10 Greatest Star Trek Cold Opens
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- Опубликовано: 5 июл 2024
- When you only have a minute or two to grab attention, what does Star Trek put right up front?
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Surely Deanna waking up being a Romulan deserves to be on a sequel list. And also Picard being told that Spock supposedly defected to Romulus.
Kira had a similar ep in DS9 with her as a Cardassian.
I agree to both statements
Referring to "The Menagerie" as a clip show may be technically correct, but it is SO much more than that! The plot is compelling all the way through, and Spock's devotion to his old captain is very moving. This version of the first pilot is infinitely better than "The Cage" is on its own. It won a Hugo Award for a reason.
And The Cage was unaired at the time, so it was just making use of resources they had
Showing us clips we had never seen to tell a gripping story of its own; yeah I can liove with that! 😁
Agreed it can't really be a clip show if no one had seen the Cage at the time. It would be a very long time before anyone got to see the full Cage episode! Thankfully it wasn't lost.
@@wanderinghistorian Technically it *was* a clip show as it took clips from something already made as a separate project. The clips *do not* have to have been previously aired to qualify for the term; they are still clips and hence this was a clip show. But since the footage was all-new to audiences no one minded (if they even knew at all at the time these were clips to begin with - I am sure many folks had no idea the first time this was aired). In fact, if anything the 'clips' are way more interesting than most of the framing story about the court martial is. They are the reason why Captain Pike is breathing all new life in the Star trek franchise *now* with a series of his own. That makes this two-parter perhaps the most long-term consequential episode(s) TOS ever made (even more so now than "Space Seed", the previous record holder).
Clip show is a misnomer. Shades of Gray was a clip show. The Menagerie was a framing device.
My favorite cold open among those not listed here is the TOS episode Tomorrow is Yesterday. What is unique about it is that at the start no one knew Star trek had even begun yet. The first few seconds looks like a military recruitment ad such as were common in the day. Then the story clearly shows a modern USAF setting rather than the Enterprise. Combine this with the fact that the TV guide had listed a completely different episode with no mention of time travel added even more to the confusion. My brother and I - both Star trek fans - were actively ignoring what was going on and wondering if Star trek got pre-empted for some reason when the familiar music starts to play and we see the Enterprise soaring majestically in Earth's skies. Something I'd give anything to see in real life, to assure me that Humanity *does* have a great future despite all the political antics making the headlines right now. Affected me greatly even as a child. Even now I get a shiver whenever I see that cold open; it's like seeing Superman himself up there making sure we're all kept safe (I know that is not why the Enterprise is there, but still...), and that the future will - eventually - be wondrous.
Agreed! I love the cold opens that set up a story in an unfamiliar setting with unfamiliar characters. "Devil in the Dark" is in this category.
@@edgeof60 Yes. That is not only one of my favorite cold opens as well but one of my favorite episodes of any Star Trek series.
Yes! This guy gets it! You first see footage on an air force base and you think you aren't watching Trek at all, but something else. That was a shocking opening.
You painted a lovely word picture, Mr Toddman. I can quite picture it in my mind, because even though I am not old enough to have watched original series on air, I am at least older than TNG, and as such also of an age that grew up with live TV being the standard. So yeah, I can imagine it. But I wouldn't have been able to had you not offered me the above context of how it appeared to you as a viewer, so thank you.
@@gayahithwen Thanks. I'm something of an amateur writer so i enjoy telling anecdotes like that. 😁It's nice to get the occasional feedback telling me that every so often someone actually *likes reading them.*
Denise Crosby simply reading the registry of the ship and then the shock saying the the name will always give me chills for some reason.
Hollow Pursuits with the the then-unknown Barclay punching out Geordi and chokeholding Riker (before the holodeck reveal) was an underratred one.
I would add The Doomsday Machine to the list. Coming upon the horrifically damaged Constellation before the opening credits made a big impact on this young girl. What follows is one of the greatest tragic hero episodes with the late William Windom as Commodore Matt Decker. Talk about survivor's guilt! This episode is a classic for psychological analysis.
Commodore Decker will always hold a place in my hearty for having uttered the line I'd longed to hear. "You may leave the bridge, Doctor."
This concept could easily support a top ten list for each show.
I remember “the visitor”. DS9 aired on Saturday nights at 7pm where I was. I didn’t know it at the time but I found out later one of my best friends ever died of a heart attack at age 33 shortly after the show began. Anytime I see that episode I can’t help but think of my friend Tom.
