# Playboy has ranked every Trek episode. **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [December 14, 2014, 4:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/playboy-has-ranked-every-trek-episode/707211 "2014-12-14T16:25:01Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Quimby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/22d042/32.png) [@Quimby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quimby)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2014, 1:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/playboy-has-ranked-every-trek-episode/707211/61 "2014-12-17T01:14:59Z")
> [@friedo](#): > > The author is a dear friend of mine and I can confirm he puts most Trek fans to shame. (Except that he’s completely wrong about the _Voyager_ Q episodes, which are great.) Thank him for an intriguing list! ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2014, 6:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/playboy-has-ranked-every-trek-episode/707211/62 "2014-12-17T18:15:29Z")
Data is a great character, but I don’t think that Picard is so much a great character as much as Stewart being a great actor. ---
**Author:** ![Nars\_Glinley](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nars_glinley/32/8177_2.png) [@Nars\_Glinley](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nars_Glinley)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2014, 7:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/playboy-has-ranked-every-trek-episode/707211/63 "2014-12-17T19:25:23Z")
> [@EllisDee](#): > > Ranked #21, with this comment: > > > [@](#): > > > > 1. “All Good Things…” The Next Generation, Season 7 > > TNG wrapped up with perfect symmetry — moving backward and forward through its timeline (and the Universe’s) to close with a real winner. A hundred times better than the Star Trek Generations feature film the same writers were struggling with simultaneously. I always wanted to like this episode but the Galaxy-class plot-hole of a solution just ruins it for me. Shaka, when the walls fell. ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2014, 7:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/playboy-has-ranked-every-trek-episode/707211/64 "2014-12-17T19:32:53Z")
They got #1 right. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![eschereal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eschereal/32/18939_2.png) [@eschereal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eschereal)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2014, 7:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/playboy-has-ranked-every-trek-episode/707211/65 "2014-12-17T19:56:01Z")
> [@mbh](#): > > He ranked “Skin of Evil” #122. I would have put it somewhere in the 600s. You must concede the upside to this episode: they removed Denise Crosby from the series (except for that later time-twist bit where she was a Romulan), an enormous dud of an actor. ---
**Author:** ![E-DUB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/e-dub/32/403_2.png) [@E-DUB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/E-DUB)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2014, 1:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/playboy-has-ranked-every-trek-episode/707211/66 "2014-12-18T01:46:34Z")
“Best of Season Three”? Has to be “Tholian Web”. Although “Whom Gods Destroy” did have Yvonne Craig as crazy Orion chick. ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2014, 4:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/playboy-has-ranked-every-trek-episode/707211/67 "2014-12-18T04:04:31Z")
> [@E-DUB](#): > > “Best of Season Three”? Has to be “Tholian Web”. Although “Whom Gods Destroy” did have Yvonne Craig as crazy Orion chick. She sells pictures on her web site. ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2014, 4:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/playboy-has-ranked-every-trek-episode/707211/68 "2014-12-18T04:06:57Z")
> [@Loopus](#): > > I love “Death Wish,” but I also wondered by Janeway didn’t try harder to get Q to send them home (a question that got harder to answer in every other episode that Q showed up on Voyager asking for a favor), especially since Q ended up reconnecting with his rebellious side and helping Quinn commit suicide. Sending Voyager back home wouldn’t have been noticed by the Continuum after that, and it would have taken Q literally zero effort: even the finger snap is just theatrics. Except, again, asking Q to do that for you would never result in it happening. Especially since he had promised to help them get home in order to resolve the situation. > [@](#): > > As to the list, I disagree with a lot of the choices, but it is impressive and the author is obviously quite knowledgable. The biggest disagreement I have is his strange abhorrence of Data’s Sherlock Holmes obsession and the associated episodes. I love those. But then I’m a big Sherlockian too. And that’s my problem. I don’t think he is all that knowledgeable if he has these particular complaints. I think he’s just going by his gut. ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Kobayashi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4af34b/32.png) [@Mr.Kobayashi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Kobayashi)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2014, 4:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/playboy-has-ranked-every-trek-episode/707211/69 "2014-12-18T04:26:34Z")
