how many star trek continues episodes are there

• Cast & crew
• User reviews

Episode list

Star trek continues.

S1.E8 ∙ Still Treads the Shadow

S1.E9 ∙ What Ships Are For

S1.E10 ∙ To Boldly Go: Part I

S1.E11 ∙ To Boldly Go: Part II

Contribute to this page.

• See more gaps
• Learn more about contributing

More from this title

More to explore.

Recently viewed

• Star Trek Continues
• Cast and Crew

Star Trek Continues - All Episodes

Season 1, recently updated shows.

Jersey Shore: Family Vacation

The cast of Jersey Shore swore they would always do a vacation together. Now, five years, five kids, three marriages, and who knows how many GTL sessions later, the gang is back together and on vacation in a swanky house in Miami Beach.

Gold Rush: White Water

Gold miners Dakota Fred and his son Dustin are back - returning to McKinley Creek Alaska, determined to make a fortune no matter the risk. But to find the big gold payout, they'll put their lives on the line by diving deep beneath the raging waters of one of Alaska's wildest creeks.

The Neighborhood

The Neighborhood telling about what happens when the friendliest guy in the Midwest moves his family to a neighborhood in Los Angeles where not everyone looks like him or appreciates his extreme neighborliness. When Dave Johnson and his family arrive from Michigan, they're unfazed that their new dream home is located in a community quite different from their small town. However, their opinionated next-door neighbor, Calvin Butler, is wary of the newcomers, certain that they'll disrupt the culture on the block. Dave realizes that fitting into their new community is more complex than he expected, but if he can find a way to connect with Calvin, they have an excellent chance of making their new neighborhood their home.

The Sandman

A rich blend of modern myth and dark fantasy in which contemporary fiction, historical drama and legend are seamlessly interwoven, The Sandman follows the people and places affected by Morpheus, the Dream King, as he mends the cosmic — and human — mistakes he's made during his vast existence.

With CSI: Vegas , the most watched drama series of the 21st century, CSI, opens a brand new chapter in Las Vegas, the city where it all began. Facing an existential threat that could bring down the Crime Lab, a brilliant team of forensic investigators must welcome back old friends and deploy new techniques to preserve and serve justice in Sin City.

Star Trek Best Trek

Star trek continues.

Star Trek Continues , as implied by the name, is intended as a continuation of The Original Series portraying the completion of the original five-year mission of the Enterprise and thus bridging the gap between that series and the films that follow. The show hews as closely as possible to the tone, style, and format of The Original Series , except that Continues has more continuity than the real show ever did. About half the episodes can be read as sequels to The Original Series episodes and the finale is a prequel to The Motion Picture .

As a fan series, all of Continues is freely available online. See the project’s website for information, downloads, and behind-the-scenes extras.

Episodic or serial?

Episodic, but with continuity between episodes. Stories are self-contained (aside from several being follow-ups to The Original Series episodes) but some episodes acknowledge events from previous episodes and the finale is a two-parter.

Idealistic or cynical?

Idealistic, mostly. This show deliberately mimics the tone of The Original Series which doesn’t completely avoid the occasional dark-tinged story but mostly presents a world where it’s worth sticking to your principles and where good defeats evil.

Worth watching?

If you love The Original Series , have exhausted all those episodes, are looking for more, and are willing to take a chance on a fan series, then yes, at least in part. Otherwise, no.

The production values here are through the roof. The sets, props, costumes, special effects, sound effects, musical scores, and cinematography are easily on a par with the actual show it’s mimicking. Naturally all the roles have been recast and the quality of the acting does vary, but for the most part it’s easy to see your beloved characters shining through from behind these new faces. And there’s a lot of fun connections to canon.

However, where the show does fall down a bit is in its inconsistent writing. Most episodes have interesting premises based on high-concept sci-fi ideas or ambitious social commentary, but the execution doesn’t always deliver on that potential.

Anything else that should be watched first?

The Original Series is all-but required. This series is a direct continuation and includes many references, follow-ups, and even outright sequels to that show’s episodes. (This does, unfortunately, include several episodes that my guide says to skip. But I have to assume that if you’re watching a fan continuation, you’re probably sufficiently invested to watch all the actual episodes of The Original Series anyway.)

While Star Trek Continues was created after several other canon series, the time frame in which it’s set means most of them are not relevant and you could safely watch this show before proceeding on to any other canon series. There are a couple of references to prequel series Enterprise , but they aren’t particularly important.

What should be watched after this?

This series is intended to bridge the gap between The Original Series and its feature films , so if you haven’t seen the latter yet they’re the natural next stop. Though if you are watching this right after The Original Series and haven’t checked out The Animated Series yet, a couple of those episodes are worth watching too.

Otherwise, you can go anywhere from here. It’s not canon, so no canon series builds on it.

Join or Sign In

Sign in to customize your TV listings

By joining TV Guide, you agree to our Terms of Use and acknowledge the data practices in our Privacy Policy .

TV Listings

• Cast & Crew

Star Trek Continues

• Action & Adventure, Science Fiction

The STAR TREK CONTINUES webseries boldly completes the original five-year mission. Below, you can find all of our episodes, vignettes, and other content — including behind-the-scenes videos, set walk-throughs, and much more.

Loading. Please wait...

My cable/satellite provider:

There are no TV airings over the next 14 days. Add it to your Watchlist to receive updates and availability notifications.

Latest News See All

• Tagging & Taxonomy
• Earn Points
• Notifications
• Favorite Series
• Favorite Movies

• Edit Series
• Edit Translations
• Delete Delete
• Delete All Series-Level Artwork
• Delete All Season-Level Artwork
• Delete All Episode-Level Artwork
• Delete All Character-Level Artwork

Vic Mignogna as Captain Kirk

Todd Haberkorn as Mr. Spock

Chuck Huber as Doctor McCoy

Christopher Doohan as Mr. Scott

Grant Imahara as Mr. Sulu

Wyatt Lenart as Ensign Chekov

Kim Stinger as Lieutenant Uhura

• Background 8
• Cinemagraph 0
• ClearLogo 2
• Add Background
• Add Cinemagraph
• Add ClearArt
• Add ClearLogo

No artwork of this type.

• Custom (Top 25)
• Add To List

Select an existing list or create a new list.

• All lists are publicly visible and can be browsed and favorited by other users.
• Refrain from vulgarity and slurs in the titles and overview.
• Popular lists, as determined by voting, can be converted to official lists which may be used in apps that use our API. Lists that are made official cannot be deleted and mods will be granted the ability to modify the entries or official title (in addition to the original creator). Barring abuse, official lists will give credit to the original creator of the list.

Star Trek Fan Productions

Johnnybebad1972, delete series.

Latest Tweets

• December 2023
• August 2022
• February 2021
• January 2021
• December 2020

Star Trek Continues: The episode guide, ratings and all 11 full episodes

If you’re binging the Star Trek universe or merely hankering for some Original Series -type science-fiction, Star Trek Guide strongly recommends that you make the episodes of Continues part of your viewing. This truly professional-level fan production is not only 11 quality stories in the ST fan, STC wraps up many plotlines the TOS and its general lack of continuity (hey, it was 1960s network TV), ties in the prequel series Enterprise , bridges TOS nicely into Star Trek: The Motion Picture , and retroactively foreshadows certain elements of the Next Generation era.

1. Pilgrim of Eternity – In a sequel to “ Who Mourns for Adonais ?”, the mighty Apollo returns to the Enterprise and wreaks some serious havoc while taking a little time to philosophize about mortality. ***

2. Lolani – The Orion Slave Girls finally get more flashed out (so to speak) as characters when the title character is inspired to lead her peers to emancipation. ****

3. Fairest of Them All – And speaking of emancipation, check out this continuation of TOS’ “Mirror, Mirror” in which mirror-universe Spock begins the quadrant-wide revolt against the oppressive human overlords. Quite possibly the finest mirror universe episode of them all, really. ****

4. The White Iris – Head trip for Kirk, as he madly hallucinates old flames met on previous missions: Rayna, Miramanee and Joan Collins – i mean, Edith Keeler. (What, only three?) In a guest-starring role, Colin Baker demonstrates the acting chops that helped get Doctor Who taken off the air for 16 years. ***

5. Divided we Stand – Head trip (and time travel of a sort) for Kirk and McCoy: An on-board accident knocks the two buddies into unconsciouness, whereupon they mutually dream their way through an incident in the American Civil War. ***

6. Come Not Between the Dragons – The Enterprise invaded by a mysterious alien on the run from forces powerful enough to be capable of destroying the ship in classic TOS fashion. ***

7. Embracing the Winds – The overriding theme of emancipation continues, as Starfleet inner workings and a mysterious near-conspiracy are merely window dressing to retcon a bit of TOS continuity that doesn’t sit well with modern sensibility. To wit: Why the lack of female starship captains in the supposedly enlightened TOS era? ****

8. Still Treads the Shadow – Ready for some insane time paradox/head trip stuff? In something of a TNG-influenced episode, “Still Treads” has the Enterprise coming across the starship Defiant (!), possibly have journeyed into a parallel universe, whereupon a single occupant – an aged James T. Kirk himself – is cryogenically frozen. ****

9. What Ships are For – Some great character interplay in the cold open leads to a surreal plot involving an isolated, nigh-xenophobic colony inhabiting an asteroid whereupon no color exists – and John de Lancie is a mere mortal community leader. Traditional Star Trek themes, an excellent twist and the arresting black-and-white look make this one episode of STC that the TOS producers certainly wished they’d had the special effects to make an episode like this. ****

10-11. To Boldly Go, parts 1 & 2 – The Enterprise crew revisits the scene of " Where No Man Has Gone Before ", where one crew member must make the proverbial ultimate sadrifice. To Boldly Go tightly wraps us the remaiing plot threads from both TOS and Continues and sets the table nicely for the crew’s reunion in The Motion Picture. What a way for STC to go out – with everyone wanting more... *****

• Web Channels

Star Trek Continues

Star Trek Continues is a fan-created science fiction series set in the Star Trek universe produced by Trek Continues Inc., Far From Home, and Dracogen. The series is an unofficial direct continuation of the third and last season of Star Trek: The Original Series , whose visual and storytelling features have been reproduced to recreate the same look-and-feel.

As with all such Star Trek fan productions, use of copyrighted and trademarked properties from the original series was allowed so long as the production is not-for-profit. Part of the funds necessary to produce the episodes were raised through a successful Kickstarter campaign, to which almost three thousand backers contributed.

Star Trek Continues won a Geekie Award for "Best Web Series" in 2014 and has been very positively received by the critics, who praised the quality of the production, stating that the series has set a new standard for Star Trek fan productions.

Official site: www.startrekcontinues.com

8 ( 36 votes)

Previous Episode

To boldly go: part ii, episode 1x11; nov 13, 2017.

The iconic mission of the U.S.S. Enterprise comes to an end, as Kirk and his crew battle the ultimate adversary.

Previous Episodes

Vic Mignogna

Todd Haberkorn

Christopher Doohan

Larry Nemecek

Chuck huber.

Grant Masaru Imahara

Recent discussions.

