From Star Trek: Discovery to Star Trek: Strange New Worlds, every new Star Trek series on Paramount+ has delivered an episode that can be called a masterpiece. Modern Star Trek compensates for its shorter seasons with spectacular production values and the highest-caliber casting.
However, a charge often levied by longtime Star Trek fans against Star Trek on Paramount+’s series, particularly the live-action shows Star Trek: Discovery, Star Trek: Picard, and Star Trek: Strange New Worlds, is that the emphasis is on visuals and propulsion as opposed to the more cerebral stories of classic Star Trek.
Remarkably, Star Trek‘s animated series, Star Trek: Strange New Worlds and Star Trek: Prodigy, arguably provide a more consistent balance between action, humor, heart, and powerful, poignant writing that evokes Star Trek‘s tradition of solving moral and ethical dilemmas.
Every Star Trek on Paramount+ series, however, has laudably met and even surpassed Star Trek‘s lofty expectations with an episode that fans can point to as genuinely great Star Trek. Here are five modern-day masterpieces from Paramount+’s Star Trek shows, two of which are directed by Jonathan Frakes.
Star Trek: Discovery – “Magic To Make The Sanest Man Go Mad”
Star Trek: Discovery Season 1, Episode 7
The episode that can be called Star Trek: Discovery‘s singular masterpiece happens midway in season 1. Directed by David M. Barrett and written by Aron Eli Coleite & Jesse Alexander, “Magic Makes the Sanest Man Go Mad” brings back Rainn Wilson as devious scoundrel Harcourt Fenton “Harry” Mudd.
Smuggling himself aboard the USS Discovery in a gigantic space whale, Harry Mudd traps everyone in a time loop that repeatedly destroys the ship. Mudd’s endgame is to take control of the Discovery, learn the secret of its spore displacement hub drive, and sell the starship to the Klingons.
Michael Burnham (Sonequa Martin-Green), Ensign Sylvia Tilly (Mary Wiseman), and Lieutenant Paul Stamets (Anthony Rapp) crack Mudd’s scheme and find a way to turn the tables, with Burnham uttering the immortal punchline, “Looks like you can con a con man.”
“Magic to Make the Sanest Man Go Mad’s” time loop story is ingenious, and the episode is a welcome, brain-teasing break from Star Trek: Discovery‘s relentless, serialized action. Rainn Wilson still ranks as one of Star Trek: Discovery’s greatest guest villains as Harry Mudd.
Star Trek: Discovery season 5 would implement another time loop episode that is also a winner, but “Magic to Make the Sanest Man Go Mad” remains the first Star Trek on Paramount+ series’ gold standard.
Star Trek: Picard – “No Win Scenario”
Star Trek: Picard Season 3, Episode 4
Star Trek: Picard season 3 is unquestionably the finest of Patrick Stewart’s comeback series as Admiral Jean-Luc Picard. Directed by Jonathan Frakes and written by Terry Matalas and Sean Tretta, “No Win Scenario” is Star Trek: Picard season 3’s finest hour.
“No Win Scenario” wraps up the first mini arc of Star Trek: Picard season 3, and it’s an hour rich in detail and characterization. In the holodeck’s Ten Forward, Jean-Luc connects with his son, Jack Crusher (Ed Speleers), in a way they were unable to in the episode’s flashbacks.
Commander Seven of Nine (Jeri Ryan) hunts for and exposes a Changeling saboteur, while Dr. Beverly Crusher (Gates McFadden) solves the mystery of the Ryton Nebula, allowing the USS Titan-A to escape its pursuer, the Shrike, led by the diabolical Captain Vadic (Amanda Plummer).
Captain Will Riker (Jonathan Frakes) leads the Titan out of the nebula and disables the Shrike with one of his greatest hero moments: throwing an asteroid at the enemy ship. Meanwhile, Beverly was right that the nebula was a living organism that gives birth to luminescent space jellyfish.
Perhaps the defining scene of “No Win Scenario,” however, is Todd Stashwick’s emotional monologue, which reveals that Captain Liam Shaw is a survivor of Star Trek: The Next Generation‘s Battle of Wolf 359. Shaw’s tragic life story is his unforgettable, searing indictment of Picard, who was Locutus of Borg.
Star Trek: Picard season 3 ended with a rousing conclusion that honored Star Trek: The Next Generation‘s legends and set the stage for the future of the USS Enterprise-G, but “No Win Scenario” has everything a fan could want in an episode of Star Trek.
Star Trek: Lower Decks – “Fissure Quest”
Star Trek: Lower Decks Season 5, Episode 9
Star Trek: Lower Decks‘ penultimate episode cracked open the multiverse in surprising and endlessly delightful ways. Directed by Brandon Williams and written by Lauren McGuire, “Fissure Quest” introduces the reality-traversing USS Anaximander led by Captain William Boimler (Jack Quaid).
