What's your favorite Star Trek episode, and why?

[Deja Q]

Right now, for me, it's "Mirror Mirror". The parallel universe is very disturbingly similar to how our own society is progressing toward, not to forget how employers are treating their employees these days.

(edit: This can be any of the 65,536 Star Trek-based TV series... As I recall, DS9 had a weird parallel universe episode too...)

[Limbought]

1. It's gotta be ........

"The Trouble With Tribbles"

This was the best part:
"Trouble breaks out between Klingons and members of the Enterprise's crew, also on shore leave, when one of the Klingons compares Earthers to Regulan blood worms. This infuriates Chekov, who then becomes more upset when the Klingon goes on to call Kirk a swaggering, overbearing, tin-plated, dictator with delusions of godhood. However, Scott holds Chekov back, even after the Klingon calls Kirk a Denebian slime devil. However, when the Klingon calls the Enterprise a sagging old rust-bucket which is designed like a garbage scow, Scott punches him, precipitating a bar room brawl. When Kirk questions his crew, no one admits to starting the fight. However, when Kirk questions Scott alone, he admits that he started the fight, and also reveals that he refrained from fighting while Kirk was being insulted, but was forced to take action when the Klingons insulted the Enterprise."
http://www.ericweisstein.com/fun/startrek/TheTroubleWithTribbles.html

[BootinUp]

4. We love the Enterprise..we really do

heh the Klingon says:

The Enterprise shouldn't be hauling garbage, it should be hauled off AS Garbage!

That was all Scotty could take!

[LeftPeopleFinishFirst]

5. I actually remember that one on re-runs

:D

[kayell]

19. Trouble with Tribbles has always been my favorite too

That scene is a classic, although my favorite is the one where Kirk gets buried in tribbles.

[BootinUp]

2. So many I Love...

but "City on the Edge of Forever" gets me every time. The we are totally alone line after McCoy changes history...Great stuff!

I still think it is the best Sci-Fi series ever. The stories remind of the classic golden age of Sci-Fi stories, and the camaraderie between Kirk, Spock and McCoy was always fun.

[BlueEyedSon]

3. Let That Be Your Last Battlefield

"Can't you see he's the inferior species? He's black in the LEFT side!"
(paraphrased)

Pretty funny, huh?



Editorial Reviews
Amazon.com
There's blunt and then there's really blunt. "Let That Be Your Last Battlefield" is certainly the latter, a thick fable about the absurdity of intolerance, a story so obvious it becomes energized by its own, sheer audacity. Frank Gorshin, a 1960s television icon for his recurring role as the Riddler on Batman, plays Bele, an extraterrestrial cop pursuing a fugitive named Lokai (Lou Antonio). The latter is chalk-white on the right side of his body, and ebony-black on the left, an arrangement despised as inferior by Bele and his race, whose own color scheme simply reverses the two. While Captain Kirk (William Shatner) decides what to do about Lokai's request for asylum, the old race hatred between both sides looks increasingly ridiculous. Interestingly, the episode originated as an idea from producer Gene L. Coon, who envisioned an endless chase between a devil and an angel. Eventually it was decided that the sheer stupidity of prejudice would be underscored more clearly in the final arrangement and, indeed, several decades after the fact, the show does have a surrealist punch to it. Incidentally, the Enterprise self-destruct sequence seen here was reprised in the feature film Star Trek III: The Search for Spock. --Tom Keogh

I'll just add that the pair finally return to their home planet, only to find that their race hatred has anihilated all intelligent life. Stupid dickheads!

[Deja Q]

6. It's preachy, but I love it. The only problem is:

Spock fails to see the difference between the two, until it is pointed out to him. I hate it when Spock is a cypher, he's much too intelligent for that. The line that says he's unable to see the difference should have been spoken by Chekov... He was misused plenty of times during the 3rd season anyway, though at least he stopped doing the "It was invented in Wussia!" shtick...

Or have Spock say the difference but says it does not matter, they are still equals...

The dialogue spared no expense to point out the idiocy of racism, and the episode shined because of it. I wish the DVD was still available in stores... but I gather they're going to do boxed season sets, so I might wait despite already having bought half of the collection...

Of course, Bele speaking of his invisible spaceship (with some very corny dialogue), and his ability to telekinetically fry the ship's control panels is a bit dodgy...

But any sci-fi story can be picked apart. Star Trek always had a social issue attached and Kirk's era did it the best. That's why I love it. :loveya:

I'll just add that the pair finally return to their home planet, only to find that their race hatred has anihilated all intelligent life. Stupid dickheads!

