# What's your favorite TYPE of Star Trek episode? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [September 14, 2018, 5:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-favorite-type-of-star-trek-episode/821349 "2018-09-14T17:44:08Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**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:** [September 16, 2018, 1:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-favorite-type-of-star-trek-episode/821349/61 "2018-09-16T13:35:34Z")
> [@dorvann](#): > > … The mirror universe episode of Star Trek: Enterprise “In a Mirror, Darkly”… And the [opening credits](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tgp5uQrLDO8) were magnificent. ---
**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:** [September 16, 2018, 4:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-favorite-type-of-star-trek-episode/821349/62 "2018-09-16T16:38:53Z")
Except that “Year of Hell” is what the whole series should have been. ---
**Author:** ![AncientHumanoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ancienthumanoid/32/278_2.png) [@AncientHumanoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AncientHumanoid)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2018, 4:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-favorite-type-of-star-trek-episode/821349/63 "2018-09-16T16:51:02Z")
After rewatching every non CBS all access Trek ep ever, I can honestly say there were some great eps and some stinkers in every series. ---
**Author:** ![Quimby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/22d042/32.png) [@Quimby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quimby)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2018, 6:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-favorite-type-of-star-trek-episode/821349/64 "2018-09-16T18:01:51Z")
Mine are the alternate universe episodes. ---
**Author:** ![Sloe\_Moe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/8797f3/32.png) [@Sloe\_Moe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sloe_Moe)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2018, 11:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-favorite-type-of-star-trek-episode/821349/65 "2018-09-16T23:48:21Z")
Does Alien of the Week include them being the aliens on a newly discovered planet? ---
**Author:** ![Quimby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/22d042/32.png) [@Quimby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quimby)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2018, 1:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-favorite-type-of-star-trek-episode/821349/66 "2018-09-17T13:58:11Z")
> [@Acsenray](#): > > Darmok was downright silly. I beg to differ. It is one of TNG’s best episodes. If you think the language makes no sense, I submit that if you read nearly every web forum besides this one, the primary form of communication is in Gifs and Emojis. Going back to my previous post. I love the Alternate Universe episodes but that is mostly because they stand on the shoulders of dozens of “Meat and Potatoes” explore Strange New Worlds type stuff and hundreds of hours of character development so that really should be my favorite. ---
**Author:** ![control-z](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/eada6e/32.png) [@control-z](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/control-z)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2018, 3:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-favorite-type-of-star-trek-episode/821349/67 "2018-09-17T15:22:29Z")
Hated the Q episodes. Got tired of the thinly veiled social commentary ones. I guess I’d pick Borg or Klingon, especially if there were battles involved. ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2018, 4:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-favorite-type-of-star-trek-episode/821349/68 "2018-09-17T16:18:07Z")
> [@Quimby](#): > > I beg to differ. It is one of TNG’s best episodes. If you think the language makes no sense, I submit that if you read nearly every web forum besides this one, the primary form of communication is in Gifs and Emojis. What was silly is the premise that a language based on metaphor is fundamentally different from any other language and would give difficulty to a universal translator. All language is ultimately arbitrary and a lot of the vocabulary we use in English for example is either metaphorical or euphemistic in origin. But if you use it enough, they’re just words. For the universal translator, the metaphors in Darmok were just words. If the universal translator works at all it should have simply worked in Darmok. ---
**Author:** ![DSYoungEsq](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/c6cbf5/32.png) [@DSYoungEsq](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DSYoungEsq)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2018, 5:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-favorite-type-of-star-trek-episode/821349/69 "2018-09-17T17:28:41Z")
> [@Acsenray](#): > > What was silly is the premise that a language based on metaphor is fundamentally different from any other language and would give difficulty to a universal translator. > > All language is ultimately arbitrary and a lot of the vocabulary we use in English for example is either metaphorical or euphemistic in origin. But if you use it enough, they’re just words. > > For the universal translator, the metaphors in Darmok were just words. If the universal translator works at all it should have simply worked in Darmok. If you dismiss as poor all episodes of Star Trek series that have a hole in the basic plot conceit, you would dismiss 99% of all episodes, including some very, very good episodes. All your complaint really does is point out that there should have been other episodes where the Universal Translator didn’t work perfectly. ---
**Author:** ![AncientHumanoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ancienthumanoid/32/278_2.png) [@AncientHumanoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AncientHumanoid)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2018, 9:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-favorite-type-of-star-trek-episode/821349/70 "2018-09-17T21:43:55Z")
Well, in ST-VI:TUC, we see that using the UT is easy to spot, so they had to actually speak Klingon. . ---
