Related
Summary
There are time whenStar Treksets aside its status as a bastion of optimism and hope for the future tense , and rescue sequence that proveheartbreak will stay on a oecumenical unvarying , even in the utopia that is theUnited Federation of Planets . Trauma , wrongful internment , purposeless character deaths , mislay loves , and even tragical conveyer belt malfunctions are all to blame for the pain inflict byStar Trekepisodes with sedative endings .
Star Trekepisodes with pitiful finish hit hard , and they do so by drawing parallels between our world today , and the world that we dream of for tomorrow . Death will always play along living , even one well - lived , and sometimes the cause of deathissenseless . jurist does not always prevail . TheStar Trektimelineshows humans will get over their baser instincts on a larger scale , but that does n’t mean individual people are inculpable , or incapable of mercilessness . These are depressing concepts for a generally optimistic show , butthe emotions that sadStar Trekepisodes elicit are worthy of being felt , and , perhaps more importantly , processed .
The Star Trek enfranchisement won the 2024 Institutional Award at the 84th Peabody Awards , and these 10 stories prove it is well merited .
10Star Trek: Enterprise Season 4, Episode 22 - “These Are The Voyages…”
“Computer, end program.”
The final episode ofStar Trek : Enterpriseis disappointing on multiple level . Star Trek : Enterpriseseason 4 , episode 22,“These Are the Voyages … " is n’t even entirely aStar Trek : Enterpriseepisode , but an awkward mashup withStar Trek : The Next Generation , where Commander William Riker ( Jonathan Frakes ) and Counselor Deanna Troi ( Marina Sirtis ) seek response in account with a holodeck program craft from Captain Jonathan Archer ( Scott Bakula ) ’s log .
Commander Riker and Counselor Troi ’s interstitial scenes take billet duringStar Trek : The Next Generationseason 7 , episode 12 , " The Pegasus " .
That would be frustrating enough on its own , but even excluding theTNGtie - inch , theStar Trek : Enterprisefinaleis unsatisfying . " These Are The Voyages … " skips ahead in time with fiddling to fill in the lacuna between the previous installment and this one , kills off Commander Trip Tucker ( Connor Trinneer ) pointlessly , then tee up Archer ’s voice communication at the founding of the United Federation of Planets without any payoff . Star Trek : Enterpriseis left hanging on an anticipative eminence that never quite firmness of purpose , and it ’s unfortunate becauseEnterprisereally merit more and better .
9Star Trek: Deep Space Nine Season 4, Episode 19 - “Hard Time”
“The O’Brien that was your friend died in that cell!”
After transferring to Deep Space Nine , Chief Miles O’Brien(Colm Meaney ) keeps force the metaphorical curt straw , andStar Trek : Deep Space Nineseason 4 , episode 19 , " Hard Time " may be the most depressing short chaff there is . Falsely convicted of espionage , O’Brien is doom to experience the memory of 20 years of life story in prison on an exotic worldly concern . Miles ' solitary companion in his false memories is his cellmate , Ee’char ( Craig Wasson ) , whom O’Brien murders when travail pushes Miles to the edge of reason .
Chief O’Brien is carry to bring back to life on DS9 as though everything is normal , but it ’s not normal . “Hard Time " steer out the world of PTSD , when O’Brien has flashback of Ee’char , withdraws from best supporter Dr. Julian Bashir ( Alexander Siddig ) , welt out at his married woman Keiko ( Rosalind Chao ) , and Miles nearly take his own living . While there is Bob Hope at the goal , it ’s not happy ; Miles still has a long road of healing forward of him , and it promise to be difficult .
" O’Brien Must Suffer " is a subgenre of Star Trek : DS9 sequence that gave Colm Meaney novel acting challenge . So which of the Chief ’s worst twenty-four hour period is dear ?
8Star Trek: Voyager Season 3, Episode 22 - “Real Life”
“It’s all right … Go to sleep. We’re all here…”
The Doctor ( Robert Picardo)learns firsthand just how irritating family bond can be inStar Trek : Voyagerseason 3 , episode 22 , " substantial lifetime " . The EMH ’s new holographic family set about off sickeningly sweet and begins to decompose when Lt . B’Elanna Torres ( Roxann Dawson ) inject a levelheaded dose of realism into the Doctor ’s sitcom - unadulterated fantasy . labored relationships , malcontent nipper , and via media are all part of the biz now , and the Doctor is n’t fain to plow the very human imperfectness that come with Torres ' adjustments .
