These are absolutely outstanding episodes, easily my two favorite episodes ever. I think Darmok is abit more standalone, but the plot coherency with riker trying to get picard back detracts from it abit. On the other hand I think that In the Pale Moonlight is a more coherent story but requires more context to understand (you should appreciate the subtleties of everyone's personality at this point to have a full effect).
As a disclaimer, I've probably seen every episode of star trek, minus TOS 3 or 4 times (I watched alot of TV as a kid).
Again, these two episodes are possibly the paradigms (to me) of each series. TNG was highly intellectual and very thought based, while DS9 was bad the first few seasons and evolved into a highly complex drama that I would rate amongst the best sci-fi I have seen. If you had to pull an episode from Voyager, it would be "the void" for me.
Personally I don't like Darmok. From TNG I might suggest The inner light (picard's flute episode) or Cause and Effect (time loop episode).
From the original series, depends how corny you want it to be. Some incredibly corny "monster" or alien episodes--but good--are the Devil in the Dark (horta episode) and Arena (the gorn epsiode). Trouble with Tribbles is cute and funny and definitely good.
City on the Edge of Forever is often considered as one of the best episodes. I recommend it. I also recommend Mirror, Mirror (where the crew get sent into a parallel universe). Balance of Terror (the first Romulan episode) is also very good, and has the famous "in a different reality, I could have called you friend"
Let This be your last battlefield (the one with the half white half black) gives a good idea for what star trek was supposed to be in the context of the time period (ie. this one is an allegory towards racism; other episodes are other allegories) and that is a very good "star trek" experience.
Finally, The Savage Curtain HAS LINCOLN IN IT, SO IT MUST BE COOL
edit- of course, for real star trek experience you also have to have Patterns of Force (nazi episode) and A Piece of the Action (Gangster episode) to see the old "oh hey, every planet we visit exactly mirrors Xth century earth!"
tl;dr though: City on the edge of Forever and Mirror Mirror are the two best original series, or Trouble with Tribbles if you want a more fun story. I like Cause and Effect from TNG, but TNG is overall much better quality than the original series--but it lacks the true corny star trek experience that makes star trek good. Probably should choose something from TNG or DS9.
I love DS9 but I think it's hard to pick a single episode as it's much more about story arcs and often relies on knowing at least some stuff about the characters.
"The Inner Light" is absolutely amazing and would be my first choice. If you want a little controversy you could chose "Who Watches the Watchers" where humans accidentaly reveal themselves to a primitive Vulcan society and are treated as gods or "Suddenly Human" about a human boy raised by an aggressive race.
I came here to post this. 100% agree. The ending was amazing imo. I'd only show it to her though if she's into spy dramas and conspiracy movies and shit, though.
If you want a tear jerker for her, though, go with DS9's The Visitor
Edit -- I just saw Darmok at the top of this page. I also recommend that one. Its an intellectual one though so only show that to her if she's into language or conceptual stuff like that.
On March 30 2011 11:28 sikyon wrote: If you had to pull an episode from Voyager, it would be "the void" for me.
I thought The Void was alright, but I don't think that it'd be a good representative of the series because they're just trying to buy time and not go crazy for the whole episode (if I remember right, and I'm pretty sure that I do)
A really tragic one though is the Voyager episode where they discover that they are actually a cloned version of the original crew and they decay as they attempt to make it back to Earth despite learning of their imminent demise because that's what their original selves would have done.
Am i the only one who likes TOS the best? Like someone suggested "City on the Edge of Forever" is really good for a non trekkie. Some of my other favorites are "A Taste of Armageddon" and the one were everyone on the enterprise gets high on magic spores ( can't remember the title). Again, these are only TOS just because thats my favorite.
The New Star Trek movie is easier for people who don't like sci fi. TBH if you don't like sci fi, I don't know why you would want to watch star trek ( I am not really into it either)
Not a movie. Go for TNG since it has a lot of character stuff which is more interesting for someone not naturally into tech or scifi based shows.
Data is an incredibly endearing character and episodes around him tend to work well with people new to the show. Measure of Man (?) is a good example, it's cute and thought-provoking.
There are plenty of great trek episodes but you need one which appeals to a "general audience". Hence I would def go a character story rather than an action or a tech story (however great they might be).
Re the New Movie, it's fun enough but it's not really Star Trek, it's generic space action. You can show her that if you want but I don't imagine she'll remember it a week later. Especially if she didn't enjoy Star Wars much.
