The title was first used in the context of the Progenitors in TNG: “The Chase” when Picard remarked, “[The puzzle] is 4 billion years old. A computer program from a highly advanced civilisation, and it's hidden in the very fabric of life itself.“ In DIS: “Red Directive” the phrase was used in conjunction with saying...
LoglineSeries Finale. Trapped inside a mysterious alien portal that defies familiar rules of time, space, and gravity, Captain Burnham must fight Moll – and the environment itself – in order to locate the Progenitors’ technology and secure it for the Federation. Meanwhile, Book puts himself in harm’s way to help Burnham...
The title refers to points of gravitational equilibrium in space between two gravitationally massive objects, named Lagrange points after Italian scientist Joseph-Louis Lagrange (1736-1813). Five Lagrange points can be defined for two bodies. Lagrange points are well known in science fiction as locations where orbital colonies...
LoglineAfter Moll and the Breen capture a mysterious structure that contains the Progenitors’ power, Captain Burnham must lead a covert mission to retrieve it before the Breen figure out how to use it....
The title refers to Labyrinths of the Mind, a book written by Dr Marina Derex, a Betazoid and one of the group that hid the Progenitor technology 800 years prior. A labyrinth is also a term for a maze, the original designed by the inventor Daedelus of Greek myth to house the Minotaur....
LoglineWhen Captain Burnham is trapped within a “mindscape” designed to test her worthiness to retrieve the Progenitor’s powerful technology, Book, Rayner, and the crew of the U.S.S. Discovery must hold off the Breen long enough for her to escape....
Whenever I see a conversation along the lines of "what episode should I show my friend/partner/etc. to get them hooked on Star Trek," the suggestions are pretty predictable - your "best" episodes that are regarded to represent the franchise at its peak....
In this list of suggestions, I wanted to showcase episodes that try to give a good overview of the cast and what they do and the feel of the series they are in. Note that these are what I feel are representative and relatively newbie-friendly, not necessarily the best episodes or even my favourites. So in that context, here are my picks and why:
TOS: "The Doomsday Machine" - it showcases the Enterprise encountering an alien menace, how the crew and ship works together to defeat it, the strength of the relationship between the central trio of Kirk, Spock and McCoy and it's a great, exciting story to boot, with one of the strongest guest stars they ever had.
TAS: "Beyond the Farthest Star" - this is one which I felt they could have done for TOS if not for the budget. It feels the closest to a live-action TOS episode.
TNG: "The Best of Both Worlds" - especially the remastered HD movie cut. There really is no substitute for introducing people to TNG. This is the show firing on all thrusters: suspenseful, thrilling, and truly epic. It's a cracking good story, pretty self-contained, moves at a steady pace, it has great characterisation and action, and if effective, it should lead to a lot of questions about the broader universe - the Borg, Guinan, Data - you can use as a means to lead newbies to more episodes.
DS9: "Civil Defence" - this may seem like an odd choice, being a bottle show, but DS9 was always a bit of a bottle show. I like this because it's strong on character and shows off the relationships between the characters in a crisis situation, and it brings in both Garak and Dukat, whose interactions are always a delight.
VOY: "The Equinox" - another two-parter, but this shows off the difference between a principled and unprincipled captain and crew, a glimpse into how Janeway and Voyager could have succumbed to the dark side. (very close runner up: "Timeless", just for an example of how VOY loved to muck with time travel and alternate timelines)
ENT: "Dead Stop" - a strange space station, Mayweather actually gets something to do (he gets killed), the need for the NX-01 to get repairs in unexplored space, and a genuine horror mystery to solve.
DIS: "Stormy Weather" - an episode so Star Trek it couldn’t possibly be more unless it put on pointy ears and attended a convention wearing a I GROK SPOCK t-shirt. It's sciencey, it's hopeful, it's philosophical, it has kisses to continuity and even has everyone in the ensemble have a moment. And apart from that it is paced well, suspenseful and thoughtfully written. Well done all around. Honorable mention: "Magic to Make the Sanest Man Go Mad".
