Top 50 Episodes of Star Trek: Part Four (with Les)

Greetings, Manic Fans. Les here to continue our Top 50 Episodes of Star Trek list with my friend RichB….and, surprise, surprise…he’s not here yet…

*A flash of light and Q appears in full Judge’s apparel*

LES: Um….you’re not RichB….where is he?

Q: Irrelevant! I’m here to discuss more important things.

LES: Um…ok…what’s on your mind, my friend?

Q: You make a top 50 list of Star Trek Episodes and only include 5 with ME in them? And you believe it’s still a legitimate list?

LES: Nothing personal, Q. Most of your episodes were phenomenal…but there were a few that didn’t quite measure up to the rest, and we wanted to spread the love a little more for the fandom.

Q: WHAT? You think some of my episodes didn’t measure up? Impossible!

LES: “Q-pid,” “The Q and the Gray”…..

Q: THOSE WEREN’T MY FAULT!…..

LES: Of course they weren’t….OK, I’ll make you a deal. Bring back RichB, and we’ll put another episode of yours on the list.

Q: Oh, very well…but I’m watching you, mortal.

*Q snaps his fingers and disappears to be replaced by RichB, who looks around, confused*

LES: Yep! You were right. This WAS an even better entrance, my friend.

RichB: RIGHT!…I totally planned it..er…Let’s continue with DS9 with an offbeat episode that really really worked!!

WARNING: SOME SPOILERS AND ADVENTURES IN BAJORAN SPACE AND THE GAMMA AND DELTA QUADRANTS AHEAD….

#10.  “Far Beyond The Stars”

I didn’t want to put episodes on here I had already discussed, mostly because the majority of those episodes were not great, but I am adding this for two reasons. One, I did discuss it in my Underrated Trek series but that was an exception, it really is a good episode. Second, it’s just to good to not have it here. Man how do I explain this one? In a hallucination Sisko envisions his life as a sci fi writer working for a pulp magazine in the 50’s. While this about as offbeat an episode as you’re likely to get, you can’t deny how good the writing and acting is. The core is obviously racial tensions from that era and it works so well. There some great little touches to, like Benny (Sisko’s name here) getting flashes of the other characters in their 50’s look and their DS9 costumes. My favorite is when the two cops, played the by the actors who usually play Weyoun and Dukat, assault Benny. The scene is chilling wit the music and the flashes of the cops switching back and forth. Chilling scene…followed by some amazing acting by Brooks. I could do a whole article on it…oh yeah, I did. Les, where do you want to start?

LES: Far beyond the stars was an exceptional DS9 episode and an acting tour de force for Avery Brooks. Awesome pick, my friend. My first pick here will be my last DS9 episode from the whole list.


#10.  “Extreme Measures”

This one’s really amazing. Dr. Bashir and O’Brien trick Section 31 chief Sloan into a meeting to attempt to force the cure for the founder’s plague from him to save Odo. When he commits suicide, Bashir uses a machine to enter his mind to find the cure before he dies completely. It’s eerie to see the inside of a mind and Sloan’s is mysterious and shocking. Suspense and a battle of intelligence and willpower make this one a must see.

RichB:This was an interesting episode taking a cliche idea and making it work. Voyager did a similar stunt but we’ll get to that. My final DS9 episode is a fitting one….

#9.  “What You Leave Behind”

While this episode isn’t as beloved to me as All Good Things, I have to admit it’s one hell of a strong way to end the series. Not only does very successfully bring the whole war to a satisfying conclusion (by the way last dozen or more episodes of DS9 specifically built up to this one). Not only does it gives is a satisfying final conflict between Sisko and Dukat. But it does a very sweet and touching job of giving us a chance to say goodbye to each character individually. It really is a bittersweet ending and I can’t imagine a better way they could have ended this series.

LES: And it left room for future episodes that were picked up in the expanded universe. I also love how it redeemed Kai Winn at the very end. OK, onto Voyager episodes.

