- 5 minutes ago
Star Trek knows how to tease and deliver, even if it takes a little longer than expected.
Category
📺
TVTranscript
00:00There are so many moments of Star Trek that might seemingly just fly under the radar for
00:04a long time, until, years later, a new writer, a new director and a new audience pick up
00:11and create something beautiful.
00:12I'm Sean Ferrick for Trek Culture, and here are 10 episodes that paid off way later.
00:20Number 10.
00:21The Measure of a Man Coming in the next generation's second season,
00:24The Measure of a Man is considered by many audience members, including this author, to
00:28be the first truly great episode of the series.
00:31It is Star Trek firing on all cylinders, a bottle show that defines not only the importance
00:35of Data to the Enterprise, but affirms the right to life and liberty for all androids going
00:40forward.
00:41The episode featured several follow-ups in the next generation's run, including The Offspring
00:44and Data's Day, but it would actually form the basis of two storylines in subsequent
00:48series.
00:49The first comes in Star Trek Voyager.
00:50The seventh season episode, Author, Author, is effectively a copy and paste of this episode,
00:55dealing instead with the Doctor's rights as an owner of his creative output.
00:59In this case, it's a poor follow-up.
01:01The Advocate of the Day definitively declines to rule on the Doctor's status as a sentient
01:05being, which is both a deliberate nod to Data's trial, but a bit of a cop-out at the episode's
01:10end.
01:11The direct payoff, however, is Bruce Maddox's appearance in Star Trek Picard.
01:14He was badly affected by the synthetic lifeform ban following the attack on Mars, yet he created,
01:19with Alton Soong, a new race of androids based on Data's neurons.
01:23The inclusion of his character makes this a bittersweet continuation, particularly as
01:27neither Data nor Maddox live to see the ban overturned.
01:31Number 9 Dark Page The next generation's seventh season felt like
01:35something of a victory lap.
01:36As the show was coming to the end of its run, Star Trek Generations was on the horizon, which
01:40gave the showrunners a chance to revisit some of the recurring characters to give them
01:43a bit of closure.
01:44Loxana Troi, having been introduced back in the first season and popping up periodically,
01:48returns in what turned out to be her most heart-wrenching story.
01:52For it is in this episode that the audience learns that Deanna Troi was not an only child.
01:56When she was a baby, the Trois went on a family picnic.
01:58While there, Kestra Troi, Loxana's firstborn, slipped into a pond and drowned.
02:03The event was blocked from her mind, though after years and much heavy telepathic activity,
02:07those walls came down and the truth was revealed.
02:09Deanna was faced with the choice to resent her mother for keeping this information from her,
02:13to accept this and attempt to move on.
02:15In Star Trek Picard, Nepenthe shows the return of Deanna and introduces the audience to her
02:20daughter, Kestra.
02:21We also learn that, like her mother, Deanna lost a child as well.
02:24It's a bittersweet return for the character, but one heightened by the earlier revelations.
02:28Number 8 Sins of the Father Another third season episode of The Next Generation
02:33that had ramifications for years to come, Sins of the Father introduces the audience to
02:36Kern, the second son of Moog and Worf's younger brother.
02:40Created by Tony Todd in his pre-Candyman era, this Klingon warrior became the audience's
02:44gateway into the wider machinations of the Klingon Empire.
02:47This episode set the scene for much of what followed with the Empire, arguably only truly
02:52coming to a close with Deep Space Nine's seventh season episode tacking into the wind.
02:57Here, Worf accepts discommendation from the Klingons, agreeing to a lie that his father,
03:02rather than Duras' father, sold out Kitamer to the Romulans, which sets the stage for Duras
03:07to make a bid for Chancellor. This leads to civil war when the Duras sisters fight Gowron
03:11for leadership. That, in turn, leads to the destruction of the Enterprise D as the Duras
03:16sisters manage to overcome the Galaxy-class ship in Star Trek Generations. Worf is then
03:20reassigned to Deep Space Nine, leading to his meeting with Martok and the eventual fight
03:25to the death with Gowron. The saga of the final days of this era of the Klingon Empire begins
03:31with the arrival of Kern.