Just like Mirror Mirror, Last Battlefield foretells what humanity is coming to. If peak oil brings about total nuclear war by the US (which is quite possible, sadly), we'll destroy ourselves. And it's clear our misadministration hates non-white people.

[BlueEyedSon]

8. Trek always had a social issue attached and Kirk's era did it the best.

You said it! That's the fundamental prob with all the spin-offs.

[Dogmudgeon]

30. Color my world!

It was such a silly premise, but it was played with complete commitment by the cast. Keogh's capsule review really gets to it.

--bkl

[terrya]

7. "Who Mourns for Adonis"?

The Enterprise crew is confronted by a being who claims he's the Greek god Apollo.

The actor who played Apollo was very hot.

Yep, that's why I liked it. Superficial as hell, but I don't care.

:-)

Terry

[BlueEyedSon]

9. How about the Trelane, the Squire of Gothos?

He's the first homosexual I ever saw on TV!

[terrya]

10. Yeah...I liked that one, also.

:-)

Terry

[Deja Q]

17. ROTFLMAO!! Didn't know Q liked his bread buttered that way...

:D B-)

[BootinUp]

12. Caroline wasn't bad either :)

[MidwestMomma]

11. The one where Spock is on trial for trying to take his ex-commander

(Commander Pike?)to the planet which has been interdicted forever and it's punishable by death to go there. But during Spock's trial you find out that he's doing it so that his ex-captain who is physically wrecked can live out his days in the illusion of health and happiness because of the mind-control powerers of the people on the planet. (Which is why the forbade everyone from visiting the planet in the first place.)

That's one of the episodes that if I come across while channel-surfing that I'll stop and watch.

Sure hard to pick just one. :-)

[BlueEyedSon]

15. "The Menagerie"... A classic!

More devoted trekies will be able to confirm that the "flashbacks" are actually clips from the ST pilot, "The Cage". The Kirk character was not in the pilot, hence the other captain. The doctor was a different guy too.

[MidwestMomma]

20. Thanks for the episode title

Couldn't remember it. And that's funny about the flashbacks being from the pilot. Do they ever show the pilot on reruns? Not sure now if I've ever seen the pilot or just the scenes from the flashbacks?

Star Trek was one of my favorite shows growing up. Me and my sis would look forward to it every week. I think it formed some of my social/philosophical ideals and I didn't even realize it at the time because I was just a kid enjoying a tv show. But now that I think about it, I'm all about tolerance, violence as a last result and minimal interference in other cultures. My God, it just dawned on me, I live my life according to the Prime Directive! (I'm such a nerd. :D )

[Feanorcurufinwe]

13. TNG "Frame of Mind"

because I love stories where part of the fun is figuring out what's real and what's not. And Jonathan Frakes does a fantastic job.

But I love so many of them....

[Catshrink]

14. "The Devil in the Dark"

remember the horta? the rocky eating life form based on silicon? Spock did a mind meld with it....

Anyway, I use the horta a lot in my chemistry classes when we talk about the similarities of elements in the same column. Silicon falls right below carbon so shares the same bonding characteristics. The space nerd kids love it, the others just think I'm weird.

BTW, I also love tribbles -- and Scottie saying he transported the tribbles to the Klingon ship where "they'll be no tribble at all."

[BootinUp]

16. My number 2: Court Martial

I'm a sap for court room dramas, Spock and the computer Chess games, and pretty Prosecutors. :)

How about the Kirks attorney when he rants about the age of the machine and justice and all that stuff.

I DEMAND IT!

[BlueEyedSon]

18. STNG: "The Inner Light"

Reviews
From All Movie Guide
A freak accident causes Picard to wake up in another man's body on the distant planet Kataan. Once he gets his bearings, Picard learns that he has assumed the identity of Kamin, a citizen of the Ressic community. As he lives out Kamin's life over a period of several years, Picard struggles to save Kataan from a devastating drought. First telecast June 6, 1992, the Emmy-nominated "Inner Light" was written by Morgan Gendel and Peter Allan Fields. Hal Erickson

I always cry at the end.

But no social commentary like the Original Series!

[BootinUp]

21. Thats a great one n/t

[Rowdyboy]

23. You beat me to it

This is one of my all time favorites. Very sensitive, thought-provoking, and sad.