*Flash of light and Q appears again*

Q: You promised more ME episodes….don’t test my patience

*lightning flashes and thunder rumbles*

LES: Relax, Q. I was just about to give one. For my #9, I’m choosing:

#9.  “Deathwish”

And here’s where Q comes back into the Voyager series. It seems that another Q from the Continuum wishes to commit suicide…but the continuum won’t allow him to do it and imprisons him inside a comet…that Voyager finds and unwittingly releases him from. John DeLancie’s Q chases him and Voyager through quantum realities until Janeway agrees to hold a hearing to decide whether to grant the other Q assylum aboard the ship and the hearing is of the quality seen in episodes like ”The Measure of a Man” and ”Court Martial.”

RichB:Star Trek Voyager came along hot on the heels of Next Generation’s finale and of course first movie. When this show came on Trek was red hot, so hot that the UPN network was launched using this show. Ok it isn’t perfect it has flaws, but I enjoyed it for the most part. The episode you discussed is one of the best, and is a fantastic Q episode giving the character a depth we never saw on TNG.

Q: Ok, I’m satisfied. You may continue living.

*Flash of light and Q disappears*

RichB. Why was Q here?….  

*Shakes head*

Never mind. I wanted to start with an early episode…and that is not so easy. It took a while for Voyager to get its voice so to speak. But one episode I did like is my next choice.

#8.  ”Eye of the Needle”

As the series went on it was established the creators were going to get them home gradually, and tease us as often as they could with episodes where the crew thought they were going to get home…but nope. I think this was the first. It seems like a simple setup, Voyager finds a wormhole and manages to contact a Romulan ship in the alpha quadrant on the other side. They even manage to transport the Romulan on board. It seems great, until it turns out the wormhole is displaced in time and the Romulan is about 23 years behind heir time. The crew have to settle for the Romulan going back to his ship and, at the right time, at least trying to alert Starfleet they are out there. One problem…according to Tuvok the Romulan was dead before he could get that message out. Before it became cliche, this episode was heartbreaking, and it shows Janeway’s skills as a leader as she takes that news and refuses to give up in front of her crew.

LES: Great choice, my friend. Fate refused to be mocked in that one, and the way Janeway took the news was very Captain-like. For my #8, I’m selecting….

#8.  “Deadlock”

Voyager did episodes like this one really well…where alternate reality Voyagers intersect our Voyager in some way. In this one 2 Voyagers exist simultaneously, but draw power from only one source of antimater so one of them has to be sacrificed. When the Vidians show up to harvest organs, it becomes a race against time for survival and one crew will make the ultimate sacrifice.

RichB: I’ve always had a fondness for that episode, there are a lot of cool things in it even if the plot makes no sense really and the twist of which ship survives was very well done.

#7.  “Projections”

This is a special episode for me, because it’s the first one I actually liked when I saw it. It’s nothing special, in fact you could almost argue the episode is just a big tease (this is similar to that DS9 episode you just discussed). It’s the kind of thing Trek loves doing over and over again (See TNG’s Frame of Mind for instance, shockingly that was written by the same guy! Geez Brannon Braga!). The Doctor experiences an elaborate hallucination which makes him question the nature of his existence. Is he really a hologram, or a real person after all? It’s a good episode and some of the little touches in it are clever. Such as re-creating some of the scenes from the pilot.

LES: I’m convinced that many Star Trek writers were fans of the Twilight Zone in the way they did psychological mind jobs on the characters from time to time. Reality is always questionable in the Trekverse and doubly so in the Delta Quadrant. Ok, time for #7? Alright. Here it is…

#7.  “Future’s End”

In this 2-parter, Voyager encounters a ship from the 29th Century…that is convinced they are a threat to the future. In the fight, both ships are thrown into the past and end up in 1996 on Earth! The show becomes a battle to protect the entire space-time continuum and ends up with the Doctor getting possession of the 29th century mobile holo-emitter.