Firstly let me just say WOOHOO , that was great. OK, now to address some of your thoughts. NO, there will be no more episodes as they are no longer allowed to make any videos/episodes longer than 10 min due to the studio kicking up a fuss because fans love this version and kept donating money for many more episodes. And if the studios wasn't making the full length show, then no one was as far as they where concerned. As for Kirk not being promoted after the 5 year mission, well actually he was. But of course in good old Kirk fashion, he did something naughty and was demoted, then promoted, then demoted, then porm.... well, you get the point. But when he died he had the rank of Admiral. Now the ONLY ship to separate the drive section from the saucer section was the Enterprise ship/s from Star Trek The Next Generation series and movies. (Apart from the experimental ship in one of the Voyager episodes) It was good to see it in this final episode and was done in a way to show how experimental it was in the time line. Hopefully there might be a now series from this team with 30 to 40 10 min episodes each year. Now that would be great. Thanks to all the talented folks that made this show possible.

Robot Mango Reviews

Journey from Caribbean Scenes to Genre Screams

All 10 Star Trek Continues Episodes Ranked

Julien Neaves – Editor

Award-winning fan series Star Trek Continues aired its last episode back in 2017, but it seems like every day new Trekkies are discovering this wonderful show. Now I already did an article breaking down why this unofficial continuation of The Original Series is the best fan-made Trek production ever (I’ll link that one for you guys below) so for today I thought I would do a ranking of all ten episodes. And yes, I know there are 11 but I’m counting the two-part series finale as one episode. Is that alright? Thank you. I was going to do it any way.

If you haven’t seen the series yet the episodes are available for free on the Star Trek Continues website here (it’s on YouTube as well, but I recommend showing the creators some love). But if you’re all caught up let’s set phasers to SPOILERS and get this list started:

#10 – Divided We Stand

In this episode Kirk and McCoy get trapped in a simulation of the US Civil War by some pesky nanobots. This one was just okay for me. The historical setting was an interesting change but the story itself was just not that captivating. The duo just play through the scenario and don’t have anything to figure out and no mystery to solve. And I really didn’t give two hoots about the redemption story for the young, scared soldier.

The B story of the crew getting the nanobots out of them was actually more interesting than their adventure. Did anybody else think of a Borg appendage when they mentioned needing something organic and mechanical? This one is a decent enough filler episode but not much more.

#9 Embracing the Winds

FEMINISM…IN…SPACE. They kinda threw subtlety out of the airlock with this seventh episode. A meeting to decide whether Spock or a female commander will become the captain of the damaged starship Hood becomes a discussion about gender politics and discrimination, perceived or real.

It was pleasant seeing Commodore Laura Gray (played by the lovely Erin Gray of Buck Rogers in the 25th Century fame) get bumped up from a cameo in the second episode to a major character in this one. But the female commander was abrasive and the whole experience felt a bit preachy. Like the previous entry, this one is more interesting for the B story about the Hood’s attempted salvage and mysterious destruction, which becomes a through thread all the way to the finale.

#8 Come Not Between the Dragons

This episode tackled domestic violence and addressed its central issue with a bit more subtlety than the last entry. A mysterious alien takes refuge on the Enterprise and is pursued by his father who projects his anger onto the crew.

I loved seeing my girl Gigi Edgley from Farscape front and centre in this episode and she did very well with the empathetic character. The out-of-control crew made for some decent action scenes which is always fun. The small creature design did look a bit silly (the daddy creature was a lot better) but it did fit with some of the campy designs we got in TOS. Mugato anyone? So while it did go a little afternoon special in the end, Come Not Between the Dragons was still a very touching episode about a very difficult topic.

#7 Still Treads the Shadow

The Enterprise rediscover the dimensionally-displaced starship Defiant and encounter a double of Kirk who had been trapped on the ship for decades and sustained by the powerful AI Tiberius. This was a cool episode. Vic Mignogna does well as Kirk, who struggles with seeing this decrepit version of himself, Old Kirk, who struggles with his feelings of abandonment, and the voice of the malevolent Tiberius, who struggles to get back his “friend”. Mignona had some decent chemistry with Rekha Sharma (Battlestar Galactica, Star Trek: Discovery) and his scenes as Old Kirk with Counselor McKennah were sweet.

It would have been nice to have had some kind of tie-in with the Star Trek: Enterprise two-parter In A Mirror Darkly, where a Mirror Universe crew encounter the Defiant, but hey, you can’t have everything.

#6 The White Iris

Is there a doctor in the house? There is, and it’s Sixth Doctor actor Colin Baker as the Chalcis leader. Good to see you. In this episode Mignogna gets to flex his acting muscles again as Kirk has to deal with regret, loss and four female ghosts from his past, including Edith Keeler from arguably the best TOS episode The City on the Edge of Forever, and his tragic wife Miramanee from the so-so episode The Paradise Syndrome.

One of the best aspects of Continues is that it took some things from TOS and delved a little deeper. In TOS Kirk had the reputation of being an intergalactic ladies’ man, though if you rewatch the episodes you will realise most of his romancing and seductions were to gain a tactical advantage. But there were a few occasions where he genuinely fell in love, lost the person and then moved on the next adventure.

The White Iris has Kirk come face to face with three women he loved and lost, and has that loss literally haunt him. I think we could have a gotten some type of scientific explanation as to why it was happening, but it was not a deal breaker plot-wise. And oh my goodness the scene where he embraces his almost-daughter brought on my waterworks. “You never gave me (a name).”

#5 Pilgrim of Eternity

The pilot episode is one of a few a handful of direct TOS sequel episodes. Michael Forest, who played the god-like alien Apollo in the TOS story Who Mourns for Adonais?, returns as a much older, much humbled and more world-weary version of the character. This is Forest’s episode and he acts the hell out of the character, whether he is mourning his lost people, charming the female crew members, telling tales of long ago, or firing bolts of lightning. Really good stuff. The episode also features Jamie Bamber of Battlestar Galactica (the reboot) who had a most unfortunate accident.

Outside of the guest stars, Mignogna has some interesting scenes as he struggles with trusting his former enemy, and Scotty (played very well by James Doohan’s son Chris) gets some welcome focus as being the least trusting of the crew. Larry Nemecek plays McCoy here (and in the next episode) but he is way too friendly and cheerful. Thankfully by Episode 3 he is replaced by Chuck Huber who delivers on the irascible Bones we all know and love.

#4 What Ships Are For

All the episodes have that TOS feel to them, but What Ships Are For is one of the most reminiscent of that era. When the Enterprise is sent to assist a planet devoid of their ability to see colour their help uncovers hidden prejudices and xenophobia.

Firstly, it was so great seeing Q actor John de Lancie guest starring in this episode, and in my head canon it is the mischievous, omnipotent being in disguise doing an earlier test of humanity. De Lancie knocks it out of the park with this one and when he throws the double standard of the Prime Directive back into Kirk’s face it brought a smile to mine. I thought the Kirk/green girl romance was sweet and the prejudice issue was handled very well. And I love that the captain’s solution was either that the two peoples work together or die separately. Put that in your smoke and pipe it. And yea, you read that last line correctly.

When the crew rescues the titular Orion slave girl the captain must decide between following Starfleet orders and saving her from cruel bondage. We have reached the top three stories, so you know things are getting really good. And this episode is fantastic.

The plot is well done. The acting is stellar, including a fun turn by Hulk actor Lou Ferrigno as amoral slave master Zaminhon. The themes come out loud and clear. It’s sexy and exciting and has got mystery, action and a meaningful message. Now that is a good Trek formula. And that ending was tragically beautiful. Top points.

#2 Fairest of Them All

If anyone is on the fence about watching Star Trek Continues (“But it’s not real Trek,” I hear them griping) but they like TOS then show them this episode. If that does not make them change their minds then they are a lost cause. Fairest of Them All picks up immediately after the events of iconic TOS episode Mirror, Mirror and follows what happens when the Terran Empire crew members return to their Enterprise in the Mirror Universe and the attempts by Mirror Spock to change his evil society.

This was the sole episode to put a focus on Spock and Todd Haberkorn delivers as the conflicted half-Vulcan. Mignogna is also fun as the over-the-top Mirror Kirk but he plays second fiddle in this one. This episode is filled with intrigue, tension, suspense and action from start to finish. I know Continues isn’t canon but this is one of the episodes that really should be. It is that good.

#1 To Boldly Go Part I and II

Is it fair to compare a two-part episode to nine single episodes? Probably not, but I don’t care; To Boldy Go is 12 flavours of awesome sauce! Where do I even begin? Firstly, the story is a direct sequel to the second pilot episode Where No Man Has Gone Before (The Cage was the first) and sees the Enterprise crew battling a new group of evil super-powered Espers who they learn were responsible for the destruction of the USS Hood.

The Espers are led by Nicola Bryant, who Classic Doctor Who fans will recognise as companion Peri Brown, and she plays one helluva megalomaniacal villain. She is scary good. But that’s not all! We have Amy Rydell reprising the role of the sexy Romulan Commander which her mother Joanne Linville played in the TOS episode The Enterprise Incident almost 50 years prior. And she looks so much like her it is uncanny!

This adventure is just monumental. Phasers are blasting, Esper powers are electrifying, Lieutenant JG Smith gets powers, the ship separates, they team up with the Romulans, the Romulans betray them, ships are exploding…and whew. Gotta catch my breath there. And I loved that they used the original Romulan ship design as it was great seeing the old bird in action again. This adventure had huge stakes and the crew loses three main crew members: security chief Drake, Smith, and McKennah, the last one quite heart wrenching. You made us love McKennah and then you took her away! How could you Vic? How could you!

The end of the story ties in directly to the beginning of Star Trek: The Motion Picture in a manner that feels organic and justified. When Kirk says goodbye to his crew it feels like he is also saying goodbye to the show’s cast and crew, and of course the fans. And there is a feeling of sadness that there will be no more Star Trek Continues adventures. But we still had 11 pretty great episodes, with the finale being the delicious icing on the cake. May more and more people discover this stellar show.

So what’s your favourite Star Trek Continues episode? For more on the series and how it recaptured the TOS magic you can click here . Or you can warp to one of our other Star Trek articles here .  

I can also be found posting on Instagram as redmanwriter and talking about TV and movie stuff on Facebook at  Movieville.

Share this:

Julien, you pretty much nailed it. These are great shows that deserve repeat viewings along with a place on the shelf between TOS season 3 and ST: The Motion Picture.

Thank you kindly. And I fully agree. LLAP

I’m just getting into the series, and it’s uncanny how much it looks like TOS. Most of the actors are good, though the original Dr. McCoy is a bit off. Also, Kirk does too much voting, not enough commanding. But the Apollo and Orion episodes are solid old school Trek, and “Fairest of them All” starts off in boffo sequel fashion. Back to the episode…

Yeah. The first McCoy just did not work. But most of the casting is solid enough and it really does recapture that TOS magic. And I adore all the sequel episodes. Enjoy the rest of the journey

I finally watched them all. “Embracing the Winds” was the weakest script: it couldn’t decide what it was trying to say, and the female captain was pictured too ambiguously. I really got into the series with the Mirror, Mirror sequel: I started to see Todd Haberkorn as a solid Spock, and the opening scene where they replay the original episode’s finale was very clever.

But the real gem was, as you say, “To Boldly Go”: it had Romulans, espers from the original semi-pilot, Cas Anvar from The Expanse, and I finally figured out who Smith was supposed to be. It had an exciting and involved plot, complete with some nice betrayals. I think Robert Sawyer wrote it – he’s a Canadian SF writer connected to cyberpunk. I can almost imagine this as the finale of the actual series.

Good breakdown.

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Discover more from robot mango reviews.

Subscribe now to keep reading and get access to the full archive.

Type your email…

Continue reading

• Show Spoilers
• Night Vision
• Sticky Header
• Highlight Links

Follow TV Tropes

http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/WebVideo/StarTrekContinues

Web Video / Star Trek Continues

Edit locked.