Voyager's "Tinker, Tenor, Doctor, Spy" had the EMH singing opera to Tuvok suffering from Pon Farr. One of their best episodes.
Also, "Skull Dukat" is masterful
As to other candidates for this list, I'd submit The Defector, The Wounded, Face of the Enemy, and Tapestry for TNG.
Emissary(straight into Wolf 359), The Search(Defiant, baby), Trials and Tribble-ations, and Favor the Bold for DS9
For Voyager, Year of Hell, In the Flesh, Timeless, and Endgame would be my picks
And for Enterprise, Shuttlepod One, The Expanse, and Borderland had pretty explosive openings.
Some of these could be top 10, a lot I'd leave for a second list.
Tapestry is definitely a great candidate for this list!
"The Menagerie" is so much more striking now that we've got Strange New Worlds showing us more of Pike and Spock's relationship.
As well as his relationship with Vina.
aka SPike.
As well as knowing that Pike knew what his fate was 10 years before it happened. That's a gut punch.
What about "Worst Case Scenario"? The Voyager episode that starts with Chakotay leading a mutiny
I was waiting for this to be on the list and it didn't show up. One of the best openings.
Personally I'd rank Cause and Effect either #1 or #2 (with Yesterday's Enterprise being the other choice). For me, the reason Cause and Effect is so good isn't just the cold open prior to the credits. It's also what happens coming back after the first commercial break. The ship is back to where it had started with ZERO MENTION of anything having gone wrong. And thanks to shooting all the same scenes at various different camera angles, it actually takes a moment to realize you're re-watching the same scenes.
cause and effect as the title kind of give the "this is a time loop episode" secret away. Like Time Squared, where Enterprise D meets a "future" Picard in a shuttle, and they become obsessed with wondering when and where that incident will happen.
I thought Cause and Effect should have been on the list as well.
@@ceilisworld183it is on the list, but only at #9. I think it should have been #1.
the episode when Captain Bakula couldn't create new memories was one of my top 3 Enterprise
episodes. the way T'Pol gave her life to care for him provoked emotions I clearly felt.
"Captain Bakula" (?), Captain Stewart, Captain Mulgrew, Commander Brooks, Captain Shatner and Captain Mount ? :)
@@andrewmurray1550 and captain mount's science officer. lieutenant Peck.
@@jyesucevitz 😆 Oh there's a meme in your comment---but I'll be good---for now.
DS9 Far Beyond the Stars cold open was not so much a shock moment like the episodes on this list but seeing Odo and Worf without makeup was surprising.
I'm sure Michael Dorn was more than happy to finally do an episode without needing to be in the makeup chair for hours! LOL
The opening of In a Mirror Darkly was epic! And I loved The Visitor. Incidentally, the young woman who goes to visit Jake in The Visitor is played by Andrew Robinson' (Garak)'s daughter.
In a Mirror Darkly is an amazing opening. I've gone back and watched it a number of times. I also really like the intro and how it shows what an in-universe TV show might be like.
It should have been higher on the list imo.
and @Thrasher should have been number on in my books, great twist on the first contact and superb opening titles. the music far better than there regular one. Had to watch a few times before I realized it was not James Cromwell not actually pulling the trigger just someone with the coat on to make it look like it was him, it so seamless.
One of the buildings being destroyed in the titles is from an episode.
It definatly is better than the actual number one on the list, and I am not even a big fan of Bakulaprise
The pre-credit sequence in JJ’s Star Trek that sets up the Kelvin timeline is one of the best cold-opens in Star Trek.
Agreed. I would add that the music was one of the stronger elements in that amazing scene. Title: Labor of Love.
One of my favorites is the little-remembered opening to The Trouble with Tribbles, with the Enterprise on red alert, responding to a cryptic Code 1 emergency and armed for battle. Less a WTF moment than the others on this list, the quick reveal of having been summoned for guard duty perfectly sets up Kirk’s annoyance and antagonism that will drive the story.
I personaly love the DS9 follow-up Trials and Tribbleations when Sisko and crew realise they've travelled to the past.....and encounter Enterprise 1701. (and Bashire doesn't even know what Kirk looks like???? (or was that O'Brien" thinking SCOTTY was Kirk?!).
@@andrewmurray1550 also 'THOSE are Klingons?!' lol
@@davidkelly4210 I always thought that Worf should have just looked like the other Klingons, and no one even commented on it.
@@andrewmurray1550 It was O'Brien--but it wasn't Scotty that he thought was Kirk. It was some lieutenant.