RichB: This was a really good time travel episode and I loved how they were in a contemporary setting. And you have to love the gag about the crew returning home—400 years too early! As for my next one a darker episode :

#6.  “Faces”

This is a weird episode, which I didn’t like at first. It’s dark for a Voyager show. We see that the Vidians have split Torres into two part, one fully human and the other fully klingon. To be fair there isn’t much here..except for Roxanne Dawson’s fantastic performance making these two halves feel like two distinctly different and unique people.

LES: Yeah, this one really did play to Roxanne Dawson’s acting strengths. I thought her portrayal of her Klingon half was exceptional….in many ways, this one was an homage to TOS for the episode ”The enemy within” where Kirk is split into 2 halves of his psyche, the good and the evil. And next, we get a time travel story…but in reverse…

#6.  “Before and After”

This one is my favorite Kes episode as she literally starts at the point of her death and starts slipping backwards through her timeline trying desperately to stop it before she becomes pre-born. The episode was painstaking recreating a few key moments like the first episode of the show where she and Nelix join the crew. The tension is amazing in this one as she’s running out of time.

RichB: I absolutely adore this episode! I think it made me fall in love with Jennifer Lien, she simply rocks every scene she is in. I love how calm Kes is during the experience, in moments when another person would be freaking out. I could talk about this one all day, it was so so well done!

#5.  ”Displaced”

This is another episode that surprised me with how much I liked it. It starts off with a simple mystery, as crew members are being switched for aliens from some far off planet. It seems harmless enough, but as crew members keep vanishing and being replaced it becomes clear that this is far from harmless! The episode keeps you guessing for the first half and the second half is really good too. My absolute favorite is the scene where Janeway finally convinces the aliens to let them go. It’s hard to describe but it was one of my favorite Janeway moments, she had a way of being ready to kick your  ass at the same time she was being diplomatic.

LES: Oh, without question. Once Janeway gets pissed off…she can actually out awesome Captain Kirk for bluffing and intimidating impending violence. Good call, my friend. Alright, my #5 is…

#5.  “Scorpion”

This 2-parter was Voyager’s equivalent of ”The Best of Both Worlds” Not only is is one of the best Borg episodes of Star Trek, it introduced Species 8472 and Seven of Nine. Fantastic production values and amazing writing/acting make this a milestone story for Voyager.

RichB:It’s generally considered Voyager’s best and who am I to argue? It’s too bad that the whole series wasn’t as intense as this episode was. And it introduced Seven of Nine, hell yes! Speaking of Seven of Nine…

#4.  ”The Omega Directive”

So we finally get into the Seven of Nine episodes, and this is where finding choices gets a lot harder. I could do a whole list just on episodes with her. But I decided on this one. Yes Seven of Nine is important to the story, but it isn’t all about her. The story involves the crew finding out that aliens are playing with dangerous technology. So dangerous that Starfleet has ordered if a starship finds it, screw the prime directive just get rid of it! It’s a very well written and tense episode which stands out above the rest.

LES: It is really intense and borders on the spiritual for Seven since the Borg are all about perfection and the Omega Particles demonstrate that perfection. Good call. Let’s see, for #4, I’m going with

#4.  “One”

Another great Seven of Nine episode has her and the Doctor running the ship while it traverses a nebula that emits a lethal radiation that would kill the rest of the crew, so they’re put in stasis chambers for the monthlong journey. Seven has to adapt to the effects of loneliness that threaten her sanity so much she starts hallucinating people a-la-schizophrenia….made doubly hard since she was used to never being alone when she was connected to the Borg collective.

RichB: Yep, that was fantastic Seven episode I would have picked if you hadn’t beaten me to it

#3.  ”Timeless”

Time travel episodes can be hit or very miss. This was fantastic! There are so many little touches, including the sight of a Galaxy Class starship. This was well after TNG ended so it was just nice to see, and it was captained by LaForge! The story involves Kim and Chakotay trying to go back and stop a mistake which killed the rest of their comrades. Yeah, sounds kind of stock doesn’t it? But the scripts keeps the story focused tightly on the characters which makes an average time travel story into something special. Oh, and did I mention it was the 100th episode?