Star Trek Continues is a Fan Sequel web series set in the Star Trek universe. Its mission: to continue where Star Trek: The Original Series left off, and complete the final two years of the Five Year Mission of the Enterprise .

The cast is comprised of professionals in the film business who all also happen to be huge Star Trek fans. They are aiming to capture the spirit of the original series as accurately as possible while still creating new, high quality stories.

The team's first output were a series of three short vignettes that were released from July 31 to November 30, 2012. A batch of three full-length episodes, partly funded through Kickstarter , were then released from May 26, 2013 to June 15, 2014. Two more episodes per year were released in 2015 and 2016, with the final four episodes released in 2017.

Since the series follows the crew of the original Star Trek: The Original Series , please refer to that page for most character tropes.

Compare Star Trek: The Animated Series , the official continuation to Star Trek: The Original Series , and Star Trek: New Voyages , the other major fanmade webseries.

    Episode List  Descriptions from the official website.

• "Pilgrim of Eternity": Apollo returns to wreak havoc on Kirk and the Enterprise in the first episode of the new series.
• "Lolani": A survivor from a distressed Tellarite vessel pulls Captain Kirk and his crew into a moral quandary over her sovereignty.
• "Fairest of Them All": In the Mirror Universe , Spock faces a choice that determines the future of the Terran Empire.
• "The White Iris": Captain Kirk finds himself haunted by guilt from his past as the fate of an alien world hangs in the balance.
• "Divided We Stand": Kirk and McCoy are trapped in time while an alien infestation threatens the Enterprise .
• "Come Not Between the Dragons": A troubled creature pierces the Enterprise hull, pitting the crew against a pursuer that threatens to tear them apart.
• "Embracing the Winds": While the Enterprise is sent on a seemingly routine mission, Kirk is recalled to starbase where he faces an ethical dilemma that challenges the very core of Starfleet Command.
• "Still Treads the Shadow": The Enterprise discovers a lost starship… with an unlikely passenger.
• "What Ships Are For": A society on an asteroid faces a mysterious affliction, while they cannot see colors at all.
• "To Boldly Go, Part 1": To solve the ultimate mystery, the Enterprise must return to where Kirk's five-year mission began.
• "To Boldly Go, Part 2": The iconic mission of the U.S.S. Enterprise comes to an end, as Kirk and his crew battle the ultimate adversary.

This series provides examples of the following tropes:

