Star Trek 1x1 "The Man Trap"

*

This is the first episode of the series to be broadcast.  It's not the first episode to be filmed, or the second or third...As with what happened to a number of later Voyager episodes from its first and second seasons, decisions were made as to what could possibly best represent this outlandish new science fiction experiment to small screen audiences, and this relatively straightforward episode got the nod.

And so, it's a little hard to say what was the "first" appearance for most of the original series cast.  Aside from Spock, everything's out of order anyway.

But surprisingly, the first episode of the series and indeed entire franchise to be aired was not a Kirk episode.  That's right!  It's actually a "Bones" McCoy episode, one of several to remark on some previous aspect of his life (as is usually the case, an old flame).  It's a gimmick of a premise that would turn up repeatedly in the franchise.  As such though, there's not a lot to recommend about "Man Trap" except for its luck in being aired first.

It's actually not a bad way to introduce the series, either, even if late in the debut season the basic story is vastly improved in "Devil in the Dark."  This is the "salt vampire" episode, featuring a distinctively alien creature who would end up appearing in the post-credits sequence throughout the rest of the series (and now looks either like a Twilight Zone creation or something out of The X-Files, because it's certainly not representative of what Star Trek aliens would look like as a rule).

The thrust of the story is that McCoy's former flame is visiting but seems to be tangled up in a murder mystery.  McCoy struggles to the end of the episode (another element that is later echoed, in "City on the Edge of Forever," perhaps the all-time standard for great original series episodes) how to handle the emerging truth, that his old lover is gone.

As with "Devil in the Dark," the villain of the episode is actually sympathetic.  Like a lot of fictional alien species, the salt vampire is the last of its kind.  As regards the opposite of the conclusions reached in Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home, the crew ultimately has no qualms of making the species extinct, mostly because it can't come up with a better solution.

The main reason for that is because the salt vampire is also a shape-shifter.  Shape-shifters came up a number of times in original series lore, including in the later Animated Series and Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country.  Of course, they're most famous in the franchise in the form (heh) of Odo in Deep Space Nine.  As with a number of these precedents (including the androids and even the holodecks, not to mention Q), the connections are never made between eras other than that the concept had been used before.  But as far as that goes, this first of all episodes also helps establish one of the recurring elements of the whole franchise, so if you want to watch the episode on that basis, that's just as well.

franchise * series * essential * character

notable guest-stars:
Grace Lee Whitney

Memory Alpha summary

Star Trek 1x0 "The Cage"

*

It's hard to recommend this originally unaired first pilot (later incorporated into "The Menagerie Parts 1 & 2"), because technically it does not exist within the canon.  If Christopher Pike hadn't showed up in "Menagerie," he wouldn't exist (until the the movie reboot) in the franchise, much as the even more unofficial Robert April doesn't (although the captain featured in Gene Roddenberry's original pitch does show up in The Animated Series, which itself is always considered quasi-canon).  This also technically counts (and doesn't) as the first appearance of Spock, the only holdover between first and second ("Where No Man Has Gone Before") pilots (even though the studio specifically asked for him to be eliminated!).

Anyway, so the story is exactly the same as later featured in "Menagerie."  Pike becomes a prisoner of the reality-warping Talosians, and his only companion is the mysterious Vina (who also gives us our first alluring glimpse of the Orions).  Pike eventually figures out what's going on and bullies his way to victory against these first of all theoretically-superior-but-really-morally-inferior aliens.

I wouldn't have minded had this become Star Trek.  Not very theoretically, nothing that Star Trek ultimately became (except for Spock) would have happened, of course.  Pike actor Jeffrey Hunter was dead by the end of the '60s, for instance (died a few months shy of the first moon landing, in fact).  But this was not such a bad show.

The character of Dr. Boyce might have been interesting.  He wasn't just the chief medical officer (and close friend of Pike), but also ship's bartender, leading to such characters later in the franchise as Guinan, Vic Fontaine, and even Neelix (not to mention the never-officially-seen Chef from Enterprise).  Number One, portrayed by Majel Barrett, would have made history simply being a woman.  Pike himself would have been more like the Kirk of the early movies (Motion Picture, Wrath of Khan, to be precise), wondering about the future of his career, than the headstrong Kirk we know and love.  NBC rejected "The Cage" because it was too cerebral, and it's easy to see that Pike was a major reason why the pilot was the way it was.