[Mandomaniac]

22. TNG

Sorry I don't know the name of the episode, but its the one where everyone on the ship de-evolves. Ie, Pickard de-evloves into an ape, Warf turns into some bad-ass wild boar or something, Troy de-evolves into a fish, someone into a Spider...etc etc.

I think number 2 directed it.

[Feanorcurufinwe]

26. It's called "Genesis"

http://stng.36el.com/st-tng/episodes/271.html

[khashka]

24. OK, I'm gonna blow this

But my picks.

1.The "gay" episode. Where Number One falls in love with a lady from a society that has no gender. Didn't do what they hyped it as but was still great.

2. Troi and Dr. Crusher exercising and talking about their love lives. Don't know the season, the episode or plot. Still a great moment. For once they seemed like real women: cool, bitchy, hopeful, disappointed, whatever. I could believe that conversation.

3. Please excuse me here. I know my ladder of evolution is missing a few rungs. The one where Wesley steps on a tiny little green house thang and is sentenced to death. All those muscular blond guys in minimal clothing made TV worthwhile. I apologize profusely! (but still have it on video).

Khash.

Original Trek? Damn near anything that gave Uhurah a good role.

[terrya]

25. This begs a question. Why couldn't "Star Trek" have any gay characters?

I mean, openly gay characters on the show? One or two of the crew, for instance?

Surely there are still gay people in the 24th century. And please...is "Don't Ask Don't Tell" STILL in place 300 years later????

What gives about this?

Terry

[khashka]

31. OK. Ummm.

From what I understand it was a BIG issue from the 70's onward. It had been brought up by fans and people connected to Gene for years. He wasn't totally cool about it (he wanted to protect the franchise) but thought if a good script came up they should go for it.

But then there was Majel. Who had very different views. She might be a very nice woman but the six or seven times I've met her she was a stone cold bitch (maybe she was having a bad day). But she was trying to protect her husband - sweet but no guts. I can respect that without liking it. I'd probably do the same.

Then there was TNG. It started out great. Those little miniskirts that Uhura wore - well in the first season so did some of the guys. (And yeah, I'll admit, some Vulcan guy in a miniskirt is my idea of good TV) But it was dropped. It was a matter of timing, I think. They tried and failed and just went back to the status quo. (Which is not at all what Gene did in the original series.)

Now it fails dismally, at the time it was just kinda disappointing. In the era of Queer Eye and Boy Meets Boy, I'd like to see what they could do. The movies were mostly awful... but Uhura as a 50 year old sex kitten? Cool! Most of the time I feel ashamed I care. But once in awhile they can surprise me.

Let's face it: it's either a TV show or a movie franchise. They can't afford to alienate people who'll watch or buy tickets. It could have been more but the constraints are so limiting.

I love it and I hate it and I wish it was more, but welcome to life.

Khash.

[Limbought]

27. Don't forget that Kirk & Uhura shared the first interracial kiss on TV!

Nichols Talks First Inter-Racial Kiss
While for many people the kiss between Captain Kirk and Lieutenant Uhura in the Original Series was a ground-breaking statement on racial relations, according to actress Nichelle Nichols it also showed the relations on the Star Trek set.


http://www.trektoday.com/news/050901_05.shtml

[Deja Q]

28. "Plato's Stepchildren"

Great episode. But "MIrror Mirror" seems most topical at this time. :-)

[khashka]

29. That's a myth

Kirk and Uhura was NOt the first. Dianne Carroll did it first and best several years before.

Great story, but not fact.

[Deja Q]

33. Which TV show was she in that she did it in, and with who?

Horny minds like mine need to know! :bounce: :D

[Dogmudgeon]

32. Miri

The guest stars were Kim Darby ("True Grit") and Michael J. Pollard ("Bonnie and Clyde"). They both were in some excellent movies in that era. Pollard usually played a smiling, dry-witted dope; Darby was great as the priggish, revenge-obsessed Mattie in True Grit, and if you compare her role to the wacky mom she played in Better Off Dead (one of John Cusack's first big films), you'll be pleasantly surprised.

(Incidentally, there's an good article on the woman who wrote the script for True Grit at the Writer`s Guild of America website.)

Kirk and a search party beamed down to the surface of a planet where the civilization has been decimated by an engineered plague that killed all the adults. Darby and Pollard were two of the older kids who had to face the onset of adolescence and their impending death.

It was an excellent parable of growing up, and the "death" of one's childhood. Especially since in the late 1960s, selling the promise of eternal youth was the major marketing device.

Looking back on it, I suspect Kim Darby also had something to do with me liking the story. :9

--bkl