• Abusive Parents : Usdi from "Come Not Between the Dragons" took refuge on the Enterprise because, as it turns out, its father is abusive, and it fled in fear . And then, Ensign Taylor reveals her father was this as well , which is why she and Usdi bonded in the first place.
• Actor Allusion : Lou Ferrigno plays a green-skinned Orion in the second episode.
• Addiction Displacement : At the end Apollo discovers that self-sacrifice can provide as much sustenance for him as worship.
• A.I. Is a Crapshoot : Tiberius in "Still Treads The Shadow". With only the computer to communicate with, Old Kirk ends up imprinting himself on it. Tiberius obsesses over him, refusing to let him go and even knocked him out by removing life support then cryo-freezing him with a brainwashing message .
• Alien Gender Confusion : Upon a new species making first contact with the Enterprise , one of their ambassadors mistakes Spock for a human female. (The aliens of the week are humanoids themselves, which makes it especially funny.)
• And the Adventure Continues : In a Shout-Out to Star Trek: The Motion Picture , The Stinger of "To Boldly Go, Part 2" tells the audience that "The Human Adventure Continues..."
• An Arm and a Leg : In "Divided We Stand," Kirk and Bones are forced to endure a facsimile of The American Civil War , which winds up with Bones amputating Kirk's leg. Luckily, it's All Just a Dream .
• Alas, Poor Villain : Despite a thorough dose of skepticism, the crew can't help feeling bad for Apollo's fate.
• Ascended Extra : In the Original Series , Lieutenant j.g. (formerly Yeoman) Barbara Smith was just an extra appearing solely in " Where No Man Has Gone Before ". Here she appears as a recurring extra and eventually plays a central role in in the finale.
• The Atoner : What Apollo becomes in the end. In a way.
• Beauty Inversion : Jamie Bamber gets quite bruised and battered in his appearance.
• Big Bad : Lana, the leader of the Espers that have been causing problems for Starfleet and destroying Constitution-class starships like the Hood .
• Bittersweet Ending : The Enterprise completes its five year mission and returns to Earth in triumph, coming off of just having saved the entire galaxy. But the joyous occasion is somewhat tempered by Kirk, Spock, and McCoy all realizing that they are feeling rather worn down and weary from the personal losses they have faced along the way, especially the recent deaths of Yeoman Smith and Dr. McKennah . This respectively leads to Kirk deciding to accept a promotion to admiral, McCoy choosing to resign from Starfleet, and Spock arranging a return to Vulcan to undergo a ritual to purge his emotions.
• The intro to "Lolani" shows Kirk squinting at a book he is trying to read in his quarters, a reference to him wearing reading glasses in Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan .
• In "To Boldly Go, Part 1", Lana explains to Kirk that Starfleet has been doing experiments with weaponizing Espers, such as herself. When Kirk responds with skepticism to her claim, telling her that he is pretty sure that the Federation is not in the business of weaponizing its own citizens, she says that if that is what he believes, he had better study " Article 14, Section 31 ".
• At the end of "To Boldly Go, Part 2", Spock has a discussion with Kirk with about emotions, as he blames himself for the death of Dr. McKennah , believing that the whole unfortunate thing happened because he was thinking emotionally and not logically, and that he needs to do something about it. This, of course, ties into Spock's subplot from the Motion Picture , where he was attempting to undergo a ritual to purge all emotion from himself.
• Early versions of the ship's counsellor position, saucer separation and the Holodeck all make appearances in this episode, all being things that are standard in Starfleet by the time of the Enterprise-D are (mostly) fully working.
• Cannon Fodder : When Mirror Sulu says that there might be casualties trying to capture Mirror Spock, Mirror Kirk tells him to "Take Chekov and put him out front."
• Canon Foreigner : The series adds the psychologist, Dr. Elise McKennah note  played by Michele Specht, Vic Mignogna's wife and Chief of Security, Lt. William Drake, as recurring characters. Elise is the Enterprise 's first Ship's Counselor, described as a new and somewhat experimental position. In the mirror universe, she's more like the ship's chief courtesan.
• Mr. Scott is played by Chris Doohan, the son of James Doohan , the original Scotty.
• On a more meta level, the computer voice is provided by Marina Sirtis, who played Counselor Troi in Star Trek: The Next Generation . Her mother, Lwaxana Troi, was played by Majel Barrett , who also provided the original voice of the computer. The mirror universe's computer voice is Michael Dorn , who was Lt. Worf.
• Bodybuilder Lou Ferrigno , who played the titular character in The Incredible Hulk (1977) , appears in "Lolani" in the role of an Orion slaver, once again requiring him to put on lots of green bodypaint.
• The female Romulan Commander, returning from "The Enterprise Incident", is played by Amy Rydell , daughter of the original actress Joanne Linville . Just like Doohan, she strongly resembles the original actor - although the makeup job probably helped too.
• The Chains of Commanding : In "To Boldly Go", Kirk has a melancholic moment where he notices that 73 crewmembers have lost their lives under his command during the mission. McCoy tries to reassure him, telling him that during the same time he has also saved countless lives and even a couple of planets as well, but Kirk doesn't find it much consolation, finding each single death still haunts him regardless.
• Book Safe : A copy of The Fall of the Roman Empire , on "Lolani".
• "Embracing the Winds" early on has a discussion about being glad to not be the one to have to tell the Tellarite ambassador that there's going to be a female Constitution -class captain, seeing as a) the Tellarites are responsible for the informal policy that has kept women from commanding larger Federation Starfleet ships and have been making hints about leaving the Federation if not appeased, b) Tellarites are famously argumentative and abrasive . At the end of the episode Kirk has a conversation with the ambassador, who turns out be not only quite amiable and friendly, but also personally opposed to the sexist glass ceiling policy and intending to join the debate against it on his homeworld .
• Chess Motif : The climax of "Fairest of Them All" involves this, with Mirror Kirk viewing his crew as "pawns" and himself as the "king".
• Chroma Key : Used in the prototype holodeck scenes. Of course, the holodeck in question being a somewhat crude prototype and therefore not yet capable of projecting the convincing visuals seen in the Next Generation era means that its actually Justified by an In-Universe explanation.
• Continuity Cavalcade : "To Boldly Go, Part 2" has Kirk meeting with a Starfleet admiral, who has models of various ships from the fleet standing on a shelf in his office. Kirk briefly studies the ships, allowing the audience to see that the admiral's models includes the NX-01 , the USS Kelvin and even the USS Discovery .
• Prototype versions of Next Generation features, including the holodeck and saucer separation note  Saucer separation was canon from the beginning of TOS; it was mentioned in " The Apple ", but we never saw it done. , not to mention the Ship's Counselor, can be found sprinkled throughout the series.
• Marina Sirtis, who played Barrett's daughter in Next Gen , does the computer voice. Barrett died in 2008.
• In "Fairest of Them All", Mirror Kirk addresses the helm officer as "Jones" and she says "It's Smith, sir." Her expression suggests he does this a lot. This goes back to "Where No Man Has Gone Before" where our Kirk made this error with Yeoman Barbara Smith. A precursor to Janice Rand, she was played by Andrea Dromm. It's pretty clear that the helm officer, played by Kipleigh Brown, is meant to be the same character in the mirror universe.
• Mirror Kirk takes a swig from a bottle of booze in exactly the same manner as Evil Kirk did in " The Enemy Within ".
• Checkov briefly mentions decoding something from the Xindi in the Academy before Kirk cuts him off.
• Kirk accepts promotion to the admiralty, while McCoy and Spock announce their intentions to leave Starfleet. Spock's emotional lapses (as he sees them) in the finale are also implied to be his motivation to undergo the Kolinahr ritual that he almost completes in The Motion Picture .
• The Starfleet uniforms featured in TMP are confirmed to be filtering down through the ranks in the near future, having already been adopted by the admiralty in an earlier episode, with Kirk clearly wearing his TMP uniform at the end. The uniforms are also instantly disliked by the crew, which may go some way to explaining their short-lived nature.
• The Enterprise is completely trashed in the battle against the Espers, necessitating the extensive refit seen in the movie era.
• All the remaining Constitution -class starships in the fleet are destroyed - the class is never seen again onscreen following TOS, despite other ship designs of the era persisting for over a century in canon.
• The Canon Foreigner characters Drake and McKennah, along with Ascended Extra Smith, are all killed.
• Starfleet decides to readopt the arrowhead insignia worn by Enterprise crew members throughout all of Starfleet. The not only explains why the arrowhead is used exclusively in post-TOS series, but also patches the Continuity Snarl created by Star Trek (2009) and Star Trek: Discovery .
• Kirk recommends that the experimental ship's counsellor position pioneered by McKennah - not featured in TOS, but prominient in the 24th century Trek era - be rolled out across Starfleet.
• The Dead Have Names : In "To Boldly Go", Kirk reveals that he can remember the name of every crewmember he has lost during the mission and they all weigh heavily on his conscience.
• Dead Star Walking : Between being a Red Shirt and being played by Jamie Bamber , it's obvious Mr. Simone is doomed.
• Deliberately Monochrome : An In-Universe case and even a plot point in "What Ships Are For". Due to special radiation emitted by their sun, the inhabitants of Hyalinus are unable to see color, and as a result see everything in monochrome. For the benefit of the audience, the scenes taking place on Hyalinus are therefore rendered in black-and-white, which also helps to hide the plot twist that Sekara and Thaius and several other Hyalians are actually Abicians .
• Did You Just Punch Out Cthulhu? : McKennah shoots Apollo in the back with a phaser when he starts to revert to his A God Am I tendencies. He shrugs off the blast, but the fact that she pulled the trigger snaps him out of it.
• Distracted by the Sexy : Dr. McKennah suffers from this when she walks in on Kirk in his quarters when he's shirtless .
• Despite the Happily Ever After to "Fairest Of Them All," Mirror Spock's later attempts to reform the Terran Empire are doomed not just to fail, but prop up the tyrannical Klingon-Cardassian Alliance into power instead .
• Downer Ending : "Lolani".
• Engineered Public Confession : Mirror Spock gets Mirror Kirk to rant about how the crew are just pawns to be used, broken and sacrificed to service his lust for power. Too bad he didn't see the open communications panel.
• Evilutionary Biologist : Lana and her fellow Espers believe that they are the next step of human evolution, and therefore should be rulers of humanity.
• Existential Horror : "Still Treads the Shadow" sees Kirk meeting a very aged duplicate of himself who was created via the Negative Space Wedgie which shallowed up the Defiant and ended up stranded alone on the other side of the anomaly for a little over two centuries. Kirk is extremely disturbed by the whole thing, not least from seeing how far beyond said duplicate went over the Despair Event Horizon during his entrapment as the isolation caused him to go mad and his hope to slip , noticing how it was just a stroke of sheer luck that kept him from suffering the same fate.
• The Farmer and the Viper : Played with heavily in the plot of "Pilgrim of Eternity", though it is solved in the end.
• Foreshadowing : Someone or something is destroying the Federation's starships. An innocuous hint of this was dropped in Episode 6 when they mention the Lexington has been destroyed. Episode 7 shows that what's going on aren't accidents.
• Get A Hold Of Yourself Man : Kirk dresses down a crewman in this manner who tries to assist Lolani in stealing a shuttlecraft. Kirk: Get a hold of yourself, Mister! (beat) I may have to tolerate the sovereignty of alien worlds, but what I won't tolerate is insubordination ON MY SHIP !
• A God Am I : In the first episode, the crew meets Apollo ( again! ).
• Gods Need Prayer Badly : Apollo, again.
• Green-Skinned Space Babe : The title character of the second episode "Lolani".
• Grand Finale : By going beyond the rather Anti-Climatic and infamously sexist " Turnabout Intruder " which capped off The Original Series back in the day in what be described as a somewhat lacking fashion at best, the series tries its hand at offering a properly grand send-off to the original show with the "To Boldly Go" two parter, which is set as a Bookend to " Where No Man Has Gone Before " sees the original Enterprise crew facing off against a threat to all known galactic civilisation and finally complete their five year mission, before ending on a couple of more personal low-key moments of Kirk, Spock, and McCoy discussing the future of their careers (thereby setting the stage for Star Trek: The Motion Picture ) and Kirk taking one last stroll on the bridge of the Enterprise .
• Hand Wave : "To Boldly Go, Part 1" does this to Original Series episode " Where No Man Has Gone Before ", chalking up Gary Mitchell's mistake — referring to James T. Kirk as James R. Kirk — to the overwhelming amount of power he'd achieved clouding his memories.
• Heel–Face Turn : Mirror Spock slowly invokes this in the crew of the I.S.S. during "Fairest Of Them All." The only ones still loyal to Mirror Kirk by the end are Mirrors Sulu and McCoy, who join the tyrant in exile .
• Heroic Sacrifice : In "To Boldly Go, Part II", Yeoman Barbara Smith is revealed to be an Esper, but rather than become corrupted, she uses her newfound power to go over to the Kongo and render the ship inoperable. Sadly, her attempt winds up being this trope.
• Hey, That's My Line! : In the Gag Reel , this is Bones' response when a Red Shirt says He's Dead, Jim .
• Sadly, this isn't [ Lolani's ultimate fate. But maybe her death will be an inspiration to others.
• Lana, commander of the Espers, cites this trope when the sub-commander of the Romulans shows his true colours, killing both the Espers and Mc Kennah
• Mirror Spock takes this attitude when he mutinies against Mirror Kirk, believing that the Empire must change its ways. When Moreau shows him the Tantalus device, he refuses to use it. Also, he has the officers loyal to him set their phasers to stun instead of to kill. This surprising act of mercy on his part prompts Mirror Chekov and others to join his side .
• Mirror Kirk invokes this almost word-for-word when Mirror Spock chokes him. It works.
• I'm Having Soul Pains : Throughout “The White Iris”, Kirk experiences physical pain over the loss of four women he loved in the past. According to Bones, this pain is affecting his heart and he’s slowly dying.
• Informed Ability : Zaminhon states that Orion men secrete the same types of seductive pheromones as their female counterparts, but Dr. McKennah seems unaffected. It might be because the entire crew was inoculated, though.
• Is This Thing Still On? : The coup de grace in "Fairest Of Them All", as Mirror Spock listens to Mirror Kirk's shrieking rant about the crew being brainless sheep, then moves aside to reveal that the intercom was on and everyone throughout the entire ship heard that.
• Killed Off for Real : Several of the recurring characters are killed off at the end of the series, including Drake, Smith and Dr. McKennah .
• I Lied : Sentrek readily admits as much when his claims of holding the crew of the Kongo hostage and offering to return them safely in exchange for Dr. McKennah turns out to be a deception. Sentrek: My apologies, Commander. I lied. Spock: ( actually outraged ) Vulcans never lie! Sentrek: We both know that not to be true, Mr. Spock.
• Leaning on the Fourth Wall : In "Lolani", the titular character interrupts a not-so-whispered argument between Kirk and McKennah to ask a... slightly awkward question. note  A reminder than Kirk and McKennah's actors were married in Real Life . Lolani: Do you always challenge each other in this manner? McKenna: Uh... no. Not always. Why do you ask? Lolani: Well, I read in some cultures, such challenging between males and females is considered a... mating ritual. Kirk: [glances awkwardly at McKennah] ...No. Not in this culture. McKennah: Yes. I mean, no. No. Yes to the no. No.
• Love Is in the Air / Smells Sexy : Orion females secrete pheromones.
• Mad Doctor : The mirror universe McCoy is willing, even gleeful, to use his "patients" as guinea pigs.
• Mirror Universe : "Fairest Of Them All" provides yet another version of what happened after Kirk and Co. left.
• Mook–Face Turn : Mirror Kirk's own henchmen are the ones who seize him at the end. One even knocks him out when he breaks loose.
• The intro of "Pilgrim of Eternity" has Scotty proudly showing Kirk the new prototype holodeck technology him and a team of other leading Starfleet engineers are working on. It should be great... once they've worked the bugs out .
• At the end of "Embracing the Winds", Commander Diana Garrett says to Kirk, "Maybe someday a Garrett will command an Enterprise " — implying that she's an ancestor of the ill-fated Captain Rachel Garrett of the Enterprise -C.
• Of course, "To Boldly Go, Part II" sees Kirk having to wear a new uniform.
• The same Admiral also mentions Starbase Yorktown .
• The Romulan Commander from " The Enterprise Incident " is referred to as Charvanek in "To Boldly Go", a name that was introduced in the novel Vulcan's Heart .
• At the end of "To Boldly Go, Part II", McCoy announces to Kirk that he is resigning from Starfleet, listing amongst his reasons that he wants to spend some time with his daughter, whom he hasn't seen during the entire Enterprise 's mission. This a nod to the fact McCoy's daughter, Joanna, while part of his backstory in the production notes and despite having been loosely planned to appear in The Original Series at some point, never actually made it all the way to an on-screen appearance or even getting a mentioning during the show's run.
• My God, What Have I Done? : Apollo of all people gets such a moment. Feeling emboldened and empowered by how the crew of the Enterprise enjoys hearing his tales and songs, he slips back into his "tyrannical god" mood and when Kirk tries to talk him down from this, he gets even more angry and punishes him by using his powers to torment him, until McKennah shoots him in the back with a phaser. Shocked by this, Apollo turns around to face her and notices the fear in her eyes, making him very remorseful.
• Never Got to Say Goodbye : "The White Iris" sees Kirk being haunted by resurging memories of several women he loved, but died before he could come to any closure to their relationships or even bid them a proper goodbye, including Rayna Kapec , Edith Keeler , Miramanee , and an unnamed girlfriend from his time aboard the Farragut .
• Not So Stoic : Spock, in "To Boldly Go, Part II", when the Espers fool him and capture Dr. McKennah.
• No MacGuffin, No Winner : The A plot of "Embrace the Winds" centers around the question of whether Spock or Commander Garret is to be promoted to the post of the USS Hood 's new captain. Meanwhile, the B plot ends with the Hood 's reactor going critical and exploding, taking the ship with it, rendering the question ultimately moot .
• Noodle Incident : We don't really know what happened on Nimbus III in "Embracing the Winds," other than that they lost the captain who commanded the mission and Cmdr. Garrett, who's been partially blamed for the tragedy, says "those arthropods came out of nowhere". This obviously takes place before the colonization of Nimbus III by combined elements of Terran, Romulan and Klingon civilizations as portrayed in Star Trek V: The Final Frontier .
• Villainous example in "Fairest Of Them All." Mirror Kirk notices Spock's increasingly erratic ( to him ) behavior and eventually decides to get rid of him with the Tantalus Field. Or he would have, if Marlena hadn't disabled it beforehand .
• People of Hair Color : Used as plot twist, actually. The Abicians are easily identified by their purple hair, but because the Hyalians cannot see color, the Abicians has been able to slip under their radar and live peacefully among them for generations.
• Power Echoes : Apollo's voice gets increasingly boomier and echos as his power returns.
• Promotion to Opening Titles : Relative to the original series, the character of Scotty (though played by a different actor — Chris Doohan, James Doohan's son!) finally makes the opening titles, rectifying a longstanding fan criticism of James Doohan 's low billing relative to his character's prominence. He even gets the And Starring designation!
• Put on a Bus : "What Ships Are For" reveals that Nurse Chapel has returned to Starfleet, working on her doctorate.
• Rank Up : As a reward for risking his life to save the ship, Chekov is promoted to Lieutenant, Junior Grade . Scotty of all people is the one who promotes him, although he notes that the paperwork still has to go through at Starfleet Command before it's officially official.
• Rapid Aging : By phlebotinum, in "Pilgrim of Eternity," to Hand Wave why Apollo underwent Character Aged with the Actor when in the Star Trek universe, only a little under two years has passed.
• Sadist : It is made obvious that Mirror McCoy gets quite a kick out of inflicting pain on others when he interrogates for Mirror Kirk.
• Screw the Rules, I'm Doing What's Right! : Kirk in the end of "Lolani". Not that it helps.
• "Pilgrim of Eternity" is a follow-up to " Who Mourns for Adonais? .
• "Fairest of Them All" directly follows the events of " Mirror, Mirror ".
• "Still Treads the Shadow" is a very, very dark sequel to " The Tholian Web ".
• "Embracing the Winds" is a Fix Fic for "Turnabout Intruder", featuring a woman who is qualified to be a starship captain, to the point that the actress is coming across as a young James T. Kirk.
• Silent Credits : The credits for "To Boldly Go, Part 2" only has the ambient noises from the Enterprise 's bridge playing.
• Slavery Is a Special Kind of Evil : The social issue of the week in "Lolani".
• Special Edition Title : Taking a page from " In a Mirror, Darkly ", the titles in "Fairest of Them All", which is set entirely in the Mirror Universe, replace the familiar narrative with "Space, the Final Conquest..." while snare drums are heard in the title theme and the Terran Empire's symbol of a globe with a dagger through it is added to the Star Trek logo. The visuals are also all mirrored compared to the normal series opening. The end credits for this episode are also different, using the series 2 font rather than the normal series 3.
• Theme Song Reveal : "To Boldly Go, Part 2" has a couple of Call Forwards to Star Trek: The Motion Picture and even Star Trek: The Next Generation by way weaving some of the notes from the iconic theme tune into the soundtrack, especially during scenes like the saucer separation.
• "The Reason You Suck" Speech : Galisti of the Hyalians gives one to Kirk about the Federation's hypocrisy that cuts right through his Kirk Summation about why they shouldn't turn away the Abicians trying to settle on their planet. Kirk says they should show compassion for another species that's just trying to survive; Galisti retorts that the Federation itself allows pre-warp species to die to uphold the prime directive instead of saving them. He shuts down Kirk's argumant that the Hyalians are "condemning the many for the crimes of a few" by accusing the Federation of willingly "condemning the many for the crimes of none".
• Torture Technician : Mirror McCoy is Mirror Kirk's head interrogator, and since they live in the Mirror Universe, torture is an inevitable part of any interrogation.
• To Be Lawful or Good : The main moral conflict of "Lolani". Kirk ultimately chooses to be good, but it is rendered moot before he has a chance to actually act on it.
• Trap Is the Only Option : Mirror Spock knows that Mirror Kirk's request for parley is just a ruse. But he believes that he should go anyway, to give Mirror Kirk a chance to see reason. But it doesn't mean that he isn't ready for the trap when it's sprung.
• Video Will : The final scene of, and last farewell of the title character of, "Lolani".
• Villain Ball : In "Fairest of Them All", Mirror Kirk orders the Halkans' civilisation destroyed via bombardment to make them an example of what happens to those who dare to resist the Terran Empire. While the pitiless attack wipes out most of the Halkans (we're later told there were survivors who've been safely brought onboard), it also destroys the dilithium crystals on the planet that the Enterprise needed in the first place. The Halkans had installed piezoelectric charges in the crystal structures so they couldn't be used... and Mirror Kirk only realized it after the fact.
• Villain Episode : "Fairest Of Them All" is set in the Mirror Universe directly after " Mirror, Mirror ." Subverted however, as Mirror Spock is not a Villain Protagonist .
• War Is Hell : "Divided We Stand" where Bones and Kirk are transported (via brain nanonites) to The American Civil War . Things only get worse when Kirk gets injured and Bones has to perform an amputation on Kirk while he’s awake.
• Wham Line : Towards the end of “The White Iris”, Kirk confronts the mysterious girl he’s been seeing around the ship and he finally learns who she is. Kirk: What’s your name? Mysterious girl: You never gave me one.
• You Have Failed Me : Don't tell Mirror Kirk something can't be done or hesitate when he demands an answer unless you want a punch in the gut or a jolt from your agonizer.
• Prelude to Axanar
• FanWorks/Star Trek
• Sinnlos im Weltraum
• Spes Phthisica
• Science Fiction Web Originals
• Star Trek: New Voyages
• Starpocalypse
• Web Video Series
• Steam Train

