60th anniversary of star trek – Trekking with Dennis

Star Trek: Hidden Gems

Spoiler Warning: Beware of minor spoilers for some of the episodes on this list.

In celebration of Star Trek’s imminent sixtieth anniversary, I want to make a list of some great episodes! And I know what you’re thinking: “Dennis, you’ve done this before.” True. But this list is slightly different – I’m going to exclusively focus on episodes that I think are “hidden gems;” episodes you might overlook, episodes you might skip if you’re going back for your sixtieth re-watch of a box set, and episodes that basically no Trekkie is recommending as a starting point for new viewers of the franchise!

So that raises an obvious question, right? How do we determine what is and is not a “hidden gem?” I’m glad you asked!

Last year, I used IMDB’s episode review scores to put together two lists: the “top five” and “bottom five” episodes from each of the pre-Discovery shows. And I’m taking IMDB’s rankings as a starting point again. In short: if an episode is either in the top ten most highly-rated episodes, or the bottom ten most-disliked episodes from a series, I’m excluding it. That also applies if one half of a two-part story is in either the top- or bottom-ten. But the rules don’t end there!

Still frame from Star Trek SNW 4x05 showing puppets of Pike, Una, and M'Benga — Have you watched *Strange New Worlds’* “puppet episode” yet?

I’m also going to exclude stories that are – in my *subjective opinion*, of course – well-remembered, “iconic,” or that have otherwise crossed over to become part of pop culture. In brief: episodes everyone remembers, stories with clips or scenes that have been meme-ified, and really any episode that I think an average non-Trekkie might look at and say “oh, I remember that.” I think that definition *has* to include series premieres and finales, which introduce characters and wrap up key storylines. And finally, I’m going to exclude crossover episodes, which I think are pretty memorable by default.

So that’s how we’re reaching our conclusion for what is and is not a hidden gem! Partly based on review scores from IMDB, and partly based on how subjectively “iconic,” easily-recognised, or memed on an episode might be.

Does that sound fair? I hope so, because that’s what we’re going with!

Behind-the-scenes photo from Star Trek TNG — Behind-the-scenes on the set of *Star Trek: The Next Generation*.

What’s the point of this? Well, I want to celebrate the franchise’s sixtieth anniversary, but I think there are gonna be a ton of “bEzT sTaR tReK ePiSoDeZ eVaRrR!!1!” list-icles all over the internet this week, and many of them are gonna just pick the same fan-favourites: City on the Edge of Forever, The Best of Both Worlds, and so on. And likewise, some folks are gonna ironically recommend the likes of Spock’s Brain or Shades of Gray.

I just thought it could be fun to pick out a few episodes that might fly under the radar; genuinely good, enjoyable stories that might’ve been eclipsed by stronger episodes, or that just didn’t catch fire in the way some others did.

Still frame from Star Trek TOS showing Kirk and his phaser rifle — Captain Kirk.

I’m not putting any other limitations on my selections. Episodes will come from right across the franchise, and as long as they aren’t in the top- or bottom-ten from their respective shows, and don’t have iconic moments, famous memes, or other such things… they’ll be entered into consideration! I hope this’ll be a bit of fun, and maybe you’ll be inspired to return to a story you haven’t seen in a while, or even try out something brand-new.

I’ve picked fifteen episodes for this list… and hey, if you’re looking for a playlist for your sixtieth anniversary Star Trek marathon? Here ya go!

With all of that out of the way, let’s get into the episodes!

Episode #1:
The Star Gazer
Picard Season 2, Episode 1

Still frame from Star Trek PIC 2x01 showing Picard — Picard gives a speech.

Star Trek: Picard is awkward for this list, because at only thirty episodes in total, two-thirds of the entire series is excluded by default! But of the ten episodes in the middle, The Star Gazer leapt out at me. In my review of the episode from back in 2022, I described it as “one of the best episodes of live-action Star Trek that I’ve seen in a long time,” and I stand by that… with a caveat or two! After a disappointing end to Season 1, The Star Gazer took Picard and his new friends back to Starfleet in a big way, and not only that, but it reintroduced a villainous faction by giving them a truly terrifying new look.

After that, though… well, Season 2 kinda went off the rails! And as the first chapter of a ten-episode story, The Star Gazer isn’t gonna be the easiest thing to watch in isolation. The subsequent nine episodes put a pretty big downer on it, and that’s just unavoidable. If you can enjoy it on its own merits, though, I think there’s a lot to love here. A new version of an iconic starship, Picard seemingly back to his old self, and an updated take on one of the franchise’s biggest baddies that, at the time, I found to be genuinely shocking and quite frightening.

Episode #2:
The Maquis, Parts I-II
Deep Space Nine Season 2, Episodes 20-21

(AI upscaled) still frame from Star Trek DS9 2x21 showing Sisko — Commander Sisko.

DS9 has a ton of classic episodes, particularly involving Sisko, Garak, the Dominion War, and more. But if we’re looking for the real hidden gems, I want to pick out The Maquis. I think it’s an important episode – but one that’s easily overlooked both within DS9 itself and within the broader category of stories featuring the titular faction.

This was the episode that first introduced us to the Maquis – a faction that would reappear in DS9 as well as in The Next Generation and, of course, in Voyager. But being the first to establish an important faction is meaningless if the story isn’t good – and for me, at least, The Maquis has a solid, enjoyable story that really calls into question some of the Federation’s lofty ideals, and puts Sisko to the test. Star Trek has always done stories with big moral questions, and The Maquis absolutely fits in with the best of them.

Episode #3:
Off-Hour
Strange New Worlds Season 4, Episode 6

Still frame from Star Trek SNW 4x06 showing A'Sha opening the turbolift doors — Here’s A’Sha!

Call this “recency bias” all you want, but Off-Hour is a solid and very “Star Trekky” episode in a season that, to be honest, has had more misses than hits. So I’m glad to be able to recommend at least one episode from Strange New Worlds’ fourth season, which, at time of writing, hasn’t yet concluded! Off-Hour is kind of an updated take on The Next Generation’s Disaster, putting the ship and crew into a dangerous situation and forcing several characters to work miracles to keep everyone alive.

