30 Must-Watch Star Trek: The Original Series Episodes



Kirk and Spock can boldly go, you can boldly stay on the couch and watch these.
Kirk and Spock can boldly go, you possibly can boldly keep on the sofa and watch these.
 
Picture: CBS

Star Trek. It’s certainly one of the most quintessential items of science-fiction tv round. And there’s a whole damn lot of it, even for those who reduce it all the way down to the present eight totally different reveals within the franchise (there’s much more on the way!). Wish to begin, however want somewhat steering? We’ve beamed up that can assist you.
As a part of our ongoing efforts to present you issues to distract your self within the second of historical past during which we stay, io9 goes to offer up weekly guides to the easiest that every Star Trek present has to supply, from the unique all the way in which as much as Star Trek: Discovery. So for those who’re about to follow our advice and assist your self to all of the Star Trek, listed below are not less than some highlights you possibly can stay up for as you boldly go completely nowhere outdoors.

 


The unnamed Romulan Commander of “Balance of Terror,” the finest Star Trek ever made.
The unnamed Romulan Commander of “Steadiness of Terror,the best Star Trek ever made.
 
Picture: CBS

Season 1

The Cage (The Pilot)—A captivating curiosity that has now develop into all of the extra fascinating given Star Trek: Discovery’s rejuvenation of Captain Pike, the Enterprise captain earlier than Kirk.
The place No Man Has Gone Earlier than (Episode 3)—That is the precise first episode of the present, the brand new pilot now that includes Kirk within the captain’s chair, even though it aired two episodes in.
The Bare Time (Episode 4)—A weird house virus basically will get the crew...drunk? Excessive? It’s the right mixture of goofy and sci-fi Trek motion.
The Corbomite Maneuver (Episode 10)—An unimaginable instance of what may make Star Trek’s extra strategic tackle house fight so fascinating, as Kirk brings the Enterprise by means of a troublesome scrape with a strong foe.
The Menagerie, Elements 1 and a couple of (Episodes 11 and 12)—This really was an excuse to reuse a bunch of footage from “The Cage,” however it’s recontextualized in a captivating manner that provides additional depth to Spock.
The Steadiness of Terror (Episode 14)—Fairly actually the greatest episode of Star Trek ever. Kirk encounters the mysterious Romulans in a chilling, intense recreation of cat-and-mouse that's about a lot greater than only a lethal battle.
The Galileo Seven (Episode 15)—This isn’t simply the origins of an incredible Star Trek episode idea (shuttlecraft mission goes awry), however a captivating examination of battle between the crew of the Enterprise and Spock’s alienness.
The Squire of Gothos (Episode 17)—You'll be able to’t advocate authentic Trek with out not less than one “So the crew mainly encounters God” story. On this one not less than, the god is Trelane, an extravagantly foppish and delectably camp all-powerful being.
Enviornment (Episode 18)—Come for Captain Kirk two-handedly thumping a space-lizard, keep for the powerful examination of the darkish, primal coronary heart of humanity when its again is towards a wall.
House Seed (Episode 22)—Meet the enduring villain of what's nonetheless the best Star Trek movie, as Kirk and the crew reawaken the genetically-enhanced Khan, and tackle a grim a part of humanity’s darkish historical past within the course of.
Errand of Mercy (Episode 26)—The Federation and the Klingons go to conflict, and the Enterprise finds itself on the entrance traces with a Captain Kirk shocked by his personal brutality.
The Metropolis on the Fringe of Ceaselessly (Episode 27)—Probably the most iconic time-travel love tales ever informed, as McCoy, Spock, and Kirk discover themselves thrust into 1930s New York and encounter the mysterious Edith Keeler.

 


Kirk has his hands full.
Kirk has his palms full.
 
Picture: CBS

Season 2

Amok Time (Episode 1)—Our first go to to Vulcan explores the tradition of its logic-adherent beings and proves to be a tumultuous, fascinating (and, uh, very horny) episode for Spock.
The Doomsday Machine (Episode 6)—The Enterprise goes up towards a horrifying weapon of mass destruction and Federation paperwork in equal measure.
Mirror, Mirror (Episode 4)—See one of many genre-defining parallel universes come to life as Kirk and his officers discover themselves flung to a sinister alternate universe the place the Federation is a tyrannical empire.
I, Mudd (Episode 8)—For those who watch one Harry Mudd episode, let it's this, a goofy romp which sees the titular rogue try and entice the Enterprise crew on a airplanet of highly effective androids.
Journey to Babel (Episode 10)—One other nice Spock episode, as we meet his mother and father (together with his human mom) for the very first time.
The Bother With Tribbles (Episode 15)—Star Trek goes full-on comedy with an unimaginable, hilarious romp that additionally occurs to be about overbreeding fuzzballs and uneasy tensions between the Federation and the Klingons.
A Piece of the Motion (Episode 17)—Star Trek had loads of “planet of the bizarre Earth history stereotype” episodes, they usually’re nice enjoyable. This one? Planet of the 1920s mobsters!
A Personal Little Battle (Episode 19)—Kirk grapples with the ethics of intervention when he believes a low-tech planet could have acquired weaponry from the Klingons.
The Final Pc (Episode 24)—Kirk faces one other hyper-advanced A.I., a basic Trek trope, however with a twist: this one’s made by Starfleet itself, and can substitute him as captain of the Enterprise if it outwits him!
Task: Earth (Episode 26)—A peculiar story that sees Kirk and Spock thrown again to the 1960s, solely to find they’re not the one unlikely beings hidden on planet Earth. What’s bizarre and enjoyable is that this was really a backdoor pilot for a potential spinoff series that by no means bought off the bottom.

 


“Brain and Brain, what is Brain!?”
Mind and Mind, what's Mind!?”
 
Picture: CBS

Season 3

Spock’s Mind (Episode 1)—Look. It’s not good, per se. It’s arguably not even common. However simply as soon as in your life, it's a must to expertise DeForest Kelley, with the utmost seriousness, flip to William Shatner and say (of Spock) “His mind is gone.”
The Enterprise Incident (Episode 2)—An intriguing examination of simply how far our heroes are prepared to go to outfox the Romulans, as an erratic Kirk leads the Enterprise into forbidden Romulan house.
Spectre of the Gun (Episode 6)—Right here’s one other of these goofy “planet of the Earth historical past stereotype” episodes, however this time it’s the O.Ok. Corral!
Day of the Dove (Episode 7)—Kirk finds himself battling his personal crew as a lot as he does the Klingons when mysterious beings try and pit the Enterprise and a Klingon vessel towards one another.
The Tholian Net (Episode 9)—Investigating a lacking starship (that truly goes on to play a huge part within the improvement of the Mirror universe), Kirk and crew encounter the almighty, mysterious Tholians.
Wink of an Eye (Episode 11)—The Enterprise meets an alien species who expertise time at a a lot slower fee, permitting themselves to be invisible to the human eye.
All Our Yesterdays (Episode 23)—The penultimate episode of the present (and so good in comparison with what was the precise final episode that it would as properly be the ultimate story) sees the Enterprise examine lacking colonists on a planet due for evacuation, just for Kirk, Spock, and McCoy to be thrust out of their components.


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