Whenever I see a conversation along the lines of “what episode should I show my friend/partner/etc. to get them hooked on Star Trek,” the suggestions are pretty predictable - your “best” episodes that are regarded to represent the franchise at its peak.
I like to take a different approach, trying to find episodes that I feel are most representative of the series - the “average” Star Trek episode. If you show someone the “best,” there’s nowhere to go but down, and it can set someone up for disappointment.
In the case of Star Trek, I actually find this pretty difficult, and I don’t think I’ve come up with any that I feel are really good answers, so I’m taking it to the crowd: what are the most representative episodes of Star Trek.
To me, these are the boxes that probably need to be ticked:
- Enjoyable (obviously).
- A conventional structure that doesn’t deviate from the norm too much - this is a flexible concept, but I think it excludes things like “Darmok,” or “Tapestry,” or “In the Pale Moonlight,” which are not really conventional.
- Any series is fair game.
What do you think? What are some “normal” Star Trek episodes that would serve as good representation of what the franchise usually is?
I wanna say “the corbomite maneuver” from TOS. I think it’s one of the best episodes of all, but most people don’t so i think it’s okay from the its all downhill perspective. It has everything: Kirk mentoring, an extremely powerful alien of the week, solving problems without fighting, but still tense situations. Such a great and representative episode.
From TNG maybe First Contact. Good intro episode as you get intro to the federation through the eyes of an alien of the week. The alien-chasing woman may be not a good thing to show depending on the person you’re showing it to, though.
For DS9, in the hands of the prophets. Doesn’t require much backstory unlike a lot of DS9, great ep, classic ethical debate/social commentary, and the majesty that is Vedek Winn.
For Voyager maybe distant origin. Great ep, doesn’t need much backstory, also great commentary on society
Another bonus of showing them “Corbomite” first is that they won’t be wondering what the hell the deal is with that freaky face thing at the end of the closing credits when watching other episodes.
I picked “Doomsday Machine” but Corbomite Maneuver is also really good. Classic in multiple senses of the word.