The episode gave most of the show’s main characters something to do, meaning it feels more of an ensemble piece than a lot of modern Star Trek stories. Its core premise was suitably tense – even if that tension, for me, could’ve been dialled back a notch or two! And after quite a few Strange New Worlds episodes have notoriously taken “big swings” into a variety of different genre parodies and spoofs… it was just nice to get an episode that felt very much like Star Trek. If you dipped out of Strange New Worlds after the musical or the puppet episode… come back for one more try! I don’t think you’ll regret it.

Episode #4:
The Ultimate Computer
The Original Series Season 2, Episode 24

Still frame from Star Trek TOS 2x24 showing Kirk, Spock, McCoy, and Daystrom — Dr Daystrom with Dr McCoy, Spock, and Kirk.

I had a hard time with TOS! So many episodes are either flat-out iconic in their own rights, or else they have incredibly memorable scenes or clips that I think would disqualify them from this list! But of all the episodes outside of the top-ten, The Ultimate Computer really stands out to me. What’s more, I think its core message and theming is *incredibly* relevant in 2026, some fifty-eight years after its original broadcast, as the world struggles with the rise of advanced A.I. systems and large-language models.

The Ultimate Computer is a “man versus machine” story, and a tale of how overreliance on technology can go horribly wrong. TOS made many “predictions” that have since come to pass: technologies like mobile phones, video calling, computer libraries storing all of human knowledge, wireless technology, iPads, real-time translation… the list goes on! But this depiction of a rogue A.I. feels like a timeless warning from the past, and given where we are today… it’s uncanny.

Episode #5:
Face the Strange
Discovery Season 5, Episode 4

Still frame from Star Trek DIS 5x04 showing Burnham and Rayner — Burnham and Rayner.

I did not care for Discovery’s fifth and final season, on the whole. But one real hidden gem amidst a generally disappointing story is Face the Strange, which sees Burnham and her new XO – Commander Rayner – forced to work together in the face of a weird time travel plot. Time travel is *also* not one of my favourite parts of Star Trek, usually, but I’m making an exception for the creative way it was utilised in Face the Strange.

Face the Strange feels like a bit of a diversion from the season’s bland and uninspired main storyline, which perhaps helps it stand out just a little bit more. I also enjoy the way Rayner comes across in this episode – as a relatively late addition to Discovery’s cast, Rayner needed the extra screen time that an episode like Face the Strange granted him. Again, an episode to try out if you had already checked out of Discovery before the fifth season.

Episode #6:
The Royale
The Next Generation Season 2, Episode 12

Still frame from Star Trek TNG The Royale showing the Enterprise-D and Theta VIII — The Enterprise-D.

This is, admittedly, pure bias on my part: The Royale is the first episode of Star Trek that I can remember watching, all the way back in 1991! But hey, if this is the episode that turned me into a Trekkie, it can’t be that bad, right? I like the episode’s away mission plot, I like that this kind of sci-fi mystery is something silly and weird that only a Star Trek show would dare attempt, and I like the way the episode handles the characters on the planet and back on the ship. Is it purely a nostalgic pick for me? Maybe. But that doesn’t make it bad!

The Royale uses its setting well, and although the characters on the planet feel like cardboard cut-outs for the most part, the episode explains why this is – and even has time to consider the idea of a very different kind of alien life trying to make sense of humanity through our literature and art. There are some genuinely fun moments for the away team, as they explore a weird, almost surreal 20th Century setting that they weren’t expecting to find, and back on the ship, Picard and the crew work hard to help them. A solid, enjoyable, and easily-overlooked episode.

Episode #7:
Macrocosm
Voyager Season 3, Episode 12

Still frame from Star Trek VOY showing Janeway and the Doctor in sickbat — The Doctor treating Captain Janeway.

Macrocosm sees Janeway and the Doctor fighting giant single-celled viruses that have taken over the ship! Cool, right? After an away mission goes awry and the ship is infected, it’s up to Janeway to save the day in what is genuinely one of the best action-packed storylines she gets across the show’s entire run. It’s a nice, self-contained story featuring a one-off alien race, a one-off antagonist, and a silly premise that has just enough of a basis in real science to make the technobabble seem believable!

There’s enough of a threat to Voyager that everyone feels in real danger, and while I will admit that the CGI macro-viruses probably haven’t aged especially well, there can be a charm to this kind of thing! I like when Star Trek depicts alien races that aren’t just part of the “nose and forehead brigade,” and these flying mega-viruses definitely fit the bill. A great episode if you want to see Janeway running around with a phaser, and the Doctor gets a moment to shine, too.

Episode #8:
Where Pleasant Fountains Lie
Lower Decks Season 2, Episode 7

Still frame from Star Trek LDS 2x07 showing Billups — Andy Billups.

I really need to get caught up on Lower Decks. Maybe you think this ruins my standing as a Trekkie, but I’ve only seen up to partway through Season 3 at time of writing! But of the episodes I’ve seen (that meet the criteria for this list), Where Pleasant Fountains Lie was the one I wanted to highlight the most.

I read part of the episode’s story – involving the USS Cerritos’ chief engineer, Andy Billups – as a metaphor for asexuality. Doing what Star Trek has always done, Lower Decks uses a sci-fi lens to shine a light on a real-world situation, and puts Billups in a difficult situation as he struggles with “fitting in” with his people. There’s plenty of comedy, and I think it’s also an interesting take on how some human societies exist outside of the Federation, which adds a bit of depth to the world of Star Trek. But it’s really that core message that I find the most interesting and relatable.

Episode #9:
The Catwalk
Enterprise Season 2, Episode 12

Still frame from Star Trek ENT showing Reed and Phlox in the catwalk — Reed and Dr Phlox in the titular catwalk.

Few episodes really manage to convey the dangers of pushing the frontiers of space travel in this 22nd Century era quite as well as The Catwalk. Because the NX-01 is a less-powerful ship than her namesakes further along the timeline, she’s less well-shielded and armoured, and that means that, when a dangerous interstellar phenomenon approaches, the crew has to take refuge in the only part of the ship that can keep them safe from the radiation: the nacelles.