LD: “wej Duj”- which I would argue is
the finest Star Trek episode of the last few years and one of the best ever Star Trek episodes ever for the way it portrays the lower decks of Klingons, Vulcans, Federation and even Pakleds and… well, wait till the end credits. It also introduces fan favorite T’Lyn to the audience.
SNW: “Memento Mori” - there’s a lot to like about the episode - the submarine warfare conceit in Star Trek space battles has always been a signature so it’s nice to see it crop up again, and you don’t even mind that the correspondence is so blatant because it’s so well executed and the keeps the tension up pretty much throughout the episode.
I’m skipping PIC because that’s not really a show for fresh eyes.
LoglineWith Moll and L’ak finally in custody, the Federation is pulled into a diplomatic and ethical firestorm when the Breen arrive and demand they be handed over. Meanwhile, a frustrated Book looks for ways to help as Tilly, Adira, and Reno work to decipher the latest clue....
The whales Gracie and George were stated to have wandered into San Francisco as calves. Outside of feeding events which can include the famous bubble nets, humpback whale pods usually consist of a lone mother and calf (or calves) pairing with a trailing "escort" male. Humpbacks are one of the few mammals that can be nursing and...
In beta canon it’s explained that, eventually, the humpback whale population of the 23rd Century is restored with the help of George and Gracie’s offspring together with cloned humpbacks from DNA stores, which establishes enough numbers for a breeding population.
(And to answer the inevitable follow-up question of "if they had whale DNA why did they have to go back in time?":
Cloning whales wouldn’t have helped because quite apart from not being able to grow clones in time, those whales would have no knowledge of whale songs - as Spock noted, they couldn’t just reproduce the sounds; they needed the meaning as well.
KIRK: Spock, could the humpback's answer to this call be simulated?
SPOCK: The sounds, but not the language. We would be responding in gibberish.
So the fact they didn’t clone whales doesn’t necessarily mean they didn’t have the genetic material. It just wasn’t a viable solution. One assumes George and Gracie would teach the newly cloned humpbacks about whalesong.)
The USS Locherer, a Merian-class starship, was first seen in DIS: “Jinaal”. It is named after the late JP Locherer, who was a cinematographer on DIS before he passed in 2022....
LoglineWhile undercover in a pre-warp society, Captain Burnham is forced to consider breaking the Prime Directive when a local tradition threatens Tilly’s life. Meanwhile, Culber tries to connect with Stamets, and Adira steps up when Rayner assigns them a position on the bridge....
The title of the episode, of course, pretty much telegraphs which parallel universe we’re likely to have elements of this week. The Mirror Universe was a major part of Season 1 of DIS, and the Mirror Philippa Georgiou was a supporting character through the first 3 seasons....
LoglineCaptain Burnham and Book journey into extradimensional space in search of the next clue to the location of the Progenitors’ power. Meanwhile, Rayner navigates his first mission in command of the U.S.S. Discovery, and Culber opens up to Tilly....
Bashir said in DS9: “In Purgatory’s Shadow” that the Breen didn’t have blood, but considering they never took off their suits, how did he know that? And if they don’t have blood, how does circulation work?
There are animals that don’t have circulatory systems, but they’re usually of a very simple order like sponges, nematodes and flatworms for example.
So either the “fact” that the Breen have no blood is misinformation, or they have something else that substitutes for blood.
Some invertebrates have circulatory systems which carry hemolymph, a fluid made most of water and contains various substances like carbohydrates, lipids, amino acids, etc. It’s not blood, but it still serves a circulatory function.
Happy 51st birthday, dear Star Trek! This supercut contains footage from all 13 Star Trek feature films as well as all SIX live action television shows (yes,...
The title comes from the David Bowie song “Changes” from the 1971 album Hunky Dory. The song also has the lyric “Time may change me, but I can’t trace Time.” Given the theme of this episode, it seems appropriate....
LoglineOn the way to the next clue, the U.S.S. Discovery is sabotaged by a mysterious weapon, leaving Captain Burnham, Rayner, and Stamets as the only crew members who can possibly save the ship in time....
Trill has a surface area of 500 million km^2, which is similar to Earth (501 million km^2). Other data include an orbital distance of 1.215 AU, a year of 483 sols, a surface temperature of 297 Kelvin (23.85 C) and 1 satellite....