03:32Number seven, The Price. The Price introduces several elements to the franchise, including
03:37the Barzan race and their wormhole, the Delta Quadrant and its extreme distance, and of course,
03:42the characters of Aradar and Kol. The episode itself is a relatively light fare, appearing
03:47somewhat as a love story for Deanna Troi rather than anything else. However, this episode would
03:52have far-reaching ramifications for the franchise. For example, Aradar and Kol are stranded in the
03:56Delta Quadrant by the episode's end. Star Trek Voyager would pick up on this storyline
04:00in their third season episode, False Prophets, actor Dan Shore returned as Aradar, though
04:05Kol was recast, now played by Leslie Jordan. The episode establishes the Ferengi as false
04:10gods on a pre-warp planet, using their advanced technology to gain power. However, that is
04:15not the only element from The Price to come back. Star Trek Discovery, in its second season,
04:20introduced the character of Nan, a Barzan security officer serving aboard the Enterprise,
04:25later on the Discovery. This informs us that not only had first contact between the Federation
04:30and Barzan people occurred more than 100 years before the events of The Price, but that Nan
04:35must have impressed someone at Starfleet as she would have needed sponsorship to gain entry
04:39to the Academy. Barzan was not a Federation member world by the time of The Price.
04:44Number 6, Elementary Dear Data. Elementary Dear Data is almost as pure a comedy episode
04:50as it's possible to get while the ship is still in very real danger. Daniel Davis delivers
04:55a stellar performance as Professor Moriarty, while Diana Moldauer is excellent as Dr. Pulaski
04:59as well. However, the best moment of the episode probably must go to Worf's sudden jump as Picard
05:05pops his top hat. However, this episode makes the list with the shortest payoff time, with
05:10only four seasons between it and Ship in a Bottle, but with the largest behind the scenes
05:15reason for the delay. When this episode was in production, the producers believed that
05:18Sherlock Holmes was in the public domain. After the episode aired, the estate of Sir Arthur
05:23Conan Doyle got in touch to inform them that this was not the case and they would need recompense
05:28for any future depictions of the characters. This killed plans for rapid sequels and left
05:33Moriarty in cybernetic limbo. By the time that Ship in a Bottle was produced, the delay was
05:37actually noted on screen, along with a reference to Pulaski, though not by name. This would in
05:42fact be the final reference to her character to date.
05:45Number 5. The Infinite Vulcan The animated series is, quite frankly, the
05:50bastard stepchild of Star Trek. It will generally be found at the bottom of many rankings, though
05:54this is hardly a fair assessment. There are story ideas as strong as many of the original
05:59series, while it's the execution of those ideas that probably gives the most pause. However,
06:05Star Trek Lower Decks has been striving to bring it back into the audience's mind. The episode
06:10Caeshawn His Eyes Open features the darkest callback in Star Trek Lower Decks. The Infinite
06:15Vulcan introduces a giant, cloned Spock. He is created by the human Dr. Stavos Coniclius
06:20V, a remnant of the Eugenics Wars, who is attempting to find the perfect specimen. Giant
06:25Spock is left on the planet Phylos in an attempt to cure the Phylosians of their sterility.
06:30Fast forward to Caeshawn His Eyes Open, and that same giant Spock makes a cameo as a skeleton,
06:36adorned in a ripped uniform, hanging from the ceiling. Grim.
06:40Number 4. Space Seed
06:41Okay, no, this isn't just going to talk about Star Trek II The Wrath of Khan, although that
06:46did come 16 years after the release of Ricardo Montalban's first appearance in Star Trek.
06:51While Khan will generally still consistently be referred to as the greatest villain in the
06:56franchise, it is the Eugenics Wars that are introduced in this episode that takes point
07:00here. The rise of the Supermen and the wars to defeat them would return many times throughout
07:05Trek history. In Deep Space Nine, Dr. Bashir is revealed to have undergone genetic resequencing
07:09as a child, which leads to a tribunal and an evocation of Khan's name. Though Bashir
07:14is spared the legal ramifications, he later helps to treat others who are like him, yet
07:18not so fortunate. Star Trek Enterprise would go further. In the three-part story centering
07:23on the augments in Ariksun, genetic resequencing is again brought into play. Here though, a group
07:28of these augmented humans goes on a rampage, proving to be at least equal to Starfleet's best
07:33along the way. This augmentation is acquired by the Klingons, leading to a full-circle
07:38moment in Star Trek. The augmentation virus that infects the entire Klingon race erases
07:43their cranial ridges, leading to the smooth-headed Klingons best remembered from the original series.