Important Links

• Action Adventure
• Commercials
• Crime & Punishment
• Professional Wrestling
• Speculative Fiction
• Sports Story
• Animation (Western)
• Music And Sound Effects
• Print Media
• Sequential Art
• Tabletop Games
• Applied Phlebotinum
• Characterization
• Characters As Device
• Narrative Devices
• British Telly
• The Contributors
• Creator Speak
• Derivative Works
• Laws And Formulas
• Show Business
• Split Personality
• Truth And Lies
• Truth In Television
• Fate And Prophecy
• Edit Reasons
• Isolated Pages
• Images List
• Recent Videos
• Crowner Activity
• Un-typed Pages
• Recent Page Type Changes
• Trope Entry
• Character Sheet
• Playing With
• Creating New Redirects
• Cross Wicking
• Tips for Editing
• Text Formatting Rules
• Handling Spoilers
• Administrivia
• Trope Repair Shop
• Image Pickin'

Advertisement:

How Long It Would Take To Watch All of Star Trek (Yes, ALL of It)

Very few franchises have as rich a television and cinematic universe as Star Trek, so just how long would it take to watch ALL of it?

Quick Links

• The Original Series Introduces Viewers to the Cast and Universe of Star Trek
• The Next Generation Found an Audience Starved for Science Fiction
• Star Trek: Deep Space Nine Proved There Was Room for Multiple Star Trek Series
• Star Trek Voyager Continued To Break From Traditions
• Star Trek: Enterprise Is Star Trek's Last TV Series for Over a Decade
• Short Treks Offers Mini Side Stories
• Star Trek: Picard Revisits Many of the Ideas From TNG
• Animated Star Trek Series Have Become an Important Part of Star Trek
• Currently Active Star Trek Series Continue To Expand Star Trek's Universe
• Star Trek: TOS Films Gave The Original Series Cast a Comeback
• Star Trek: TNG Movies Offer a Sense of Scale to the New Era
• The Kelvin Timeline Movie Series Press the Reset Button on the Series
• How Many Hours of Star Trek Are There?
• Watching the entire Star Trek franchise may seem daunting, but it's actually possible to do in a little over a month.
• The entirety of the franchise totals an astonishing 837.5 hours or 34.9 days with all series and films combined.
• As the franchise continues to expand, so will the amount of time required to watch Star Trek in its entirety.

Over the five decades since its inception, the Star Trek universe continues to inspire new generations of Trekkies. The original series that began in the mid-1960s has spawned countless spinoffs in television shows, as well as animation and feature films, some of which are still under production.

Someone new to this massive franchise may be wondering just how long it will take to watch all of Star Trek. With so many series and films in the catalog, catching up on everything may seem like a daunting task. Even some diehard fans have no idea just how many episodes of Star Trek there are. This list will divide the franchise into different categories to show just how long it takes to watch them. This way, consuming the entire Star Trek saga won't seem so intimidating after all.

Updated by Sage Ashford on December 31, 2023: This list has been updated to include more information on all of the Star Trek series.

The 30 Most Powerful Star Trek Species, Ranked

13 the original series introduces viewers to the cast and universe of star trek, star trek: the original series.

In the 23rd Century, Captain James T. Kirk and the crew of the U.S.S. Enterprise explore the galaxy and defend the United Federation of Planets.

This is the one that started it all. For a series with so much significance in television and pop culture history, it's surprising to find out that Star Trek: The Original Series lasted for just 79 episodes over three seasons.

Each TOS episode lasts around 50 minutes for a total of 3,950 minutes, meaning it will take just under 66 hours to watch them all uninterrupted. In other words, The Original Series can be finished in less than a week with constant binging. Even those who don't have that much time can finish watching the show in under a month.

12 The Next Generation Found an Audience Starved for Science Fiction

Star trek: the next generation.

Set almost 100 years after Captain Kirk's 5-year mission, a new generation of Starfleet officers sets off in the U.S.S. Enterprise-D on its own mission to go where no one has gone before.

Star Trek: The Next Generation was so successful during its seven-season run that it's arguably more popular today than The Original Series . The Next Generation 's episode count topped its predecessor by almost a hundred for a total of 178 episodes, each with an approximately 44-minute runtime.

That adds up to a series total of 7,832 minutes or 130.5 hours — just under five and half days. If the viewer is free from work for about two weeks, The Next Generation series can be completed with ease.

11 Star Trek: Deep Space Nine Proved There Was Room for Multiple Star Trek Series

Star trek: deep space nine.

In the vicinity of the liberated planet of Bajor, the Federation space station Deep Space Nine guards the opening of a stable wormhole to the far side of the galaxy.

Deep Space Nine's 'Far Beyond the Stars' Is About Star Trek Itself

Near the end of Star Trek: The Next Generation 's run, Paramount created another series that could run alongside it. The new series broke from Star Trek tradition by being set on a space station, Deep Space Nine, that connected the Federation to the Milky Way galaxy.

Another breakout success, Star Trek: Deep Space Nine ran for another seven seasons from 1993 to 1999. In those seven seasons, there are 176 episodes, each running 45 minutes. That's a grand total of 7920 minutes or exactly 132 hours. People willing to watch five episodes a night could likely finish it within a month's time.

10 Star Trek Voyager Continued To Break From Traditions

Star trek voyager.

Pulled to the far side of the galaxy, where the Federation is seventy-five years away at maximum warp speed, a Starfleet ship must cooperate with Maquis rebels to find a way home.

Star Trek: Voyager took over after Star Trek: The Next Generation ended, ensuring there were still two Star Trek series on the air. The series went back to setting the series on the starship Voyager. The Voyager is run by Captain Kathryn Janeway, the first female lead, who aims to get her people home after being stranded.

Star Trek Voyager was another success for Paramount and their new network UPN, running for seven seasons. Like the prior show, each episode ran 45 minutes. At 172 episodes, that places the full series runtime at 7,740 minutes or 129 hours. This is another series that would require roughly a month of binging to get through.

9 Star Trek: Enterprise Is Star Trek's Last TV Series for Over a Decade

Star trek: enterprise.

A century before Captain Kirk's five-year mission, Jonathan Archer captains the United Earth ship Enterprise during the early years of Starfleet, leading up to the Earth-Romulan War and the formation of the Federation.

Scott Bakula Saved Star Trek: Enterprise Before the Pilot Filmed

After running multiple Star Trek television series throughout the '90s, the franchise was gradually beginning to cool off. Finally, Paramount launched one more series, Star Trek: Enterprise . Unlike the others, Enterprise was intended as a prequel even to the original series. It followed Earth's first attempt at trying to make First Contact with other alien races.

Star Trek: Enterprise didn't quite have the same popularity that the other series did. Instead, it ran for four seasons and only 98 episodes. At 42 minutes an episode, that adds up to 4116 minutes, or 68.6 hours.

8 Short Treks Offers Mini Side Stories

Some stories within the Star Trek universe don't need a full forty or fifty minutes to reach a satisfying conclusion. With that in mind, Bryan Fuller and Alex Kurtzman launched Star Trek: Short Treks . Running alongside Star Trek: Discovery , Short Treks gives viewers a chance for smaller stories to check out.

The project began back in 2018 with a season of four episodes, while a second season launched a year later with six episodes. The shows run from 8 to 18 minutes, and with only ten episodes, there are only 150 minutes so far. Fans can check that out in a single weekend.

7 Star Trek: Picard Revisits Many of the Ideas From TNG

Star trek: picard.

Follow-up series to Star Trek: The Next Generation (1987) and Star Trek: Nemesis (2002) that centers on Jean-Luc Picard in the next chapter of his life.

After years of fans watching stories about new characters, the new era of Star Trek finally decided to revisit an older era. In 2020, Star Trek: Picard decided to tell the first new story with Admiral Jean-Luc Picard since the Star Trek: The Next Generation films. Initially, Picard worked with a new cast that wasn't connected to the original series, but across the show, more of the classic characters were gradually added back in.

