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00:00One of the best events of a Star Trek series is the fan-serving crossover episodes,
00:04where characters from one series appear in another.
00:07These have occurred in all the modern series,
00:09and wholeheartedly deserve their status as prestigious TV events,
00:13given how they unify fanbases and their inevitable effect on ratings.
00:17And while some appearances were brief, such as Commander Riker in the Voyager episode Deathwish,
00:22others had the entire episode built around them, like Sarek,
00:25and the results have often been a mixed bag,
00:27despite how well the idea of crossovers is invariably received.
00:31Inevitably, not all of the crossovers were such a good idea, like that Enterprise episode.
00:36And in other cases, we've had very brief nods to the fans,
00:38with 30-second appearances in episodes, such as Quark turning up in Star Trek The Next Generation,
00:43although he was also meant to appear in Star Trek Insurrection, but the scene was cut.
00:47Other episodes were just unsatisfying, like Sons of Moog in Deep Space Nine.
00:52Now, of course, the best episodes are certainly an easier prospect to swallow,
00:56but to commemorate the fact that not every episode can be as great as perhaps was intended...
01:02So, without further ado, I'm Amy from WhatCultureHorror, and here are 10...
01:06Ahem. Uh, excuse me? What do you think you're doing?
01:09Shoo? This is my channel.
01:13I'm EliwoodTrekCulture, here with a list of the 10 Worst Crossover Episodes in Star Trek History.
01:22Caretaker took the approach of having Deep Space Nine appear as a location at the start of the episode,
01:28with Quark and Morn both making very brief appearances.
01:31Of course, one little crossover point which is missed sometimes is the character of Gull Yvesque,
01:36who appeared in Voyager, Deep Space Nine, and The Next Generation.
01:39And much like The Walking Dead, it spent an odd volume of time with the cast on a farm.
01:44The two-part episode really dragged in the middle,
01:47until Harry, Kim, and Bellana Torres finally get back on board Voyager.
01:51And frankly, destroying the Maquis vessel just made no sense in that manner at all.
01:55The entire episode felt like a missed opportunity.
01:58The crossover element of Caretaker was just to get the ball rolling for Voyager.
02:02Of course, towards the later series, you would have two The Next Generation characters
02:06appearing on a semi-regular basis, to the extent that Reginald Barclay ended up appearing
02:10in more episodes of Voyager than he did in The Next Generation.
02:14Whilst those could be considered crossovers at the start,
02:17by the time Troy appeared for the third time, it was less a crossover and more a recurring character.
02:23Number 9.
02:24Encounter at Farpoint, Star Trek The Next Generation.
02:27Encounter at Farpoint was the pilot episode of Star Trek The Next Generation,
02:32and launched a continuous period of some 18 years of Star Trek on television,
02:37until the final episode of Star Trek Enterprise.
02:39It isn't a traditional crossover story at all,
02:42but does feature a cameo from the late DeForest Kelly as Admiral McCoy.
02:46Kelly refused to take anything more than the scale rate of pay for appearing in the episode.
02:51He felt that this was a way to say thank you for Star Trek,
02:53and hoped that his appearance would boost ratings and publicity for the new series.
02:58Apart from this, and a mention of Captain Kirk's Enterprise in The Naked Now,
03:01this would be the only inclusion of any element seen in the original series for some time to come.
03:07Farpoint is looked upon fondly due to it being the pilot of The Next Generation.
03:11But really, it isn't a particularly fabulous episode,
03:14much like the other episodes in the first season.
03:17This was partly in how it was written.
03:19The Q storyline was shoehorned into the story in order to expand it to a two-part episode,
03:24and so it just didn't fit with the other story.
03:27Number 8.
03:28Q-less, Star Trek Deep Space Nine.
03:30Q-less was a direct sequel to The Next Generation episode, Q-Pid,
03:34and featured the return of Q and Vash in their only appearance in Star Trek Deep Space Nine.
03:39It was the last of three appearances in the franchise for Vash,
03:42but Q would make a couple more appearances in The Next Generation,
03:45as well as a bunch in Voyager.
03:47Much like Q's interactions with Picard has the standout scene of the courtroom,
03:51the entity's sole appearance alongside Sisko does too.
03:54But this involves Sisko punching him in the face,
03:56probably one of the most memorable and funny moments from the first season of Deep Space Nine.
04:02Q was a bit untapped for Deep Space Nine,
04:04mostly because we just didn't get a sense of a similar relationship with Sisko
04:07that he had with Picard and would later have with Janeway.