07:48Though it took 40 years to get there, Khan and the events of Space Seed end up retroactively
07:53explaining the change in the Klingons overall.
07:56Number 3. The Tholian Web The Tholian Web hails from the original series
08:00often maligned its third season. The budget for the show had been slashed as it went into
08:05its final year, with the initial production of the Tholian Web requiring some creative
08:10ideas to make work. A new Constitution-class model was created, rechristened the USS Defiant,
08:15and given a green hue for all of its scenes. As well as this, the Tholian Web spinners
08:20were introduced. Both the Defiant and the Tholians would return in the fourth season
08:24of Star Trek Enterprise. Here, it is explained that once the ship vanishes, it reappears in
08:29the Mirror Universe. Captured by the Mirror Tholians, they are attempting to strip it for
08:35parts. However, it is taken by the Terran Empire, leading to some fairly big headaches
08:39for the Tholian assembly.
08:41The two-parter in a Mirror Darkly is one of the best stories in Enterprise, coming right
08:45at the end of its final season. It ties a nice bow on the story of the Defiant, though
08:49it would be mentioned again in Star Trek Discovery. It also goes away to explaining how the Terran
08:54Empire remained as strong as it was for so long, with the infusion of future technology.
09:00Number 2. The City on the Edge of Forever
09:02The Guardian of Forever was introduced at the end of the original series' first season
09:06in the episode The City on the Edge of Forever. It would return in the animated series episode
09:11Yesteryear. In both cases, it is a stable method of temporal travel, though it clearly
09:16has a mind of its own.
09:17Altering the timeline is referred to as one of the greatest headaches for Starfleet, or
09:21simply Tuesday for James T. Kirk. However, this entry is less about Kirk, as ironically
09:26it is he who ensures the stability of the timeline after his encounter with the device. Rather,
09:32it is Starfleet themselves and others who engaged in the temporal Cold War who had come to abuse
09:38the artifact. Star Trek Discovery's third season two-parter,
09:41Terra Firma, sees the return of The Guardian to the franchise. This time, it appears initially
09:47in a different form. Carl, as it likes to be called, is presented as a man who speaks somewhat
09:52in riddles holding a copy of the Star Dispatch prophesising Georgiou's death. This leads
09:57to the jaw-dropping reveal of The Guardian realised in 21st century graphics, rendered beautifully
10:04for the modern day.
10:05Number 1. The Cage.
10:07Quite frankly, of all entries on this list, The Cage is the one that began paying off from
10:12the moment it was created. However, as it was not officially aired until 20 years after
10:17its filming, not many people actually knew that. The introduction of Star Trek, The Enterprise
10:22and of course Mr. Spock cannot be overstated. All of the ingredients for what Star Trek would
10:27become are present in this first hour. However, it would be 2009 before Christopher Pike would
10:32be reimagined, appearing in the J.J. Abrams film played by Bruce Greenwood. While Sean Kenny
10:37had played the character in The Menagerie, that came at a time when not many audience members
10:42truly understood who Pike was. The character would return again, played this time by Anson
10:47Mount, for Star Trek Discovery's second season.
10:49The episode If Memory Serves features a convention-breaking moment, opening with clips from the original pilot
10:56showing both Geoffrey Hunter and Anson Mount, one after the other. The episode also sees the
11:01return of Veena, played in archive footage by Susan Oliver and new footage by Melissa George.
11:07The success of Mount's take on the character has directly led to a new series of Star Trek.
11:11This time called Strange New Worlds. Sixty years later, The Cage is continuing to deliver on
11:18its promise of a brighter future, helping to greenlight more and more content for the
11:22modern audience. That is everything for this list and I can already tell that there is so
11:28much potential for more lists like this. So if that is something you would like to see,
11:32let us know in the comments below. Don't forget to like, share and subscribe. Remember that
11:35you can get in touch with us over on Twitter at TrekCulture. You can catch myself at Sean Ferrick.
11:40You can also tune in to my podcast at You're On Crack Mate, which you can find on Spotify.
11:45Until I see you again, you look after yourselves, you look after your friends and family,
11:48you live long and prosper.
Comments