Spock?  He's a little different here, not quite the Vulcan we know (but still portrayed by Leonard Nimoy, for the record).  But hey, Spock's still, already, of course he is, present!

On its own merit, as well as for curiosity's sake, I recommend this episode, in its original form.  But you can stand to live with it, for any number of reasons.  For completists of the series, perhaps.

franchise * series * essential * character

notable guest-stars:
Malachi Throne

Memory Alpha summary

Star Trek: The Next Generation 3x26 "The Best of Both Worlds"

****

You should know all about "The Best of Both Worlds."  That is, you may think you know all about "The Best of Both Worlds."  It's the famous third season finale that sees the epic return of the Borg, which might as well be the Collective's first appearance (even though it's referenced as far back as the first season and first seen in the second season's "Q Who?"), and of course the assimilation of Picard.

But the funny thing is, this is actually a Riker episode.  It may be the most famous Riker episode ever, but it's probably very rarely thought of in that sense.  How can that possibly be?

Main characters receiving promotions in Star Trek will always be one of the fuzziest matters of the franchise.  On the one hand, it seems by the very groundbreaking nature of the Big Giant Challenges they overcome on a weekly basis, the whole lot of them should be promoted, well, on a weekly basis, except in instances like space-displaced Voyager (although one of the famous and funniest knocks against it is that someone like Harry Kim could remain an ensign for seven years no matter the circumstances).  Riker in particular was frequently discussed as a surefire captain of his own ship, but he always balked at the idea (until the end of Nemesis).  The logistical reasoning is clear enough: you hardly want to lose one of your main characters to something as paltry as career growth.  With the classic structure of the franchise rarely deviated from (Deep Space Nine came the closest; heck, Sisko wasn't even a captain until the end of his third season), once a crew is established it mostly remains intact until the end of the series.  By the film era, the original series crew strained credulity (poor George Takei!) by sticking together for as long as it did.

But funny enough, this is the episode where the issue is explored most deliberately, whether for Riker or otherwise.  Riker, for the record, wasn't even a commander when Picard chose him as his first officer.  It was Picard's own selection that put Riker on the career fast track.  And ironically, it was also this career development that slowed it down.  Because Riker realized that he would never be in a position to be as integral to the fleet again.  Even his own command could never compare to serving aboard the flagship, under Jean-Luc Picard.

Which is what makes this episode doubly agonizing.

The first layer of agony is ambitious Shelby, who appears as Starfleet's so-called Borg expert.  She not only has the necessary tactics, but the yearning to replace Riker as commander of the Enterprise.  The most famous episode of the series can actually become a little annoying because of her.  Tellingly, she's never seen again.

Other firsts include this being the first season finale cliffhanger in franchise history.  It also becomes the first two-part story since "The Menagerie" in the original series (which itself was probably in that format only because it featured extensive cuts from the original, previously untelevised pilot).  Both concepts are subsequently duplicated over and over again, until DS9 and to a lesser extent Enterprise introduce serialized storytelling that run across multiple episodes and in some instances entire seasons, as well as the second season of Voyager.  The cliffhanger especially is never really matched.  It would be impossible even from an objective standpoint.

Part of the reason for that is that Patrick Stewart, Picard himself, was not guaranteed to come out the other end when the next season arrived.  And just imagine Next Generation without him.  That dramatic order from Riker to open fire could very well have been the final fate of Picard.  That's part of the reason some fans will always rank the second part of this story as less satisfying, because it becomes much more predictable once you realize Picard is safe, and the story is no longer at all about Riker.

But then again, the massive battle at Wolf 359 is commemorated in a big way in the DS9 pilot "Emissary."  No other single event in franchise lore has had such direct ramifications.

So what does the title ultimately mean?  You might have assumed all along that it's a reference to the Borg, both mechanical and organic.  And you might as well consider yourself right.  But in this part, it might as well  mean the phrase, "having your cake and eating it, too," which would mean Riker staying commander, remaining aboard the Enterprise, but still having the chance to have his own command, under the worst circumstances possible.  "The best," in this instance, would also be the worst.  Incidentally, there's a comic book sequel called exactly that.