Nicely done. If I were to add another spectacular cold open, it would be, "The Doomsday Machine". Kirk sees the Constellation and announces, "She was attacked". Then we get that musical flourish, and you know things have just gotten real. Have a good day.
I still think that Yesterday's Enterprise should have had Capt. Worf being the klingon to demand the Enterprise's surrender before Picard jumped up to tactical and began firing.
Oh, that would’ve been AWESOME
I wonder why the writer didn't write it that way? Or if he DID, why did the producer and/or the director change it?
Because Worf would have died or been captured by Romulans on Khitomer, since no Star Fleet vessel came to their aid against the Romulans (at least in recorded history). The Enterprise C had to return for Worf to live.
I've often thought that Worf should have been the Klingon captain attacking them as well!
@@tonyf6837 Very possible Worf would have been killed, but also the chance he would have survived. In TNG episode, Birthright, it was revealed that the Romulans did take some prisoners from the attack. So they may not have killed all the Klingons, even without the help from the Enterprise-C.
Garak was so mistreated in "In the pale moonlight." Sisko was willing to kill millions to save the Federation, but when it came down to it, Garak killed a few and saved the whole quadrant. Sisko wanted to have his moral cake and eat it, while Garak was prosaic and did precisely what had to be done.
"That's why you came to me, isn't it, Captain? Because you knew I could do those things that you weren't capable of doing? Well, it worked. And you'll get what you want: a war between the Romulans and the Dominion. And if your conscience is bothering you, you should soothe it with the knowledge that you may have just saved the entire Alpha Quadrant. And all it cost was the life of one Romulan senator, one criminal, and the self-respect of one Starfleet officer. I don't know about you, but I'd call that a bargain."
@@Sephiroth144 Superb. Well quoted. 👌
@@matbroomfield Oh, all credit goes to the writers (ah, it would be Taylor...) and Mr. Robinson for bringing it to life.
@@Sephiroth144 Classy 👊
@@Sephiroth144 That's why Garak is "the man" and he can take a backhand across the face to soothe the Captain's conscience. Talk about a new spinoff. How about young Garak working his way up the Obsidian Order hierarchy?
_In A Mirror, Darkly_ is only 10th? That doesn't seem right. It's such an "Oooh, love this sce--WOAH WHAT THE FFFF!?" moment. And the Terran version of the opening credits with its alternate history is _utterly chilling._
And until you summarized it the way you did here, I'd forgotten just the kind of dark implications _The Visitor_ had, if you thought too much about it. Jake had basically just killed himself, then this girl rings the doorbell. "Normally I'd tell you to piss off, but I just poisoned myself so sure, let's have a nice chat." Go a bit deeper; given her age, if Jake's right about this bringing back his dad and righting the timeline... _She may end up never existing in the first place._ 😬
Damn, that sort of stuff really does a number on me. It's like a corkscrew of pure existential dread being twisted into my chest the more I think about the implications. 😨
I agree, not only did it have a great open, but then to have completely redone credits showing the history of the Empire. That was top notch.
"The Visitor" will always be one of my favorites. It is an extremely powerful episode!
The Defector (S3 E10) has one of my favorite cold openings. From Data learning what Picard is trying to teach him about Shakespeare which subtlety and perfectly sets up the rest of the tension of the episode. The score and tension ramping up to when they get to the Romulan Scout Ship being chased. It all just draws you right into the episode.
"Skull Dukat" had me rolling. 🤣
I don't believe it was. That skull wasn't charred.
@@GabePuratekuta you're most likely correct, but the word play was *CHEF'S KISS* 🤌🤌
Did he say Skull Dukat? 😂
Yup.
Honestly. Although Enterprise is not my favorite series - I think No. 10 should have been number 1. It was by far the most out of left field. Just so unexpected. They really managed to pull the rug out from under you at the last second. Then the credits after were just brilliant, as it slowly starts to dawn on you what the hell is going on.
The only thing missing from the Cold Open of "Twilight" was having it end with Captain Archer saying, "Ohhhhh Boy!"
There's a miss opportunity in "Cause And Effect" episode, they could've made a another spin-off series based on Captain Bateson and the crew of the USS Bozeman adopting to a new life in the 24th Century.
And inexplicably Bateson would have to share his quarters with his dad and a small dog...
They could have done a series based on the fact that maybe a couple of crew members had made it to an escape pod - ending up in an alternate timeline where the Enterprise D did explode - and how they tried to get back to the Federation, since they were one the edge of explored space at the time and an escape pod couldn't travel that far.
