Hi there. A friend of mine wants to get into Star Trek (finally, yay). She asked me which series would be a good start since she loves binge watching. I honestly couldn’t say. My favourites are VOY, ENT S1/S2 & SNW, but I’m a big fan of all series and watched them so many times back to back (with the exception of DIS & PIC - only once and never again). So, instead I thought we could watch the top 3 episodes of each series and then she can pick one to start watching the entire thing. Let me hear your top 3 episodes of one or several series. Just keep in mind she doesn’t know any of the lore yet. I’m really looking forward to see your takes.
If I only had one chance to introduce someone to Star Trek, I’d chose the TNG double feature Chain of Command. It’s simply one/two of the best episodes Star Trek has to offer.
On the flip side, don’t choose any of the Ferengi episodes. They are just unnecessary comic relief in my opinion.
The other good thing about Chain of Command is it gives important context for DS9 without having to stare at scrolling text.
In no particular order, two-parters count as one episode.
TOS:
- Balance of Terror
- The Trouble with Tribbles
- The Doomsday Machine
TAS:
- The Infinite Vulcan
- The Slaver Weapon
- The Lorelai Signal
TNG:
- Measure of a Man
- The Inner Light
- Cause & Effect
DS9:
- Pale Moonlight
- Past Tense
- Far Beyond the Stars
VGR:
- The Killing Game
- Latent Image
- Scorpion
ENT:
- Regeneration
- A Night in Sickbay
- A Mirror Darkly
Those are the only series I’ve seen in their entirety, so I’ll leave it at that.
For Voyager, where is Year of Hell??
I’m with you on all the others, but Year of Hell is probably my favorite episode of all the Treks.