How could you possibly consider this anything but a Star Trek classic?  Unlike the jump between "Space Seed" and The Wrath of Khan, fans will probably continue to consider "Best of Both Worlds" as intrinsically more significant than First Contact, no matter how good the film is.  And that may be all you need to know about that.

franchise * series * essential * character

notable guest-stars:
Elizabeth Dennehy
George Murdock
Colm Meaney
Whoopi Goldberg

Memory Alpha summary

Star Trek: The Next Generation 3x25 "Transfigurations"

*

Like the complete opposite of "Tin Man," but really exactly the same, "Transfigurations" is an episode that tries to mingle light character work with a compelling guest character arc.  This time the guest character himself really doesn't amount to anything except what happens to him, while the main characters get a little more relevant material that ultimately still doesn't mean anything by the end.

This awkward dance somewhat revolves around La Forge, a character notorious for being unlucky in love.  If the episode had been as memorable in his small triumph as some of his large failures (see: Leah Brahms), it could have come with a far bigger recommendation from me.  Instead it's another episode that dances around why it's so hard for these characters to find love ("In Theory" covers most of this same material better, although Worf has some good moments, what you could consider classic Worf, actually, so maybe if you like that, that's your way into this one).

The main thrust of the story is the riddle of a John Doe figure, who like a number of recent episodes also triggers some meaningless material from another main character, this time Crusher.  The structure of John Doe's story makes it another episode that needlessly obscures what's really going on, but by the time everything's clear, it doesn't really matter.  Except in retrospect, this could have been a far, far more relevant episode if it had also featured, say, Q.

Why?  Because ultimately this is a story about evolution.  Voyager's "Distant Origin" is a vast improvement on the idea, but this is a fine starting point, I suppose.  It's also what Q keeps teasing Picard that all his meddling is really about humanity's potential for just such development.  (Ultimately, Babylon 5 tackled the same idea.)  No one in the writing room seemed to realize or care how much this had in common with Q's overall arc, however.

Of course, the other way to have turned this episode into something more memorable would have been to pivot it around Data.  But for some reason, that idea was used for the episode's strange counterpart, "Tin Man."

All of which is to prove that even though out of the first three seasons of this series this was clearly the best, there was still room for improvement.  The third season at its best is arguably still the show's best material, certainly for sheer range (my picks, I'll remind you, for franchise classics were "The Defector," Deja Q," "Yesterday's Enterprise," "Sins of the Father," "Captain's Holiday," "Hollow Pursuits," "Sarek," and the episode that follows, "The Best of Both Worlds Part 1").  But the clunkers are still clunkers.

franchise * series * essential * character

notable guest-stars:
Colm Meaney

Memory Alpha summary

Star Trek: The Next Generation 3x24 "Menage a Troi"

**

A couple of developments and one key scene make this episode more memorable than it really is.  The first thing you should know is that "Menage a Troi" is a Lwaxana Troi episode, and it's also a Riker/Deanna Troi episode, and it's also a Ferengi episode, and it's also a Wesley Crusher episode...And despite all that, the best scene involves...Picard.

First things first.  Lwaxana Troi was a signature recurring character for Next Generation (one of her later Deep Space Nine appearances actually references this episode directly), and this is probably the only time she is directly tied into the main events without having orchestrated them herself.  Even still, it's not one of her better showings.  It's not as clear when she's hanging out with her daughter why she's such a fun character to have around.  That's why the Picard scene is so memorable (but we'll get to that).

Riker and Troi have a fabled romantic background that was sparingly touched upon in the series (though it finally led to a wedding in Nemesis), and while this is the rare episode to tackle it, it's also not an especially memorable instance, because it's mostly the same kind of window dressing character work featured in "Tin Man" a few episodes earlier.  Alas.

Then there's the matter of Wesley.  His status as a Starfleet Academy candidate was so screwy.  You can't present him as a prodigy and then have him have so much difficulty getting into the program (as shown in the first season).  Clearly all this backpedaling on his career progress was meant to simply keep him around, which was all well and good, although his character became more and more pointless the more he was used simply as just another character on the bridge.  Seriously, this is the closest he comes all season to having his own episode.  Because of yet another bogus excuse as to why he hasn't left yet, Picard decides to give him a field promotion to ensign.  This was a far bigger to-do behind the scenes, where Colin Powell was present for a ceremony that saw Gene Roddenberry present Wil Wheaton with the second lieutenant bars from his very real military days.

