We're not saying these episodes of Star Trek aren't great, but are they really the best?
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00:00So we come to it at last, it's the list that's probably going to get me fired.
00:05Oh, but just bear with me? Perhaps? I'm Sean Farrick for Trek Culture, and here are the 10
00:13most overrated episodes of Star Trek. Number 10. Survival Instinct.
00:20One of the bigger criticisms that Star Trek Voyager faced during its run was the over-reliance
00:24on Borg storylines. As the show went on, the Borg began to appear more often, thanks largely to
00:29stories dealing with Seven of Nine's backstory. While Jerry Ryan is always a standout in these
00:34episodes, that does not mean the episodes themselves stand the test of time. Survival
00:38Instinct was meant to show that in her past Seven was faced with individuality, and she not only
00:43turned her back on it but forced others into a state of permanent faux unity as well. While there
00:48is certainly a bittersweet story of growth here, the issue was that it was well-trodden soil by the
00:53sixth season. The performances are solid across the board, including yet another guest spot from
00:58Vaughn Armstrong, yet this story of Seven in the full Borg here just doesn't really do much to stand
01:04out. It wasn't even close to the final Borg appearance in Voyager, which lent a feeling of fatigue to the show.
01:10That said, Endgame did manage to give them a sense of menace again, for a time.
01:15Number 9. The Inner Light. The Inner Light was produced in The Next Generation's fifth season.
01:21It details one of the most profound, affecting, and ultimately traumatizing events in Jean-Luc Picard's life.
01:27So, one would assume that it would play a major role in his story going forward. One would be
01:33incorrect. To be fair to the episode, this lack of legacy is a victim of the period of television in
01:39which it was produced. So, why does that place it on this list? The Inner Light is often cited as one
01:44of the perfect Picard episodes, and here's the twist, it truly is. However, for something that receives such
01:51universal acclaim as this, for it to receive the adulation that it had, it lands here due to the
01:57show's frustrating lack of follow-up. Consider this, the Best of Both Worlds seems to get a mention
02:02every second Tuesday in Star Trek, while the Dominion War left an impact on the Alpha Quadrant
02:06for years to come. Now, if we narrow the view to only those episodes dealing with characters,
02:11we still land on Best of Both Worlds. In effect, the Catan Probe was the benevolent mirror image of the
02:17Borg, taking control of Picard and forcing him to live on another person's timeline. Perhaps if it had
02:23been shown the same love by the production team as the fans has visited on it, it wouldn't find itself
02:28on this list here. Number 8, Dawn. There is a fantastic episode of Star Trek in which a human male
02:34and an alien soldier meet on a planet unable to truly understand each other and make it work. There are
02:39frustrations, but they do come to an understanding. It's called Darmok and it's in the next generation.
02:45Dawn isn't a bad episode, but the whole thing feels like a retread. Having Tripp as the focus
02:50character was definitely an interesting idea. This was a character who wasn't trained in diplomacy or
02:56alien understanding like Captain Picard was. He knew how to make the engines work and that was his job,
03:02so seeing him try to battle through his frustrations is almost certainly what earns this episode such
03:06a high ranking. In a way it's symbolic of what Enterprise could have been. This was the first
03:11deep space Earth vessel sent out into the void, so one would assume that there would be more examples
03:17of this kind of first contact. Instead it quickly fell into the pattern of trying to emulate the next
03:21generation, until its third season. Dawn then serves as a reminder that, had the show practiced
03:28that little bit harder, excellent episodes really were possible. Number 7. Trials and Tribulations.
03:35Though I am effectively writing my own marching orders by including this episode on this list,
03:40bear with me, Trials and Tribulations is a fantastically fun, silly hour of television. It was
03:46produced to celebrate the 30th anniversary of Star Trek, which it does with a pom. What it doesn't do is
03:52advance the plot. Take, for example, the other celebration of the anniversary, Flashback. Here,
03:58Star Trek Voyager used the framing device of Tuvok's service aboard the USS Excelsior to bring older
04:04performers back to the franchise, notably Gracie the Whitney and, of course, George Takei.
04:09The Deep Space Nine offering is a marvel in its own right, combining the legacy and contemporary actors
04:14via the use of computer trickery. This is something that we do not in any way wish to brush aside.
04:20Perhaps it's best to enjoy this episode as a fun side adventure, one brewing with love for the
04:25franchise rather than one of the greatest that Deep Space Nine or Star Trek itself had to offer.
04:30If this is a franchise that is boldly going forward, then this is an episode that looks back
04:35with rose-tinted glasses. Number 6. Extinction. So I've never made any secret about how I feel about
04:42Extinction. Even the director of this episode, LeVar Burton, has said that he was embarrassed to be a
04:48part of this outing. So imagine my surprise when it received a higher rating than zero on IMDB.
04:53Now I'm going to try and be fair about this. Enterprise had entered its third year with the
04:57attack on Earth, the upgrade and improved arming of the ship, the loss of Trip's sister and T'Pol's
05:02resignation from the Vulcan High Command. It was then to be a darker, denser year once spent dealing
05:09with the Zindi threat. Along comes Extinction. First, the atrocious update of the opening theme,
05:15adding a jaunty tambourine beat to Faith of the Heart. This does not scream Descent into Darkness.
05:20Then, Scott Bakula and Linda Park get 40 litres of plastic stuck to their faces and are told to act
05:25like wild animals. None of it works, nor does it advance the plot in any way. Jolene Blaylock,
05:31as usual, does her best with the material given, but Extinction deserves to be quietly slid into an
05:36agony booth and left there overnight. Number 5. Project Daedalus. Star Trek Discovery got off to a
05:42shaky start in its debut year, but time has been its friend. The shock of the opening war with the
05:47Klingons has long since worn off, so the attempts by the show to push the franchise in a new direction
05:53are much more forgivable. The second year saw the introduction of Anson Mount as Pike, Ethan
05:57Peck as Spock, and the mystery of the Red Angel. With much of the focus on these new characters,
06:02the already limited screen time that the rest of the Discovery's crew received was now at a strain.