_A Fistful of Datas_ and _Elementary, My Dear Data_ worst than _A Night in Sickbay_ and _Dear Doctor_? Yeah, stopped reading there. ---
**Author:** ![friedo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/8edcca/32.png) [@friedo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/friedo)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2014, 5:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/playboy-has-ranked-every-trek-episode/707211/70 "2014-12-18T05:20:12Z")
> [@eschereal](#): > > You must concede the upside to this episode: they removed Denise Crosby from the series (except for that later time-twist bit where she was a Romulan), an enormous dud of an actor. She was pretty good in _Yesterday’s Enterprise_. Much of her first-season suckage is due to her being written like Johnny Quest in space. ---
**Author:** ![Son\_of\_a\_Rich](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/son_of_a_rich/32/5439_2.png) [@Son\_of\_a\_Rich](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Son_of_a_Rich)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2014, 6:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/playboy-has-ranked-every-trek-episode/707211/71 "2014-12-19T06:28:11Z")
The ep that intrigues me is the one where they visit a farm planet and some magic spores cure all illness and make everybody (including Spock!) happy. After a while Kirk is the only one left on the ship and, in a fit of pique, causes the destruction of the spores. Instead of hunting him like a criminal across the universe, they apparently forgive him, because a week later everything is back to normal. ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2014, 1:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/playboy-has-ranked-every-trek-episode/707211/72 "2014-12-19T13:43:39Z")
> [@Son\_of\_a\_Rich](#): > > The ep that intrigues me is the one where they visit a farm planet and some magic spores cure all illness and make everybody (including Spock!) happy. After a while Kirk is the only one left on the ship and, in a fit of pique, causes the destruction of the spores. Instead of hunting him like a criminal across the universe, they apparently forgive him, because a week later everything is back to normal. Not exactly. Kirk discovers that violent emotions overwhelm the tranquillizing effect of the spores. He then incites Spock, who recovers and goes back to normal, and together they create conflict among the people on the planet, freeing them from the spores as well. They then evacuate the planet; at no point are the spores destroyed (the planet is their natural habitat, and they thrive in the harmful radiation in which it’s bathed). The whole story is a commentary on drug use, which is shown to be a bad thing as it makes material and technological progress irrelevant. ---
**Author:** ![John\_DiFool](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_difool/32/19543_2.png) [@John\_DiFool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_DiFool)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2014, 2:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/playboy-has-ranked-every-trek-episode/707211/73 "2014-12-19T14:45:05Z")
> [@terentii](#): > > They then evacuate the planet; at no point are the spores destroyed (the planet is their natural habitat, and they thrive in the harmful radiation in which it’s bathed). Astronomy buffs can have a field day with Trek. [“Omicron Ceti”](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mira) is also known as Mira the Wonderful, a pulsating red giant variable star. I’d say that the “radiation” involved would pale next to the wild swings in temperatures… ---
**Author:** ![MrAtoz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@MrAtoz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrAtoz)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2014, 2:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/playboy-has-ranked-every-trek-episode/707211/74 "2014-12-19T14:55:09Z")
> [@terentii](#): > > Not exactly. Kirk discovers that violent emotions overwhelm the tranquillizing effect of the spores. He then incites Spock, who recovers and goes back to normal, and together they create conflict among the people on the planet, freeing them from the spores as well. They then evacuate the planet; at no point are the spores destroyed (the planet is their natural habitat, and they thrive in the harmful radiation in which it’s bathed). > > The whole story is a commentary on drug use, which is shown to be a bad thing as it makes material and technological progress irrelevant. Yeah, much as they like to claim that the Federation of the future is a peaceful utopia where hatred and want have been conquered–the minute they come across an ACTUAL peaceful utopia without hatred or want, Kirk’s first impulse is to destroy it. ---
