Essential/best episodes to watch for full franchise experience

[Elemental]

My wife has always been somewhat of a Star Trek fan but recently (finally) expressed interest in taking up my offer of watching through some "classic" (TOS -> ENT) episodes. She has watched through everything since Kelvin Universe & Discovery with me.

I'm pretty sure if we tried watching everything she would quickly lose interest and the opportunity will be gone. So, I am hoping to show her a representative taste from all series and seasons.

Anyone aware of or care to provide a list of what they would deem an essential watch list?

 

[somebuddyX]

Something weird and sci-fi from Voyager.
Something dramatic from DS9.
Something philosophical from TNG.
Something action from Enterprise.
The City on the Edge of Forever.

 

[NCC-73515]

https://memory-alpha.fandom.com/wiki/Star_Trek_101#Episode_awards

 

[Elemental]

https://memory-alpha.fandom.com/wiki/Star_Trek_101#Episode_awards

I actually have this book already! It's a good source but currently is packed and in storage for moving in 2 months.

 

[Elemental]

https://memory-alpha.fandom.com/wiki/Star_Trek_101#Episode_awards

I also think I'm looking for some more epsisodes than what is listed but will likely include most of those.

 

[Ray Hardgrit]

I don't know if these are all representative or essential, but these are the 50 best episodes not included on those Ten Essential Episodes lists, according to IMDb:

TOS:

1. Balance of Terror
2. The Doomsday Machine
3. The Enterprise Incident
4. The Devil in the Dark
5. The Menagerie
6. All Our Yesterdays
7. Errand of Mercy
8. The Corbomite Maneuver
9. A Taste of Armageddon
10. The Ultimate Computer

(Bonus episode from me: The Galileo Seven).


TNG:

1. Cause and Effect
2. Chain of Command
3. I, Borg
4. Parallels
5. Darmok
6. Déjà Q
   
7. Ship in a Bottle
8. Timescape
9. The Pegasus
10. Lower Decks

(Bonus episode from me: The Enemy).


DS9 (not counting anything from the huge 6 ep and 10 ep arcs):

1. The Visitor (Seriously, how was this not on the list?)
   
2. Call to Arms
3. Improbable Cause/The Die is Cast
4. In Purgatory's Shadow/By Inferno's Light
5. The Jem'Hadar
6. The Search
7. Homefront/Paradise Lost
8. Hard Time
9. Apocalypse Rising
10. Tears of the Prophets

(Bonus episode from me: Visionary).


VOY:

1. Message in a Bottle
2. Living Witness
3. Drone
4. Distant Origin
5. Tinker, Tenor, Doctor, Spy
6. Equinox
7. Pathfinder
8. Death Wish
9. Future's End
10. Latent Image

(Bonus episode from me: Deadlock).


ENT (I'll skip season 3 because it's so serialised):

1. Carbon Creek
2. Regeneration
3. Babel One/United/The Aenar
4. Future Tense
5. Dead Stop
6. The Andorian Incident
7. Dear Doctor
8. Fallen Hero
9. Cease Fire
10. Borderland/Cold Station 12/The Augments

(Bonus episode from me: Shuttlepod One).

 

[Sakonna]

What are some of her favorite episodes (or characters or stories or whatever) from the Trek you have watched together?

A lot of the great eps directly link plot-wise to the streaming era, this is a list I put together for someone I know who just got into Trek in the streaming era and wanted a short watchlist of great key eps from previous shows.

TOS
"The Cage"
"Journey To Babel"
"The City On The Edge Of Forever"
"Mirror, Mirror"

TNG
"Measure Of A Man"
"Sarek"
"Family"
"Unification"
"I, Borg"
"Relics"

DS9
"Crossover"
"Trials And Tribble-ations"

VOY -- mostly selections of great Seven episodes
"Future's End"
"Scorpion"
"The Gift"
"Day Of Honor"
"Hope And Fear"
"Someone To Watch Over Me"
"Relativity"
(deliberately avoiding Icheb, because why make that more horrible...)

 

[Commander Troi]

In the DS9 list, I would add "Progress". That was the ep that made me fall in love with the show.

 

[Richard S. Ta]

I think Broken Bow is a great episode for Enterprise.

 

[Vger23]

Which one of the Star Trek episodes should you watch?

 

[Oddish]

The best way to pass on the Trek experience, I think, is to choose episodes that...

1. Are one-shot, mostly. A two-part is Ok if it's really good. Wait on DS9's long arcs.
2. Are true to the characters. Picard's endorsing Boraalan armageddon in "Homeward" is assassination.
3. Aren't overly controversial. "Tuvix" is probably one to wait on.
4. Are typical of what the show has to offer. For instance, "The Inner Light" is kind of "out there".
5. Are tailored to the watcher, to an extent. An LGBT+ person or ally might appreciate "The Outcast" or "Rejoined", a more conservative viewer might not.
6. Don't suck.