**Author:** ![Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qadgop_the_mercotan/32/83_2.png) [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2018, 10:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-favorite-type-of-star-trek-episode/821349/71 "2018-09-17T22:03:51Z")
I picked time travel because “City on the edge of Forever” was the best ST episode ever. But many other time travel tales were pretty lame. ---
**Author:** ![DSYoungEsq](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/c6cbf5/32.png) [@DSYoungEsq](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DSYoungEsq)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2018, 10:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-favorite-type-of-star-trek-episode/821349/72 "2018-09-17T22:42:58Z")
> [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](#): > > I picked time travel because “City on the edge of Forever” was the best ST episode ever. But many other time travel tales were pretty lame. If I was to pick a “worst ST episode type”, I’d easily pick time travel/interference episodes, _especially_ the idiotic _Enterprise_ “temporal cold war” episodes. It’s very, very difficult to avoid the inherent pitfalls in dealing with time travel issues. Usually, _Star Trek_ series sucked at it. _Star Trek_ itself didn’t do too badly with them, though for the life of me, I never even as a kid understood why the Enterprise was moving backward in time as they attempted the slingshot maneuver. :dubious: ---
**Author:** ![JB99](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/439d5e/32.png) [@JB99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JB99)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2018, 10:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-favorite-type-of-star-trek-episode/821349/73 "2018-09-17T22:58:48Z")
Voted for Borg. Sorry. I know some people think they were over-used, but practically every Borg episode was solid gold. ---
**Author:** ![BlueInfinity](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/9e8a1a/32.png) [@BlueInfinity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BlueInfinity)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2018, 11:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-favorite-type-of-star-trek-episode/821349/74 "2018-09-17T23:19:28Z")
I hope you mean “practically every NextGen Borg episode”. They underwent serious [Villain Decay](https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/VillainDecay)by the time Voyager finished. ---
**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:** [September 17, 2018, 11:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-favorite-type-of-star-trek-episode/821349/75 "2018-09-17T23:30:28Z")
_ST IV: The Voyage Home_ was a good movie, and a time-travel movie, but it wasn’t a good time-travel movie. ---
**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:** [September 18, 2018, 1:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-favorite-type-of-star-trek-episode/821349/76 "2018-09-18T01:48:05Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > _ST IV: The Voyage Home_ was a good movie, and a time-travel movie, but it wasn’t a good time-travel movie. “If you… ever need…” someone… like a… grandfather… ---
**Author:** ![Larry\_Borgia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/larry_borgia/32/156_2.png) [@Larry\_Borgia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Larry_Borgia)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2018, 4:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-favorite-type-of-star-trek-episode/821349/77 "2018-10-24T04:31:47Z")
> [@Quimby](#): > > I beg to differ. It is one of TNG’s best episodes. If you think the language makes no sense, I submit that if you read nearly every web forum besides this one, the primary form of communication is in Gifs and Emojis. “Hey, could you bring out the compressor and the small nail gun and put two nails each in the top and bottom of these posts. like this [demonstrates]. When you’re done with that can you check George’s work with the caulking. He’s a good worker so don’t be rude, but I just want to make sure he did it right. Thanks!” Say that, only use bible verses. ---
**Author:** ![AncientHumanoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ancienthumanoid/32/278_2.png) [@AncientHumanoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AncientHumanoid)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2018, 1:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-favorite-type-of-star-trek-episode/821349/78 "2018-10-24T13:44:23Z")
> [@DSYoungEsq](#): > > If I was to pick a “worst ST episode type”, I’d easily pick time travel/interference episodes, _especially_ the idiotic _Enterprise_ “temporal cold war” episodes. It’s very, very difficult to avoid the inherent pitfalls in dealing with time travel issues. Usually, _Star Trek_ series sucked at it. _Star Trek_ itself didn’t do too badly with them, though for the life of me, I never even as a kid understood why the Enterprise was moving backward in time as they attempted the slingshot maneuver. :dubious: In The Naked Time, Spock’s cold mix solution had time travel implications. 71 hrs. I guess writers built off of that idea. I’ll take you home again, Kathleen! ---
**Author:** ![DSYoungEsq](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/c6cbf5/32.png) [@DSYoungEsq](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DSYoungEsq)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2018, 2:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-favorite-type-of-star-trek-episode/821349/79 "2018-10-24T14:13:23Z")
> [@AncientHumanoid](#): > > In The Naked Time, Spock’s cold mix solution had time travel implications. 71 hrs. I guess writers built off of that idea. > > I’ll take you home again, Kathleen! One More TIME! 😛 ---
**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:** [October 24, 2018, 2:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-favorite-type-of-star-trek-episode/821349/80 "2018-10-24T14:36:56Z")
> [@AncientHumanoid](#): > > …I’ll take you home again, Kathleen! “For God’s sake, get that door open!” -Kirk to Scotty. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-favorite-type-of-star-trek-episode/821349.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-favorite-type-of-star-trek-episode/821349.md?page=5)