06:07Project Daedalus attempts, in a single outing, to get the audience to care about Arium, then mourn her
06:13loss without any real build up. In isolation, the episode is strong enough with an excellent
06:18performance by Hannah Cheeseman. However, for its strengths, it's emblematic of the issues facing
06:23Discovery. The audience was being told that they needed to mourn this supposedly important character,
06:28rather than allowing them to develop feelings for her, only to tear her away. It's a challenge that
06:34Discovery has never truly overcome with Project Daedalus, while a good episode in its own right
06:40only serving to highlight this. Number 4, Mirror Mirror. Mirror Mirror is one of the more standout
06:46episodes of the original series. It's certainly iconic, the uniforms, Sulu's scar, Spock's goatee,
06:52the latter of those being the most immediately recognisable element from the story. The episode
06:57is a tremendous amount of fun, the actors all play against type, and the score, adapted by Fred Steiner
07:02from his earlier compositions, particularly for the Romulans in Balance of Terror. Mirror Mirror
07:07has inspired many spoofs and parodies since. That, in my opinion, is where the true strength of the
07:13episode lies, not in the presentation seen on screen, but in the legacy that it left in its wake.
07:19The prequel to this, In A Mirror Darkly, was only possible because of the camp fun on show,
07:25while sequels like Crossover and Shattered Mirror doubled down on the dark side of this universe.
07:30The episode was nominated for a Hugo Award for Best Dramatic Presentation in 1968,
07:35though it would lose out, and with respect deservedly so, to The City on the Edge of Forever.
07:40Number 3, A in Arcadia Ego Part 2. Star Trek Picard has offered some of the most uplifting
07:46celebrations of Star Trek side by side with a selection of deeply frustrating episodes as well.
07:53A in Arcadia Ego Part 2 falls into the latter camp. While much has been said about the copy and paste fleet,
07:59this episode's high ranking feels a little... off. The good is easy to spot. Picard and Data's
08:04conversation is a highlight, as is Issa Briona's vocal strengths on Blue Skies. The first hints of
08:09Seven and Rafi are teased, while Jurati's straight up murder of Maddox is just... swept to the side?
08:15What truly makes this a frustrating episode, across the board, is the entire lack of consequences.
08:20Picard is dying? Nope. Synth will destroy all organic life? Nope. While no one is out here arguing that it's a
08:26perfect episode, it tends to receive high to middling reviews. Picard arguably didn't find its feet until
08:33the third season, and while the first seasons weren't devoid of true standout episodes, it wouldn't be
08:40entirely fair to laud the praise on a season finale that didn't really do anything other than turn
08:45Picard into a golem? Number 2, Skin of Evil. Skin of Evil is cemented in Trek history for one reason
08:52alone, the death of Tasha Yar. Without that particular storyline, this episode is another
08:57trip to planet hell, rather a lot of standing around talking, and a big oily thing whose best
09:02legacy is setting up a joke in Lower Decks. When reviewing the first season of The Next Generation,
09:06there are a few episodes that tend to be given a slightly kinder evaluation than they perhaps truly
09:11deserve. This, in no small part, is due to the fact that the debut year of The Next Generation
09:17is one of the weakest in the history of the franchise. Honestly, and we say this as apologists
09:22for episodes like Threshold, it's a marvel that a second season was greenlit. Skin of Evil sees the
09:28exit of Tasha in a shocking yet pointless way. It did both the character and the audience a disservice,
09:34then the funeral scene that takes up much of the final act is a little hard to bear. Though there is
09:39some fine acting on show, this is an episode that largely rises to the top because of Yar's sacrifice,
09:46not for any particular strengths. Number 1, Message in a Bottle. Message in a Bottle is great fun.
09:52It's a Doctor-centric romp so Robert Picardo gets to have the time of his life, beamed away through the
09:56Hirogen satellite network and appearing on board the brand new USS Prometheus. As an audience we are
10:02treated to Starfleet vessels, battles with Romulans and the return of Khan's right hand man, Judson Scott.
10:08What lets the episode down is the appearance of the EMH Mark II. While there is certainly humour to be
10:13found in their interactions, this EMH is abrasive, annoying, selfish and frankly had us rooting for
10:19the Romulans from time to time. Andy Dick's performance was meant to show a polar opposite
10:23to Picardo's and in that respect the episode manages to land, however there is simply not
10:28enough redeeming qualities for this new hologram to truly lift the episode from quite good to legendary.
10:35We're also somewhat spoiled by that tease over in Deep Space Nine. While, yes,
10:40Bashir was deemed ineligible, there is still a fabulous what-if scenario that sees Robert Picardo
10:45and Alexander Siddiq teaming up to take down those pointed-eared villains.
10:50That's everything for this list. Now, we respect that a lot of these ideas might be subjective,
10:55so we would ask that if you feel there are episodes that are overrated let us know in the comments below
11:01or over on our socials. Speaking of, you can find us at TrekCulture over on Twitter, you can find us at
11:07TrekCultureYT on Instagram, I'm at SeanFerrick on Twitter, so do give us a follow and let us know.
11:13Thanks so much to our lovely editor Martin who made this video possible, you are all wonderful
11:18and awesome, make sure that you look after yourselves until I see you again, make sure that you live long
11:22and prosper, be kind, be thoughtful, be good people, you're all awesome, thank you so much.