(I always wonder why the Big D was exploring a region of space where an much older Bozeman had already explored?)
This is a fun idea for a list, actually! Especially with the cold opens of the third generation, lots of great contenders!
The choice of the number one cold opening was spot-on. Anyone that didn't feel a chill seeing the Enterprise C's entrance, should just turn in their Starfleet Academy ID card and call themselves a 'trekkie', not a Trekker... ♥️🖖
In a Mirror Darkly is definitely my favorite on this list. The writers and so much fun with this episode
Thumbs up for Skull Dukat.
The DS9 episode, "The Visitor" still makes me tear up a bit. I always find myself thinking of my own father, who passed away many years ago now. And it also makes me think of my own child, how she will remember me someday, and what she will be like after I am gone. Very powerful episode.
Really shocked A Time to Stand was not on the list. Probably Star Trek's most devastating cold opens. The beaten & crippled Starfleet ships, the low morale, learning the loss of one of Starfleets largest fleets, Sisko's anger and frustration at the Federation's loss.
I'm actually really glad you mentioned this because I AGONISED over including this. This is my 11 - I've never forgotten that exchange! Only FOURTEEN ships made it back to our lines....
@@sean.ferrick "...Out of a hundred and twelve."
"Sir, we can't keep taking these kind of losses if we expect to win this!"
For me this conclusion was devastating when it originally aired, especially after seeing the fleet and cheering at the end of season 5 A Call to Arms. We waited months for the conclusion and then watched this heartbreaking cold open. At that time no one knew the war would become an ongoing arc. It was a shock.
Great choice. I'd say this one is amplified by how the last scene of the assembled Federation fleet left us on such a high note at the end of season 5, only to bring us crashing down with that gut-punch of an opening showing the remnants of that same fleet limping through space.
Interesting you include T'Pol from Twilight in the third season, but you don't mention T'Pol from Impulse in the same season. I honestly remember the WTF moment of Archer hauling a trillium D poisoned T'Pol into sickbay as Phlox rushes to help. We learn later that her exposure to trillium D caused her neural pathways to degrade, but at the time we had no clue why T'Pol was ready to rip Archer's head off if he gave her the chance.
I remember watching "Cause and Effect" during its original run. When the ship exploded, we were all sitting there going WTF?
One of my favorites is the start of "The Mind's Eye" where we get an extended scene of Geordi relaxing on the shuttle, having a chat with the computer... when a Romulan warbird silently decloaks outside.
Nothing that features Geordi can be great.
Yesterday's ent is still my top episode of any TV show in history. I can't believe it's 1/3rd of a century old though!
"In a Mirror Darkly" is the best Enterprise episode.
I grew up watching TOS, then became a huge fan with TNG. I gotta say it's wonderful to see Star Trek live on in new series, and how younger people have become fans. Star Trek forever!
I loved "The Visitor". Tony Todd and Rachel Robinson just absolutely kill it here. and Rachel 😍
Yeah, who'd have thought that the older Jake Sisko was actually Kurn??
Tony Todd is great.
@@karlsmith2570 Luckily this future was averted, and he became a Hirogen instead!
@@tetravega567 Tony Todd played a Hirogen in Voyager???
I didn't know that
Tony Todd has also done a Star Trek fan film (along with other notable Star Trek actors) called Prelude to Axanar. A very talented actor.
Trek Culture could probably do a video called Ten Times Yesterday’s Enterprise Was Featured In A Trek Culture Ten Things Video And Absolutely Deserved Its Place.
I knew "Cause and Effect" had to be on this list... one of the greatest cold opens I can recall in any show. Thanks for a great video!
The opening of ENT - Impulse grabs your attention quickly, but it has to. I believe it's the shortest of all Star Trek cold opens.
The best open for me is from TOS, "The Doomsday Machine." It shows the bing, bang, bong of unexpectedly losing a sibling, and the musical score is outstanding, expressing bewilderment, consternation, grief and then determination.
Voyagers Timeless where two unknown figures beam down onto a desolete ice planet, scan the area and then open comm's with "We've found it" The camera then pans up to show the frozen wreck of Voyager buried in the ice beneath them.
Agree, a very COLD opening considering Voyager is frozen in the glacier.
The openings of ST: Voyager "Scorpion pt.1" & ST: Enterprise "In A Mirror Darkly pt. 1" both made me say, "WWHHHAAAA???"!!🖖
Nothing will beat Mirror Darkly for me. I VHS-ed the last season of Enterprise, but hadn’t gotten around to it. I was flipping channels one night.
