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We're not saying these episodes of Star Trek aren't great, but are they really the best?
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00:00So we come to it at last, it's the list that's probably going to get me fired.
00:05Oh, but just bear with me? Perhaps? I'm Sean Farrick for Trek Culture, and here are the 10
00:13most overrated episodes of Star Trek. Number 10, Survival Instinct.
00:19One of the bigger criticisms that Star Trek Voyager faced during its run was the over-reliance
00:24on Borg storylines. As the show went on, the Borg began to appear more often, thanks largely to
00:29stories dealing with Seven of Nine's backstory. While Jerry Ryan is always a standout in these
00:34episodes, that does not mean the episodes themselves stand the test of time. Survival
00:38Instinct was meant to show that in her past Seven was faced with individuality, and she not only
00:43turned her back on it, but forced others into a state of permanent faux unity as well. While there
00:48is certainly a bittersweet story of growth here, the issue was that it was well-trodden soil by the
00:53sixth season. The performances are solid across the board, including yet another guest spot from
00:58Vaughn Armstrong, yet this story of Seven in the full Borg here just doesn't really do much to
01:04stand out. It wasn't even close to the final Borg appearance in Voyager, which lent a feeling of
01:09fatigue to the show. That said, Endgame did manage to give them a sense of menace again, for a time.
01:15Number 9, The Inner Light.
01:17The Inner Light was produced in the Next Generation's fifth season. It details one of the most profound,
01:23affecting and ultimately traumatising events in Jean-Luc Picard's life, so one would assume that it would
01:29play a major role in his story going forward. One would be incorrect. To be fair to the episode, this
01:35lack of legacy is a victim of the period of television in which it was produced, so why does that
01:41place
01:41it on this list? The Inner Light is often cited as one of the perfect Picard episodes, and here's the
01:46twist,
01:47it truly is. However, for something that receives such universal acclaim as this, for it to receive
01:53the adulation that it had, it lands here due to the show's frustrating lack of follow-up. Consider this,
02:00the Best of Both Worlds seems to get a mention every second Tuesday in Star Trek, while the Dominion War
02:04left an impact on the Alpha Quadrant for years to come. Now, if we narrow the view to only those
02:10episodes
02:10dealing with characters, we still land on Best of Both Worlds. In effect, the Catan Probe was the benevolent
02:16mirror image of the Borg, taking control of Picard and forcing him to live on another person's timeline.
02:22Perhaps if it had been shown the same love by the production team as the fans has visited on it,
02:27it wouldn't find itself on this list here. Number 8, Dawn. There is a fantastic episode of Star
02:33Trek in which a human male and an alien soldier meet on a planet, unable to truly understand each other,
02:38make it work. There are frustrations, but they do come to an understanding. It's called Darmok,
02:43and it's in the next generation. Dawn isn't a bad episode, but the whole thing feels like a retread.
02:49Having Trip as the focus character was definitely an interesting idea. This was a character who wasn't
02:54trained in diplomacy or alien understanding like Captain Picard was. He knew how to make the engines
03:00work and that was his job, so seeing him try to battle through his frustrations is almost certainly
03:05what earns this episode such a high ranking. In a way it's symbolic of what Enterprise could have been.
03:10This was the first deep space Earth vessel sent out into the void, so one would assume that there
03:16would be more examples of this kind of first contact. Instead it quickly fell into the pattern
03:20of trying to emulate the next generation, until its third season. Dawn then serves as a reminder that,
03:27had the show practiced that little bit harder, excellent episodes really were possible.
03:33Number 7, Trials and Troubulations. Though I am effectively writing my own marching
03:38orders by including this episode on this list, bear with me. Trials and Troubulations is a
03:43fantastically fun, silly hour of television. It was produced to celebrate the 30th anniversary of
03:49Star Trek, which it does with a pom. What it doesn't do is advance the plot. Take, for example,
03:55the other celebration of the anniversary, Flashback. Here, Star Trek Voyager used the framing device of
04:00Tuvok's service aboard the USS Excelsior to bring older performers back to the franchise, notably
04:06Grace the Whitney and, of course, George Takei. The Deep Space Nine offering is a marvel in its own
04:12right, combining the legacy and contemporary actors via the use of computer trickery. This is something
04:17that we do not in any way wish to brush aside. Perhaps it's best to enjoy this episode as a
04:22fun side
04:23adventure, one brewing with love for the franchise rather than one of the greatest that Deep Space Nine,
04:28or Star Trek itself had to offer. If this is a franchise that is boldly going forward, then this
04:33is an episode that looks back with rose-tinted glasses. Number six, Extinction. So I've never
04:40made any secret about how I feel about Extinction. Even the director of this episode, LeVar Burton,
04:46has said that he was embarrassed to be a part of this outing. So imagine my surprise when it received
04:50a higher rating than zero on IMDB. Now I'm going to try and be fair about this. Enterprise had entered
04:56its third year with the attack on Earth, the upgrade and improved arming of the ship,
05:01the loss of Trip's sister, and T'Pol's resignation from the Vulcan High Command. It was then to be a
05:06darker, denser year once spent dealing with the Zindi threat. Along comes Extinction. First,
05:12the atrocious update of the opening theme, adding a jaunty tambourine beat to Faith of the Heart.
05:18This does not scream descent into darkness. Then, Scott Bakula and Linda Park get 40 litres of plastic
05:24stuck to their faces and are told to act like wild animals. None of it works, nor does it advance
05:29the plot in any way. Jolene Blaylock, as usual, does her best with the material given, but Extinction
05:34deserves to be quietly slid into an agony booth and left there overnight. Number five, Project Daedalus.