There’s something weirdly almost “cozy” about that setup that I’ve always really appreciated. A community coming together, riding out a storm in a safe space… it just gives me the warm fuzzies, I guess! Of course, there’s more to the episode than that – and, naturally, things don’t go to plan. This is another episode with a one-off alien adversary who we haven’t seen return, and despite the uniqueness of its core premise, I think it’s one a lot of folks will have just scrolled past, especially on repeat viewings.

Episode #10:
How Sharper Than A Serpent’s Tooth
The Animated Series Season 2, Episode 5

Still frame from Star Trek TAS showing Arex, Walking Bear, and Kirk on the bridge — On the bridge of the Enterprise.

I’m cheating a tiny bit with this one; at a mere twenty-two episodes in total, it was too difficult to exclude both the top-ten and bottom-ten from The Animated Series! But ranked roughly in the middle – and, I would argue, easily overlooked – is How Sharper Than A Serpent’s Tooth, which is a fun story that sees Kirk and co. facing off against an ancient alien who once visited Earth.

The Animated Series was “officially non-canon” for a while, and it was only when I bought the DVD box set that I watched it in full. The animation work is definitely a product of its time (and something modern Star Trek has even parodied, with a miniseries called Very Short Treks) but for me, there are some great episodes in this oft-neglected series. How Sharper Than A Serpent’s Tooth was also the episode selected when The Animated Series won a Daytime Emmy Award in 1975 – so it has pedigree. And I think its core story is very “Star Trekky,” if you can look past the deficiencies in its animation.

Episode #11:
The Wounded
The Next Generation Season 4, Episode 12

Still frame from Star Trek TNG 4x12 showing Macet and Picard in the ready-room — Gul Macet with Captain Picard.

When you think of classic Cardassian episodes, I bet you don’t go to The Wounded first and foremost! Even in TNG, episodes like Chain of Command are much more likely to be memorable or draw your attention. But The Wounded marks the Cardassians’ first-ever appearance, and as such, it started the process of setting the stage for The Next Generation’s first spin-off: Deep Space Nine. We also see that through this episode’s massive expansion of Chief O’Brien’s role – O’Brien would go on to play a major role on DS9, of course.

The episode is also noteworthy for its introduction of Gul Macet – played by Marc Alaimo. Alaimo is best known for another Cardassian character: DS9′s Dukat. And you can kind of consider Macet a “proto-Gul Dukat,” I think! The Wounded is a kind of “Apocalypse Now” story, following O’Brien and Picard as they have to work *with* the Cardassians to stop a rogue Starfleet captain. It’s a great episode in its own right, and well worth a watch.

Episode #12:
Terrarium
Strange New Worlds Season 3, Episode 9

Still frame from Star Trek SNW 3x09 showing Ortegas — Lieutenant Ortegas.

I’ll be honest: I was surprised to see Terrarium ranked so low amongst Strange New Worlds episodes! For me, this is probably the best individual episode of Season 3, with a strong focus on Lieutenant Erica Ortegas and the lingering after-effects of the Federation’s conflict with the Gorn. In my review of the episode last year, I said that it was “intense, dramatic, emotional, and just fantastic,” and that really encapsulates how I feel. After having not spent that much time with Ortegas across the show’s first three seasons, her first real spotlight was genuinely exceptional.

However, I guess I can see why some fans might overlook it or choose to scroll past. When compared to the likes of Memento Mori or the two parts of Hegemony – episodes which also feature the Gorn – it’s not as action-packed or explosive. It’s also a character piece and a bit of a slow burn, in places. But as viewers and as Trekkies, I think we should be able to appreciate stories that aren’t just mindless action and fighting all the time, and slower, more introspective pieces about bridging a cultural divide and working together in the name of survival can be just as compelling and engaging.

Episode #13:
The Magnificent Ferengi
Deep Space Nine Season 6, Episode 10

Of all the episodes from DS9′s fantastic Dominion War arc, be honest: how many of you would’ve picked The Magnificent Ferengi for a re-watch? The episode is genuinely very funny, playing on DS9′s sillier and more light-hearted take on the Ferengi. It’s a great episode for recurring characters Rom, Brunt, and Nog in particular, as they join a mission of Quark’s to rescue Ishka (Quark and Rom’s mother) from Dominion captivity.

Naturally, nothing goes to plan for the Ferengi; the episode is almost a comedy of errors! But that’s what makes it so fun, and a guest-starring role for musician Iggy Pop was also a blast. The Magnificent Ferengi makes great use of DS9′s expansive secondary cast, ties into the sixth season’s Dominion War storyline in a new and unexpected way, and is a great example of how Star Trek can be hilarious when it embraces comedy and even slapstick. The Ferengi are indeed magnificent!

Episode #14:
Night
Voyager Season 5, Episode 1

Chakotay and Captain Janeway greet a guest in the transporter room.

Night is an episode of two halves. One side of the story explores something that few other Voyager episodes – or Star Trek episodes in general, come to think of it – really ever did: what does the crew do when there’s nothing to do and no planets to explore? We catch a glimpse of what life is like for the crew as they navigate a starless expanse with no interesting phenomena, alien spacecraft, or planets to crash-land on. And it really is fascinating!

But then the episode introduces one of Voyager’s lesser-remembered recurring aliens: the Malon. The Malon are another example of Star Trek shining a light on real-world issues through the lens of sci-fi: in this case, the financial incentives companies have to keep polluting, or to keep burning fossil fuels, despite knowing the harm it causes. It’s a great idea for a story: Starfleet shows up, offers an alien society a better, safer, cleaner technology… only to be turned down because of what it would mean for corporate profits. If only there was a modern-day industry that could benefit from this kind of metaphor, eh?

Episode #15:
Assignment: Earth
The Original Series Season 2, Episode 26

TOS has a lot of iconic moments, doesn’t it? But would you say Assignment: Earth or Gary Seven are among them? For me, this is an episode I will openly admit to regularly scrolling past when I re-watch The Original Series; I’m just not wild about time travel stories, as I think I’ve already mentioned. But that’s part of why it deserves a place on this list: Assignment: Earth is the definition of a hidden gem; an overlooked episode that has a lot of great qualities.

