The Best of Star Trek

To definitely state what the absolute best episode of each series is and have a general consensus on it at the same time will be next to impossible. It is on the basis of what Star Trek is at it's core that I have chosen these among the rest of the crop. Each of the following will show the human condition and the values that make Star Trek stand above the crowd.

This is the tragic episode in which Kirk and the crew of the Enterprise encounter the Guardian of Forever, a sentient portal that allows the crew to travel back in time. When a crazed McCoy accidentally goes back in time and rewrites history, it is up to Kirk and Spock to restore it. They are sent back to 1930's America during the Great Depression, where they determine the focal point of the changes: a woman running a local food pantry named Edith Keeler. Kirk, who has fallen in love with the woman, discovers that she was supposed to die, but McCoy somehow prevented her death which allowed her to lead a peace movement that ultimately stopped the U.S. from becoming involved in the war, allowing Germany to win the war. On the way to the movies with Edith, Kirk encounters McCoy and prevents him from saving Edith as she is tragically killed by a motorcar. When they return to the present, the last words Kirk echos are, "Let's get the hell out of here."

This episode features many elements that have left fans wondering what could they do for the betterment of humanity. Kirk gave up the woman he loved in order for the proper events to occur. His selflessness would benefit everyone, but he would be left broken as he reflects on what could have been. This episode even won a Hugo Award for it's accomplishments. Time traveling, as we will see, seems to be fertile ground for excellent episodes.

The final episode of TNG features the past, present, and future coming together to solve a temporal anomaly that is destroying the universe. From the very first mission at Farpoint to the Warp 15 capable Enterprise under the command of Admiral Riker, Picard discovers that he is responsible for the temporal anomaly, and with the help of Q (who is responsible for Picard's time jumps), is successful and shows that the adventures of the Enterprise will continue forward.

This episode has it all: the big repercussions, new journies beginning, old rivals brought up to the surface, and the consideration that mankind is able to extend beyond his physical limitations and truly see what is out there.

After witnessing his father's death because of a warp core malfunction, Jake Sisko lives out his life as an author, but when his father seemingly visits him from beyond the grave, Jake does everything in his power to save the father he lost that fateful day. He seeks out his colleagues who over potential reasons for the apparitions and agree to help try and save Jake's father. Finally, after Jake sacrifices himself, Benjamin Sisko is able to leap out of the way in the past and prevent his death. The timeline is now altered, and only Ben knows of what his son has done, and is touched by his son's actions as they return home.

Truly, one of the most loving episodes of Star Trek ever produced. Jake, despite what people had told him, believed that his father was still alive and sacrificed himself for his father. Even though only Ben will ever remember this, the love that his child exemplified is truly one of the most heart-warming moments in Star Trek.

As the 100th episode of Voyager, this episode features many great moments. After Voyager crash lands on an icy world, the only people off the ship at the time, including Harry Kim, survive. Years later, after Starfleet has finally explored the Delta Quadrant, Kim returns to his lost vessel and thinks that he can prevent the accident from ever occurring. Starfleet does not approve of the plan, however, so Harry disobeys orders and, after his death, does in fact restore the timeline, allowing voyager to continue on it's mission home.

Before this episode, Harry was a pretty minor character, not having a great impact in any of the episodes, but this showed that even the most insignificant members of our crew are not indispensable but are in fact as major a player in life as anyone. It is in fact the minors that truly shape who the majors are.

After a (yes...come on...you can guess it) a temporal anomaly causes Archer to develop memory loss, it causes Enterprise's mission to destroy the Xindi weapon a failure, and Earth is destroyed. Now a colony, the former Enterprise crew has gone about their lives, but Phlox discovers that the memory loss of Archer exists on all plains of time, and if he can destroy those temporal anomalies presently, then they will also be destroyed in the past. They begin the procedure, involving the Enterprise's warp engines, and it finally takes the destruction of her to wipe the temporal effects, causing the timeline to be restored and allowing Archer to continue his previous mission.

As one can see, temporal stories are always a highlight in Star Trek, and the scope of being able to change the past from where you are is astounding. The affection that the crew showed to Archer is incredible in itself. They felt he was more important than their own well beings, and that itself is a love all of it's own.

That is what I consider to be the best of Star Trek. I would include The Animated Series or the novels, but since they are not considered canon, I will respect that rule and not violate anyone's beliefs on the subject. Whether one agrees with these choices or not, the one thought that can be agreed upon is that if we all aspire to exemplify the qualities that Star Trek demonstrates, then we truly can go to that final frontier.