Submitted 11 hours ago by neon_nova@lemmy.dbzer0.com to startrek@startrek.website
My brother said that he will watch an episode of Trek with me when I visit my family in October.
I am wonder what the best single episode to show him is. He has not seen anything Trek before.
I am thinking something that is newer, but not necessarily.
Anyway, what do you think would be good?
I’m going to say any or none of the suggestions here may be right.
And some of them, like Inner Light, are awful choices simply because their impact is very dependent on having the context the rest of the series and characters.
The main thing is that Star Trek has a wide variety of tones. The way to success is to provide excellent examples of very Trekie episodes that are in the genre or tone that your friends already like.
Don’t show them action if they like cerebral mystery. Don’t show them romance if they like action. Don’t show them intense drama if they’re into comedy. If they’re into animation, start with Lower Decks or Prodigy not TNG.
Examples from this perspective…
If they like psychological horror, then TNG’s ‘Schisms’ or Voyager’s ‘The Thaw’ might be best.
If they like action, Discovery’s two part pilot might be the one.
I’ve struggled with this question for years, and haven’t been able to come up with an answer I feel good about, so the “correct” answer is probably, “consider the person’t tastes and cater to them.”
I do believe that it’s probably not a good idea to start with the “best” episodes - they tend to break the usual format, and once you’ve seen them, there’s nowhere to go but down.
Instead, I’m on a continuous search for the most “average” episodes - solid, enjoyable, and representative of what the series and franchise are as a whole. But I still don’t have a simple answer.
TNG, “The Inner Light”
One of my all time favorites! I was considering this.
Don’t show him any of the all time greats. Then there’s nowhere to go but down.
I also wouldn’t try to hook him on a twenty or thirty out forty year old show when there’s a really good Trek series coming out right now. There’s no urgency to watching an old show, so even if he likes it he’s likely to put it off for later and forget about it.
Just hit him with SNW episode 1. It’s a decent episode, not an all time best but a good introduction to what the Federation is all about and very briefly how it grew from the present day. And if he decides to continue in his own, there’s no question of where to start - just move on to episode 2.
DS9 The Visitor is a complete story on its own and has some of the best acting in the franchise.
that one can backfire as its too good and can set the wrong expedition.
I agree that The Visitor is a great choice! Although depending on OP’s goal I’d argue for Duet because,
So it might be a simpler introduction to the rest of the show.
Those factors aside, yeah The Visitor is probably the more compelling story.
Either way, DS9 has the best character writing, and is therefore the way to go!
If you are talking TOS then for me it’s “The City on the Edge of Forever”.
I think TOS is too difficult to be someone’s first trek experience.
DS9 - In the Pale Moonlight
Hands down one of the best storylines, acting, twists, pure joy of resolution.
I disagree. I think the Dominion War context is way too important.
It’s been a while since I’ve seen that. Could it be too difficult for someone with 0 trek knowledge to get?
I think the important bits are easy to pickup in context. There is a war and it’s not going well. Sisko is trying to bring a powerful neutral party into the war and is willing to do very questionable things to do it.
As a Star Trek fan I had given up on DS9 during the original airing of the first season. Latter I caught Pale Moonlight by chance and it impressed me enough to watch some more. Then I went back and watched all the earlier stuff. Now it’s my favorite Star Trek.
When I first saw it I knew Star Trek quit well but had no idea what was going on in DS9 and had no trouble following the story.
SNW “A Quality Of Mercy”
and then TOS “A Balance Of Terror”
I think it conveys the breadth, depth and love there is in the star trek fandom for the universe.
That’s a really good idea! I so far it’s this and mine to mori in the lead.
I personally love DS9 and think that it has aged better than TNG. I think its S1 is not amazing, but certainly one of the better first seasons. It has plenty of good enough episodes that don’t depend heavily on the upcoming plot and leave your brother in a good place if he wants to start watching for himself.
A few suggestions would be:
By series: TOS: City on the Edge of Forever TNG: Measure of a Man or Inner Light DS9: In the Pale Moonlight or The Visitor VOY: Scorpion SNW: 1:1 or Memento Mori LD: Crisis Point
Holes and crap! Measure of a Man might be genius. Intellectually engaging, good acting, but boring (no offense) enough that other parts of the show can impress as well!
Measure of a Man is one of the best single episodes of any television show ever
By 1:1, do you mean the first episode for the first season?
Voyager’s “Year of Hell” is the best of any television, but admittedly, will be a difficult entry. If they are adventurous, though, it’s fully enjoyable without any Trek knowledge.
That’s really good, but maybe too hard for someone with basically 0 trek knowledge. Thanks!
Darmok
That’s a really interesting choice. Ok it’s in my top 3
Might be a bit off beat to say this, but maybe the first episode of Prodigy?
It’s very much intended as an entry point into Star Trek for those unexposed to Star Trek.
I kind of feel like Prodigy struggles the first half of the first season… as a Prodigy lover, I’ll say it certainly gets there, but even then, let’s say it wasn’t until season 2 that Jankom Pog no longer made me want to find out what Tellarite carnitas taste like…
Little8Lost@lemmy.world 2 hours ago
I think the first three episodes of SNW are like made for new people with showing clearly what Star Trek should stand for.
If you are only watching one episode to hook him in you could also go with something funnier like lower decks or a ferengi episode
Or you could get confusing and take The Orville :p
neon_nova@lemmy.dbzer0.com 2 hours ago
The Orville might not be a bad idea. I didn’t consider it, but my brother really likes family guy.