Favourite Standalone Episodes

[Warp 10 (Pepperoni)]

I asked this in the Voyager thread a way back as an excuse to share some of my favourites, whereas with Enterprise I'm looking for recommendations. I've never really given the series a real chance but watched a few recently (Dead Stop, Resurrection, Impulse) and enjoyed them. Would like to keep watching some standalone episodes ideally, but don't mind about going between different seasons, or encountering a mild spoiler, etc.

What would you recommend??

 

[Whizkid]

TNG: Measure of a Man.

Best Trek Ever!

 

[Sumire]

I feel like people are probably rolling their eyes at me by this point because I trot out the same recommendations again and again but, here we go:

I always recommend:
Carbon Creek
First Flight

Well-regarded:
Shuttlepod One
Breaking the Ice
The Andorian Incident (this absolutely sets up an ongoing story but it stands on its own quite well)

I’m probably in the minority but I think Strange New World is an interesting watch with some informative character beats and even some humor. North Star is fun too, cheesy but in a very Trek way.

 

[tomalak301]

Since Season 1 and 2 are pretty much all stand alone, I'm going to try to pick one from either season 3 or 4. I think I will go with North Star from season 3. I liked the western style of that episode and it was a message show.

 

[Oddish]

Dead Stop is amazing.

 

[1001001]

Dead Stop, Carbon Creek

 

[Oddish]

Silent Enemy, Vanishing Point, Cogenitor, and Regeneration are also quite good.

 

[Warp 10 (Pepperoni)]

Regeneration is the one I watched recently, which I incorrectly called Resurrection in my first post. I agree though, it's great! Will give those other episodes a watch soon, thanks

 

[Reanok]

First Flight, Breaking the ice. Carbon Creek. Silent Enemy. Regeneration. North star

 

[Gyruss5]

I’ve only seen 2 seasons and currently working season 3. So far my favorite episodes come from season 2: Dead Stop, Cogenitor, and The Expanse.

 

[Richard S. Ta]

From Season 1, Shuttlepod One is strong.

I'm probably going to get smashed for this, but I think from the same season, Dear Doctor works really well.

Detained from Season 1 is also brilliant, as is Desert Crossing.

 

[Farscape One]

Some of my favorite standalone episodes of ENT...

"FIGHT OR FLIGHT"
"SILENT ENEMY"
"DEAR DOCTOR"
"SHUTTLEPOD ONE"
"VOX SOLA"
"MINEFIELD"
"DEAD STOP"
"COGENITOR"
"REGENERATION"
"HOME"
"OBSERVER EFFECT"


I didn't put down any season 3 episodes because it was all one big arc (and the standalone ones were not my favorite) and of the 5 standalones in season 4, one was rather boring, one was just okay, and one was just terrible.

I put in "MINEFIELD" and "DEAD STOP" because even though one led directly to the next, each story was so great I had to include them both.

I have other favorites, like "THE ANDORIAN INCIDENT", but they led to arcs and other continuations, so I didn't count them.

 

[Cox of Seagulls]

I think Cogenitor is pretty much a masterpiece. Thought provoking and genuinely quite touching, with no easy answers.

Observer Effect is great too, it's very clever in the way that it sets up Errand of Mercy.

 

[CommanderRaytas]

I am never going to change my mind on this one: Dear Doctor is a really good episode with a really difficult dilemma that was pretty much unsolvable, which is why they concluded that they need rules for dealing with this kind of clusterfuck.

One of my absolute favourites is The Andorian Incident, though it does have a follow-up. It's still good as a stand-alone.

 

[Richard S. Ta]

I am never going to change my mind on this one: Dear Doctor is a really good episode with a really difficult dilemma that was pretty much unsolvable, which is why they concluded that they need rules for dealing with this kind of clusterfuck.

Can of worms opened, but I absolutely agree with you.

@all Can we not do the Dear Doctor debate at length?

 

[Oddish]

Can we not do the Dear Doctor debate at length

Agreed. I'm sure there's a relevant topic somewhere we can resurrect, and absolutely go to town on this episode.

 

[Farscape One]

Agreed. The debate is a good one, but it should be a separate matter from what this thread is about.

But I will say this... episodes like "DEAR DOCTOR" are why a series is memorable. Each show before the streaming era has their own Kobayashi Maru episode, where both choices are a level of bad or will make the captain look bad regardless. "TUVIX" is a great example of this. So is "IN THE PALE MOONLIGHT" or "FOR THE UNIFORM". "Homeward" arguably does the same thing. "A PRIVATE LITTLE WAR" ends similarly.

These kind of episodes are why we love STAR TREK. (Well, one of the main reasons, anyway.)

 

[tomalak301]

From Season 1, Shuttlepod One is strong.

I'm probably going to get smashed for this, but I think from the same season, Dear Doctor works really well.

Detained from Season 1 is also brilliant, as is Desert Crossing.

Other than the ethical considerations, I thought Dear Doctor was widely considered as one of the best episodes of the season.

 

[Richard S. Ta]

Other than the ethical considerations, I thought Dear Doctor was widely considered as one of the best episodes of the season.

That’s what I thought.

Anyway.

Detained is really, really good when I think about it. Probably Travis’s finest episode, Bakula opposite Stockwell, T’Pol getting cheeky with the improvisational rule-bending, a clear message that’s still relevant today and a pretty good shootout.

On reflection, quite possibly my number one episode from Season 1.

There’s another from Season 1 I’ve grown fond of. The name escapes me. Some alien rip-off merchant is building a nuclear generator in the centre of some quasi-historical renaissance village. Archer gets some romantic stuff.

One more nice one, again the name escapes me, some CGI Semen Creature starts absorbing the crew and finally Hoshi can translate it and they take it back home.

Season 1 of Enterprise is actually really solid stuff in places.

 

[Farscape One]

That’s what I thought.

Anyway.

Detained is really, really good when I think about it. Probably Travis’s finest episode, Bakula opposite Stockwell, T’Pol getting cheeky with the improvisational rule-bending, a clear message that’s still relevant today and a pretty good shootout.

On reflection, quite possibly my number one episode from Season 1.

A shame we never got "Oh, boy" from either Bakula or Stockwell.