Star Trek : Voyager ’s " Real Life " crosses into truly depressing territory when the Doctor ’s daughter , Belle ( Lindsey Haun ) , suffers a fateful fortuity , andthe Doctor realizes that he ca n’t write Belle , no matter what he tries to do as either her beginner or her MD . There ’s not enough metre for the audience to get to know Belle and the rest of the Doctor ’s family , so the pain in thisStar Trek : Voyagerepisode comes almost entirely from Picardo ’s functioning , as Voyager ’s EMH desperately works through grief .
7Star Trek: The Next Generation Season 1, Episode 23 - “Skin of Evil”
“Never forget I died doing exactly what I chose to do.”
Star Trek : The Next Generationseason 1 , sequence 23 , " cutis of Evil " , is thwarting because of the tinny way that Security OfficerLt . Tasha Yar ( Denise Crosby ) is killedby the greasy fossil oil - slick entity known as Armus ( Mart McChesney).Tasha ’s death is senseless , quick , and comes far too early on in the run ofStar Trek : The Next Generation , before we even have a chance to know her . " Skin of Evil " takes the sentence to mourn Yar with a proper funeral and a pre - recorded au revoir , so although Yar ’s destruction feel like a big oily slap in the brass , Star Trekstill pays respect to the character herself .
After " Skin of Evil”,the impact of Tasha Yar resonates throughout laterStar Trek . Denise Crosby comeback as Yar in the alternate universe ofStar Trek : The Next Generationseason 3 , episode 15 , and receives a far more honorable expiry rather of being knocked off like cannon fresh fish . Lt . Commander Data ( Brent Spiner ) keeps Tasha ’s memory close with a personal monument seen throughout the serial , and Yar becomes important to rebuild Data ’s memory inStar Trek : Picard .
Many Star Trek fans feel disappointed by Tasha Yar ’s end in The Next Generation , and now Lower Decks shew just how spoiled her exit was .
6Star Trek: Discovery Season 1, Episodes 1 & 2 - “Battle at the Binary Stars”
“Now we are at war… and I am the enemy.”
Star Trek : Discoveryseason 1 , episodes 1 & 2 , " Battle at the Binary Stars " , sketch the exact circumstances that contribute toCommander Michael Burnham(Sonequa Martin - Green ) hijack the USS Shenzhou from Captain Philippa Georgiou ( Michelle Yeoh ) , and explains howBurnham earned the report of Starfleet ’s first mutineerthat hauntsStar Trek : Discoveryseason 1 .
ripe design are n’t enough to justify Burnham from being saddle with rap for start the Federation - Klingon War .
InStar Trek : Discovery ’s premiere , Commander Burnham is incite by skilful intentions and firm convictions that she knows the sound course of legal action for divvy up with the Klingons . Star Trekoften drives home the lesson of doing what you think to be the right affair , even if it goes against fiat , butMichael Burnham ’s rebellion go horribly , fatally wrong . Good intentions are n’t enough to absolve Burnham from being saddle with blame for bulge the Federation - Klingon War . It ’s problematic to see a Modern epoch ofStar Trekbeing kicked off with despair .
5Star Trek: Strange New Worlds Season 1, Episode 6 - “Lift Us Where Suffering Cannot Reach”
“Do you freely offer this gift of self to the people of Majalis?”
InStar Trek : Strange New Worldsseason 1 , instalment 6 , " Lift Us Where Suffering Can not Reach " , there may be a way tochange Captain Christopher Pike ( Anson Mount ) ’s future fate , but it hail at a high cost . The planet Majalis promises a world without suffering , where sickness and disease are unheard of , all thanks to the First Servant ( Ian Ho ) , a brilliant child who ’s narratively framed as the world ’s future loss leader . The beautiful promises are but a facing , however , becausethe suffering on Majalis is hide in the horrific ritual that the First Servant is aim to accept without doubtfulness . And the Prime Directive means there ’s nothing Pike can do about it .
4Star Trek: Voyager Season 2, Episode 4 - “Tuvix”
“I don’t want to die.”
From the moment that Lt . Tuvok ( Tim Russ ) and Neelix ( Ethan Phillips ) are immix into the single entity Tuvix ( Tom Wright ) , there ’s no probability thatStar Trek : Voyagerseason 2 , episode 4 , " Tuvix " , will have a happy ending . Separating Tuvix is n’t right away potential , so while the Doctor works on developing the procedure , the USS Voyager gang gets to live Tuvix , and even rather like him . When separating Tuvix becomes an option , Tuvix has to solicit for his life with palpable desperation .
