Top 10 Must See Classic Trek Episodes
Hey, hombre. You dig Trek, right? Of course you do. But what I want to talk about today is Classic Trek specifically. While Next Generation was pretty strong (and many other weak spinoffs followed), the strength of Gene Roddenberry’s vision was really distilled in the original incarnation of the show. Half a century after it first aired, it still holds some potent magic.
As of this writing, all three seasons of Classic Trek (aka, Star Trek: the Original Series) are on Netflix, and if you’re like me, you might have done a quick search to find which are the best episodes. Unfortunately, a lot of media critics are total hosers and include in their lists some of the stinkers. Here is my top 10 must see list of Classic Trek episodes.
1. Where No Man Has Gone Before (Season 1, Episode 3)
Floating into an intergalactic storm, a few of the Enterprise crew members get zapped by an unexplained electrical phenomenon. As they awake, they bear an alien glow in their eyes and begin exhibiting unusual psychic powers.
This incredible episode draws a fascinating parallel with the forecasted intelligence explosion futurists are predicting for A.I. and where that leaves humans who try to live alongside them.
Fun fact: this was actually the second pilot for Star Trek, which was created after the first pilot, “The Cage” was rejected by NBC. Lucille Ball, the head of the company producing the show (Desilu), convicted NBC to give it another shot — and this is the result. Just another reason to love Lucy!
2. What are Little Girls Made Of? (S1, Ep 7)
The Enterprise comes across a Dr. Roger Korby, a legendary scientist gone missing after disappearing into the ruins of an ancient civilization. Meeting him, Kirk discovers Korby has made contact with an android built by the original inhabitants of the planet, and whom has given Korby a very special gift.
This is another episode that deals with the potential of artificial intelligence and how humans choose to live with the power and threat that it poses. This is one of those episodes that stays with you as it probes some primal questions: what makes us human? Could artificial intelligence be used to improve our humanity? If so, dare we use it?
3. Space Seed (S1, Ep 22)
The Enterprise comes across an ancient Earth vessel, the SS Botany Bay, inside of which 70 humans are hibernating from the early 1990s — the era of the last Earth World War. When Kirk and Spock beam aboard, they identify the crew as Khan and his race of super beings. Gifted with physical and mental prowess that far exceeds that of normal humans, the Botany Bay crew were products of successful genetic experimentation — and they are all beginning to wake up.
Fun Fact: This story was so good they made an entire movie around a sequel— it became Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan. Probably the best role Ricardo Montalban ever had.
4. A Taste of Armageddon (S1, Ep 23)
In a mission to bring a Federation dignitary to the planet Ceres, the Enterprise picks up a beacon ordering all ships to steer clear. Their dignitary, Mr. Robert Fox, orders the captain to disregard the warning and approach anyway. The crew soon learns that the planet has been in war with inhabitants of their third moon for 500 years. Over generations, their method of fighting has evolved into something very different from what we call warfare — and now endangers the Enterprise and all her crew.
Powerful episode, haunting themes, super entertaining.
5. Errand of Mercy (S1, Ep 26)
Relations between the Klingon Empire and the United Federation of Planets have collapsed, sending a seemingly primitive bordering planet, Organia, into the fray of conflict. Kirk and Spock beam down to assess the situation, moments before the planet is taken captive by a legion of the Klingon army. As relations develop, the seemingly pacifist inhabitants of Organia reveal their true nature.
6. The Changeling (S2, Ep 3)
The Enterprise is suddenly attacked by a force so small and so dense, it seems improbable. After establishing contact, the crew beams aboard NOMAD, an ancient satellite whose only record is having left the Planet Earth in the early 2000s. NOMAD has since taken on a new source of perpetual energy and incredible power. It’s mission: to destroy all “imperfect life.” Will the Enterprise survive the threat of their ancestors’ sentient A.I.?
Another entrancing exploration of where the machines we have created might lead us.
7. Metamorphosis (S2, Ep 9)
The Enterprise discovers on a strange planet a marooned astronaut who gratefully welcomes them. Kirk and the crew soon realize that this astronaut is a famous explorer thought to have died 150 years before. He explains how a mysterious cosmic power has granted him a Fountain of Youth, but has exacted a dear cost he must pay in return. That same cost now threatens the crew of the Enterprise.
8. And the Children Shall Lead (S3, Ep 4)
The Enterprise follow a distress call to a planet where a star base and all the adults who worked there have been destroyed. All that remains are the former inhabitants’ children. Taking pity on them, the crew volunteers to take them to the safety of a neighboring planet. They soon realize these precocious children are not what they at first appear.
9. Wink of an Eye (S3, Ep 11)
Captain Kirk and Spock beam down to a planet in response to an emergency call, but find the planet oddly vacant. Leaving the system, the Enterprise finds an alien machine attached to their life support system. Kirk is forced to face off against a bizarre new adversary.
One of the trippiest episodes in the Star Trek cannon, this psychedelic feast for the eyes is a delight for all elevated beings.
10. The Cloud Minders (S3, Ep 21)
Kirk and Spock get caught on a planet where intellectuals and artists live in a cloud city, floating above the planet where the lower classes toil for their benefit. When a revolution breaks out, the Enterprise crew is forced to choose sides. Awesome social commentary in a really forward thinking episode.
Fun fact: this is one of the few Classic Trek episodes that features Spock’s inner monologue. Learn how the Vulcan thinks!
What do you think? Which Classic Trek episodes are your favorites? Let me know in the comments below.