“Cool Sci fi channel’s playing ‘First Contact’. I could catch the end of that. Huh I don’t remember that shot /that angle. Hold on. WHAT!?!?”
the Visitor, not of only Star Trek: DS9, is one of THE best Star Trek franchise episodes ever.
"Tinker, Tenor, Doctor, Spy" is my favorite. Not sure how it got skipped.
Oh yes!!! Tuvok I understand, you are a Vulcan man. Who has gone without, for seven years about. Paris please find a way, to load a hypospray. I will give you a sign, just aim for his behind. Hormones are raging, synapses blazing. It is verrrry Illogical....illogical.
i typed that from memory.
Has to be my favourite list so far. Great work, i'll be rewatching most of these this afternoon!
Thanks for this a fun list .
Balance of Terror(TOS)
A Taste of Armageddon(TOS)
The Maquis part 1(DS9)
Whispers (DS9)
Equinox part 1 (VOY)
Chain of Command part 1+2(TNG)
Twilight (ENT)
The Expanse (ENT)
I think it’s time for 10 MORE Great Star Trek Cold Opens! I would definitely include the Voyager episode Timeless. I still remember seeing it for the first time, and seeing the ship buried under tons of ice. Wonderful opening!
my fav star trek channel. a big cheers to all of you!
“Mirror, Mirror” has a great opening.
The cold open of "Emissary" always gets me. The unusual use of the title crawl to set the scene, followed by a head-first dive right into the middle of Wolf 359. Introducing Sisko as the only leading-cast CO in the entire franchise to have a family, only to immediately kill his wife in the first few minutes, was a gutsy move that I think said a lot about what the overall tone of the show was going to be like.
Good list. It has finally prodded me into rewatching older Trek. It has been a couple of years.
That was a great list! Looking forward to that sequel list. Glad to see some of my favorites made the list. “Yesterday’s Enterprise” was epic and memorable at the time of release and remains so to this day… I might go watch it now, because of your video.
Some of the feature films have intriguing cold openings too, most notably, to me at least, was the one from Star Trek (2009) where we experience the unexpectedly emotional teaser sequence of George & Wynona Kirk’s tearfully tragic farewell scene that, like his son did in the Prime Timeline with the destruction of the Enterprise in Star Trek III, “turned death into a fighting chance to survive”. I think a person might be a little bit dead inside, if they didn’t feel an unexpected swell of UFP patriotism by the time the music crescendoed when that stone Starfleet delta rotated into view. I mean, I was ready to sign up as a recruit.
Yesterdays Enterprise would have been one amazing movie.
@@MrGMan-z4o Oh heck yeah! I would love to see an even an extended version of the episode. Maybe there could be a way to show the battle that Enterprise-C left and then returned.
One that I REALLY LIKE: TOS, "The Ultimate Couter"... " You've got a great job, Jim... All you have to do is sit back and let the machine do the work".
In the Pale Moonlight is IMHO the best episode of Trek ever made, bar none. It is a masterpiece in every way.
Just for the comedic factor, I loved the cold open of "Spock Amok" from Strange New Worlds. Even if it was unnecessarily long lol
Another favorite of mine from SNW is the pilot, because it gave us the first live-action appearance of Robert April as well as what's happened to Pike post-Disco.
The Best of Both Worlds II aired a little later than normal due to some sports game. The channel airing it had to put a ticker across the bottom stating that Star Trek TNG would air in it's entirety after the game. I guess they had too many phone calls! (At least one from me!)
In The Pale Moonlight for me is number 1 with Yesterdays Enterprise a close number 2. the fact that after 4 seasons there is no discovery episode in this list, just shows that it has failed to grab the audience from the opening shot in any episode. A sad reflection really.
I always thought the Enterprise D running into the C, of all ships, was a bit convenient as heck but it really did help the cold open hook set in quickly. I think they should have cut it a few seconds earlier. Just leave the audience with the name. Still very effective.
I watched all of Voyager, always hoping against hope that it would get good. That moment with the Borg cubes really was a great moment in TV.
the Xindi weapon cutting a trench from Florida to south America was also pretty epic and memorable....
and i agree the Xindi story made Enterprise what it was, that and any time Shran was in an episode it was a god time!!
"Skull Dukat"
Bravo!
Yesterday's Enterprise opening truely had me on edge. I liked Worf, and wanted him to continue on the show, but I also liked Tasha. In that instant, I was now caught. Who would stay aboard Enterprise, Tasha or Worf?
