Can you analyze yourself by way of favorite episodes?

[TV's Frank]

In other words, "What do your favorite Trek episodes say about you?". I was wondering this recently, when looking over EW's TNG 20th anniversary article and seeing their top 10 list of TNG episodes. But this could apply across all Trek. When you look at your favorite episodes, is there a running theme throughout that says something about you, your personality or beliefs? Are they all ship-bound or most often planet-side? Do they often involve theoretical science or topics centered on ethics and truth?

It seems most of my favorites deal with the unknowns in space (i.e. non-standard Trek aliens and locations) and examining one's own life and relationships. TOS episodes like "Corbomite Manuever" or "Where No Man..." and TNG episodes like "The Nth Degree", "Q-Who", "Masks", "Cause & Effect" and "Where No One..." cover the former while "Data's Day" and "Tapestry" address the latter ("All Good Things" has it all). Of course, on the flip side I can be a sucker for the action-adventure installments. But are we able to peek into our psyche by way of these favorites, diagnose whether they reveal who we are or who we want to be?

Thoughts or comments?

 

[GreenBlood]

I guess my fav eps say that I am silly, sensual and adventurous.
My fav eps that might support this wud be...

Silly:
any of Mudd's stories
Trouble With Tribbles

Sensual:
Sub Rosa
The Naked Now
The Game
Space Seed
Mirror, Mirror

Adventurous:
All off-earth stories involving aliens and exploration

 

[Smiley]

The episodes I like are awesome, so I must be awesome, too!

Seriously, I like episodes that make me laugh or cry, and I like episodes that have great concepts executed well.

 

[Kegek]

I have the analytical curiosity of "The Measure of a Man" combined with the emotions of "This Side of Paradise", a "Darmok" fascination with myth and language and a "Mirror Mirror" sense of humour.

 

[Ethros]

Well my top 10 episodes of Star Trek would be-
TNG- Q Who?
TNG- Yesterday's Enterprise
TNG- The Best of Both Worlds
DS9- The Visitor
DS9- Call To Arms
DS9- In The Pale Moonlight
DS9- What You Leave Behind
VOY- Scorpion
VOY- Year of Hell
ENT- Twilight

Looking at the above, I suppose they do all fall into the same category, with very serious, dramatic episodes, usually involving high conflict, stress and drama between the characters.
And oh yeah there are some cool space battles in most of them too
It's probably why I'm a big BSG fan as the above reasons fall quite easily into that shows general feel

 

[Keith1701]

Smiley said:
The episodes I like are awesome, so I must be awesome, too!

Seriously, I like episodes that make me laugh or cry, and I like episodes that have great concepts executed well.

Well said, and I must agree with you. There are so many, it would be hard to list them all here from all differant series.

 

[Alyssa]

my fa ep is 'the paradise syndrome' cos i love to see spock in command and emotional! what do you suppose that says about me?

 

[TV's Frank]

Alyssa said:
my fa ep is 'the paradise syndrome' cos i love to see spock in command and emotional! what do you suppose that says about me?

That you like the fellas to be decisive yet sensitive?

 

[The Borg Queen]

I'll give you three guesses as to the recurring theme in my favourite Star Trek episodes...

 

[Alyssa]

TV's Frank said:

Alyssa said:
my fa ep is 'the paradise syndrome' cos i love to see spock in command and emotional! what do you suppose that says about me?

That you like the fellas to be decisive yet sensitive?

Cool!!
:thumbsup: :thumbsup:

 

[captcalhoun]

I like time-travel and AU stories. i think that means i crave an escape from reality

 

[Spider]

City On the Edge of Forever, The Inner Light, The Visitor are my favorite kinds of episodes; the kind that make you feel something, where the actors actually have to do something with their characters instead of just reading lines in a script.

 

[Alyssa]

captcalhoun said:
I like time-travel and AU stories. i think that means i crave an escape from reality

Who doesn't!!!

 

[JiNX-01]

Humor: I like stories that make me laugh (Trouble with Tribbles, The Magnificent Ferengi, Singularity).

Sociable: I like episodes that are well written so even guest characters are well rounded, three-dimensional and memorable (Balance of Terror, The Cage/Menagerie, Fallen Hero, Carbon Creek, Cogenitor, Home)

Emotional intimacy: I like stories in which characters reveal something about themselves (Shuttlepod One, The Ultimate Computer, Similitude).

Positive role models: I like stories in which a character’s actions tell me something about his/her principals (Cogenitor, Dear Doctor, The Menagerie, Stigma.)

Challenge my preconceptions: I like episodes that raise moral dilemmas with no easy answers (Cogenitor, Similitude, A Private Little War, Dear Doctor, In the Pale Moonlight).

Sense of wonder: I like episodes that take me by surprise (IaMD, Azati Prime, Damage, Twilight).

 

[PKTrekGirl]

My favorite dozen Trek episodes are:

1. In the Pale Moonlight (DS9)
2. Improbable Cause/The Die Is Cast (DS9)
3. The Visitor (DS9)
4. Favor the Bold/Sacrifice of Angels (DS9)
5. Deadlock (VOY)
6. Deja Q (TNG)
7. The Wire (DS9)
8. Year of Hell (VOY)
9. Yesterday's Enterprise (TNG)
10.For the Uniform (DS9)
11.The Siege of AR-558 (DS9)
12.Deathwish (VOY)

I'm not sure that I see a theme there really, unless it is 'idealism v. pragmatism in the face of danger', perhaps. Also, I like being surprised, because a couple of those episodes have some surprise plot twists.

 

[Temis the Vorta]

I like seeing characters being pushed out of their comfort zones because when the character is written and performed well, it's interesting to see how they cope and how well the actor pulls off a scene going beyond the usual.

Episode examples: Amok Time, Mirror, Mirror, The Naked Time, The Doomsday Machine, In the Pale Moonlight, Rocks & Shoals, Duet, The Wire, Purgatory/Inferno, the whole final DS9 arc involving Garak, Kira and Damar, and Damage.

 

[K-Star]

I like episodes containing scenes I think are interesting or funny. My favorite episode is "Hero Worship," because I think there are some great scenes in it. I like pretty much all of the Data episodes anyway. I also like some of the Q episodes and most of the episodes with Troi's mom because I find them hilarious.

 

[Colonel Green]

My fav eps seem to indicate that I have impeccable taste

 

[Danoz]

Well I love Chain of Command, Tapestry, The Inner Light, Darmok, The Drumhead-- I really thought the introspective Picard episodes with sharp political or moral undertones were really something. I also greatly enjoyed "Tinker, Tenor, Doctor, Spy" and "Virtuoso" (some great "Doctor" episodes in the Voyager series with humorous twists). I liked "Tuvix", where characters are forced to make a difficult decision in the end that is still left morally ambiguous with the audience-- these unique, hypothetical ethical dilemmas really embody the spirit of trek for me.

What episodes do I tend to watch the most? I love Klingon episodes, especially in TNG and DS9 (though some Voyager episodes do an interesting job in strugging with Torris'. The Klingons are so raw and honor bound that they make for some truly great stories.

What does that say about me? I don't know. I think I love the political undertones and moral/ethical problems that characters have to wrestle with--- but ultimately on any given day I'm most likely to throw in a Klingon episode

 

[Apogeal Alpha01]

"In the Pale Moonlight" and "You Are Cordially Invited," are two that I like a lot. I love intrigue and I'm a serious romantic who loves tradition.