LES: Wasn’t that the one where Voyager crashes on the ice planet?*checks wiki…YEP! That was a great one. In many ways Voyager took concepts tried in TNG and kicked them up another notch. Speaking of which….

#3.  “Drone”

Thanks to a transporter malfunction, Seven of Nine’s nano probes merge with the Doctor’s mobile emitter and create a 29th century Borg Drone…let that one sink in for a moment….This is an amazing episode that shows Seven of Nine’s strong Motherly feelings and a very tender hold on her humanity as she guides her ”child” who grows exponentially.

RichB: This episode was….Ok. Not a favorite of mine but can’t argue with your reasoning. So you’re saying that Trek is about more than time travel and silly stuff, you want an episode that actually tackles a serious subject head on? Man have I got an episode for you…..

#2.  “Nothing Human”

When Torres is attacked by a parasitic creature, the Doctor accesses a hologram of a Cardassian who was a doctor that specialized in neurobiology. Sounds simple, what’s the problem? He was a war criminal who performed experiments on living prisoners! His treatments were not unlike tortures and people were mutilated and killed. Um, ouch. So do they use that knowledge to save Torres knowing how it was acquired? Even if it means her life?? That’s the debate and I have to say the episode handles it very nicely. The guest actor, David Clennon does a great job too.

LES: Yeah, at it’s core, Star Trek is about substance and social relevance…enhanced by time travel and silly stuff to keep it entertaining LOL! And yeah, this episode harkens back to Joseph Mengele from the 3rd Reich who performed all sorts of unspeakable surgeries on Jews to further medical advancement, so this one hit me hard when I was watching it. I’m not sure if I agree with the solution, but at least we didn’t lose a great Chief Engineer. Alright, my #2?

#2.  “Course Oblivion”

This one was heartbreaking but very clever. Shortly after the wedding of Tom Paris and B’Elanna Torres, the ship systems start failing in an increasing ferocity. It seems the reality of the ship is breaking down..and soon after, the crew start melting too. This one is a tense story with a lot of suspense and moral dilemmas when they discover why it’s happening. SPOILER! The ship and crew are a copy of the real Voyager cloned when they landed on the Demon Planet back in episode 92 ”Demon.”

RichB:  I am of two minds with this one, it’s good but.. it’s so depressing! But I guess you have to look at it as a ”what if? story even if the people were real, copies but real. And Janeway drove me nuts with her stubbornness in this episode, it’s one time I didn’t agree with her thinking. Even if it wasn’t her. Exactly. Anyway….

#1.  ”Night”

Another character episode, shocking I know. But this one is a bit different. Voyager is trapped in a starless void…for two years! Yeah there’s nothing like a whole ship of people with nothing to do or even look at! Basically we see what this kind of long term isolation does to the characters. The best part of the episode is Janeway, who after four years is finally feeling the weight of her decision that stranded the crew. Things do liven up when we meet some aliens called the Malon. This episode really needs a full recap to do it justice, but I love it and there’s even an environmental message in there that’s subtle. Imagine!
Well Les what is your #1 for today?

LES: Yeah, Voyager did ”endless expanses producing intolerable loneliness and psychosis” episodes. My #1 for today is:

#1.  “Barge of the Dead”
 
One of the best Klingon episodes in Trek is all about B’Elanna having a near death experience that puts her smack dab in the middle of the Klingon religious belief in an afterlife hell for the shamed souls…where she meets her Klingon Mother! This episode is full of heart and strength of character moments that highlight any great Klingon episode in Star Trek.

RichB:This was a good episode the best part was Karen Austen as B’Elanna’s mother. Another B’Elanna episode? I got another one too but that will have to wait until next time. The final top 10 coming when we pick this up again!

LES: And it’ll be a great one, I’m sure.

And thanks to you Manic Fans for giving us some of your time as well. Join us tomorrow as we finish the list and showcase a few really good episodes of “Enterprise” YEAH….they had some good episodes too LOL! Peace.