Star Trek: Picard ran for three seasons from 2020 to 2023, with ten episodes in each season for a total of thirty episodes. Episode lengths varied wildly since the series was on CBS All Access and could go from 39 minutes to 62 minutes. The full minute count, though, is 1350 minutes, or 22.5 hours. That's basically one solid day of marathoning or a week of leisurely watching episodes.

6 Animated Star Trek Series Have Become an Important Part of Star Trek

Star trek: lower decks.

The support crew serving on one of Starfleet's least important ships, the U.S.S. Cerritos, have to keep up with their duties, often while the ship is being rocked by a multitude of sci-fi anomalies.

Star Trek: Lower Decks Creator Wants to Create Animated, Live-Action Movies

Star Trek: The Animated Series only lasted for two seasons in the early 1970s, releasing 22 episodes that were each 24 minutes long. As such, The Animated Series is only 528 minutes long or just under 9 hours. The whole series can be watched in just a single day.

Star Trek: Lower Decks premiered its first season in 2020 with 10 episodes. Each episode is 25 minutes long, totaling 250 minutes, meaning that the entire first season can be watched in just over four hours. Seasons 2 through 4 of Lower Decks also have 10 episodes each, making the total runtime around 1000 minutes. Very Short Treks is the most recent animated Star Trek series with five episodes, each running about 10-15 minutes long. All three animated series combined would take just under 1600 minutes or just under 27 hours.

5 Currently Active Star Trek Series Continue To Expand Star Trek's Universe

At present, there are only three Star Trek series that are still running: Star Trek: Discovery , Star Trek: Prodigy , and Star Trek: Strange New Worlds . The first ten episodes of Prodigy are already out, amounting to a total of 240 minutes or 4 hours.

Finally, Strange New Worlds has two seasons with ten episodes in each. Discovery has 55 episodes in four seasons, with each episode averaging around 45 minutes, meaning it will take just under 41 hours and 15 minutes to catch up.

4 Star Trek: TOS Films Gave The Original Series Cast a Comeback

Ten years following the end of The Original Series , the adventures of Captain Kirk continued on the big screen in the film Star Trek: The Motion Picture , which has a run time of 132 minutes. Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan , universally considered the best film in the franchise, is 113 minutes long. The Leonard Nimoy-directed Star Trek III: The Search for Spock is 105 minutes, and Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home is 122 minutes.

Finally, William Shatner's Star Trek V: The Final Frontier is 106 minutes, and Nicholas Meyer's The Undiscovered Country has a 110-minute running time. Overall, the original film series clocks in at a total of 688 minutes, which equals 11 hours and 28 minutes.

3 Star Trek: TNG Movies Offer a Sense of Scale to the New Era

The Next Generation did not have the same big-screen success as the original series but made four films, including two that were released following the end of the show. The first film, Star Trek Generations , featured both Picard and Kirk and is 118 minutes long.

The best-reviewed of the films, Star Trek: First Contact , clocks in at 111 minutes, Star Trek: Insurrection is shorter at 103 minutes, and the last film, Star Trek: Nemesis , is 116 minutes long. The four Next Generation films combined run at a total of 448 minutes, equaling 7 hours and 28 minutes. Binging all four movies can be done within the span of a single day.

2 The Kelvin Timeline Movie Series Press the Reset Button on the Series

How star trek connected the kelvin timeline to the prime universe.

The most recent movie series, known as The Kelvin Timeline films, takes place in an alternate reality featuring the crew from The Original Series . The Kelvin movie franchise consists of three films, with each film varying in length.

2009's Star Trek runs 127 minutes, the 2013 sequel Star Trek Into Darkness is just five minutes longer at 132, and the latest film, Star Trek Beyond , is actually the shortest at 122 minutes. The film trilogy totals 381 minutes, or 6 hours and 21 minutes. New Trekkies can finish this trilogy very quickly.

1 How Many Hours of Star Trek Are There?

All 13 Star Trek films have a combined total of 25 hours and 28 minutes, or just over a full day. Every single television series, both currently airing and retired, totals up to around 48,700 minutes, which is approximately 812 hours or 33.8 days. Every series and movie combined totals 837.5 hours, meaning it will take 34.9 days to watch them all uninterrupted.

Obviously, watching them all consecutively is impossible, but realistically, watching everything in the Star Trek franchise could take less than half a year. This doesn't even include upcoming movies like Star Trek 4 and new seasons for existing series. For those who believe this beloved universe is worth investing over 50,200 minutes of their life, it's time to boldly go where only true diehard Trekkies have gone before.

Fan Film Factor

Exploring the world of Star Trek fan films.

A history of STAR TREK CONTINUES (feature, part 1)

NOTE: About a year a half ago, I published a 3-part blog tracing the fascinating history of STAR TREK CONTINUES .  In honor of their penultimate episode being released this past week and their series finale next month, I will be reprinting these blogs and adding an additional blog or two covering what happened between then and now.

Those were the last two words uttered by Captain Kirk before Star Trek the original series was canceled in 1969.

Kirk was referring to the tragic descent into hate-filled insanity of his former love, Dr. Janice Lester. But for me, these two words were so much more powerful: If only Star Trek hadn’t been canceled. If only Star Tre k could have…

…continued.

TOS fans always felt a pang of frustration that the five -year mission of the USS Enterprise was cut short after only three years in space (and on the air).  Sure, in 1973 an 1974, we got to see 22 animated episodes of the series, voiced by the same original actors, but we never got to see the end of that five-year mission.

Even when Star Trek crossed over into motion pictures, the end of Kirk’s first mission was still a mystery.  And the days of seeing those those bright red, blue, and gold uniforms and those amazingly colorful starship Enterprise sets—those days were gone forever…except in reruns, of course.

I used to have this dream where I was watching an episode of TOS that I’d never seen before.  Of course, I’d seen every episode dozens of times, so when I woke up, I’d sadly remember that there were no “lost” episodes of TOS.

Until there were…

I first felt that “feeling” that I was watching a “lost” episode in 2013 when I saw the first full-length episode of the new fan series STAR TREK CONTINUES …an episode titled “ Pilgrim of Eternity . ”

I’ll be honest, though, I didn’t feel it immediately.  It hit me at about the 31-minute mark of the episode.  Before that, this Star Trek Continues seemed fairly similar to Star Trek: New Voyages/Phase II , the trailblazing fan series from JAMES CAWLEY, who was the first to ever spend six-figures building precise recreations of the TOS sets from the 1960s.  Both fan series were telling “untold” stories from the fourth and fifth years of Kirk’s five-year mission.  In fact, VIC MIGNGNA, the show-runner behind Star Trek Continues , actually got his start in Trek fan films directing and guest-starring in one of Phase II ‘s most ambitious productions, an episode called “ Kitumba .”

The most notable difference between the two productions—aside from the actors—was that NV/P2 decided to film in a widescreen 16×9 aspect ratio format, giving their series a more modern look.  And their VFX shots of the Enterprise included new angles and movements not previously seen in the original series.  STC , meanwhile, opted for a more classic 4×3 aspect format, intending for their episodes to feel almost exactly like the original series.  To that end, they also kept their VFX angles of the Enterprise similar to those seen in the 1960s episodes.

The other notable difference between the two series, and one of the things that most excited fans like me, was that CHRIS DOOHAN, the son of TOS actor JAMES “Scotty” DOOHAN, would be reprising his father’s role (and Scottish brogue).  Although NV/P2 had featured a wide range of TOS and sci-fi actors as special guest stars (including Walter Koenig, George Takei, Grace Lee Whitney, and Denise Crosby), they would appear in single episodes rather than being a part of the regular cast.

None of this is meant to diminish the spectacular accomplishments of New Voyages/Phase 2 .  By the time that Star Trek Continues premiered their first full episode in May of 2013, NV/P2 had already released EIGHT full-length episodes, with even more in production!  So in many ways, STC was standing on the shoulders of a giant.

Anyway, there I was in 2013, watching this brand new fan series and thinking it was pretty impressive…much like NV/P2 .  It looked fantastic—nicely lit, well-fitting costumes, good hair and make-up, decent acting, and of course, amazing sets.  But it still felt like a fan film.  That’s not to say it was bad.  It was excellent!  But fan films usually don’t reach the threshold of looking or feeling like the real thing.  Even at its best, NV/P2 didn’t make me feel as though I were watching an actual “lost” episode.  And for the first half hour, “Pilgrim of Eternity” didn’t really give me that feeling either…and to be honest, I wasn’t really expecting it to.

But then it happened.

The moment lasted only about a minute and a half, but there it was: that feeling ! It was the same feeling I’d had as a kid watching a TOS episode for the first time! It was, quite literally, the feeling I’d been dreaming about for decades.

At the midway point of the episode, where the god Apollo suddenly strengthens and turns his powers on Kirk, in that moment I suddenly forgot I was watching a “fan” film and immersed myself in the belief that I was watching a never-before-discovered episode of the original Star Trek !

Of course, I knew in my head that the actors were different (except for Apollo).  But in that moment when I heard Apollo’s voice reverberate, saw Kirk tossed into the air like a rag doll, and listened to that familiar music, it didn’t matter that it wasn’t William Shatner hitting the floor and being levitated. In those 90 seconds, in my heart, I was watching “pure” Star Trek .

I was hooked.

Star Trek Continues grew out of the Starship Farragut fan series.  In fact, Vic Mignogna first played a cameo role of Captain James T. Kirk in the third full-length episode of the Farragut series, “The Price of Anything” which Vic also directed.  (Look for Vic starting at the 1 minute, 45 second mark.)

Vic put in both his own money and secured financial backing from Dracogen Strategic Investments in late 2011, allowing Farragut Films to move into a much larger studio in Kingsland, GA.  This additional studio space and influx of capital gave Farragut Films the opportunity to expand their sets to include nearly every USS Enterprise interior that existed at Desilu studios back in the 1960s (except Engineering).

It was obvious almost from the beginning that the acting was of a higher caliber than that of many other fan productions.  Not to put down other fan films, but Vic Mignogna, himself a well-known voice-over actor, insisted on bringing in others with acting backgrounds…and it showed.  These weren’t Emmy-winning Hollywood celebrities, of course, but they were more polished and professional than the typical amateur fans who populated most fan films.

But it didn’t stop there. Vic will be among the first to tell people who enjoy STC that the series owes its success to a lot more people than just him and the folks in front of the camera. STC is composed of a dedicated team (made up of both fans and industry veterans) who do professional-level work out of a love for this legendary franchise. I could spend several blogs just talking about the many individuals who make STC possible, but I want to shine a special light (pun intended) on Director of Photography Matt Bucy…to give you an idea of why it is that STC looks so close to the original Star Trek series.

A resident of Vermont, this self-taught cinematographer had to fly down to Kingsland, GA for each episode to work his magic on STC (Matt is also a recreational pilot, but I suspect he flew commercial to get to Georgia). And part of that magic was lighting the STC sets the EXACT same way that the original sets were lit. You might be thinking, “Oh, that sounds so easy!” You’d be wrong.

Working closely with Vic, Matt carefully examined more than three thousand still images from multiple TOS season two and three episodes, trying to figure out precisely how the scenes and characters were lit. In an interview on the STC website, Matt commented, “One trick that directors of photography use is to look at the eyeballs of the actors. If you study them carefully, you can see a big dot that is reflecting the key light. You can see how a light will pick up the hair and shoulders.”

