My brother said that he will watch an episode of Trek with me when I visit my family in October.
I am wonder what the best single episode to show him is. He has not seen anything Trek before.
I am thinking something that is newer, but not necessarily.
Anyway, what do you think would be good?
I’m going to say any or none of the suggestions here may be right.
And some of them, like Inner Light, are awful choices simply because their impact is very dependent on having the context the rest of the series and characters.
The main thing is that Star Trek has a wide variety of tones. The way to success is to provide excellent examples of very Trekie episodes that are in the genre or tone that your brother already likes.
Don’t show them action if they like cerebral mystery. Don’t show them romance if they like action. Don’t show them intense drama if they’re into comedy. If they’re into animated comedies or anime, start with Lower Decks or Prodigy not TNG.
Examples from this perspective…
If they like psychological horror, then TNG’s ‘Schisms’ or Voyager’s ‘The Thaw’ might be best.
If they like action, Discovery’s two part pilot might be the one or even the movie Star Trek (2009).
Edit: I’m thinking of ‘Frame of Mind’, but both episodes are pretty scary.
I’m nearing 40 and ‘Schisms’ is still straight up nightmare fuel for me. Wonderful performance from Frakes.
I’ve struggled with this question for years, and haven’t been able to come up with an answer I feel good about, so the “correct” answer is probably, “consider the person’s tastes and cater to them.”
I do believe that it’s probably not a good idea to start with the “best” episodes - they tend to break the usual format, and once you’ve seen them, there’s nowhere to go but down.
Instead, I’m on a continuous search for the most “average” episodes - solid, enjoyable, and representative of what the series and franchise are as a whole. But I still don’t have a simple answer.
Don’t show him any of the all time greats. Then there’s nowhere to go but down.
I also wouldn’t try to hook him on a twenty or thirty out forty year old show when there’s a really good Trek series coming out right now. There’s no urgency to watching an old show, so even if he likes it he’s likely to put it off for later and forget about it.
Just hit him with SNW episode 1. It’s a decent episode, not an all time best but a good introduction to what the Federation is all about and very briefly how it grew from the present day. And if he decides to continue in his own, there’s no question of where to start - just move on to episode 2.
SNW “A Quality Of Mercy”
and then TOS “A Balance Of Terror”
The SNW episode retraces events of the famous TOS episode it is very cool.
I think it conveys the breadth, depth and love there is in the star trek fandom for the universe.
That’s a really good idea! I so far it’s this and mine to mori in the lead.
By series:
- TOS: City on the Edge of Forever
- TNG: Measure of a Man or Inner Light
- DS9: In the Pale Moonlight or The Visitor
- VOY: Scorpion
- SNW: 1:1 or Memento Mori
- LD: Crisis Point
Edited for formatting
Holes and crap! Measure of a Man might be genius. Intellectually engaging, good acting, but boring (no offense) enough that other parts of the show can impress as well!
Measure of a Man is one of the best single episodes of any television show ever
By 1:1, do you mean the first episode for the first season?
Yup! SNW is one of the few that has an actually good pilot episode.
DS9 - In the Pale Moonlight
Hands down one of the best storylines, acting, twists, pure joy of resolution.
I disagree. I think the Dominion War context is way too important.
I’ve shown this as a first episode (or at least first 2-3 episodes) and it hasn’t been an issue. If you’re sitting with them you can explain significant items, but generally they get enough without much help.
It’s been a while since I’ve seen that. Could it be too difficult for someone with 0 trek knowledge to get?
I personally love DS9 and think that it has aged better than TNG. I think its S1 is not amazing, but certainly one of the better first seasons. It has plenty of good enough episodes that don’t depend heavily on the upcoming plot and leave your brother in a good place if he wants to start watching for himself.
A few suggestions would be:
- In The Hands of the Prophets: Overall an almost prophetic episode, in the most terrifying way possible. A well-done drama episode with great political commentary. A lot of the season built up to it, but it’s such an early period in the show that it’s not TOO much context
- Dax: A full helping of everything Trek, from alien trials to crew collaboration to space mysteries. It basically explains the Dax thing for you, just leaving an interesting story. Vortex: Odo-focused, but also has some “crew on space mystery” bits. Also makes a mystery of core information in the show, meaning minimal canon dependency and once again leaving your brother in a good place to watch.
- Duet: Strong Kira episode that’s also a good summary of the Bajoran-Cardassian conflict.
- Captive Pursuit: I think it’s a solid, typical Trek episode. I think the only impression issues it might give are it’s very O’Brien-centric, and it might register a bit on the “aliens who represent no particular real life ethnicity but are still kind of iffy”-o-meter. But otherwise, it’s a low-canon, medium-quality episode.
Also “Duet” from S1 of DS9. Incredible acting.
There is some back story needed with that one… but maybe it’s tangential enough to make the viewer want to know more?
That was basically my thought as well, but I still say it plays well as a stand-alone story to give someone a taste of Trek. They may be confused at the beginning of the episode but I feel it’s self contained and focused enough that most people can pick up the major beats from context (Cardassians = occupiers, Bajorans = formerly occupied). And then hopefully the acting, the mystery, and the twist ending are enough to, like you said, make the viewer want to learn more.
“Carbon Creek” serves as a VERY light introduction to some core Star Trek elements. It’s far from “the best” but it’s a heartwarming little peak into the world of Trek. You even see some Vulcan’s become influenced by human compassion which is a good way of showing what makes humans special.
My first inkling is to always tell someone to just start from the beginning with “The Cage”.
But if I have to pick something else my mind wonders to “Cause and Effect”.
@neon_nova it comes down to either 1. The Drumhead 2. Code of Honor
@neon_nova _Tapestry_ is my favourite all time episode, but you need too much back story for it to work. _The Most Toys_ has always been in my top three.
Might be a bit off beat to say this, but maybe the first episode of Prodigy?
It’s very much intended as an entry point into Star Trek for those unexposed to Star Trek.
I kind of feel like Prodigy struggles the first half of the first season… as a Prodigy lover, I’ll say it certainly gets there, but even then, let’s say it wasn’t until season 2 that Jankom Pog no longer made me want to find out what Tellarite carnitas taste like…
I love Prodigy, but I’ve seen people struggle to get past the first episode. If someone’s coming in reluctantly it’s not where I’d start.
That’s not really they way to experience Star Trek.
Unless they are already into SciFi or Morality Tales picking one episode won’t work as an introduction.
Each series and season has a different style and presentation 🙂🖖