I just finished re-watching In the Pale Moonlight again and the first 2 parts of it require a bit of explaining (what's the dominion, the romulan empire, what's up with this war thing going on, who the fuck is garak and why is the guy in charge relying on him - also wtf is the obsidian order and jem'hadar)
edit -- Perhaps TNG's Tapestry would be a better pick
TOS and the new movie are pretty much opposite to each other in terms of age, and by that I mean that science fiction and tv shows have been through various evolution phases to go from one end to the other. TOS isn't for everyone. The show *does* feel old and unless you are going to stretch your mind as far as to allow space planet alien mafias to sound the slightest bit viable as a plot item.
The new movie is just a modern sci fi flick, with a couple nostalgic elements tossed in and quickly covered by explosions and going beyond everything that was ever achieved in all star trek seasons combined.
Go for next generation, ladies like captain Archer because he is basically a Harrison Ford who isn't old, and T'pol looks like an alternative emo space chick that magically attracts attention from anything, which is something that any girl who asks buys about star trek can relate to.
Show her Amok Time, Season 2 of ToS. I love that episode. Star Trek was my first experience with Sci-Fi and I loved it. The guy who suggested Trouble with Tribbles is probably right too. There's far too many episodes that I'm partial to.
Though what people are saying about trying to get her into it through more accessible things may be right.
On March 30 2011 12:44 Foreplay wrote: Am i the only one who likes TOS the best? Like someone suggested "City on the Edge of Forever" is really good for a non trekkie. Some of my other favorites are "A Taste of Armageddon" and the one were everyone on the enterprise gets high on magic spores ( can't remember the title). Again, these are only TOS just because thats my favorite.
Actually, I change my answer. This guy's answer is awesome. City on the Edge of Forever is awesome.
On March 30 2011 13:32 r33k wrote: TOS and the new movie are pretty much opposite to each other in terms of age, and by that I mean that science fiction and tv shows have been through various evolution phases to go from one end to the other. TOS isn't for everyone. The show *does* feel old and unless you are going to stretch your mind as far as to allow space planet alien mafias to sound the slightest bit viable as a plot item.
The new movie is just a modern sci fi flick, with a couple nostalgic elements tossed in and quickly covered by explosions and going beyond everything that was ever achieved in all star trek seasons combined.
Go for next generation, ladies like captain Archer because he is basically a Harrison Ford who isn't old, and T'pol looks like an alternative emo space chick that magically attracts attention from anything, which is something that any girl who asks buys about star trek can relate to.
Um, isn't Captain Archer and T'Pol from Enterprise, not The Next Generation?
Honestly, it's quite hard for sci-fi virgins to get into Enterprise, especially the heavily serialized episodes from the Xindi story arch. The few stand-alone episodes require some fan knowledge because they mainly deal more with Star Trek history more than being just good episodes.
However, the mirror universe 2-part episodes of Enterprise are pretty fun to watch. However, the episodes dealing with T'Pol's emotions and sexuality are just downright awkward to watch.
Operation : Annihilate for TOS Or The Wolf in the Fold (but not really after thinking about it...it's one of my favorite episode but not sure it fits your criteria)
Any episode with relationship trouble between Neelix and Kes from Voyager. Thats almost like a soap opera in space. Neelix kinda like the fat guy from King of Queens(but being kinda ugly and socially inept instead of fat), and Kes like his beautiful girlfriend/wife/love interest. Oh, the drama.
But apart from that, I kinda still like Neelix. Dunno why though.
Stargate SG-1 Season 4 Episode 6 Window of Opportunity + Show Spoiler +
Alien time loop machine. Day repeats itself. What would you do if you could do whatever you wanted with no consequence? Hilarity ensues. (eg. playing golf while on the job ... shooting golf balls into a wormhole)
The thing about Stargate SG-1 that makes it so easily accessible is that most the episodes require no technical science knowledge. Also the series is overall pretty humorous and easy going.
On March 30 2011 14:33 Urth wrote: Yeah, sadly, the newest movie is your best bet. Tons of people I know, who have no interest in sci-fi, loved it.
I know you said no movies, but it is by far your best bet over any episode.
This is unfortunately probably true, but the newest film has nothing to do with star trek really. It's a generic sci-fi film using star trek characters (not that it's bad, but it's not star trek).
Try showing her a good episode of Dollhouse instead, i'd suggest one from S2 with Summer Glaus character featured - if she doesn't fall in love with her, i believe your gf is an android.
In which case you don't need to watch sci fi with her, you're living it.
EPT
( I am not really into it either)
Or The Wolf in the Fold (but not really after thinking about it...it's one of my favorite episode but not sure it fits your criteria)