04:11We never really got to find out what the Prophet or Q thought of each other,
04:14or if there was any relationship between the two.
04:17The only problem is that how do you explain Q coming back again and again to Deep Space Nine?
04:22And the character wouldn't have fit in at all during the Dominion Wars seasons.
04:30Emissary was the pilot of Star Trek Deep Space Nine.
04:33It turned the crossover cameo in a Star Trek pilot into an expectation.
04:37A lot of setup occurs in this episode,
04:40but some of the more interesting scenes are those with Commander Sisko and Captain Picard.
04:44You see, at the start, there is quite a bit of animosity between Sisko and Picard,
04:49as while Picard was assimilated by the Borg during the Best of Both Worlds,
04:53the Borg destroyed the USS Saratoga resulting in the death of Sisko's wife,
04:57the Picard appearance's bookend emissary,
04:59in order to show the character growth of Sisko during the events that occur in the episode.
05:04It was initially planned for there to be a major crossover episode with Deep Space Nine
05:07and the Enterprise-D for the end of the first series of Deep Space Nine.
05:11This didn't happen, unfortunately for us crossover fans,
05:15and instead the first series was closed within the hands of the Prophets instead.
05:20Emissary is the best Star Trek pilot when considered in hindsight,
05:23but because some of the crossover episodes are of such higher quality,
05:27it pushes this one down to the worst list.
05:29A shame, really, because I'm sure this would appear in many people's top 20 lists of Deep Space Nine.
05:35Number 6. False Prophets Star Trek Voyager
05:38This is probably one of the least noticed crossover episodes,
05:41as it didn't feature any well-known stars from a different Star Trek series.
05:46False Prophets was a Voyager episode which acted as a sequel to the Next Generation episode The Price.
05:51Both of those episodes featured the Ferengi character of Arador and Cole.
05:55While Dan Shaw came back to play the part of Arador,
05:58Cole was a non-speaking role in the first episode and so was recast for Voyager.
06:02After being stranded at the other end of a wormhole in the Next Generation episode,
06:07the Ferengi arrive at a planet and immediately pose as gods,
06:10leaving Voyager with a conundrum about how to remove them.
06:13False Prophets was an interesting follow-up to The Price,
06:15but didn't deliver the crossover spectacle that we've come to expect.
06:19The problem with False Prophets is just that there is nothing to stand out,
06:22and it ends up being a fairly average Voyager episode.
06:25You know what I mean.
06:26It involves some funny makeup for Neelix, who appears as a Ferengi,
06:30and some scenes that I can only describe as shenanigans.
06:33There are some good Ferengi episodes in Deep Space Nine, and this isn't even in their league.
06:38Number 5. Birthright Star Trek The Next Generation
06:42One of the two stories in Birthright has Data working alongside Julian Bashir
06:46when the Enterprise visits Deep Space Nine.
06:49The android is caught by an energy discharge and begins to dream.
06:52Well, that's our crossover.
06:53It wasn't originally intended to have Bashir appear in the episode.
06:57Instead, it was meant to be Jadzia Dax,
06:59but Terry Farrell was busy filming the Deep Space Nine episode Move Along Home.
07:03It is a blessing that Birthright isn't as bad as Move Along Home,
07:07but neither of the two stories are that engaging.
07:09On the one hand, you have Worf investigating a colony of Klingon-Romulan hybrids,
07:13and in the other story, you have Data dreaming about his father being a blacksmith.
07:17While both stories seem like they could have had ongoing effects to the characters,
07:21neither are ever mentioned again.
07:23Another actor who is better known for a different role in the franchise
07:26also appears in this episode, James Cromwell.
07:29He appears as Zephram Cochran in Star Trek First Contact
07:32and appears in Birthright as Jaglum Shrek,
07:34but is barely recognisable under the makeup.
07:37His part was to have been bigger in this two-part episode,
07:40but he broke his leg between the first and second part,
07:43and he had to be written out.
07:44Number 4. Sons of Moog Star Trek Deep Space Nine
07:48Sons of Moog featured the return of Kern, the brother of Worf,
07:52in his only appearance in Star Trek Deep Space Nine.
07:55Kern had a bit of a character arc alongside Worf in his Star Trek The Next Generation appearances,
08:00and frankly, it is always good to see Tony Todd on screen.
08:03Just take a look at his other appearance in Deep Space Nine
08:05as an older Jake Sisko in The Visitor if you want to look at what Todd can do.