Firstly, it’s fun to see Gary Seven and catch a glimpse of a new faction that subsequent Star Trek stories did nothing with for half a century! But it’s also neat to see Kirk and co. in the 1960s, dealing with NASA. Remember that this episode aired shortly *before* the first moon landing, at a time when interest in NASA and space exploration was at its height. It’s another great example of Star Trek telling a “morality play;” in this case, an explicit warning against the use of nuclear weapons at a moment when the Cold War was raging.

Bonus Film:
The Motion Picture

Still frame from Star Trek The Motion Picture showing Kirk in a hallway — Admiral Kirk

I wanted to put one feature film on this list, and for me, no film quite embodies the “hidden gem” idea better than The Motion Picture. Fans tend to overlook Star Trek’s first film in favour of The Wrath of Khan, as well as other action-packed entries like The Undiscovered Country and First Contact. But for me, no film quite matches the tone of The Motion Picture, which has an ethereal sci-fi story that plays out like an extended episode of The Original Series.

This film is also where much of the aesthetic of Star Trek was created. Klingons with armour and forehead ridges, angled starship hallways, the warp core as a glowing upright tube, even metal Starfleet insignia on uniforms… so many things created for The Motion Picture have gone on to become inseperable from Star Trek, defining its visual language and identity. The film’s story is one of seeking out new life – even if that form of life is almost incomprehensibly different from anything Starfleet or humanity had previously encountered. Moreover, The Motion Picture brought Star Trek back and re-established it for a new decade – a decade which would eventually lead to more films and a return to the small screen.

So that’s it!

Behind-the-scenes photo from Star Trek TNG showing Gates McFadden and Bob Justman — Producer Bob Justman with his namesake shuttlecraft and Gates McFadden.

Happy sixtieth anniversary, Star Trek! I hope this selection of “hidden gems” has given you an idea or two if you’re planning a Star Trek marathon to mark the franchise’s birthday. I know that’s what I’ll be doing on Tuesday!

As I said above, I really wanted to put together a selection of episodes that I don’t think will be featured on a lot of similar list-icles. Star Trek has almost 1,000 episodes and films to choose from, but fans tend to gravitate to certain ones more than others. Some episodes aren’t great or are just padding, sure, but there are some really fun stories that tend to get overlooked or overshadowed by more popular or better-remembered contemporaries. And I wanted to highlight a few of them this time.

I hope you’ll join me on the 8th for an article all about Star Trek and its sixtieth anniversary! And if you missed them earlier in the year, I have a few other celebratory pieces I’d like to recommend to you.

Behind-the-scenes photo from Star Trek showing Deforest Kelley with Patrick Stewart — DeForest Kelley and Patrick Stewart in a behind-the-scenes photograph.

In May, I got to meet William Shatner – Captain Kirk himself – at an event here in the UK. I reviewed Starfleet Academy’s first season, the video game Across The Unknown, and I’ve been writing up individual episode reviews for Strange New Worlds’ fourth season, too. I wrote up another batch of my “what-if” scenarios, I took at look at some wild and wacky fan theories, I talked about some truly terrible things that Star Trek characters have done, I shared more of my “hot takes” on the franchise, and I even considered the potential benefits for the franchise if a hiatus is on the cards.

I’ve also been writing up episode re-watches over the past year, including Where No Man Has Gone Before, which was TOS’ second pilot, the iconic Arena from TOS’ first season, The Andorian Incident from Enterprise, and Skin of Evil, The First Duty, and The Royale – all from The Next Generation.

Click or tap any of those links to check out those pieces.

Still frame from a 1960s Star Trek TOS commercial showing key art — An original 1960s advert for *TOS*.

So I hope you enjoyed this list! It was fun to go back to these episodes, and it was also interesting to see just how many stories, characters, aliens, and more than I consider to be “too iconic” for a list like this one! I excluded quite a few episodes that would’ve been fun to discuss simply because I felt their status was a little too high, or else they had moments that crossed over into pop culture for one reason or another.

Thanks again for joining me on this exploration of a few “hidden gems” from the Star Trek franchise. There’s more Star Trek content to come here on the website; more Strange New Worlds reviews, more episode re-watches, more commentary, and who knows what else. But until then… Live Long and Prosper, friends!

Most episodes and films discussed above are available to stream now on Paramount+ in countries and territories where the platform is available, and may also be available on DVD and/or Blu-ray. The Star Trek franchise – including all films, TV shows, and properties discussed above – is the copyright of the Skydance-Paramount Corporation. Still frames from Deep Space Nine and Voyager were upscaled using A.I. tools. This article contains the thoughts and opinions of one person only and is not intended to cause any offence.

Stories To Tell Before It’s All Over…

Wed 25.06.25Dennis

A Star Trek: The Animated Series-themed spoiler warning graphic.

Spoiler Warning: Beware of spoilers for the following Star Trek productions: Deep Space Nine Season 6, Enterprise Season 3, Discovery Seasons 1-5, Picard Seasons 1-3, Prodigy Season 1, Strange New Worlds Seasons 1-2, and Starfleet Academy.

Eight years ago, Star Trek returned to its small-screen home after over a decade in the wilderness. However, in 2025, thanks to a corporate merger, an under-performing, loss-making streaming platform, and some laughably idiotic decision-making by morons in suits, it feels like Star Trek might, once again, be coming to the end of the road. The cancellations of all but one series, failures to get a new feature film off the ground, and Paramount+ continuing to flail around in a competitive market all indicate to me that Paramount and Skydance are at the very least considering bringing production to a halt.

There will be time in the months and years ahead to talk about who’s to blame and what precisely went wrong. But that isn’t the purpose of today’s article. Instead, I want to take a look ahead. Beginning with the assumption that Skydance/Paramount aren’t interested in producing more Star Trek after the second half of the 2020s, what stories should the franchise’s writers and producers aim to tell over the next three or four years? Is there room to resolve dangling story threads, throw in a bit of fan service, and perhaps revisit characters and factions we haven’t seen in a while? Or… should Star Trek’s corporate overlords roll the dice again and chase trends in the hope of bringing in new viewers?

