Which Episode of Each Series is Most Unique

[Vger23]

In the spirit of the @Lord Garth thread asking which episodes are most representative of the Trek series in total, I'll ask the opposite question:

Which episode was most unique for those series (or put another way, least-like the typical premise or story that was told)?

 

[Lord Garth]

Hmmmm.... The easier ones first, the harder ones later, as they occur to me.

"New Eden" (DSC) -- This is a planet-of-the week episode through and through. A very good one, but not normally what Discovery does.

"Preemptive Strike" (TNG) -- One of my favorites. Ro is sent on an espionage mission to infiltrate the Maquis and stop them dead in their tracks. Eventually she gains sympathy for them and it doesn't take long for her to see things their way, especially after an elderly Maquis, who dies later, takes her under his wing. Picard catches onto this at one point and sends Riker to go along with her to make sure she follows her orders. Then Ro turns on the Enterprise and tells the Maquis about Picard's plan to ensnare them. Riker makes it back to the Enterprise but, before he does, Ro lets him know she finally found where she belongs and regrets having to turn on Picard. At the end, Picard just stares blankly out into space. This is really a DS9 episode that's just barely in TNG drag.

"Prodigal Daughter" (DS9) -- Ezri's home life and O'Brien gets mixed up with the Orion Syndicate. Not exactly the type of episode you normally see.

 

[The Old Mixer]

There's nothing more unique than an outstandingly awful episode like "The Alternative Factor" or "Masks".

 

[Sareesataka]

Interesting question. These are off the top of my head, so my answers are subject to change:

TOS - The Empath
TNG - The Inner Light
DS9 - Far Beyond the Stars
VOY - The Fight, maybe? I'll have to think about this some more.
ENT - Carbon Creek
STD - I'm not familiar enough with STD to make any definitive claim as to which episode is most unique.

 

[Lord Garth]

VOY - The Fight, maybe? I'll have to think about this some more.

It's a good example, actually. Chakotay the Pacifist, who only fights when he feels he has to, is like Rocky in this episode and Boothby is like Mic. I don't know if that's the one I'll go with, but that is kind of weird, given the characters.

All we need is for Tuvok to be Apollo and Janeway to be Adrian.

 

[CorporalCaptain]

I'm going to go to the good side of unique.

TOS - "The City on the Edge of Forever"
TAS - "Yesteryear"
(heh, that's interesting)

TNG - "The Best of Both Worlds" (part 1)
DS9 - "Far Beyond the Stars"
VOY - "Real Life"
ENT - "In a Mirror, Darkly, Part II" (runner-up was "Horizon")

 

[XCV330]

TOS: Spock's Brain. There isn't anything like Spock's Brain. You might think there is, but there isn't.
TAS: Yesteryear. It probably unique. I don't know. I just stole it from @CorporalCaptain 's list
TNG: Code of Honor. Uniquely bad on multiple levels.
DS9: Explorers. A lovely episode about a father and son and a solar sail. It has a different pace from the rest of the series.
VOY: Barge of the Dead. Voyager copied and rehashed every idea, good or bad, the writers had, which were few, for the most part. . There are good VOY episodes. but I can't really think of any unique ones apart from maybe this one.
ENT: Carbon Creek. Damn near perfect episode but completely outside of the B&B playbook.
DSC: Calypso

 

[CorporalCaptain]

In retrospect, "The Slaver Weapon" is perhaps a better choice for TAS.

 

[Lord Garth]

I've thought about it and I'm not going with "The Fight" for Voyager. I'm going with something even better.

"Tsukantse" (VOY) -- The Ultimate Crossover! Voyager on one side. WWE Smackdown on the other. The Rock versus Seven of Nine in a Death Match! A Star Trek: Voyager episode like you've never seen before! Complete with Weyoun "Penk" and "Hirogen Fighter" Martok! You won't want to miss this one! Next week on UPN!!!

The Rock vs. Seven of Nine!!!
"America's Smackdown Hero takes on Voyager's Battlestar Babe! Worlds. Will. Collide!"

If you're not familiar with this episode, you might think I'm kidding or at least I'm exaggerating... but I'm not.

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Don't take this episode even remotely seriously and you'll be in for a treat.

 

[Greg Cox]

TOS: "The Cage." Huh? Who is this Pike guy? Where's Bones?
TNG: "Sub Rosa." Beverly has a torrid paranormal romance?
DS9: "Far Beyond The Stars." Definitely a chance of pace--and a great one.
VOY: "Threshold." For better or for worse, that one is . . . different.
ENT: I dunno. The MU eps, maybe. Or the one that's actually a TNG ep?
DISCO: Still a work in progress, but maybe the Groundhog Day ep, which is a bit more episode and lighter in tone?

 

[Vger23]

TOS: "City on the Edge of Forever" Yes its timetravel which was not unique for TOS...but it's so off-beat and different that I have to put it here. Runner-up was "The Empath"

TNG: "Family" No anomalies, no time loops, no latex forehead aliens and no sanctimonious speeches. Just fantastic character exploration

DS9: "Take Me Out to the Holosuite" An old Vulcan rival challenges Team Sisko to a game of baseball. That's all there is to say about that one. (Loved it, BTW)

VOY: I have no idea

ENT: "First Flight" Great flashback episode that made me feel like this is what the series should have been more like to begin with.

DSC: So early and therefore so hard to tell...maybe "M2MTSMGM"