Some general ones from me...
TNG
Unnatural Selection
Measure of a Man
Deja Q
The Offspring
Reunion
The Drumhead
Darmok
Ensign Ro
Ethics
Schisms
Lower Decks
Best of Both Worlds (just too good to leave out)

DS9
Invasive Procedures
Whispers
The Wire
Civil Defense
The Way of the Warrior
The Visitor
Accession
Trials and Tribble-ations
The Siege of AT558

 

[F. King Daniel]

All of them because the crap is part of the charm.

 

[dupersuper]

1. Dear Doctor

A fine list otherwise, but please no.

 

[Ray Hardgrit]

Okay first, it actually was down at number 7. and second, I'm just sharing what IMDb voters picked! It's not my fault!

 

[Oddish]

IMDb is useful for quality, but sometimes the more outre episodes get picked. For instance, "The Inner Light" (while wonderfully done) doesn't really convey the TNG experience. It's best appreciated by people who know Picard, and can understand the journey that he takes.

While "Dear Doctor" is very true to the essence of what "Enterprise" is (or at least what it should have been), it's been a bit controversial to say the least.

 

[1001001]

To become a True Believer, one must go through the ritual.

Spock's Brain
Code of Honor
Move Along Home
Spirit Folk
A Night in Sickbay

Only then can one claim to be worthy.

 

[Oddish]

That marathon might be kind if fun after a few drinks. Especially Night in Sickbay.

 

[Lord Garth]

TOS
Kirk - "The Enemy Within", "Shore Leave", "Court Martial"
Spock - "This Side of Paradise", "Amok Time", "Journey to Babel"
McCoy - "For the World Is Hollow and I Have Touched the Sky"
Kirk/Spock/McCoy Trio - "The Empath", "The Tholian Web"
Klingons - "Errand of Mercy", "The Trouble With Tribbles", "Dave of the Dove"
Romulans - "Balance of Terror", "The Enterprise Incident"
Khan - "Space Seed"
God-like Beings - "Where No Man Has Gone Before", "Who Mourns for Adonias?"
Time Travel - "Tomorrow Is Yesterday", "The City on the Edge of Forever"
The Mirror Universe - "Mirror, Mirror"
War - "A Taste of Armageddon", "A Private Little War"
Kirk vs. The Computer - "The Changeling", "The Ultimate Computer"
Alternate Earth - "A Piece of the Action", "Bread and Circuses"
Androids - "What Are Little Girls Made Of?", "I, Mudd", "Return to Tomorrow"
Kirk's Captured - "The Gamesters of Triskelion", "That Which Survives"

I think these give you a good taste of the series.

There are probably more things I can think of, but I'll stop there.

 

[dupersuper]

To become a True Believer, one must go through the ritual.

Spock's Brain
Code of Honor
Move Along Home
Spirit Folk
A Night in Sickbay

Only then can one claim to be worthy.

Meh. I'd take Spock's Brain over And the Children Shall Lead, Move Along Home over Profit and Lace, and A Night in Sickbay over Dear Doctor any day...and Homeward and Author Author give Code of Honor and Spirit Folk runs for their respective money.

TOS
Kirk - "The Enemy Within", "Shore Leave", "Court Martial"
Spock - "This Side of Paradise", "Amok Time", "Journey to Babel"
McCoy - "For the World Is Hollow and I Have Touched the Sky"
Kirk/Spock/McCoy Trio - "The Empath", "The Tholian Web"
Klingons - "Errand of Mercy", "The Trouble With Tribbles", "Dave of the Dove"
Romulans - "Balance of Terror", "The Enterprise Incident"
Khan - "Space Seed"
God-like Beings - "Where No Man Has Gone Before", "Who Mourns for Adonias?"
Time Travel - "Tomorrow Is Yesterday", "The City on the Edge of Forever"
The Mirror Universe - "Mirror, Mirror"
War - "A Taste of Armageddon", "A Private Little War"
Kirk vs. The Computer - "The Changeling", "The Ultimate Computer"
Alternate Earth - "A Piece of the Action", "Bread and Circuses"
Androids - "What Are Little Girls Made Of?", "I, Mudd", "Return to Tomorrow"
Kirk's Captured - "The Gamesters of Triskelion", "That Which Survives"

I think these give you a good taste of the series.

There are probably more things I can think of, but I'll stop there.

Be warned though that Bread and Circuses has an ending that makes the Yangs and Choms reading from the American constitution seem sensible.

 

[Oddish]

Meh. I'd take Spock's Brain over And the Children Shall Lead, Move Along Home over Profit and Lace, and A Night in Sickbay over Dear Doctor any day...and Homeward and Author Author give Code of Honor and Spirit Folk runs for their respective money.

There's episodes that are bad, and episodes that we happen to dislike. They generally aren't the same. I'll take "Code of Honor" or "Sub Rosa" over, say, "Half a Life" anyday.