Then there's the fact that this is a Ferengi episode.  One of the most impossible tasks of the miraculous third season was rehabilitating the Ferengi, who were supposed to be one of the signature creations of the new series, on par with Romulans and Klingons, but whose first season appearances made them out to be more or less complete jokes.  While "Menage a Troi" doesn't quite accomplish the task any better than the earlier "The Price," it's an important step in the direction of DS9, which is still the best argument for Ferengi redemption (though many fans still dispute that).

And then there's The Scene.  In order to get Lwaxana out of the clutches of a would-be Ferengi suitor, Picard must convince him of his own genuine love for her.  As anyone who has seen previous Lwaxana appearances knows, Picard loathes Lwaxana.  He most certainly does not love her.  And so this is a tall order indeed.  He ends up using cultural differences to perform this trick.  He quotes Shakespeare.  Anyone who knows the Picard character knows he loves his Shakespeare.  (He certainly loves Shakespeare more than Lwaxana!)  And the fact that Patrick Stewart is the epitome of classically trained actors in Star Trek, any excuse to let him present such material will always be worth whatever the material provides.  And yet it works so perfectly.  The audience is aware of all the ironies, which are entirely lost on the Ferengi.  It works.  Lwaxana is saved.  And Picard gets the best scene in an episode that otherwise really has nothing to do with him.

franchise * series * essential * character

notable guest-stars:
Majel Barrett
Ethan Phillips

Memory Alpha summary

Star Trek: The Next Generation 3x23 "Sarek"

****

This is the episode the original series never got around to, could probably have never done.  It's the sequel to "Journey to Babel," which is to say Spock father Sarek's debut.  "Sarek" is one of his final appearances, fittingly.

Sarek never came to peace with his son.  In a way, as a Vulcan, as the traditional presentation of Vulcans go, he never could.  (Incidentally, that's one of the reasons I love the 2009 Star Trek so much, because of that particular revision.)  The only way he could was through Jean-Luc Picard (who in some of the final scenes in the episode go, has one of his most emotionally draining experiences ever).

The story of "Sarek" is one of those classic "final mission" stories.  Sarek can no longer hide the ravages of a disease that is soon enough going to claim his life.  He's losing control of his emotions, which for Vulcans is the ultimate indignity.  He wants one last diplomatic success under his belt, though.  He's become a legend of the Federation in his own right.  He wants to preserve that legacy.

It's arguably the finest crossover episode in the franchise, where a character from one series appears in another.  Part of the reason why is because it's so unexpected.  Sarek, of all characters from the original series?  He made one appearance in the series.  He became better known for his appearances in the later films, Star Trek III: The Search for Spock, actually, the first time we get a hint of what he really feels about his son.

Sarek ends up being as strong a character as ever featured in the franchise, his few appearances notwithstanding, and this is his finest hour, which only figures.  Totally divorced from the presence of his son, Sarek is forced to fend for himself.  Failing or not, his dignity is strong.  He makes himself a legend.  If this had been his only appearance, Sarek would still have left the same legacy in the franchise.  That's how good this episode is.

Yes, there's a clearer bridge in the later two-part "Unification," in which Spock himself appears, where Picard is able to share hidden truths between father and son, but it's better and more resonant here.  Rare is the opportunity for someone to upstage Leonard Nimoy.  In his absence, Mark Lenard does exactly that.  Is that the only way?  It doesn't matter.  Lenard doesn't let you even consider that.  One of the finest hours of The Next Generation features a character from another era.

If you want to understand Star Trek at all, this is a fine place to start.

franchise * series * essential * character

notable guest-stars:
Mark Lenard
Colm Meaney

Memory Alpha summary

Star Trek: The Next Generation 3x22 "The Most Toys"

**

You may view this as a vast improvement over the dreaded original series episode "Spock's Brain" or even a variation on Next Generation's own "A Matter of Time," but not quite the genius of Voyager's "Living History" (but better than "Think Tank") or as fun as Deep Space Nine's "In the Cards."  Bottom line, though, "The Most Toys" won't disappoint you.