But it wasn’t as simple as just looking at eye reflections. Lighting on sets creates shadow and depth, can add color, and even provide texture on areas that would otherwise look flat if lit incorrectly. Matt continued, “It’s basically stage lighting, using hard light – a key light, a fill light, and a backlight. So we’re using a lot of light sources. When you look at the 1960’s series with a critical eye on lighting, you’ll notice that they didn’t care much about multiple shadows. In fact, I think that’s one of the things that makes our production feel so similar – because there are shadows everywhere! Light is coming from above, usually at a 45-degree angle with the actors. And there are certain facial shadows that give Star Trek Continues a very ‘classic Trek ’ look.”

Of course, the lights need something to actually illuminate, and in that department, Matt Bucy was also instrumental. In addition to being a pilot, Matt is also an architect and electronics wiz. (He’s also a real estate developer, if you’re curious.) But when it came to architecture, his expertise allowed the construction team to recreate the exact layout of the original Trek sets as they fit together on Stage 9 at Desilu Studios back in the 1960s. Take a look at this amazing walk-through of their sets:

Goose bumps, right?

Indeed! In the meantime, other “little touches” abound in Star Trek Continues , some easier to notice than others. For example, it’s pretty obvious that the earliest STC episodes used much of the music and sound effects in the original Star Trek . But what you probably won’t notice unless you look closely is that the blocking of the actors (where they stand in a scene) is purposefully done to mimic what was done 50 years ago, as is the acting style. It’s not just that the actors are doing impressions of Shatner, Nimoy, Kelley, and the rest. They are working very hard to move their bodies, manipulate their facial expressions, and control their vocal delivery to mirror the performances provided back in the 1960s. Modern acting styles can present very different performances that, while still strong and engaging, would not have the same feel as TOS. Likewise are many directing choices, such as cutting to close-up reaction shots with a flourish of incidental music or showing a subtle sideways glance of one character to another.

And if that isn’t enough to impress you, there’s two final touches that are added in post-production. First, the colors in each scene are super-saturated to have that over-colorful look of the original Star Trek . And second, because Trek was originally filmed on 35mm film and not video, STC digitally adds in a “graininess” during post-production to make the image look a little less “perfect”…and that, my friends, is what makes it come out so perfect!

Next time : our focus on Star Trek Continues …er…continues with more about the actors and the earliest vignettes released to introduce this new fan series.  We also begin spotlighting the episodes themselves with a closer look at “Pilgrim of Eternity” and how that production came together.  And finally, we learn how much of his own money Vic Mignogna put into the roll out of STC and what happened when they held their first Kickstarter…er, KIRKstarter!

All of the amazing offerings of STC can be found on their website:

http://startrekcontinues.com/episodes.html

I can’t really describe it, and I’ve only made it through about 54 minutes so far (I’m up to “look”), but I guarantee you’ll want to share it on Facebook! I cannot imagine the amount of work that went into editing this video!

Share this:

• Click to email a link to a friend (Opens in new window)
• Click to print (Opens in new window)
• Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)
• Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)
• Click to share on Tumblr (Opens in new window)
• Click to share on Reddit (Opens in new window)

13 thoughts on “A history of STAR TREK CONTINUES (feature, part 1)”

I always wondered how the Theatrical acting quality of the cast of Babylon 5 was “missing” something that Star Trek had.. and I think you’ve found the head of the nail.

Its not that Trek was Scientifically “accurate” or “engaging”.. at the time most of it was speculative and fantastical.. as much as it was Science Fiction.. it was very emotionally charged.

But Trek seemed to roll around in all kinds of recent scientific speculation in service to the story. It was a kind of romper room for young adults or people coming of age, introducing them to all sorts of controversial ideas the conservative grown ups viewed with suspicion… it was a kind of counter culture.

But the sets the lighting, it was all theatrical make up.. just good enough to set the stage for a play, garnished with flourishes of cutting edge Special Effects.

When Star Trek the Movie and all that came after it were pumping money into Star Trek to make it seem “more real” they were taking away, or re-casting the story in a different mold that was not very much Original Trek.. it lacked the setting.. it was something different.

By virture of its limited budget Wrath of Kahn was “closer” to the original because of that limited budget, limited sets, use of physical mixed with digital Matte paintings for backdrops. It looked corny sure.. but in the World of Real Trek.. it was acceptable, okay.. even better than scientifically accurate Apollo Era detailed spacecraft like V’ger.. which was so 70’s.

Next Generation was similarly “handicapped” with a limited budget for new set construction, but a higher budget for special fx.. until later in its seasonal run.. in which the stories got better and better because of the lack of resources.. less was more.. the Writers Strike was the best thing ever to happen to them.. withholding the story until the next season opener.. brilliant!

Its so wickely odd.. but I think something very important has been stumbled upon here.. Star Trek is at its best when it leaves more to the Imagination.. when it has a tighter budget… when its a limited run.

Lucy.. I think for the greater good.. you’d best not Have anymore ‘Explaining to do.. leave it alone.

I think you hit on some interesting points there, John. Maybe Star Trek was at its best when the lower budgets forced the stories and acting to “sell” the episode or movie. When you rely too much on fancy VFX, funky costumes and make-up, and elaborately lit sets—when you take away the actors’ ability to actually act by covering their face in unwieldy prosthetics and sticking marbles into their mouths (and making them speak four pages of dialog in a language they never heard before being cast)–when you do all of that, the story itself has the potential to suffer by getting lost in all of the noise and chaos.

Oh, and what’s this I hear about Babylon 5 missing something? That show had half the budget of Star Trek, dude.

I really didn’t know that about Babylon 5.. those VideoToasters really did great for the time. And isn’t it the same company Will Wheaton went to work for after Next Generation?

One thing though that rarely gets paid attention to though is the terrific theatrical scene music.. I’m not speaking of the rip roaring themes.. but the Vulcan tone poems, those striking Crescendos just before Kirk makes a decision or right after. Bones raised eyebrow and the serious or playful little melody. — if those weren’t “over the top” I don’t know what was.. B5 had them too.. but not as strong.

I really love how STC reused those familar vibes.. perfectly placing them.. it made my childhood come back in Vivid color. .. Gosh darn it.. I want another episode !

Wil Wheaton ended up working for NewTek, the makers of the Amiga-based Video Toaster that was used to create the CGI effects for Babylon 5. (Newtek was based in Topeka, KS back then.)

The folks who actually did the VFX for B5–which was the first weekly TV series to use CGI rather than physical models for all of their outer space shots and also for some of their interiors and aliens–was Foundation Imaging…based in Valencia, CA. (Yep, the same Valencia where Axanar Productions built Industry Studios.) Wil Wheaton never worked for Foundation Imagining.

Foundation went on to do amazing VFX for the first few seasons of B5 and later worked on DS9 and Voyager, winning an Emmy for the latter. My long-time friend and collaborator on Starship Spotter , Adam “Mojo” Lebowitz, worked both at NewTek and Foundation, and later worked with Gary Hutzel and Doug Drexler on Battlestar Galactica, helping them win an Emmy, as well.

I bet you didn’t need to know any of that! 🙂

Very interesting to a kid from way back here in the sticks though.

That all seems to far away.. less real.. than the shows that reached us through the TV.

BSG.. didn’t Jamie Bamber (the new Apollo) appear in one of James Cawley’s New Voyages episodes?

Funny about Wil Wheaton though.. for some reason.. I guess because Colm Meaney and Michael Dorn showed up on DS9.. I always thought Wesley Crusher would show up on Voyager. Little did I know he wanted a clean break for a while.

My early 20 somethings I was thinking ‘Nova chron’ had to be in the Delta Quadrant and Wesley and the Traveler might actually be behind Voyagers winding up there instead of that Cat Paw like invaders from another Galaxy plot device.

Somehow Wesley maturing as an individual that might challenge even the powers of the ‘Q’ seemed rational to me.. after rescuing his Mom from the collapsing Warp Bubble Universe.. what he learned from that encounter spoke to a higher order of manipulating reality… maybe even discovering reality was a kind of program running on an alien super computer.. and unmasking the ‘Q’ as mere aliens that were aware of the true nature of reality. .. it dove tails rather nicely with the fate of Professor Moriarity.. and Picards suspicion.. that [all of this] might merely be a program running on a little device in someone elses living room.

.. I’ve had too many years to think about Next Gen locked in my solitary mind all alone.

Jamie Bamber was in the first episode of Star Trek Continues, “Pilgrim of Eternity.” I discuss the full cast of that fan film more in part 2 and mention Jamie.

As for Wesley, it’s kinda funny you should point that out. Harlan Ellison used to say that Gene Roddenberry had only one idea that he kept writing over and over and over and over again: “The Enterprise meets God, and God is a child.” In Wesley’s case, he started off as a child and kind of became God. Interesting, huh?

The sets on Continues are amazing – It is so impressive how they were able to so accurately portray the look and feel of T.O.S., as well as the portrayal of some of the characters, particularly Kirk, Spock, and even Scotty to some degree… P

Both STC and New Voyages built amazing TOS sets.

“The Enterprise meets God, and God is a child.” In Wesley’s case, he started off as a child and kind of became God. Interesting, huh? ..

Lol.. such is the fate of every Child.. to become their Parents, though as a Child I think we all aspired to that one day.. what little did we know..

Yeah, but I’m not God, John. I don’t even play him on TV. 🙂

Not even with the Big “Booming Voice” ?

Any father sufficiently older is indistingushable from a god or his creator.

Just ask 10 year old Data.

I think Jayden thinks of me as more fun than God…although God does wear a giant chicken costume. (That’s a long story.) 🙂

That’s probably what the Kelvins thought.. Kirk begged to differ however.

Comments are closed.

Den of Geek

Star Trek: An Episode Roadmap for Beginners

Have you always wanted to catch up on Star Trek: TOS but don't have the time for all 79 episodes and feature films? Then step this way...

• Share on Facebook (opens in a new tab)
• Share on Twitter (opens in a new tab)
• Share on Linkedin (opens in a new tab)
• Share on email (opens in a new tab)

This article comes from Den of Geek UK .

With six television series and twelve feature films (and counting) it’s best not to think about how many hours are required to catch up on the entire history of  Star Trek . It’s also highly likely that not everyone would wish to do so, for while  Star Trek  is capable of intense, emotional and thought-provoking stories, it is also capable of producing some real trash .

We’re here to give you some options to make your way through the original series, without necessarily having to watch all 79 episodes…especially that dreadful third season.

This map focuses on the original cast of characters. We’ve included screen outings only (no novels, computer games or other media). We’ve included  The Animated Series  even though it does not form part of the official  Star Trek  canon, partly for the sake of completism, partly because it allows Kirk’s five-year mission actually to last five years and partly because ideas from the series have been picked up on and re-used by later incarnations of the franchise. We’ve also included the two J.J. Abrams movies, which re-set the series’ continuity entirely, because they feature (alternate universe versions of) the original cast of characters and, well, because there’s no where else to put them. We have not included the films focused on the  Next Generation  crew ( Generations, First Contact, Insurrection and Nemesis  –  Generations  is a cross-over film, but focuses more on the  Next Generation  crew than the original characters).

Ad – content continues below

Watch Star Trek: The Original Series on Amazon

Phew, that was complicated. On with the routes.

Route 1: The foundations of  Star Trek

There are no story arcs in  Star Trek  (films 2-4 excepted). However, there are threads; recurring enemies, recurring themes, stories picked up again decades later, memorable adventures that are referred to time and time again. None of the writers on the original series of  Star Trek  could have predicted that they were creating a nearly 50-year franchise that would be built on and built on until the whole Jenga tower collapsed under its own weight and JJ Abrams started again from the bottom, but the foundations they laid are those that lie behind all subsequent series and films. If you want to understand the origins of various elements of the later films and series in the   Star Trek  franchise, these are the episodes to catch up on.