A room with a table and chairs and a banner on the wall that reads "Star Trek: Boldly Going in 2017." — An early tease of Star Trek’s small-screen return.
*Photo Credit: TrekCore*

2016 doesn’t feel like a particularly long time ago. But it’s been nine years since we got those early teases of what would go on to be Star Trek: Discovery, and since then, production has ramped up only to tail off again far more quickly than I’d expected. To go from the excitement of Star Trek’s return to the very real prospect of its total cancellation in the span of less than a decade is making my head spin! But realistically, after the cancellation of most of the main shows and with the corporate merger seeming to have put a stop to any new announcements… that’s where we’re at. If Star Trek isn’t bringing in viewers and helping Paramount+ on its long road to profitability… what did we expect? Corporations aren’t going to piss away money forever on something that isn’t making a profit… even if the reason why Star Trek, in its current incarnation, has struggled is, I would very strongly argue, entirely the fault of executive fuckwits making appalling decisions!

The cancellation announcement of Strange New Worlds kind of embodies that for me. Season 3 is literally days away, the cast and crew are about to start making the rounds on the interview circuit, hype for the new season is beginning to build… and that’s the moment that Paramount’s executives decide to announce that the show’s cancellation. This coming just a couple of years after they had to rapidly un-announce a new Star Trek film when it emerged that none of the cast had actually signed onto the project. After the merger is complete and these morons are all laid off… I hope not one of them ever works in the entertainment industry again.

But as I said, that’s not what we’re here to talk about on this occasion!

Former Paramount CEO Bob Bakish in an official portrait. — Former Paramount CEO Bob Bakish.

I’ve been thinking a lot about some of the Star Trek stories that I’d most like to see. If Star Trek does get fully cancelled later in the decade, and remains off the air for a good number of years as happened in the ’70s and the 2000s/2010s… this could be it for me. This could be the last new Star Trek I’m gonna see. Because of my health, sticking it out to the 2040s or beyond for a possible, hypothetical revival seems… well, it seems unlikely, to be blunt about it! So the next few years could bring me the final batch of Star Trek stories that I’m going to be able to watch. It’s with that mindset that I approach this piece.

So let’s clear a few things up before we go any further. These story ideas are pure fantasy, meaning I have no “insider information,” I’m not claiming any of them will actually be made, and it’s very likely that nothing we’re about to discuss will ever actually be seen on screen! This is a wishlist from a Trekkie, and should be taken in that spirit. Secondly, all of this is the wholly subjective take of just one person. If you hate all of my story concepts, or if I don’t mention a favourite of yours… that’s okay. There should be enough room in the Star Trek fan community for different ideas and the kind of polite discussion that doesn’t descend into argument and toxicity.

With all of that out of the way, let’s take a look at some of my story ideas.

Story #1:
Bring back the Xindi.

Still frame from Star Trek: Enterprise Season 3 showing the Xindi. — Xindi in *Enterprise*.

The Xindi have technically appeared in Discovery – albeit in a non-speaking, background role. And Xindi-Reptillians were also seen in a slightly bigger capacity in Prodigy’s first season. But we haven’t gotten a proper Xindi story since Enterprise – not one that examines the Federation’s relationship to the faction, at any rate. I’d love to see the Xindi revisited in a big way, catching up with them after the events of Enterprise and perhaps finding out a little more about what became of them after the disappearance of the Sphere-Builders.

Starfleet Academy could, for instance, introduce a Xindi cadet – perhaps one of the first Xindi to be a Starfleet officer in some time. Or Captain Pike could be sent on a diplomatic mission to the Xindi homeworld barely a century after the attempted attack on Earth. Either of these shows could incorporate a Xindi storyline, and it would be a lot of fun to either lay the groundwork for a future Federation-Xindi alliance or see what became of that in the far future.

Still frame from Star Trek: Prodigy Season 1 showing two Xindi characters. — Two Xindi from *Prodigy’*s first season.

A story set in the far future could also reference the Sphere Builders and perhaps expand upon something Discovery never really explained: the ban on time travel. It always struck me as an impossible thing to enforce, especially given the shattered state of the Federation, but perhaps a Xindi character in Starfleet Academy could lecture the cadets on the dangers of trying to interfere with the past.

If Pike and the Enterprise visit the Delphic Expanse, we could get a story about the Xindi’s first attempt to reconcile with Earth. They might’ve retreated back to their homeworld after their defeat, and this could be the first time they’ve reached out to the Federation in decades. There could even be a resurrection of the plot to attack Earth, perhaps some disaffected Xindi faction feels that it’s the only way to restore their world to greatness. If so, Captain Pike could have to follow in Archer’s footsteps and stop them!

Story #2:
A sequel to In The Pale Moonlight.

Still frame from Star Trek: Deep Space Nine Season 6 showing Garak and Sisko. — Garak and Sisko.

Have you ever wondered what might’ve happened if the Romulans ever figured out what Garak and Sisko did during the Dominion War? I have! And it’s one of my all-time favourite fantasy storylines. I don’t think this would even need to include Sisko or Garak necessarily – though I’d love to bring back both Avery Brooks and Andrew Robinson to reprise their roles. But a story set sometime after the Dominion War could revisit this absolute cracker of an episode and address some of the lingering questions that it posed.

Though this could be another far future story, I guess, where I think it would work best would be in the Picard era. Perhaps the Romulans discover, in some of the documents and data that they saved from the supernova, the fake recording that Sisko and Garak created and revisit it, finally realising that it was fake. That could have massive implications for Romulan-Federation relations… or maybe the new Romulan government, relying on the Federation for aid and supplies after the cataclysm, would choose to cover it up. If Legacy had gotten off the ground, this would absolutely be a story I’d have wanted to see in that show.

Still frame from Star Trek: Picard Season 3 showing Seven of Nine. — This could’ve been a great episode of *Star Trek: Legacy*…

I can picture it already: Starfleet contacts the Enterprise, ordering Seven, Raffi, Jack, and the rest of the crew to parley with the Romulans. Seven’s Romulan connections from Picard Season 1 could come into play here, justifying Starfleet tapping the Enterprise for the mission. Upon arriving at the new Romulan homeworld, several angry Romulans – leaders of the Senate and Tal Shiar, perhaps – confront her over the deception. Seven and the crew genuinely have no idea what’s going on; Sisko and Garak told no one. In desperation, Seven contacts DS9, potentially being received by a familiar face.