LoglineOn Trill, Captain Burnham, Book, and Culber must pass a dangerous test to prove themselves worthy of the next clue. Adira reconnects with Gray and Saru’s first day as ambassador is complicated by his engagement to T’Rina....
It is Stardate 866274.3, which places it, by TNG reckoning, in 3189. However, as I’ve noted before, this is an impossibility, since Burnham arrived in the 32nd Century in 3188, then spent a year before reuniting with Discovery (3189), then months passed between Seasons 3 and 4, and also between Seasons 4 and 5 so at a minimum...
I can’t figure it out. It isn’t huge, but it’s heavy. Specs are 9 x 2 x 12 inches - 1.52 pounds. And it’s totally smooth on the back. Nowhere to put a hook. Has anyone figured out a way to do it?...
Well, the Genesis Planet did do something similar in ST III (keeping it vague for spoilers), but that one had a body to work with.
As for 06107.2, it could be a birthday (June 10, 1972), but the only reference I could find to that was the birthday of a background actor on ENT named Bobby Pappas.
The title is a play on the TNG episode “The Inner Light”, where Picard is hit by a beam from a Kataan probe that makes him live out a lifetime of memories in the space of less than an hour. A similar probe last appeared in LD: “In the Cradle of Vexilon”....
It’s definitely not coincidental, considering that “The Inner Light” is one of the most famous episodes of the series. It’s a pun, a play on words in relation to the TNG episode title. It doesn’t have to have a thematic connection for it to be a title.
LoglineWho knows? They never released one. Edit: They finally released one - how novel to release the actual episode first! Captain Freeman assigns the Lower Deckers an overly safe mission to try and keep a self-destructive Mariner out of danger....
I think you got most of it covered except for living materials, which can’t be replicated because of the resolution limitations of replicators - like cargo transporters they operate on molecular resolution instead of the quantum resolution required for live transport. Gagh is a good example; because it ideally needs to be live it can’t be replicated in its intended serving form but has to be kept in barrels in cargo.
The other limitation would be stuff that’s prohibited by program not to be replicated, like weapons, banned substances, although that’s of course a coding issue rather than a materials issue.
Also, to correct a common misconception/inaccuracy repeated above - replicators don’t convert matter to energy or vice versa. They operate by dismantling the raw material for replication like a transporter does then reassembling them in new forms. The underlying technology is the same as the transporter, except that it rejigs the matter stream into a new configuration.
Which is why the question as to whether you want a holodeck or a replicator strikes me as a bit off because replicator technology is part of the way holodecks work. When you eat food on the holodeck it’s very likely that it’s replicated food, not a hard light illusion. Holograms of people can also either be hard light constructs or meat puppets manipulated by force fields, depending on the program and its requirements.
So if you ask me - holodeck or replicator, I’d choose holodeck because that gets me both the entertainment value and the ability to make objects and food.
The title may allude to a line of dialogue from LD’s first episode, “Second Contact”, where Mariner says she was once trapped in a sentient cave for weeks: “You ever been trapped in a sentient cave? That’s a dark place that knows things.”...
In LD: “Second Contact”, Mariner says she was once trapped in a sentient cave for weeks: “You ever been trapped in a sentient cave? That’s a dark place that knows things.”
Annotations for *Star Trek: Discovery* 5x10: “Life, Itself” (SPOILERS)
The title was first used in the context of the Progenitors in TNG: “The Chase” when Picard remarked, “[The puzzle] is 4 billion years old. A computer program from a highly advanced civilisation, and it's hidden in the very fabric of life itself.“ In DIS: “Red Directive” the phrase was used in conjunction with saying...
Episode Discussion | Star Trek: Discovery | 5x10 "Life, Itself"
LoglineSeries Finale. Trapped inside a mysterious alien portal that defies familiar rules of time, space, and gravity, Captain Burnham must fight Moll – and the environment itself – in order to locate the Progenitors’ technology and secure it for the Federation. Meanwhile, Book puts himself in harm’s way to help Burnham...