The Naked Time

Dagger Of The Mind

The Menagerie Parts 1&2

Balance Of Terror

Get the best of Den of Geek delivered right to your inbox!

The Return Of The Archons

Errand Of Mercy

Balance Of Terror  and  Errand Of Mercy  introduce  Star Trek ’s most popular and enduring villains (the Romulans and the Klingons, respectively).  The Naked Time  is followed up by a  Next Generation  episode ( The Naked Now ) while  The Menagerie  and  Space Seed  are referenced in later films (alternate-timeline Pike also ends up wheelchair-bound in  Star Trek  (2009) while  Space Seed  is followed up in  The Wrath Of Khan .  The Menagerie  is also the episode with the green Orion slave girl dancing in it).  Dagger Of The Mind  introduces the Vulcan mind meld, while  The Return Of The Archons  features the first appearance – and immediate disregarding of – the Prime Directive (sometimes known as the Prime Suggestion because, while the aim not to interfere with other cultures is a good one, it tends to be interpreted as meaning Starfleet is forbidden from helping pre-warp cultures even if they are dying, which seems counter-productive and is frequently ignored or the rules bent).

Mirror, Mirror

Metamorphosis

Journey To Babel

Friday’s Child

The Trouble With Tribbles

A Private Little War

Amok Time  is primarily remembered as our first glimpse of Vulcan and the introduction of the concept of Ponn Farr (the Vulcan mating ritual) but it is also the introduction of main character Ensign Chekov.  Mirror, Mirror  introduces the Mirror Universe returned to in  Deep Space Nine  and  Enterprise .  Journey To Babel  and  Metamorphosis  introduce important characters who recur across the franchise, while  Friday’s Child  and  A Private Little War  start to flesh out the Klingons.  The Trouble With Tribbles  was returned to for  Deep Space Nine ’s beloved  Trials and Tribble-ations , as well as throwing in more Klingons. Add  Patterns Of Force  for a demonstration of why the Federation tries to get its Captains to obey the Prime Directive and The Deadly Years for more Romulans.

Season Three

The Enterprise Incident

Day Of The Dove

The Tholian Web

Romulans reappear in  The Enterprise Incident  and Klingons in  Day Of The Dove .  The Tholian Web  is returned to in  Enterprise . Add  Elaan Of Troyius  for more reference to relations between the Federation and the Klingon Empire.

The Animated Series

Latest tv reviews, star trek: discovery season 5 episode 5 review – mirrors, the red king review: uneven folk horror crime mash-up, red eye review: itv thriller starts silly, gets great.

The Lorelai Signal

More Tribbles, More Troubles

Yesteryear  is not only our first visit to Vulcan, it establishes various facts about Spock’s family and childhood, including a scene depicting him being bullied by Vulcan children that is echoed in  Star Trek  (2009).  The Lorelai Signal  features the first scenes depicting a woman in charge of a starship (not counting  Turnabout Intruder , in which Janice Lester is disguised in Captain Kirk’s body – don’t ask), as Uhura takes command because all the men on the ship have been mentally affected by Space Sirens (we didn’t say it was a good episode). Add  The Counter-Clock Incident  for a story which seems to be the inspiration for at least two episodes of  The Next Generation  ( Too Short A Season  and  Rascals ) and The  Magicks Of Megas-tu  for some possible inspiration behind  The Next Generation ’s  Devil’s Due , though taken in a different direction.

Star Trek: The Motion Picture

Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home

Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country

Star Trek  (2009)

Star Trek: The Motion Picture  offers a more detailed look at Vulcan and some of its customs.  Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home  features the first canonical female captain in   Star Trek  (Saavik was in command training and was taking the Kobayashi Maru test in  The Wrath Of Khan , but does not actually take command in the field. The first black starship captain not counting Uhura in  The Lorelei Signal  was Captain Terrell in  The Wrath of Khan ; the unnamed female captain here is also black).  Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country  fills in some gaps in the history of Federation/Klingon relations between the original series and  The Next Generation , as well as featuring Worf’s ancestor and being followed up in  Voyager .  Star Trek  (2009), of course, resets everything so the writers can begin again.

Route 2: Just what is all the fuss about, anyway? 

A simple best of – if you’d like to sample just the highlights and the very best  Star Trek  has to offer, these are the episodes to check out.

(There’s a lot of overlap between this list and “The Foundations of Star Trek,” for the sensible reason that later writers and producers frequently returned to the good episodes of the Original Series for ideas, and tended to avoid the bad ones as far as possible).

The Enemy Within

Balance of Terror

The City On The Edge Of Forever

Balance Of Terror  is an absolutely brilliant, tense bit of submarine drama – just don’t be distracted by the fact the guest actor is better known for playing, equally brilliantly, an unrelated recurring character.  The City On The Edge Of Forever  is frequently claimed as the best  Star Trek  episode of all time (certainly of the original series, sometimes of the franchise as a whole). Add  Arena  for an episode that’s rather hokey, but has a solid concept, features the most famous and prominent use of the Vasquez Rocks, and is frequently referenced in popular culture.

The Doomsday Machine

A Piece Of The Action

Bread And Circuses

Amok Time  features one of the most joyous and satisfying moments in  Star Trek .  Mirror, Mirror  introduces Evil Spock and his Goatee of Evil.  The Trouble With Tribbles  is a bit daft, but very entertainingly so.  A Piece Of The Action  and  Bread And Circuses  take different routes to depicting a Space Aliens version of an Earth society and are good fun.

There was one good episode in Season Three (luckily it was really quite good). Add  Let That Be Your Last Battlefield  for  Star Trek  at its most obvious, but a decent enough episode for all that.

The Animated Series  is full of good ideas let down by rather poor execution (and a few daft ideas) but this episode, which delves into Spock’s childhood, stands out as particularly effective.

Star Trek II: The Wrath Of Khan

Star Trek III: The Search For Spock

Yes, there is an odd-numbered movie in there – two, in fact.  The Search For Spock  is seriously underrated , but even if you don’t think so much of it, it’s a necessary middle volume between the best film ( Wrath Of Khan ) and the funniest ( The Voyage Home ).

Route 3: Kirk, Spock and Bones 

The core of  Star Trek  was, of course, the relationship between the central trio of heart (Bones), mind (Spock) and spirit (Kirk). These three also had far more character development than the others – although Uhura, Scotty, Sulu and Chekov (and to an extent, Nurse Chapel) had reasonably well-rounded characters with likes, dislikes and clear personalities, character development was largely the preserve of the main trio. For  Star Trek ’s best character studies and depictions of comradeship, these are the episodes to seek out.

The Galileo Seven

This Side Of Paradise

The Galileo Seven  encapsulates the tension between Spock and Bones and their different attitudes perfectly. Add  Shore Leave  for Kirk apparently preferring to get a backrub from Spock than from the Mini-skirted Woman Of The Week.

If you only have time for one of these, it has to be  Amok Time  – by far the best known and most satisfying Kirk/Spock episode.

For The World Is Hollow And I Have Touched The Sky

All Our Yesterdays

For The World Is Hollow And I Have Touched The Sky  features one of our heroes dying and in  The Tholian Web  one of them appears to be dead, which is always good for showing their feelings for each other. As these episodes demonstrate, McCoy and Spock do love each other really. Well, McCoy loves Spock. Spock has appropriately Vulcan but nonetheless positive reactions to McCoy.

Mudd’s Passion

The Pirates Of Orion

Mudd’s Passion  features passion all around, while  The Pirates Of Orion  revisits the classic one-of-our-heroes-is-dying plot.

All of them. They’re all, essentially, about Kirk, Spock and Bones. This is the only possible reason to watch  Star Trek V: The Final Frontier , as it focuses on the relationship between the three of them to an even greater degree than the other films. Fans of slash fiction may particularly enjoy the first three original cast films ( The Motion Picture ,  The Wrath Of Khan , and  The Search For Spock ).

Route 4: God-like aliens

Gene Roddenberry really, really loved aliens with extreme, largely inexplicable and god-like powers. Like, way more than any sane person should. Most of them had the personalities of over-grown children. Sometimes just plain children.

Where No Man Has Gone Before

The Corbomite Maneuver

The Squire of Gothos

Who Mourns For Adonais?

Add  Catspaw  for aliens with ridiculously powerful (and bizarre) technology.

Plato’s Stepchildren

The Magicks Of Megas-tu

Granted, this one is a Devil-alien rather than a god-alien, but still.

Star Trek V: The Final Frontier

OK, this is the other reason to watch  Star Trek V . But really, save yourself the agony – don’t watch it.

Route 5: Schadenfreude

Star Trek  was as capable of producing dull, unmemorable episodes as anything else. However, the reason “Worst Episodes of  Star Trek”  lists are so popular is that the real low points of the series are not simply dull – they tend to be extremely colourful, mesmerizingly sexist, racist and other –ists in attempts to be egalitarian and tolerant gone wrong, and generally thoroughly ludicrous. All of which means that watching them in a group and laughing at, rather than with, them can be a thoroughly enjoyable experience. If you’re in the mood to watch something so terrible as to come right out the other side into really quite good fun, grab some popcorn and give one of these a go.

Mudd’s Women

The Harry Mudd episodes are listed here largely because their depiction of their female characters goes beyond even the usual inevitable 1960s leering treatment.

The Omega Glory

The Omega Glory  features some very mis-judged patriotism, while  The Apple  gives us poisonous flowers shooting redshirts. Add  The Changeling  for Uhura having her entire memory wiped and having to be re-educated from scratch (as in from ‘See the dog run’) but being completely fine in the next episode – however, it’s not so much fun to hate-watch, as it’s really pretty dull. Add  Wolf In The Fold  for the alien-related truth behind Jack the Ripper, which is as silly as it sounds, while at the same time somewhat disturbing.

Spock’s Brain

The Paradise Syndrome

And The Children Shall Lead

The Way To Eden

Turnabout Intruder

A deeply insulting depiction of Space Native Americans in  The Paradise Syndrome , bizarre Space hippies in  The Way To Eden , children gone wild in  And The Children Shall Lead , horrifying sexism in  Turnabout Intruder  (including a Starfleet regulation that women cannot be Captains), the general and well-known awfulness that it  Spock’s Brain  – Season Three was… not Classic  Trek ’s finest hours. At least it’s still entertaining, in a cringe-worthy way.  Plato’s Stepchildren  is best known as the first interracial kiss on US network television, but the episode itself is truly, albeit hilariously, terrible. Kirk’s horse impression has to be seen to be believed (not to mention the fact that the famous kiss is not a romantic moment, but an act of sexual violence inflicted on both Kirk and Uhura, neither of whom are willing).

The whole series suffers from the seriously cheap animation, despite the good ideas behind it, but  The Ambergris Element , in which Kirk and Spock turn into water creatures, stands out.

We’ve surprised ourselves with the number of appearances this film has made on these lists. But the fact remains that  Star Trek III: The Search For Spock   is seriously under-rated,   Star Trek (2009) is excellent and  Star Trek: The Motion Picture  is known as ‘The Motionless Picture’ for a reason, which makes it less fun to hate-watch. So if you want to find out where the odd-numbered  Star Trek  films got their terrible reputation, this is the one to watch.

Juliette Harrisson | @ClassicalJG

Juliette Harrisson is a writer and historian, and a lifelong Trekkie whose childhood heroes were JRR Tolkien and CS Lewis. She runs a YouTube channel called…