At this point, the story could go in lots of different directions – all with plenty of those shades of grey which made In The Pale Moonlight so compelling. There could be genuinely uncomfortable real-world parallels – the lies told in order to start wars, threats of aid being withheld from desperate survivors of the supernova, and good people forced into impossible situations by the actions of others a generation ago.

Story #3:
A 60th Anniversary Special.

Promo image for Star Trek: Voyager showing Janeway and Tuvok with Rand and Sulu. — Janeway and Tuvok with Sulu and Rand from *Voyager’*s 30th anniversary episode, *Flashback*.

In 1996, two episodes were produced that really aimed to celebrate Star Trek’s thirtieth anniversary: Trials and Tribble-ations and Flashback. Both were, in my humble opinion, excellent – though fans have a clear preference for Trials and Tribble-ations! It’s been a frankly astonishing twenty-nine years since then… meaning Star Trek’s 60th is just around the corner.

A decade ago, Star Trek Beyond was the only production released during the 50th anniversary year, but Discovery was already filming. This time, I’d really love to see Paramount go all-out, using all of the resources at their disposal, to really celebrate all things Star Trek. Obviously this idea felt more likely before the recent cancellation announcements, and I would note that we’ve already had an excellent crossover between Lower Decks and Strange New Worlds that kind of occupies a similar space! But that wasn’t an anniversary special… so I think Star Trek and Paramount can do something, at least, to mark the occasion.

Still frame from Star Trek: Strange New Worlds Season 2 showing Mariner, Boimler, and Pike in the crossover episode. — Star Trek has recently done an ambitious crossover episode.

There are two shows in production that could – somehow – cross over. The best idea I can come up with at this stage would be the Starfleet Academy cadets running a simulation of Kirk’s Enterprise… which I realise sounds a lot like the maligned These Are The Voyages, but I think that same concept could’ve worked if it had been handled better and wasn’t intended to serve as Enterprise’s finale! So let’s say that, under the direction of Tilly and Vance, the cadets are aboard Kirk’s Enterprise, using the sets built for Strange New Worlds. What next?

Well, Strange New Worlds already has Kirk, Spock, Uhura, and Scotty – so we could use those characters and revisit a classic episode from The Original Series! Perhaps something like The Doomsday Machine, with the cadets observing Kirk’s actions for their assignment. This could mutate into a “the holodeck done goofed” type of story, perhaps, with the cadets having to genuinely fight for their lives alongside Captain Kirk and Spock. It wouldn’t be a pure crossover in the sense that Pike and some of the other Strange New Worlds characters would be missing… but I think it could be a huge amount of fun.

Story #4:
Save Captain Lorca!

Promo still for Star Trek: Discovery Season 1 showing Captain Lorca with a phaser. — Captain Lorca.

This has been a theory/fantasy of mine going all the way back to the announcement of Section 31 in 2019! In short, the prime timeline version of Captain Gabriel Lorca, from Discovery’s first season, switched places with his Mirror Universe counterpart before the events of the show. Mirror Lorca is dead – but we never learned what became of our universe’s version of the character. Admiral Cornwell just assumed that he’s dead… but Lorca always struck me as a resilient, resourceful man. So maybe there’s a way that he managed to survive.

Section 31 obviously went on to be a completely different thing, but we still have a show set in the 23rd Century where this kind of rescue mission might be possible: Strange New Worlds! Captain Pike confirmed back in Discovery that he knows about the existence of the Mirror Universe, and while any crossover story would have to keep characters like Spock, Uhura, and Scotty out of it, I think it could be made to work. Furthermore, we could get a glimpse of Pike’s past; perhaps he served with Lorca before either of them assumed their commands, or maybe they became friends while working together as starship captains.

Captain Lorca is trapped in the Terran Empire.

In my fantasy version of the story, Admiral April would contact Captain Pike with a top-secret assignment. Starfleet has received a brief message from across the divide between universes, confirming that Captain Lorca is still alive. Based on what Starfleet learned from the USS Discovery’s time in the Mirror Universe, they’ve found a way to send a small ship through the looking-glass – and Pike, as one of the few officers aware of the Mirror Universe and because of his connection to Lorca, has been chosen to lead the mission. Pike would select Ortegas to be the shuttle’s pilot and another character – perhaps La’an for security or Pelia to keep the shuttle flying and maintain its systems – for a clandestine mission akin to the one Picard undertook in Chain of Command.

Once in the Mirror Universe, Pike and the others would have to trace the source of Lorca’s signal – it’s coming from a Terran Empire prison camp. They’d come up with a plan, break him out, engage in a shootout with a few Terrans, and possibly catch a glimpse of Mirror Spock before making it home safe and sound. I think this could be a really fun story – and a great way to bring Star Trek’s current crop of shows full-circle by returning to the events of Discovery’s first season.

Story #5:
Captain Pike vs. the Borg Collective!

Still frame from Star Trek: The Next Generation Season 2 showing a Borg drone in main engineering. — The first Borg drone ever seen in Star Trek.

Okay, now we’re getting silly. But I still think that a Borg Strange New Worlds episode isn’t as far-fetched as it sounds! Let me explain why. Firstly, just like the Captain Lorca episode above, this one would have to take place in an alternate timeline. Somehow, someway, thanks to some technobabble interstellar phenomenon, the Enterprise is thrust into a parallel universe – one in which the Borg have come to dominate the entire galaxy. Pike and the crew would have to face off against a horde of cybernetic adversaries while struggling to make it home.

Characters like Spock and Una could suggest that this cybernetic race – the Borg – might not exist in the prime timeline, potentially explaining how Pike’s run-in with the Borg was never mentioned by anyone else! I think that clears up that particular issue much better than Enterprise did with its Borg episode! But I also like the idea of leaving just a little bit of ambiguity right at the end – perhaps Pike submits his report, and the camera hangs on Admiral April as he looks pensive and concerned.