If you like the character of Data, it's absolutely essential, in ways you probably wouldn't imagine without having seen it.

Simply put, this is an episode where a main character is "collected."  Data is in fact one of the "toys" in the title.  As distinguished from the very different case of Starfleet wanting to collect him in the second season classic "The Measure of a Man," everyone's favorite Star Trek android is deemed a valuable curiosity.  That in itself would probably make for an interesting story.  But the episode delves deeper.

Data doesn't end up worrying about himself.  He becomes far more concerned about his kidnapper's assistant, who ends up realizing how little she means to the collector even though she's served under him for years.  It's Data's shocking act at the end of the episode that speaks to how much of an impact this experience has on him.  I won't spoil it here in case you haven't seen the episode, but rest assured it's a defining moment for the character, one that far elevates "The Most Toys" beyond its sometimes routine story beats (it's also another franchise example of a main character apparently being dead and the rest of the cast trying to prove how that couldn't be the case; DS9's "Armageddon Game" has the best example of that particular Star Trek trope).

franchise * series * essential * character

notable guest-stars:
Colm Meaney
Saul Rubenik
Dennis Madalone

Memory Alpha summary

Star Trek: The Next Generation 3x21 "Hollow Pursuits"

****

Very likely the ultimate holodeck episode, which fans can otherwise sometimes dread, this is the introduction of the most neurotic Starfleet officer ever, Reginald Barclay.

Barclay would go on to make a significant franchise impact even after his infrequent recurring appearances in Next Generation; aside from being one of the few minor characters from this series to have an appearance in the resulting movies (First Contact), he transitioned into perhaps a more important recurring status in Voyager as one of the most significant crossover characters in franchise history.  Not too bad for someone who could easily have been a gimmick in an episode that might otherwise have been remembered only for its unusual look at the main characters.

"Hollow Pursuits" is so clever, it accomplishes those things easily, and adds an infinite amount of depth to life in the Star Trek future, addressing a form of addiction and social awkwardness that might never have been considered before and might after all have been years ahead of its time (for instance, the advent of the Internet was still years away, but this whole episode might be said to be all about it).

Barclay is depicted as a pathetic figure most of the regular characters actually make fun of behind his back (with the nickname "Broccoli;" it's behavior you would hardly have expected from them otherwise), whose retreat into fantasy is later echoed by The Doctor's literary efforts ("Author, Author") in Voyager, where pointed caricatures of all those familiar faces who we saw mocking him are reduced to worse figures more deserving of ridicule.  Again, how this is accomplished and no one despised Barclay is a testament to the episode's genius.

Even divorced from the rest of the character's legacy (which could sometimes look like it was reverting Barclay back to impulses he actually overcame), "Hollow Pursuits" is easily a classic.

 franchise * series *essential * character

notable guest-stars:
Dwight Schultz
Colm Meaney
Whoopi Goldberg

Memory Alpha summary

Star Trek: The Next Generation 3x20 "Tin Man"

*

There are so many reasons "Tin Man" should have been a winner of an episode.  Instead, it's almost like the Next Generation adventure Sheldon Cooper from The Big Bang Theory would have actually experienced, a little like the disappointment he discovered when he met "Wesley Crusher" for the first time.

The ending is a good beginning.  It attempts to shape "Tin Man" into a Next Generation version of The Motion Picture, as Data describes it.  And that's basically how I remember it, too, when I think about it that way.  The way Decker merges with V'ger in the first Star Trek movie is exactly like what happens to the Betazoid and the Weird Space Creature.  (There are a lot of Weird Space Creatures in Star Trek.)

That last line features just one of the element misfires of the episode, the fact that the guest character who all but completely dominates the episode and thus saps its energy with his depressive outlook, is barely relevant to Troi.  She knew him.  She's as close as he comes to thawing.  Otherwise he rubs everyone the wrong way.  He dismisses Data until they're forced to work together.  That's all well and good, but it certainly doesn't work as a Data episode, because it isn't.  The focus is always on the guest character.