05:40Star Trek Discovery got off to a shaky start in its debut year, but time has been its friend. The
05:46shock of
05:46the opening war with the Klingons has long since worn off, so the attempts by the show to push the
05:51franchise in a new direction are much more forgivable. The second year saw the introduction of Anson
05:56Mount as Pike, Ethan Peck as Spock, and the mystery of the Red Angel. With much of the focus on
06:01these
06:01new characters, the already limited screen time that the rest of the Discovery's crew received
06:06was now at a strain. Project Daedalus attempts, in a single outing, to get the audience to care about
06:11Aerium, then mourn her loss without any real build up. In isolation, the episode is strong enough,
06:17with an excellent performance by Hannah Cheeseman. However, for its strengths, it's emblematic of the
06:22issues facing Discovery. The audience was being told that they needed to mourn this supposedly
06:27important character, rather than allowing them to develop feelings for her, only to tear her away.
06:33It's a challenge that Discovery has never truly overcome with Project Daedalus, while a good episode
06:39in its own right only serving to highlight this. Number four, Mirror Mirror. Mirror Mirror is one of the more
06:46standout episodes of the original series. It's certainly iconic, the uniforms, Sulu's scar,
06:51Spock's goatee, the latter of those being the most immediately recognisable element from the story.
06:56The episode is a tremendous amount of fun, the actors all play against type, and the score,
07:01adapted by Fred Steiner from his earlier compositions, particularly for the Romulans in Balance of Terror.
07:06Mirror Mirror has inspired many spoofs and parodies since. That, in my opinion, is where the true
07:13strength of the episode lies, not in the presentation seen on screen, but in the legacy that it left in
07:18its wake. The prequel to this, In A Mirror Darkly, was only possible because of the camp fun on show,
07:25while sequels like Crossover and Shattered Mirror doubled down on the dark side of this universe.
07:30The episode was nominated for a Hugo Award for Best Dramatic Presentation in 1968,
07:35though it would lose out, and with respect deservedly so, to The City on the Edge of Forever.
07:40Number 3. A in Arcadia Ego Part 2. Star Trek Picard has offered some of the most uplifting
07:46celebrations of Star Trek side by side with a selection of deeply frustrating episodes as well.
07:53A in Arcadia Ego Part 2 falls into the latter camp. While much has been said about the copy and
07:58paste
07:59fleet, this episode's high ranking feels a little... off. The good is easy to spot. Picard and Data's
08:05conversation is a highlight, as is Issa Briona's vocal strengths on Blue Skies. The first hints of Seven and
08:10Raffi are teased, while Jurati's straight up murder of Maddox is just... swept to the side?
08:15What truly makes this a frustrating episode, across the board, is the entire lack of consequences.
08:20Picard is dying? Nope. Synth will destroy all organic life? Nope.
08:25While no one is out here arguing that it's a perfect episode, it tends to receive high to
08:29middling reviews. Picard arguably didn't find its feet until the third season, and while the first
08:35seasons weren't devoid of true standout episodes, it wouldn't be entirely fair to laud the praise
08:42on a season finale that didn't really do anything other than turn Picard into a golem?
08:47Number 2. Skin of Evil. Skin of Evil is cemented in Trek history for one reason alone,
08:53the death of Tasha Yar. Without that particular storyline, this episode is another trip to planet
08:58hell, rather a lot of standing around talking, and a big oily thing whose best legacy is setting up a
09:03joke
09:03in Lower Decks. When reviewing the first season of The Next Generation, there are a few episodes that
09:08tend to be given a slightly kinder evaluation than they perhaps truly deserve. This, in no small part,
09:14is due to the fact that the debut year of The Next Generation is one of the weakest in the
09:18history of
09:18the franchise. Honestly, and we say this as apologists for episodes like Threshold, it's a marvel that a
09:25second season was greenlit. Skin of Evil sees the exit of Tasha in a shocking yet pointless way.
09:31It did both the character and the audience a disservice, then the funeral scene that takes
09:36up much of the final act is a little hard to bear. Though there is some fine acting on show,
09:40this is an episode that largely rises to the top because of Yar's sacrifice, not for any particular
09:47strengths. Number 1. Message in a Bottle. Message in a Bottle is great fun. It's a doctor-centric romp,
09:53so Robert Picardo gets to have the time of his life, beamed away through the Hirogen satellite network and
09:58appearing on board the brand new USS Prometheus. As an audience we are treated to Starfleet vessels,
10:03battles with Romulans and the return of Khan's right hand man Judson Scott. What lets the episode
10:09down is the appearance of the EMH Mark II. While there is certainly humour to be found in their
10:14interactions, this EMH is abrasive, annoying, selfish and frankly had us rooting for the Romulans
10:19from time to time. Andy Dick's performance was meant to show a polar opposite to Picardo's and in that
10:25respect the episode manages to land, however there is simply not enough redeeming qualities for this
10:30new hologram to truly lift the episode from quite good to legendary. We're also somewhat spoiled by
10:37that tease over in Deep Space Nine. While yes Bashir was deemed ineligible, there is still a fabulous
10:43what-if scenario that sees Robert Picardo and Alexander Sedig teaming up to take down those pointed-eared
10:49villains. That's everything for this list. Now we respect that a lot of these ideas might be
10:54subjective, so we would ask that if you feel there are episodes that are overrated, let us know in
11:00the comments below or over on our socials. Speaking of, you can find us at Triculture over on Twitter,
11:06you can find us at TricultureYT on Instagram, I'm at Sean Ferrick on Twitter, so do give us a follow
11:12and
11:13let us know. Thanks so much to our lovely editor Martin who made this video possible, you are all
11:18wonderful and awesome, make sure that you look after yourselves until I see you again, make sure that you
11:22live long and prosper, be kind, be thoughtful, be good people, you're all awesome, thank you so much.
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