"Best Star Trek Episode?" Topic

In your opinion, what is the best Star Trek episode?

"Balance of Terror" certainly ranks high on my personal list.

Always liked 'The Trouble With Tribbles' myself and
any episode with Harcourt Fenton Mudd !

Doomsday device, especially with the new FX they added for the HD version.

DS9 Episode – In the Pale Moonlight

"Balance of Terror"

Yea, Balance of Terror for me, but followed very closely by the one with the three Romulan cruisers that ambush the Enterprise, and they have to steal the cloaking device to escape.

The one with the combat between Kirk and the Gorn was excellent too, especially in the opening minutes of the show.

I, Mudd for me. A Piece of the Action comes close, if nothing else for the Fizzbin rules.

Another vote for Balance of Terror, City on the Edge of Forever is a very close second. I do not feel any of the later Trek iterations were able to capture the spirit of the first run. Everyone in next generation was too well adjusted, Voyager was just dumb on more levels than I can count, DS9 had a lot of cool story arcs especially once things heated up with the Klingons, then the Cardassian/Dominion War. However, no one episode stands out to me as the best as they worked as a whole and DS9 like Generation and Voyager suffered from too much technobabel instead of just following real science to explain concepts. In many ways there was just too much deus ex machina.

Balance Of Terror, hands down!

Balance of Terror for the win!

Hmm, can't really argue with that. But "Mirror, Mirror" for the alternate win?

Arena
YouTube link
Amok time
YouTube link
and just for fun.
YouTube link

"I, Borg"

All the candidates presented are good.

"Balance of Terror"

"Balance of Terror" with "Mirror, Mirror" a very close 2nd.

"Mirror, Mirror", "I, Mudd", and "The Trouble with Tribbles."

"The Inner Light" from TNG. Very touching, and excellent SF.

Hoser

Wolf in the Fold

There are so many. But I particularly liked the DS9 episode Honour Among Thieves. A different view of the Federation.

The top three in the pastel generation have been mentioned, and which one is #1 depends on my mood.

The best TNG episode, without question, is "Darmok".

Best of Both Worlds.

Balance of Terror

DS9s In the Pale Moonlight and The Conscience of the King from TOS
Moonlight, for me, was the defining episode of DS9 and Sisko.

Mirror, mirror joint tie with the 2 mirror universe episodes
From enterprise that it inspired

Regards

Jim

The best TNG episode, without question, is "Darmok".

That is true.

"A Piece Of The Action""Let That Be Your Last Batlefield"(TOS),"Rascals"(TNG)among others ,in all the series(TAS,TNG,DS9,Voyager,Enterprise)

• "Sokath, his eyes uncovered"

"Yesterday's Enterprise" from TNG.
First look at the Enterprise-C, space battles, alternate timelines and more.

Two quatloos on Balance of Terror!

Yea Yesterday's Enterprise was memorable and for once did not do stupid stuff with alternate time lines.

Doomsday device by far

"Balance of Terror" getting a lot of love here. It's great, to be sure, but I think you have to dock it a lot for McCoy's irrational, bordering on loony, opposition to action against the Romulan.

"Based on what?" (paraphrase) he demands at one point in the staff meeting. I don't know, Bones, based maybe on the fact that they just murdered several hundred Starfleet personnel? Without any kind of provocation? I'll go with that as a basis for action.

It feels like the script got changed or something, and they didn't update McCoy's lines to account for it.

"Balance of Terror"

"Balance of Terror" here, too.

Wolf in the Fold

TOS: Balance of Terror
TNG: Conspiracy – "Watch your back, Picard"…
DS9: The Jem'Hadar / In the pale moonlight
VOY: Possibly "The Raven"

"Yesterday's Enterprise" for me.

And I say that despite it having both Whoopi Goldberg and Tasha Yar in it!

Balance of Terror

DS9's "In The Pale Moonlight" hands down the best!

YouTube link

Ben Sisko is also the BEST captain!

Yesterdays Enterprise and Balance of Terror in a dead heat

IMHO Yesterday's Enterprise was the script that should have been made into the tos/tng movie we could have seen the battle after the return what a shame they did it on the small screen . Far and away the better choice then the sclock we got instead

it coulda been a contender

The one I pick: Balance of Terror

The one that convinced my wife that TOS had some merit: The City on the Edge of Forever

Others of note:
A Wolf in the Fold
The Doomsday Device
The Devil in the Dark
The Naked Time
Amok Time
Okay, that list is gonna get long.

Of the other series, TNG's Yesterday's Enterprise, the original Borg two-parter, and The Inner Light are exceptionally well done. I also like Lower Decks and The First Duty (the lone Wesley episode to truly rise into excellence).

DS9's In the Pale Moonlight is justly praised— one of the best episodes of the Dominion War arc, and one that raises real questions of ethics and what is justified in a time of war. I also like a lot of the DS9 "fun" episodes like Our Man Bashir and The Magnificent Ferengi. Silly, but the cast has a great time, and the viewer does too.

The other series never quite reached those heights, though Arachnia, Queen of the Spider People is fun (Voyager), as is the episode in which the Doctor "wakes up" 300 years in the future. For poignancy, the Voyager episode where the crew and ship begin to apparently spontaneously dissolve is well done, with an excellent twist that hearkens back to an earlier episode, and an extremely effective and affecting ending.

Enterprise's best episodes don't really match up, but the Mirrorverse two-parter is good, and the episode that reveals the true power behind the Orion Syndicate is a fun one. Best line: "Save it… You're sweet-talking the wrong guy."

I'm with The Commander: Sisko was the ABSOLUTE best, once he shaved his head.

And Garak is one of my absolute favorite characters.

Dammit, now WHY don't I have DS9 on DVD??

Yes this Thread is a 'bit old', but after reading over, "best episode of Season One'thread.
I had to find one regarding "Fav Episodes" over all, mainly TOS.

Parzival is Absolutely correct when he said;

Okay, that list is gonna get long.

Heres a few of mine as well, all from TOS.
Balance of Terror
A Wolf in the Fold
The Doomsday Device
Arena
The Devil in the Dark

I was never a "great' fan of any of the latter ST' shows, however the 'confrontation' scene between Sisko & Garak w/out a doubt, one of the best of any ST episode.

Intense, Emotional.. best of all it asks.
If you were Sisko. "Would you have done any different?"

"Balance of Terror" and "Doomsday Machine" in TOS,with "City On the Edge of Forever" close behind (my wife even enjoyed that episode.)

Do like Enterprise "In A Mirror Darkly" two-parter--the scene where they steal the Defiant out of Tholian spacedock is great.

DS9 is my fave series, so hard to pick single episode as have binge-watched entire series three times.Sisko is the best captain (the fact his character is from my hometown helps also;even mentioned the name of the real high school he went to!)