The other way it fails is in the way the episode begins, which is on another seemingly strong main character note, this one with Riker.  Riker had the most interesting pre-Enterprise career of all Picard's officers.  Until Deep Space Nine, however, most of the time when Star Trek referenced a character's service prior to the start of their respective series, it was handled poorly.  Ironically, Riker ended up being one of the few who got it right (along with O'Brien in "The Wounded") with "The Pegasus" from the final season (and of course Picard in "Tapestry").  Here is a particularly botched opportunity.  Such a strong emphasis early on only to amount to nothing at all.  Then again, the series tried so hard to emphasize Riker's career, and almost always got it wrong.  This is no exception in that regard.

One more wasted element is the inclusion of the Romulans in their last real outing of the season.  After far more significant moments previously, they go out with a whimper.

It's not a bad episode, it's just tonally and conceptually off-center.  Both problems could have been avoided by sticking with Troi and Riker as they were presented as relevant, rather than abruptly shifting to Data.  It would have been a great opportunity to lightly explore Troi and Riker, too.  Generally a missed opportunity and probably the worst episode of the season for it.

franchise * series * essential * character

notable guest-stars:
Colm Meaney

Memory Alpha summary

Star Trek: The Next Generation 3x19 "Captain's Holiday"

****

Akin to the original series effort "Shore Leave" in its claim to being a classic, "Captain's Holiday" is an excellent deviation from your standard Captain Picard episode.

On the basis of the debut for Vash, this one would be a milestone.  Vash is basically the Next Generation equivalent of Harry Mudd, a character who made several appearances despite not necessarily adding to the overall legacy of the original series.  She returns in "Qpid" and the Deep Space Nine episode "Q-Less," which interestingly leaves the same distinction for the character with Q.

Here and in "Qpid" she's an unlikely romantic foil for Picard, a classic example of opposites attracting.  Perhaps a younger Picard would have had much more interest in pursuing her, but the older model only finds her interesting on a sexual level (when he warms to the idea, because at first it's a vacation destination impishly suggested by Riker but not otherwise explained), and the fact that they share archaeology as a passion.  Their artifact hunting here just so happens to also feature the classic Star Trek staple of timeline shenanigans, a weapon from the future hidden in the past.

And yes, Vash technically counts as a pop cultural predecessor to Lara Croft, Tomb Raider.

Anyway, the episode is a lot of fun.  It introduces Risa, the quintessential Star Trek pleasure planet, handily replacing the one featured in "Shore Leave."  Risa is a major feature of two later episodes, "Let He Who Is Without Sin..." from DS9 and "Two Days and Two Nights" from Enterprise.  In terms of an impact on the franchise, that has got to count for something.

Aside from all that, it is a sign that looking for different ways to present Picard can frequently lead to some of the show's best material, another reason why the third season is so crucial to the series, because it's the point where the best initial efforts in this regard are made.  The same thing happened in DS9's third season with Sisko, by the way, arguably Enterprise with Archer as well.

franchise * series * essential * character

notable guest-stars:
Jennifer Hetrick
Max Grodenchik

Memory Alpha summary

Star Trek: The Next Generation 3x18 "Allegiance"

*

Very similar to the later Next Generation episode "Liaisons" from the seventh season, "Allegiance" may best be viewed as a light character study of Captain Picard.

Aliens decide to observe members of the crew, a common launching point for episodes in the franchise (other examples include Pike in "The Cage," the first pilot of the original series, and a number of such instances from Voyager), which in this case is limited to Picard (although taking leadership notes from him became a whole thing during the run of the series, epitomized by the book Make It So).  He winds up in a prison cell with two other individuals.  He's replaced aboard the Enterprise by a doppelganger.  That element is itself another reason to give the episode far more credit than it deserves, in that it is reminiscent both of the Duffy character from "Conundrum," another Next Generation episode, and the Mirror Universe from "Mirror, Mirror" (an original series episode) and various Deep Space Nine adventures.  In fact, the fake Picard is a lot like what it would have been like to stick with a Mirror Universe substitute for an entire episode, or even "Turnabout Intruder," the final episode of the original series, where this plot device also occurs...

Okay, so there are plenty of connections to be made.  I still stick by the assertion that "Allegiance" is after all a minor affair and tentative in its results, and therefore not nearly as significant as it can be made to seem.  It's fine, nothing terrible, but not otherwise notable, not really worth talking about, fun to watch but that's about it.  Just watch it for some light Picard material.

franchise * series * essential * character

Memory Alpha summary.