Extreme Risk (Star Trek: Voyager, S5 E03) was recommended by James (he/him), who said: I also ‘like’ Extreme Risk. I think Roxann Dawson’s acting is super subtle and she does grief really well. Really resonated with me with my own personal grief. As you probably know it’s after the news all the Marquis are dead and she is grieving. She isn’t her typical angry self (which for her is odd) she’s just numb. She does things like taking silly risks to ‘feel’ something. And she gets riskier and riskier. I was the rock for my family after my dad suddenly passed away in a car accident, 2 weeks before my 27th bday. Even though I was the youngest I was also the ‘smart and calm one’. My mum and sister were so emotional and I had to close down to hold them up (if that makes sense). I was back at work after a few days. Organised the funeral and sorted stuff with the police. I was numb though. I’ve worked all this stuff out but did engage in some silly behaviours a few years later that were not okay. Made worse by being in a bad relationship. Numbness was safe. I’ve saw that episode again about 18 months ago (5 years after my dad and 6 months after a breakup) and I just got her vibe. Her numbness and behaviours. As I already said, her performance is really fucking on point. The half Klingon that was all fire. Now so subtle and carrying on. I love Trek, all iterations but subtle acting ain’t a usual part of its wheelhouse. So this was so refreshing.

Extreme Risk first aired on October 28, 1998, written by Kenneth Biller, and directed by Cliff Bole

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The Elysian Kingdom (Star Trek: Strange New Worlds, S1 E08) was recommended by Chief Engineer Greg

The Elysian Kingdom first aired on June 23, 2022, written by Akela Cooper & Onitra Johnson, and directed by Amanda Row

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Kobayashi (Star Trek: Prodigy, S1 E6) was recommended by Lauren Rivers she/her, who said: When Prodigy first began I did not like Dal. I thought he was arrogant and full of himself, appointing himself captain without having earned the privilege. But this was the first episode that opinion started to shift, with him attempting the famous Kobiyashi Maru. For the first time I found Dal likeable and even a bit hilarious as he gives one of the best renditions of the test in Star Trek history. As a fellow chaos appreciator, this was when I really started to enjoy the show.

Kobayashi first aired on January 6, 2022, written by Aaron J. Waltke, and directed by Alan Wan

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Our Man Bashir (Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, S4 E10) was recommended by he/him Crimson like the color, who said: This one is probably pretty well liked already but...man it's just a blast so why not love on it too? Bashir's 60s Action Spy Holonovel is interrupted by a transporter emergency and all the major characters are replaced by runabout crew. We get the utter delight of the crew getting to ham it up in absurd Bond-style roles, all the while Garak snarks on the whole mess as a 'real spy.' The Garak-Bashir interactions are great, Colm Meany gets to play a gangster, which he does well, and Avery Brooks gets to monologue, plus the 60s spy camp is perfect. Plus we get a bit of a "B" plot that lets Odo, Quark, Rom, and even Eddington solve problems in the dark, which is neat. AND holodeck malfunctions are a classic of Star Trek!

Our Man Bashir first aired on November 27, 1995, written by story by Robert Gillan, teleplay by Ronald D. Moore, and directed by Winrich Kolbe

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Starship Mine (Star Trek: The Next Generation, S6 E18) was recommended by Royce Day (pronouced like Rolls Royce) he/him, who said: While this episode is safely in the "filler" category, lacking any connection to past episodes and never being mentioned again in the series, I'm fond of it because it's just FUN. It makes no bones (or McCoys) about being straight up "What if Die Hard, but on a Starship?" with Picard alone and rapidly losing his uniform tunic to crawl around in the Jefferies tubes and take on a bunch of terrorists/thieves by himself. Also unless I'm mistaken, this is the most running and punching he does in the series until the First Contact film.

Side Note: My second favorite "Die Hard on an X" story is the made for video film "Interceptor" which is set on a C5 Galaxy aircraft, and improbably stars Jurgon Prochnow as the requisite german terrorist out to steal a VR equipped F-117.

Starship Mine first aired on March 29, 1993, written by Morgan Gendel, and directed by Cliff Bole

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Unexpected (Star Trek: Enterprise, S1 E05) was recommended by Hoofburd, he/him, who said:

I would really like to hear from the writer/s if they knew that mpreg was an actual thing on certain password-protected tumblrs before they wrote this episode.

This one goes in the pot because I *didn’t* see it, at least not at first. I was watching on original broadcast, I was 10, and were only a few episodes in before one of the Cub Scout dads (very conservative bunch, my family/scout troop) mentions something hyperbolic about not letting his family watch the show anymore. I then didn’t see that episode myself and didn’t think anything of it, but then some eleven years later, I started watching the series start to finish, and found out that the reason why I didn’t remember this one was hilarious.

Unexpected first aired on October 17, 2001, written by Rick Berman & Brannon Braga, and directed by Mike Vejar

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Plato's Stepchildren (Star Trek: The Original Series, S3 E10) was recommended by Kaleb, he/him (pronounced 'Kay-lub'), who said: When thinking of which episode to recommend, this one didn't even cross my mind; I was sure it must be universally beloved! However, I found that it seems to be rather divisive, so I'm taking that as an excuse to recommend one of my all-time favorite episodes.

It has some really great Spock character moments- especially in the scene after he and Kirk are humiliated by Parmen and Philana- which I'm always excited about. Really the entire scene lives rent free in my mind, especially Alexander’s speech and his anger towards the other Platonians. As an autistic person, I really relate to how he- a disabled man living among a population created through eugenics- is finally able to verbalize that his treatment wasn't deserved because of his difference, and that he doesn't want to be just like them.

I also really love Uhura and Kirk's exchange right before their kiss, showing the trust shared between the members of the bridge crew this far into the series. The whole scene surrounding it has THE most sinister undertones, it's a little uncomfortable to watch, but it's supposed to keep you on tenterhooks waiting to see how far it’ll go before they find a way out.

Yes, it's another (allegedly) advanced alien species that's modeled itself on Ancient Greece- however it's camp as hell, so I love it, especially Spock, Chapel, and Parmen’s outfits. I have a blast every time I rewatch it, even though Parmen needs to learn that just because you're in space doesn't mean you don't have to ask for consent before making people do weird fucked up acts for your amusement.

TLDR: Have you ever heard of Plato, Aristotle, Socrates? Morons.

Plato's Stepchildren first aired on November 22, 1968, written by Joyce Muskat, and directed by John Erman

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Night (Star Trek: Voyager, S5 E01) was recommended by Greg (He/him), who said: Night is the first appearance of Captain Proton which gets a lot of points for me right there. But more importantly, seeing the Captain's depression and her struggling with that has been very powerful to me when I've struggled with depression. I thought about this episode a lot during Covid where we were all trapped and feeling alone and isolated, but I knew there was a lively cluster of stars and planets at the end.

Special Effect video mentioned: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4m3Rea0H_p8

Night first aired on October 14, 1998, written by Brannon Braga and Joe Menosky, and directed by David Livingston

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