefore, I think an interesting question is which Star Trek episodes and movies are among the minority which are sequels to previous episodes or movies.
For example, "Where No Man Has Gone Before", the second pilot episode, happens before all other TOS episodes in production order and in stardate order, though it is the third TOS episode in broadcast order.
Thus it is easy to imagine that all other TOS episodes happen in various alternate universes which branch off after "Where No Man Has Gone Before" and thus are sequels to "Where No Man Has Gone Before".
But there is no proof that each and every other TOS episode is a sequel to "Where No Man Has Gone Before". It is possible that some episodes happen in alternate universes where Gary Mitchell died from a poisoned dart on Dimorus or the Enterprise was never sent to the edge of the galaxy, etc., etc.
In "A Taste of Armageddon" on planet Eminiar VII:
In "By Any Other Name":
This establishes that "By Any Other Name" is a sequel to "Where No Man Has Gone Before", or at least a sequel to similar events.
And:
Thus "By Any Other Name" is a possible sequel to both "Where No Man Has Gone Before" and "A Taste of Armageddon".
In "That Which Survives":
So "That Which Survives" seems to be a sequel to "The Devil in the Dark" or very similar events.
So I am asking for examples of Star Trek movies and episodes of various series which are clearly sequels to other Star Trek movies and episodes
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