Annotations for *Star Trek: Discovery* 5x09: “Lagrange Point” (SPOILERS)
The title refers to points of gravitational equilibrium in space between two gravitationally massive objects, named Lagrange points after Italian scientist Joseph-Louis Lagrange (1736-1813). Five Lagrange points can be defined for two bodies. Lagrange points are well known in science fiction as locations where orbital colonies...
Episode Discussion | Star Trek: Discovery | 5x09 "Lagrange Point"
LoglineAfter Moll and the Breen capture a mysterious structure that contains the Progenitors’ power, Captain Burnham must lead a covert mission to retrieve it before the Breen figure out how to use it....
Annotations for *Star Trek: Discovery* 5x08: “Labyrinths” (SPOILERS)
The title refers to Labyrinths of the Mind, a book written by Dr Marina Derex, a Betazoid and one of the group that hid the Progenitor technology 800 years prior. A labyrinth is also a term for a maze, the original designed by the inventor Daedelus of Greek myth to house the Minotaur....
Episode Discussion | Star Trek: Discovery | 5x08 "Labyrinths"
LoglineWhen Captain Burnham is trapped within a “mindscape” designed to test her worthiness to retrieve the Progenitor’s powerful technology, Book, Rayner, and the crew of the U.S.S. Discovery must hold off the Breen long enough for her to escape....
Preview ‘Star Trek: Discovery’ Episode 508 With New Images And Clip From “Labyrinths” ( trekmovie.com )
Searching for the "most representative" Star Trek episode
Whenever I see a conversation along the lines of "what episode should I show my friend/partner/etc. to get them hooked on Star Trek," the suggestions are pretty predictable - your "best" episodes that are regarded to represent the franchise at its peak....
Annotations for *Star Trek: Discovery* 5x07: “Erigah” (SPOILERS)
As stated in DIS: “Mirrors”, an erigah is a Breen blood bounty....
Episode Discussion | Star Trek: Discovery | 5x07 "Erigah"
LoglineWith Moll and L’ak finally in custody, the Federation is pulled into a diplomatic and ethical firestorm when the Breen arrive and demand they be handed over. Meanwhile, a frustrated Book looks for ways to help as Tilly, Adira, and Reno work to decipher the latest clue....
A question about Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home. [Spoilers]
The whales Gracie and George were stated to have wandered into San Francisco as calves. Outside of feeding events which can include the famous bubble nets, humpback whale pods usually consist of a lone mother and calf (or calves) pairing with a trailing "escort" male. Humpbacks are one of the few mammals that can be nursing and...
Annotations for *Star Trek: Discovery* 5x06: "Whistlespeak" (SPOILERS)
The USS Locherer, a Merian-class starship, was first seen in DIS: “Jinaal”. It is named after the late JP Locherer, who was a cinematographer on DIS before he passed in 2022....
Episode Discussion | Star Trek: Discovery | 5x06 "Whistlespeak"
LoglineWhile undercover in a pre-warp society, Captain Burnham is forced to consider breaking the Prime Directive when a local tradition threatens Tilly’s life. Meanwhile, Culber tries to connect with Stamets, and Adira steps up when Rayner assigns them a position on the bridge....
Annotations for *Star Trek: Discovery* 5x05: "Mirrors" (SPOILERS):
The title of the episode, of course, pretty much telegraphs which parallel universe we’re likely to have elements of this week. The Mirror Universe was a major part of Season 1 of DIS, and the Mirror Philippa Georgiou was a supporting character through the first 3 seasons....
Episode Discussion | Star Trek: Discovery | 5x05 "Mirrors"
LoglineCaptain Burnham and Book journey into extradimensional space in search of the next clue to the location of the Progenitors’ power. Meanwhile, Rayner navigates his first mission in command of the U.S.S. Discovery, and Culber opens up to Tilly....
Star Trek: The Ultimate Supercut ( www.youtube.com )
Happy 51st birthday, dear Star Trek! This supercut contains footage from all 13 Star Trek feature films as well as all SIX live action television shows (yes,...
Annotations for *Star Trek: Discovery* 5x04: "Face the Strange" (SPOILERS)
The title comes from the David Bowie song “Changes” from the 1971 album Hunky Dory. The song also has the lyric “Time may change me, but I can’t trace Time.” Given the theme of this episode, it seems appropriate....