Captain Boimler’s multiverse-spanning crew is a who’s who of Star Trek legends, starting with the return of Jolene Blalock as an alternate reality Subcommander T’Pol. Alexander Siddig and Andrew Robinson voice alt-universe versions of Dr. Julian Bashir and his husband, Dr. Garak. Fred Tatasciore rounds out the crew as an alt-Curzon Dax.
Encountering another universe’s Ensign Beckett Mariner (Tawny Newsome), the Anaximander’s pursuit of a starship called the USS Beagle reveals its Captain, an alternate reality Lily Sloane, bringing back Alfre Woodard from Star Trek: First Contact.
Ultimately, the multiverse is threatened by Lieutenant Harry Kim (Garrett Wang), the only Harry Kim promoted above Ensign in any reality. While the episode’s cliffhanger is concluded in Star Trek: Lower Decks‘ series finale, “Fissure Quest” is a mind-bending, deliriously fun ride from start to finish.
One of the greatest Star Trek crossover episodes of all time, “Fissure Quest” is a high-water mark for Star Trek: Lower Decks and one of the most unforgettable and fan-pleasing episodes of Star Trek produced in the Paramount+ era.
Star Trek: Prodigy – “All The World’s A Stage”
Star Trek: Prodigy Season 1, Episode 13
Star Trek: Prodigy is one of the most remarkable Star Trek series ever produced, with numerous standouts in the Nickelodeon, Paramount+, and Netflix animated series’ 2-season, 40-episode run. “All the World’s a Stage,” however, rises above the rest.
Directed by Andrew L. Schmidt and written by Aaron J. Waltke, Star Trek: Prodigy season 1, episode 13 brings the USS Protostar to a planet whose natives styled themselves after the 23rd-century USS Enterprise commanded by Captain James T. Kirk (William Shatner).
Dal R’El (Brett Gray), Gwyndala (Ella Purnell), and their young friends meet the Enderprizians, who altered their society as a tribute to Starfleet after meeting Ensign David Garrovick (voiced by Fred Tatasciore), directly connecting Prodigy to Star Trek: The Original Series season 2, episode 18, “Obsession.”
The Protostar kids’ discovery that the Starship Enterprise’s shuttlecraft Galileo is inadvertently poisoning the Enderprizians’ homeworld is a clever spin on the dangers of breaking Star Trek‘s Prime Directive.
Bursting with charm, humor, and reverence for Star Trek: The Original Series, “All the World’s a Stage” is a loving ode to 1960s Star Trek, fusing the hokey charm of Captain Kirk’s era with poignancy as a source of inspiration that bettered an unusual alien society, and brought the young Protostar heroes closer to their dream of joining Starfleet.
Star Trek: Strange New Worlds – “Those Old Scientists”
Star Trek: Strange New Worlds Season 2, Episode 7
Star Trek: Strange New Worlds season 2, episode 7 made history by crossing over with Star Trek: Lower Decks, bringing Jack Quaid and Tawny Newsome’s animated Ensigns, Bradward Boimler and Beckett Mariner, to live-action.
Directed by Jonathan Frakes and written by Kathryn Lyn and Bill Wolkoff (with uncredited punch-ups by Star Trek: Lower Decks‘ creator Mike McMahan), “Those Old Scientists” is a loving and insightful tribute to Star Trek, Star Trek fans, and what it means to be a fan.
When the 24th century’s Ensign Brad Boimler and Ensign Beckett Mariner cross time and mediums to come aboard Captain Christopher Pike’s (Anson Mount) 23rd century USS Enterprise, everything stops to figure out how to send the time travelers back without breaking reality.
Meanwhile, Mariner meets her hero, Ensign Nyota Uhura (Celia Rose Gooding), while Boimler fawns over Captain Pike but inadvertently throws a wrench in the relationship between Lieutenant Spock (Ethan Peck) and Nurse Christine Chapel (Jess Bush).
“Those Old Scientists'” essay on Star Trek reverence pleasingly circles back around, with Captain Pike’s and his crew’s fandom of Captain Jonathan Archer (Scott Bakula) and Star Trek: Enterprise becoming the key to sending Mariner and Boimler back where they belong.
Star Trek: Strange New Worlds‘ musical episode was a revelation that garnered mainstream media attention, but “Those Old Scientists” will stand the test of time and possibly emerge as the signature masterpiece of Star Trek: Strange New Worlds, and perhaps even the best episode of Star Trek since Star Trek: Discovery began.