As one ofStar Trek ’s most hotly contested dilemmas,“Tuvix " does n’t really have a right solvent . Even thoughweknow that Tuvix ca n’t continue to exist because Tuvok and Neelix are part of the maincast ofStar Trek : Voyager , Captain Kathryn Janeway ( Kate Mulgrew ) still has to make the impossible choice , leaving " Tuvix " on a inexorable end .
Captain Janeway ’s controversial " Tuvix " decision on Star Trek : Voyager is addressed by the worker who played Tuvix himself , Tom Wright .
3Star Trek: Deep Space Nine Season 6, Episode 26 - “Tears of the Prophets”
“II have to make things right again, Jadzia.”
Despite taking plaza in the midst of the Dominion War , Star Trek : Deep Space Nineseason 6 , installment 26 , " Tears of the Prophets " , starts on a proportional high , which makes the episode ’s tragical exit all the more heartbreaking . The subplot of Lt . Commander Worf ( Michael Dorn ) and Lt . Commander Jadzia Dax ( Terry Farrell ) trying for a baby zeroes in on retrieve pleasure in the thick of political upheaval . doubtfulness is painted in broad strokes , so it never occurs to Captain Benjamin Sisko ( Avery Brooks ) that disregarding the trace not to go to Cardassia can end in a very personal cataclysm .
In the big picture , Jadzia Dax ’s deathis a pearl in the sea of going during the war . Countless others have fallen , and will continue to fall . To Sisko , Worf , and theDS9crew , however , Jadzia ’s last weigh far more than any other red ink . That Dax ’s symbiont is saved is a small glimmering of hope , but without Jadzia , Star Trek : Deep Space Nineisn’t the same .
2Star Trek: The Next Generation Season 3, Episode 16 - “The Offspring”
“I will feel it for both of us … thank you for my life.”
Lt . Commander Data ( Brent Spiner ) build anotherSoong - eccentric positronic androidlike himself , Lal ( Hallie Todd ) , inStar Trek : The Next Generationseason 3 , episode 16 , " The Offspring " . As Data imparts to Lal the lessons that Data has thus far learned about being human , Data and Lal build a beautiful resonance exploring humanness from the exterior . Lal speedily outdo Data ’s computer programming , spontaneously exhibiting emotions . In the middle of discourse over whether Lal ought to be turn over to Starfleet to be studied , Lal get to break down .
Star Trek : Picardseason 3 name - checks Lal as one of the androids comprising Data ’s new soundbox at Daystrom Station , along with B-4 and Lore .
What makesStar Trek : The Next Generation ’s " The issue " so pith - wrenching is the juxtaposition of Lal ’s at sea , emotional chemical reaction against Data ’s seemingly passive one . After the total cascade loser that ends Lal ’s sprightliness , Data transfers the information from Lal ’s retentiveness into his own , to carry her with him always . That ’s love , even if Data does n’t acknowledge it .
1Star Trek: The Original Series Season 1, Episode 28 - “The City on the Edge of Forever”
“He knows, Doctor… He knows.”
hail as a classic and often the very best of whatStar Trekhas to offer , Star Trek : The Original Seriesseason 1 , instalment 28,“The City on the Edge of Forever"is a tragic love story that seesCaptain James T. Kirk ( William Shatner ) give up the making love of his life to keep start the future that he knows.1930s Social Worker Edith Keeler ( Joan Collins ) and Kirk have amazing alchemy together , despite the centuries that separate them . foreclose Edith ’s dying leads to victory for the Nazis in World War II , however , and a future without the Federation , so Kirk have the solemn option to get Edith conk out .
It ’s a necessary conclusion , andone of the most heartrending choices that must be made in all ofStar Trek , amplified by Dr. Leonard McCoy ’s ( DeForrest Kelley ) bemused reaction . Love and responsibility are both primal to Jim Kirk as a grapheme , but in the end , Kirk ’s personal desire – and the life of Edith Keeler – must take a backseat to the grandness of a bright time to come .
The Guardian of Forever , who facilitates the time travel in " City on the Edge of Forever " , returns inStar Trek : Discoveryseason 3 , sequence 9 & 10 , " Terra Firma " as Carl ( Paul Guilfoyle ) to charge Emperor Philippa Gergiou back to the Mirror Universe for a moral test .
TheseStar Trekepisodes that do n’t terminate happily serve a purpose in the larger human beings of the franchise , reminding us thatshared lugubriousness is one direction that we can bear on to one another , even when it seems we have little else in common . veneration , precariousness , and pain are oecumenical . At the core ofStar Trekis the subject matter that we can connect with others who are unlike ourselves , so through these shared wounds , we can find the society that be intimate and even embraces our misery with us , and feel our feelings all and completely .