**Author:** ![Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba9def/32.png) [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Asking_Questions)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2014, 3:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/playboy-has-ranked-every-trek-episode/707211/75 "2014-12-19T15:28:12Z")
> [@MrAtoz](#): > > Yeah, much as they like to claim that the Federation of the future is a peaceful utopia where hatred and want have been conquered–the minute they come across an ACTUAL peaceful utopia without hatred or want, Kirk’s first impulse is to destroy it. Not only that, the place is a natural treatment center. Got a deadly disease, cancer, an appendix scar you don’t like? Go there, get spored, then get in a fight. People would be lining up to get there. Heck, send Geordi. See if he gets new eyes. Now perhaps there is a catch (and there always is). Maybe no natural spore can do all that - let’s say it is an alien-generated ‘trojan horse’. Everybody that gets spored is infested with nanites that are just waiting for the signal to EXPLODE!! That might make a good episode, actually. ---
**Author:** ![eschereal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eschereal/32/18939_2.png) [@eschereal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eschereal)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2014, 5:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/playboy-has-ranked-every-trek-episode/707211/76 "2014-12-19T17:38:49Z")
Of _SNG_, the one that stands out for me, in what is largely a nebulosity of meh, is _Captain’s Holiday_. It had a certain palpable grittiness that was missing from the sanitary bulk of the series. There was one _SNG_ episode that I cannot seem to identify. It focused on Worf and some other Klingons involved in a conflict or rite of some sort. At least two of the prominent Klingons died, and when the question of burial came up, one would declare, “The body is an empty shell!” Anyone remember that one? ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2014, 6:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/playboy-has-ranked-every-trek-episode/707211/77 "2014-12-19T18:18:41Z")
> [@eschereal](#): > > There was one _SNG_ episode that I cannot seem to identify. It focused on Worf and some other Klingons involved in a conflict or rite of some sort. At least two of the prominent Klingons died, and when the question of burial came up, one would declare, “The body is an empty shell!” Anyone remember that one? I believe you mean _ **TNG** _: > **[Heart of Glory (episode)](https://memory-alpha.fandom.com/wiki/Heart_of_Glory_(episode))** > > Worf's loyalties to Starfleet are tested when three fugitive Klingons come on board the Enterprise-D. Starfleet Command sends a communication to the USS Enterprise-D about a disturbance in the Neutral Zone, a battle. There are no Federation vessels... ---
**Author:** ![Son\_of\_a\_Rich](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/son_of_a_rich/32/5439_2.png) [@Son\_of\_a\_Rich](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Son_of_a_Rich)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2014, 6:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/playboy-has-ranked-every-trek-episode/707211/78 "2014-12-19T18:39:25Z")
> [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](#): > > Not only that, the place is a natural treatment center. Got a deadly disease, cancer, an appendix scar you don’t like? Go there, get spored, then get in a fight. People would be lining up to get there. Heck, send Geordi. See if he gets new eyes. > > Now perhaps there is a catch (and there always is). Maybe no natural spore can do all that - let’s say it is an alien-generated ‘trojan horse’. Everybody that gets spored is infested with nanites that are just waiting for the signal to EXPLODE!! > > That might make a good episode, actually. I can see Spock doing a slow burn years later, when he and Kirk are reminiscing about the old days. Kirk:" Ha ha- remember that time you were happy?" ---
**Author:** ![eschereal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eschereal/32/18939_2.png) [@eschereal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eschereal)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2014, 7:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/playboy-has-ranked-every-trek-episode/707211/79 "2014-12-19T19:19:18Z")
> [@terentii](#): > > I believe you mean _ **TNG** _: > > [Heart of Glory (episode) | Memory Alpha | Fandom](http://en.memory-alpha.org/wiki/Heart_of_Glory_(episode)) Thanks, that was it. "_ **SNG** _ is shorthand for _ **ST:TNG** _. Personally, I almost always rate _Enterprise_ higher than the other ones because it has that slightly unwashed feel to it, more touchable than the others. Of course, that could be because I was born in a town called Enterprise. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2014, 7:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/playboy-has-ranked-every-trek-episode/707211/80 "2014-12-19T19:25:08Z")
I personally have problems with any list that has _any_ episode of **Voyager** rated higher than #400. But that’s just me. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/playboy-has-ranked-every-trek-episode/707211.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/playboy-has-ranked-every-trek-episode/707211.md?page=5)