The opening to Yesterday's Enterprise was indeed worthy of the #1 spot. The only thing that marred it was the fact that the 1701-C that came through the rift shared only a superficial resemblance to the 1701-C that we saw each time the crew strode into the conference room. I know that the production team was short on time to make this model, as such they had to keep its shape as simple as possible, so it's amazing that it looked nominally presentable come shoot time. What's sad is that this didn't have to be the case. By this episode's production, TNG was hitting its stride, so a request to build the Probert-designed Ambassador class vessel, the profile of which he had drawn out, in great detail, using the best aspects of the B & D to show the lineage of progression from one era to another, most likely would have been approved. Its inclusion, alongside the already existing Excelsior, Oberth, Miranda (in all its myriad configurations), and Constellation, would've served to build out the fleet that would've taken place during the almost 75+ years in between ST:6 TUC, and TNG.
Oh, what could've been...
Top 3 for me...'Cause & Effect' - Enterprise explodes
'Scorpion' - Borg Cubes exploding
'Face of the Enemy' - Troi revealed as a Romulan
"Skull Dukat" caught me off guard there 🤣
Always good to see Yesterday's Enterprise!
That episode is the inspiration for one of my Trek tattoos 🖖
"Seeing SKULL Dukat...." 🤣
I remember the Cause and Effect opening. Those of us watching were like "Did the show start early?!" We looked at the TV listings and realized no to that question. It was a brilliant opener.
This list was a banger, well done!
Peace from Scotland
What a tour de force! Thank you!!
I cannot complain with the choices on this list, except perhaps I may have put Cause and Effect higher up as damn, if that wasn't a sit up and take notice moment.
So many great memories.
VOY "Friendship One" had a good cold open.
favorite scene, Kim saying "No! fifteen borg cubes!"
Gotta Disagree with the order listed. I remember when I saw Cause and Effect during the original run. I fell to the floor in front of my TV in shock. That cold open earned a Number One status which has never been overturned in my mind.
Voyager season 2, episode 2, Deadlock should definitely be on this list. A regular day, then avoiding the Vidians turns tragic when the ship begins to fall apart without explanation. The damage to Engineering and the scene of wounded crew rushing into Sickbay, just ups the ante and sets up a nonstop action episode.
Yes definitely needs a sequel video, plenty more clips need to be seen
First one coming to mind is Contagion, with the destruction of the Enterprise's sister ship, the USS Yamato. Second & third would be Best of Both Worlds 1 & 2, seeing the planet surface wiped from existence in part 1, then seeing the Enterprise's last resort weapon doing nothing to the Borg cube followed by Locutis taunting the crew in part 2.
🖖😎👍Very nicely well done and executed very nicely well and very informatively explained in every way and detail provided indeed 👌.
Yesterday's Enterprise? I'm sure we all thought it was some sort of commercial at first :-)
the skulls opening scene in picard season 2 is a movie like thing !!! the best!
The Year of Hell cold open was a pretty great one also
yeah but it warmed up once Janeway pressed the "temporal reset button".
Voyager had a special knack for cold opens that didn't take place ... on the Voyager. Not a criticism or compliment, just an observation, compared to almost all the other series.
9:25 Olivia D'Abo and Corbin Bersen both played "Q" with John Delancie
And I just will say In the Pale Moonlight, is THE BEST episode of Trek.
I'd also go with the opening of Best of Both Worlds part 1, Face of the Enemy, and DS9 Crossover
"yesterdays enterprise" will always be my favorite episode of the series and probably a top episode of star trek period. I still remember the first time seeing the enterprise c appear and Picard being a badass fending off the Klingons while the she escapes.
When I first saw this, I immediately thought of Cause And Effect so glad it made the list. Really thought Mirror Mirror would've made it there.
Loved this list
I loved number 10. I bet there are still people who never saw it not realizing they actually changed the opening. Number 9. Great Episode, lousy effects blowing up the Enterprise. A warp core breech should look like 100 H bombs going off at once. All in all, a great list.
Warp core breach should've been a mini supernova
Yes, like when the Yamato exploded. Or the D itself in Generations.
BoBW pt 2 may not have the gut punch of the end of pt 1 but the hoplessness becomes so much more apparent as Locutus lays out Picard's knowledge is part of the Borg now and whistles into Riker when Locutus calls him Number One.
Solid list!
TrekCulture for life!
In the pale moonlight, my favorite episode. Only because I can live with it.