Still frame from Star Trek: Strange New Worlds Season 2 showing Captain Pike in his away team armour. — How would Pike handle the Borg threat?

After Picard arguably overdid it with the Borg, I can appreciate why bringing them back so soon might not be to everyone’s taste. And when there are so many factions and races from past iterations of Star Trek still waiting to be revisited, I can entertain the argument that doing another Borg story might not be the way to go. But when I think about the most iconic villains in Star Trek, the toughest enemies to beat, and the most frightening… the Borg are absolutely up there in all three categories, and I think they’d pose a massive challenge for Pike and the crew.

The most important thing for me is setting a story like this in an alternate universe, not the prime timeline. There’d be enough wiggle-room to have an encounter like this without treading on the toes of fantastic episodes like Q Who and The Best of Both Worlds that way.

Story #6:
Push the Burn into an alternate timeline.

Still frame from Star Trek: Discovery Season 3 showing the Burn destroying starships in a flashback. — The Burn.

As a parting gift to potential future Star Trek storytellers, I can’t think of anything this current crop of shows could do that would be better than pushing the Burn and the far-future setting into an alternate reality. Don’t get me wrong: I don’t want to see Discovery and Starfleet Academy decreed to be “non-canon,” and the far-future setting had some interesting ideas that led to some genuinely great episodes. But… as the ultimate destination for the entire Star Trek galaxy, the Burn and the post-apocalyptic hellscape it created are incredibly depressing. Not only that, they risk constraining future stories, making them feel meaningless or unimportant.

Any new Star Trek project set prior to the 32nd Century becomes, by default, a Discovery prequel. And when we know how awful Discovery’s far future was for pretty much everyone… that’s not great. It completely changes how we view stories like Picard’s third season; we knew, even subconsciously in the backs of our minds, that even if Picard managed to save the day and defeat the Borg, the Burn was still going to happen. No other Star Trek project has done more to restrict and reframe subsequent productions than Discovery’s third season.

Still frame from Star Trek: Picard Season 3 showing Spacedock under attack. — Any Star Trek episode or film set in the 23rd, 24th, or 25th Centuries becomes, by default, a prequel to *Discovery’*s far future… and the Burn.

And I think, all things considered, “post-apocalyptic Star Trek” didn’t work as intended – at least not in Discovery with the kinds of stories the production team wanted to tell. So let’s assume Starfleet Academy will get two seasons before a cancellation in 2027 or 2028. The absolute best thing that show could do in its final episode is find some way to push this version of the future into a pocket universe or alternate timeline. You’d have to come up with some kind of technobabble and a reason why; maybe the Burn will have knock-on effects that ultimately lead to some additional disaster, and the only way to prevent it will be to travel back in time and stop the Burn from ever happening. I don’t know. But there’s gotta be someone who could write a story like that!

What this story would have to do is thread the needle. Discovery and Starfleet Academy could continue to exist for folks who enjoyed them – and I certainly hope to be among the people who enjoy Starfleet Academy! But the main storyline of the Burn could push those shows into some kind of parallel universe – paving the way for Star Trek projects in the future to not have that massively depressing destination.

Story #7:
Star Trek: Legacy.

Still frame from Star Trek: Picard Season 3 showing the Enterprise-G. — The Enterprise-G.

This one isn’t a single “story” so much as an entire TV movie! In short, I’d love to see Terry Matalas’ Legacy pitch revisited, somehow. If we stick with our assumption that cancellation is coming, then it seems beyond unlikely that a brand-new big-budget series is going to get out of the starting gate. But maybe, just maybe, there’s room to turn Legacy into a Section 31-style TV movie. If it does well in that format, then who knows? Maybe Skydance/Paramount will want a continuation.

I really hope that the negative reception Section 31 received earlier in the year won’t dissuade Star Trek’s corporate overlords from revisiting the TV movie idea. There are so many stories that could work in that format – even if they couldn’t carry an entire series on their own. While I’d absolutely love to see Legacy in its originally-envisioned form as a full-blown series, a TV movie could be the next best thing… and a way to test the waters to see if the 25th Century could be Star Trek’s saviour.

Still frame from Star Trek: Picard Season 2 showing Seven and Raffi. — Seven and Raffi could return…

I’ve argued repeatedly that the Star Trek franchise can’t just coast on nostalgia and past successes, and needs to do more to bring new, younger fans on board. That’s something I hoped Section 31 could’ve done… but that doesn’t seem to have happened, unfortunately. A restructured Legacy, with just enough of a connection to Star Trek’s past without going overboard, could be the gateway into the franchise for new fans – connecting back to characters from The Next Generation era while setting the stage for new adventures in the 25th Century.

I’ll caveat all of this by saying that no one knows what was in the original Legacy pitch – it might’ve been absolute dog shite that we would’ve all despised! And there’s clearly a reason why Paramount didn’t go for it in 2022/23. But as with other missed opportunities in recent years – like Quentin Tarantino’s film idea – I can’t help but feel the decision not to move forward was the wrong one. Perhaps Legacy can still be revived, even if it has to be a one-off TV movie instead of a full series.

Story #8:
“Cardassia Prime.”

Still frame from Star Trek: The Original Series showing the USS Enterprise with the words "Cardassia Prime" in the style of an Original Series title card.

If you’re a regular reader, you might remember my fantasy “episode pitch” for Strange New Worlds from a few months back. I titled the story Cardassia Prime, and it would tell the story of first contact between the Federation and the Cardassians. But wait, there’s more! I’d also bring an elderly T’Pol into the story, serving as an ambassador and diplomat for the Federation in her later years.

The episode would start with Captain Pike receiving new orders – a Federation colony ship has been attacked by an unknown faction, and a special ambassador is coming aboard the Enterprise to help defuse the situation. The ambassador will be revealed as T’Pol – now well over a hundred years old, but still working for the Federation. I’d love to see some interaction between an elderly T’Pol and a younger Spock; perhaps she’d have some advice for him on working closely with humans and discovering personal connections with them that could foreshadow Spock’s deep bond with Kirk.