08:10This episode was a proper crossover, but wasn't much of a surprise,
08:13as since Worf joined the crew of Deep Space Nine,
08:16it was just a matter of time before his brother showed up.
08:18Although Kern appearing was initially pleasing,
08:20it just seems very out of character to find that he wanted to die
08:23because of the dishonour to his house,
08:26something he had dealt with before.
08:27Kern ends the episode with his mind wiped and his face changed,
08:31and with no idea left that he is Worf's brother.
08:33It still would have been fairly easy to revisit the character in later episodes,
08:37despite the memory loss,
08:38but it was a plot point that was left open,
08:40which the writers never returned to.
08:42Number 3. Past Prologue Star Trek Deep Space Nine
08:46The first of two mentions of the Duras sisters in this list,
08:49Past Prologue is the only time they appeared in Deep Space Nine.
08:53This is an appearance that sometimes gets overlooked
08:55because the episode is remembered for a different reason.
08:58It features the first appearance of Garak.
09:00The Klingons are selling bomb-making chemicals to a Bajoran terrorist
09:03who is seeking to permanently close the wormhole,
09:06so that Bajor will be left alone by both the Federation and the Cardassians.
09:10The episode has some highlights,
09:12but it is a mostly Kira-driven episode rather than a proper crossover.
09:16Including the Duras sisters was a nice touch,
09:19but really it's another nod to the fans rather than anything interesting.
09:22They could have been simply replaced by new characters
09:25and there would have been no difference to the plot.
09:27While it was an interesting episode to give an indication
09:29that not all Bajorans were fond of the Federation,
09:32it just didn't gel.
09:34While it was meant to introduce Garak,
09:36it actually ended up being the character's only appearance during Season 1.
09:39It was simply one of those dodgy aliens-turns-up-on-the-station and medal episodes.
09:44Number 2.
09:45Firstborn, Star Trek The Next Generation
09:47Firstborn is that Worf Alexander episode of The Next Generation
09:51that featured an Alexander from the future coming back in time
09:54to make his younger self become a warrior
09:56in order to prevent the murder of Worf.
09:58All in all, it's actually an interesting episode
10:00which is something akin to Deep Space Nine's The Visitor,
10:03although not nearly held up to such high esteem.
10:06It is an Alexander-heavy episode,
10:08which isn't necessarily a good thing.
10:10While this isn't as bad as Fistful of Datas or Cost of Living,
10:13it isn't great in hindsight.
10:15What makes it even less interesting or relevant
10:17is that Alexander later appeared in Deep Space Nine
10:20having not taken the path that the future Alexander here was concerned about.
10:24It features a very brief cameo from Quark
10:26as the Enterprise crew are investigating the actions of the Duras sisters
10:30and call on him to find out some information.
10:32He appears for a single conversation on the viewscreen of the Enterprise.
10:35But I guess the point of this episode wasn't to have it be a crossover.
10:40It's an interesting take on the idea proposed by The Visitor
10:42but misses out because it didn't have Tony Todd.
10:45Number 1.
10:46These Are The Voyages Star Trek Enterprise
10:48These Are The Voyages had so many issues
10:51that it's difficult to list them all.
10:53The premise itself was okay.
10:55The final adventure of the Enterprise NX-01
10:57is watched on the holodeck of the Enterprise D,
10:59but it was riddled with problems.
11:01The romance between T'Pol and Trip,
11:03which had been built up for two years,
11:05was totally brushed aside.
11:07Despite the course of several years having passed
11:09since the previous episode,
11:10the entire Enterprise crew,
11:12and the ship for that matter,
11:13looked exactly the same.
11:15Plus, both Jonathan Frakes and Marina Sirtis
11:17are simply a great deal older than during The Pegasus,
11:20the episode that the holodeck scenes are meant to be during.
11:23It isn't their fault.
11:24And in fact, Brent Spiner didn't appear in person as Data
11:27as he thought he was too old for the part at the time.
11:30Plus, you have the matter of Trip's death,
11:31which was just plain stupid,
11:33to the extent that they've tried to rectify it
11:35in the novelizations following the end of the series.
11:38All in all, the episode is just a silly way
11:40to force some of the next generation into Enterprise,
11:43and Rick Berman and Brandon Braga should be ashamed.
11:46It's not just the worst crossover episode,
11:48but a contender for the worst episode of the franchise.
11:51Period.
11:52And that concludes our list.
11:53If you can think of any other examples,
11:55then do let us know in the comments below.
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