Time.com had an interesting “10 Best Star Trek Moments,” by John Cloud. I more or less agreed on his top 6, but quibbled on the rest (he counted the new Star Trek movie; really? It’s just too soon for me to do that!). Trekkies/Trekkers may debate for a million years over what is the “best” of Trek, while they might agree on some things. Really – at the risk of being a lawyer – I’d say it depends on how you define “best” – but I suppose it goes along the lines of (1) power acting and storytelling; (2) whether the Trek thing is the epitome of ST ideas and themes; (3) whether the Trek thing is memorable; (4) the extent of entertaining; and (5) whether there’s an extent of edification (not always, mind you).
My personal favorite ST moment will always be Star Trek: The Next Generation’s “Best of Both Worlds,” Parts 1 and 2 – wherein Captain Picard and Crew deal with the Borg threat and Picard becomes Locutus. (what can I say; I grew up on TNG).
In no particular order, I’d say the following are the best of Star Trek, among the ST shows and movies:
(1) The Menagerie, Parts 1 and 2 (Star Trek (The Original Series): wherein Kirk and Crew find out what happened to a mission of the past Enterprise Captain, Captain Pike)
(2) The Trouble with Tribbles (TOS – wherein Kirk and Crew deal with the multiplying furry creatures)
(3) The City on the Edge of Forever (TOS – wherein Kirk, Spock, and McCoy time-travel and face the issues of friendship and love – while somehow trying not to destroy the space-time continuum)
(4) Journey to Babel (TOS – wherein Spock has to deal with his parents, while trying to be consistent with what he believes in regarding leadership, duty, and honor).
(5) Star Trek 2: The Wrath of Khan (the penultimate Trek movie)
(6) Best of Both Worlds, Parts 1 and 2 (Star Trek: The Next Generation (TNG) – wherein Picard and Crew face off the Borg)
(7) Yesterday’s Enterprise (TNG – wherein Picard and Crew are affected by the time changes and the Picard’s priceless line – “Let’s make sure history never forgets the name: ‘Enterprise.'” The line works because it’s Patrick Stewart as Picard).
(8) The Inner Light (TNG – wherein Picard lives an entirely different life – more a Patrick Stewart vehicle than anything else, but powerful because of what it means to have a life, in the face of the extinction of your world)
(9) The Chain of Command, Parts 1 and 2 (TNG – wherein Picard and Crew deal with the Cardassians; Part 2 is key for having the horrific torture of Picard – torture is wrong, we learn – and this Slate article notes that this episode has quite a significant impact for that – as Julie Lapidos notes, “The Next Generation take is darker and more politically progressive: Torture is counterproductive for the interrogator and devastating—both physically and emotionally—for the subject. It makes one wonder it is still practiced.”).
(10) Star Trek: First Contact (TNG movie – wherein Picard and Crew face off the Borg from preventing Human-Vulcan first contact and the invention of warp speed travel).
(11) In the Pale Moonlight (Star Trek: Deep Space Nine (DS9) – wherein Sisko struggles to not give up his ideals in the face of the war)
(12) Far Beyond the Stars (DS9 – wherein Sisko is in the place of Benny Russell, an African-American sci-fi writer of the 1950’s, who dreams of a better future called Star Trek)
(13) Year of Hell, Parts 1 and 2 (VOY – wherein Janeway and Crew face a year of adversity – and a time meddler tries to reconcile what he has been doing)
(14) The Forge/Awakening/Kir’Shara (Star Trek: Enterprise – the Vulcan arc trilogy)
(15) Star Trek VI (the latter half of the movie, anyway, where Kirk and the crew learn to overcome their biases about the Klingons).
Honorable mentions:
Trials and Tribble-ations (DS9 – wherein Sisko and Crew travel back in time and find themselves in the middle of Kirk’s tribble mess)
Timeless (Star Trek: Voyager (VOY) – wherein Janeway and Crew’s present and once future are impacted by Harry Kim’s time-meddling)
United (ST: Enterprise – wherein Archer helps lay the future of the Federation, ST’s way of bringing species together for a common cause)
At least, this is what I’d consider the best of Trek moments. Just my opinion.
The season finales of “Fringe” and “Lost” were entertaining, but mind-boggling. Most of “Fringe” wasn’t all that surprising, but the end was touching for me (it might have bothered some people, but the idea of an alternate universe can be bothersome). “Lost” … well, suffice it to say that I’d like to know who/what the heck is Richard Alpert, and how is he associated or fit in this so-called battle of good versus evil (or Hope vs. Futility, or whatever Jacob and his Opposition are supposed to represent).
The next posting is where I’ll actually have to talk about some APA related topics.