Still frame from Star Trek: Enterprise showing an elderly T'Pol. — This episode would feature an older T’Pol.

We’ll also discover that the aggressive, territorial power T’Pol has been sent to negotiate with is the nascent Cardassian Empire – and they’ve laid claim to a system that a Federation colony ship inadvertently ventured into. This kind of hostile first contact, with an emphasis on competing claims for star systems along a shared border, could set be the precursor to the Carsassian Border Wars of the 24th Century, foreshadowing events referenced in The Next Generation and Deep Space Nine. I like the idea of a non-violent resolution; Captain Pike shouldn’t have to fire his phaser even once, despite Cardassian intransigence!

We’ve never seen how first contact between Starfleet and the Cardassians went, and I just adore the idea of an episode bringing together elements from all three of Star Trek’s main eras: the 22nd Century, represented by T’Pol, the 23rd, obviously represented by Pike, Spock, and the Enterprise, and the 24th, represented by the Cardassians, who were first introduced in that era and who were a major antagonist. If you want a longer look at my “Cardassia Prime” story outline, you can find it by clicking or tapping here.

Story #9:
32nd Century Klingons.

Still frame from Star Trek III: The Search for Spock showing a Klingon Bird-of-Prey up close. — A Klingon Bird-of-Prey.

After shooting forwards in time far beyond anything we’ve seen in Star Trek before, Discovery disappointed me by showing us remarkably little of the galaxy in this era. With storylines focused on the next “massive galactic threat” and Burnham’s soap opera-like personal relationships, the show just didn’t even try to give us a bigger picture look at some of the factions and races we remember. A few were glimpsed – literally, just glimpsed in the background with a single character, like a Ferengi or Lurian. But we’ve seen hide nor hair of the Klingons.

Of all the races in Star Trek, the Klingons are perhaps the most iconic and narratively important. So it feels odd to have spent three full seasons in Discovery’s far future without so much as glimpsing a single solitary Klingon! There are so many ways this could’ve gone, too – the Klingons could’ve become fully-fledged Federation members by this time, returned to isolationism, or even broken their alliance to become an enemy once again.

Still frame from Star Trek: Deep Space Nine showing two Klingon leaders on DS9's viewscreen. — Gowron and Martok in *Deep Space Nine*.

And then there’s the Burn. The Burn was, in a roundabout way, caused by a Federation citizen aboard a Federation ship… so what would the Klingons make of that revelation? How did the Burn even impact their empire – or whatever was left of it by the 32nd Century? Is there still an extant Klingon state at all, or did their empire fall apart centuries ago, with surviving Klingons existing as second-class citizens under the jurisdiction of the likes of the Breen or Emerald Chain?

I’d love to see Starfleet Academy begin the process of answering these questions! Even though, as stated above, I think pushing this vision of the far future into a separate timeline would be for the best, I’m still curious to catch up with the Klingons in this era, finding out what happened to them in the centuries after we last saw them.

Story #10:
Tie up Picard’s loose ends… or some of them, at least.

Still frame from Star Trek: Picard Season 1 showing Narek's final on-screen moment. — Hi, Narek…

Who are the “alliance of synthetic life,” and what were their goals? Who created the mysterious transwarp anomaly/weapon? Could those two stories, from Seasons 1 and 2 of Picard, be related somehow? I’d love to get some closure on these two apparently-massive storylines that Picard’s writing team dropped without bothering to explain!

This is another storyline that could’ve emerged in Star Trek: Legacy… but I think there’s at least the potential for Starfleet Academy to tie up these loose ends. Even if all we get is a short scene, a few lines of dialogue, and confirmation that the super-synths tried to attack the Federation before being defeated by a renegade Borg ally… that would be something. Maybe we could learn that Starfleet established relations with the “alliance of synthetic life” and they maintain an embassy. If the writers really wanted to lean into this idea, we could even connect it to a synthetic character like the Doctor – who we know is coming back in Starfleet Academy’s first season.

Still frame from Star Trek: Picard Season 2 showing the assembled fleet and the mysterious anomaly. — The mysterious anomaly from Season 2.

As I’ve said before, Picard was a jumbled, contradictory mess of a show – one that dumped characters and storylines with no explanation, overwrote significant story beats from one episode to the next, and while it managed to pull out a satisfactory ending to its third season… there was a lot left on the cutting-room floor as the credits rolled. Getting some kind of closure to some of these points – even centuries later in a completely different context – would be fantastic.

As Trekkies, we like the world of Star Trek to make sense. And when whole storylines which appear to involve impossibly-powerful enemies and adversaries just disappear without a trace… well, that isn’t very satisfying. Even if Starfleet Academy could find time to include a couple of throwaway lines of dialogue referencing and providing some kind of closure to the super-synths and the mysterious anomaly… I think that would do a lot to improve how I feel about those storylines.

So that’s it… for now.

Concept art of the USS Excalibur from Star Trek Online. — *Star Trek Online’*s USS Excalibur.

With Strange New Worlds not even halfway through its four-and-a-half season run, and Starfleet Academy having been announced but not so much as glimpsed yet… it feels strange to be thinking about Star Trek as a whole potentially being shut down in just a few years’ time. However, unless something massive changes – and quickly – that seems to be what we’re headed for. It’s a depressing thought, especially since cancellation in the late 2020s could very well mean that these upcoming episodes and stories will be the last brand-new Star Trek I’ll ever see. But what can you do, eh?

I hope this has been an interesting thought experiment, at least. There are some stories and episode ideas that I’d really love to see brought to the screen over the next few years, and if they’re to be among the last in this current incarnation of Star Trek… well, let’s just hope they’re good ones!

Thanks for tuning in, and as always… Live Long and Prosper!

Star Trek: Strange New Worlds Season 3 and Star Trek: Starfleet Academy Season 1 are in production and will be broadcast on Paramount+ in the months ahead. Other Star Trek shows and films are already on the platform now, and may also be available on DVD and/or Blu-ray. The Star Trek franchise – including all episodes, films, series, and other properties discussed above – is the copyright of Paramount Global. This article contains the thoughts and opinions of one person only and is not intended to cause any offence.