Episode Discussion | Star Trek: Discovery | 5x04 "Face the Strange"
LoglineOn the way to the next clue, the U.S.S. Discovery is sabotaged by a mysterious weapon, leaving Captain Burnham, Rayner, and Stamets as the only crew members who can possibly save the ship in time....
Annotations for *Star Trek: Discovery* 5x03: "Jinaal" (SPOILERS)
Trill has a surface area of 500 million km^2, which is similar to Earth (501 million km^2). Other data include an orbital distance of 1.215 AU, a year of 483 sols, a surface temperature of 297 Kelvin (23.85 C) and 1 satellite....
Episode Discussion | Star Trek: Discovery | 5x03 "Jinaal"
LoglineOn Trill, Captain Burnham, Book, and Culber must pass a dangerous test to prove themselves worthy of the next clue. Adira reconnects with Gray and Saru’s first day as ambassador is complicated by his engagement to T’Rina....
Annotations for *Star Trek: Discovery* 5x02: "Under the Twin Moons" (SPOILERS)
It is Stardate 866274.3, which places it, by TNG reckoning, in 3189. However, as I’ve noted before, this is an impossibility, since Burnham arrived in the 32nd Century in 3188, then spent a year before reuniting with Discovery (3189), then months passed between Seasons 3 and 4, and also between Seasons 4 and 5 so at a minimum...
Annotations for *Star Trek: Discovery* 5x01: "Red Directive" (SPOILERS)
The Star Trek Universe bumper features Discovery jumping in with her spore drive then flying off at warp....
Episode Discussion | Star Trek: Discovery | 5x01 "Red Directive" and 5x02 "Under the Twin Moons"
"Red Directive"...
Does anyone here have the Eaglemoss Enterprise D dedication plaque? If so, did you figure out a way to mount it on the wall? ( lemmy.world )
I can’t figure it out. It isn’t huge, but it’s heavy. Specs are 9 x 2 x 12 inches - 1.52 pounds. And it’s totally smooth on the back. Nowhere to put a hook. Has anyone figured out a way to do it?...
Annotations for *Star Trek: Lower Decks* 4x10: “OId Friends, New Planets” (SPOILERS)
The narrator for the “Previously on…” segment sounds like Jonathan Frakes....
Episode Discussion | Star Trek: Lower Decks | 4x10 "Old Friends, New Planets"
LoglineTop Secret, again. Edit: well, this was certainly worth waiting for: Mariner faces her past in the season four finale....
Annotations for *Star Trek: Lower Decks* 4x09: “The Inner Fight” (SPOILERS)
The title is a play on the TNG episode “The Inner Light”, where Picard is hit by a beam from a Kataan probe that makes him live out a lifetime of memories in the space of less than an hour. A similar probe last appeared in LD: “In the Cradle of Vexilon”....
Episode Discussion | Star Trek: Lower Decks | 4x09 "The Inner Fight"
LoglineWho knows? They never released one. Edit: They finally released one - how novel to release the actual episode first! Captain Freeman assigns the Lower Deckers an overly safe mission to try and keep a self-destructive Mariner out of danger....
If you could have either a holodeck or a replicator, which one would you pick?
Annotations for *Star Trek: Lower Decks* 4x08: “Caves” (SPOILERS)
The title may allude to a line of dialogue from LD’s first episode, “Second Contact”, where Mariner says she was once trapped in a sentient cave for weeks: “You ever been trapped in a sentient cave? That’s a dark place that knows things.”...
Episode Discussion | Star Trek: Lower Decks | 4x08 "Caves"
LoglineThe Lower Deckers go on a classic cave mission....
Canon Connections: LDS 4x07 - A Few Badgeys More
• The episode title is a reference to the spaghetti western, “A Few Dollars More”....
I saw LDS 4x08 at NYCC yesterday!
The episode is named “Caves”. It’s about caves....
Episode Discussion | Star Trek: Lower Decks | 4x07 "A Few Badgeys More"
LoglineThree computerized villains return to cause problems for the Cerritos crew....