In honor of this week’s release of Star Trek, I thought it would be fitting to match the re-boot of Trek by taking a look back at all of the Star Trek series in order to find the 20 best episodes. Hint: no episodes from Voyager are on the list.

Image Courtesy Paramount

Honorable Mention: In A Mirror, Darkly (Enterprise)

Star Trek: Enterprise was better than Voyager, but it never really created any episodes that transcended the way the best episodes did. However, Enterprise’s visit to the Mirror Universe is worth it for the awesome opening scene: paralleling the end of Star Trek: First Contact, it shows the Vulcan ship landing near Zephram Cochrane’s compound in Montana. The Vulcans emerge, and Cochrane greets them–with a shotgun blast as the other humans storm the ship. Classic.

20. Who Watches the Watchers (Next Generation)

This episode is still one that I’m amazed made it on the air. I’m referring, of course, to the episode where in the course of observing a Bronze Age society, the Enterprise crew becomes worshipped as gods. So, naturally, they teach them the wisdom and value of reason in order to get their society back on the right path. It’s a little heavy-handed but still great.

19. Sins of the Father (Next Generation)

Although we’d seen hints in the past, “Sins of the Father” was our first real look at Klingon life and culture–and an interesting take on how a society of “noble warriors” would find it easy to sink into corruption. This was the episode that demonstrated that Worf, in many ways, was more Klingon than most Klingons, even though he grew up among humans.

18. Inter Arma Enim Silent Leges (Deep Space Nine)

The best of the Star Trek series was at its best when it took a hard look at the tension between the ideals of the Federation and the grim realities of war. This one involves a deep cover operation to protect the interests of the Federation in their relationship with the Romulan Empire. The grim irony of the episode, however, is that the covert ops involved were absolutely counting on the decency of Julian Bashir and a Romulan Senator in order for their plot to work. And it did.

17. The Wounded (Next Generation)

In my opinion, “The Wounded” represents something of a breakthrough in The Next Generation in that it truly showed that human beings–though much better in the 24th Century than they are today–are still struggling with the same feelings of regret and revenge. Of course, this episode is owned by Colm Meany’s Miles O’Brien, who really illustrates the struggle to be a decent person in this episode. This episode also gave us the Cardassians, who are truly one of the great alien races that Star Trek invented.

16. Drumhead (Next Generation)

Really, what more is there to say about this than Picard’s testimony on the witness stand?

“”You know, there are some words I’ve known since I was a schoolboy: ‘ With the first link, the chain is forged. The first speech censured, the first thought forbidden, the first freedom denied, chains us all irrevocably.’ Those words were uttered by Judge Aaron Satie as wisdom and warning. The first time any man’s freedom is trodden on we’re all damaged.”

15. Lower Decks (Next Generation)

One of the major flaws of all the Star Trek series is what I call “Who cares about that guy? Syndrome”. That is, there are minor characters and officers who seem to die all the time, unmourned. The classic example of this, in my mind, is in the terrible Star Trek: Nemesis, when Bryan Singer’s bridge officer is killed and nobody seems to notice, but Data dies a few minutes later and there’s not a dry eye in the house. “Lower Decks” is a useful corrective to that syndrome, showing a few days in the lives of those minor officers–one of whom, of course, dies.

14. Past Tense (Deep Space Nine)

One of only two time travel episodes that make my list, “Past Tense” is a gripping tale of a visit to our near-future. A near future that, I might add, isn’t terribly implausible. Plus, this is the first time we hear mention of the Office of Temporal Investigations.

13. The Sound of Her Voice (Deep Space Nine)

This might seem like something of a placeholder episode, but every time I re-watch it I gain a new appreciation for it. It’s a small thing–the crew of the Defiant bonding with a person that they’re on their way to rescue over the radio. But some of the character moments here are simply grand, and the ending is, in typical DS9 fashion, heartbreaking.

12. Chain of Command (Next Generation)

I was going to talk about this amazing episode and what it says about the nature of torture, but it appears that, according to conservatives, Captain Picard wasn’t tortured at all. So maybe this doesn’t deserve a place on the list after all…

11. Balance of Terror (The Original Series)

A gripping, submarine battle-like thriller–just one of the best episodes of all.

10. Inquisition (Deep Space Nine)

“Inquisition” introduced Trek fans to the idea that within the secret realms of Starfleet, there exists a covert organization known as Section 31. An organization that tried to recruit Julian Bashir but ultimately failed and Bashir was unwilling to compromise his principles for a cause.

9. Paradise Lost (Deep Space Nine)

One of the all-time best DS9 episodes, this demonstrates what happens when a Changeling causes a terrorist attack on Earth. The answer? Panic, martial law, and a near coup d’etat. This episode serves as a rather chilling reminder that even in an “evolved” future, civilized values still teeter on the brink of extinction.

8. Frame of Mind (Next Generation)

One of the finest examples of the great storytelling potential inherent in the Star Trek series, this is a brilliant exploration of insanity and psychology as Riker is kidnapped and nearly driven insane by a bizarre interrogation technique.

7. Family (Next Generation)

The crew of the 1701-D didn’t make it back to Earth very often, but in the aftermath of the Borg invasion, they earned the vacation. Just a little character piece made great by Picard’s breakdown in the vineyard in a fight with his brother as all the feelings of helplessness come flooding over him.

6. The Doomsday Machine (Original Series)

“The Doomsday Machine” is a terrific episode about guilt, Cold War terror, command–everything. One of the original series’ best. Also, the scene where you see the maw of the Doomsday Machine as the ship goes into it used to scare the crap out of me as a kid. The concept of such a weapon being possible scares me as an adult.

5. The Best of Both Worlds (Next Generation)

When I was 11 years old, I had the longest summer ever. That was the summer that began with the revelation that Captain Picard had been assimilated by the Borg. In response to that news, now-Captain William Riker said, calmly, “Mr. Worf, fire.” I had to wait the whole summer to find out what happened. I was not disappointed.

4. The Inner Light (Next Generation)

This episode was long my personal favorite of all of the Next Generation episodes. Here, the last breath of a dying civilization is embedded in the form of a probe that shows Jean-Luc Picard exactly what it was like to live in that civilization at its peak. A brilliant conceit combined with great acting by Patrick Stewart.

3. Darmok (Next Generation)

Of all the episodes of Star Trek ever, I think that “Darmok” is the closest that any has ever come to showing Gene Roddenberry’s vision of the future of humanity. Here, seemingly hostile aliens kidnap Picard in a desperate attempt to make peace with a culture and language that are truly alien.

2. The City of the Edge of Forever (Original Series)

I don’t know what I can say about this episode that hasn’t already been said a thousand times. It’s the best of the original series and is almost the best, period. And it would have made the top of the list, truly, had it not been for:

1. In the Pale Moonlight (Deep Space Nine)

“In the Pale Moonlight” is not just my favorite Star Trek episode. It’s my favorite episode of television, period. This dark, twisty exploration of the netherworld of utilitarian ethics is simply one of the finest things ever made for the small screen. What can you say about an episode where the good guy ends his log entry by saying:

“So… I lied. I cheated. I bribed men to cover the crimes of other men. I am an accessory to murder. But the most damning thing of all–I think I can live with it. And if I had to do it all over again, I would. Garak was right about one thing, a guilty conscience is a small price to pay for the safety of the Alpha Quadrant. So I will learn to live with it. Because I can live with it.

I can live with it.”

All you can say is: brilliant television.