BigJKO

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I could compile a Voyager list similar to my TNG one, but I don't know if you want to watch both Voyager and DS9 at the same time.  I believe Gormongous said he was putting a DS9 list together.  It certainly won't be me.

 

I've only seen three episodes of Enterprise (the first one, the last one, and a random one in the middle) so I can't personally say if it's any good.  But from what I understand, you're probably just as well off not watching it.

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I'd ideally like to watch in broadcast order (ie with DS9 and Voyager overlapping when appropriate), if we have both DS9 and Voyager lists available. If no one is able to make an informed DS9 list, I could compile some online lists and use wikipedia to put them in order, or something...

 

Currently watching Inheritance: it's that actress from LOST!

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Watched the first ep of ds9, I too haven't seen much of it. The scenes between sisko and his wife were pretty painful to watch, not in a good way. I know I watched a decent chunk when it was airing but I don't remember much other than the characters.

 

Sisko and Bashir's acting in the first season were particularly atrocious, but they pick up the thread of their characters pretty quickly. Sisko ends up being one of the best reasons to watch the show.

 

Blame his parents.

 

I see what you did there

 

I've only seen three episodes of Enterprise (the first one, the last one, and a random one in the middle) so I can't personally say if it's any good. But from what I understand, you're probably just as well off not watching it.

 

Enterprise was definitely on the up swing when it got canceled. I think it's really worth watching beginning to end, but if you're only going to watch a couple, I'd go with

the dark mirror universe episodes "In a Mirror, Darkly, Part I and II." If you're in the mood to watch a whole arc, the last episode of the 2nd season sets up the premise for the whole third season, which I thought was mostly great (minus the crappy romance plot.)

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I'd ideally like to watch in broadcast order (ie with DS9 and Voyager overlapping when appropriate), if we have both DS9 and Voyager lists available. If no one is able to make an informed DS9 list, I could compile some online lists and use wikipedia to put them in order, or something...

 

Currently watching Inheritance: it's that actress from LOST!

 

I'll start putting a Voyager list together.  One thing you should be prepared for is that while TNG, DS9, and Voyager are all Star Trek shows that take place in the same era, they are all very different shows.  They will of course contain similar elements, but the tone and themes will vary a lot.  Also DS9 and Voyager have more ongoing plots compared to the relatively stand alone episodes of TNG, so skipping a lot of episodes will mean missing things.

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Here's a Voyager list.  It was trickier than TNG because of the ongoing plot threads.  For the most part I tried not to get too deep into the big plots while keeping some of the more interesting episodes.  In terms of how the show lines up with DS9, Voyager started about halfway through DS9's third season.  There are only a few references to events that happen on DS9 (aside from the recurring theme of part of the crew being Maquis) and they're mostly either not important or easily figured out.  Bolded episodes I felt were especially good for one reason or another.

 

Season 1

Caretaker – 1x01/1x02 (not an especially good episode but it’s the pilot)

Ex Post Facto – 1x08

State of Flux – 1x11

Jetrel – 1x15

 

Season 2

Projections – 2x03

Maneuvers – 2x11

Alliances – 2x14

Meld – 2x16

Dreadnought – 2x17

Death Wish – 2x18 (first of the Voyager Q episodes)

Investigations – 2x20

Deadlock – 2x21

 

Season 3

Flashback – 3x02 (features Sulu)

The Chute – 3x03

False Profits – 3x05 (Ferengi shenanigans)

The Q and the Grey – 3x11 (more Q)

Fair Trade – 3x13

Unity – 3x17

Before and After – 3x21

Real Life – 3x22 (kinda sappy episode about the Doctor)

Worst Case Scenario – 3x25

Scorpion – 3x26

 

Season 4

Scorpion, Part II – 4x01

The Gift – 4x02

Nemesis – 4x04

The Raven – 4x06

Year of Hell Parts I and II – 4x08, 4x09

Message in a Bottle – 4x14 (a largely comedic episode)

Living Witness – 4x23

Demon – 4x24 (not a particularly good episode but it sets up another one later on)

Hope and Fear – 4x26

 

Season 5

Night – 5x01

Timeless – 5x06

Nothing Human – 5x08

Counterpoint – 5x10

Latent Image – 5x11

Bride of Chaotica! – 5x12 (another largely comic episode)

Dark Frontier – 5x15, 5x16

Course: Oblivion – 5x18

Relativity – 5x24 (time travel hijinks)

Equinox – 5x26

 

Season 6

Equinox, Part II – 6x01

Tinker Tenor Doctor Spy – 6x04

The Voyager Conspiracy – 6x09

Pathfinder – 6x10 (Barclay!)

Blink of an Eye – 6x12

Collective – 6x16

Child’s Play – 6x19

Live Fast and Prosper – 6x21 (another somewhat silly episode)

Fury – 6x23

Life Line – 6x24

The Haunting of Deck Twelve – 6x25

 

Season 7

Imperfection – 7x02

Repression – 7x04

Critical Care – 7x05

Inside Man – 7x06

Body and Soul – 7x07

Shattered – 7x11

Repentance – 7x13

Human Error – 7x18

Q2 – 7x19

Author, Author – 7x20 (the latter half has similar themes to The Measure of a Man although strangely Data is not mentioned at all)

Homestead – 7x23

Renaissance Man – 7x24

Endgame – 7x25, 7x26

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On 1/13/2014 at 8:41 AM, SecretAsianMan said:

I believe Gormongous said he was putting a DS9 list together.  It certainly won't be me.

 

Fuuuck, fine. My list is going to be less the highlights of the series and more a list that pares out bad, boring, and unwatchable episodes. I'll bold the ones that I think are truly great, though.

 

Actually, now that I've done a bit, this list gets incredibly hard from the fifth season onward, where I think the show goes from strength to strength, with only some lighter character-centric episodes being really optional...

 

Season One

Emissary - S01E01 (not particularly good, but establishes the show)

Past Prologue - S01E02 (Garak!)

Q-Less - S01E06 (Q! This won't make much sense if you haven't watched the Q episodes from TNG)

The Nagus - S01E10 (I'm putting every Ferengi episode that I can stand on this list, for the sake of Wally Shawn)

Battle Lines - S01E12

Progress - S01E14

Duet - S01E18

 

Season Two

Rules of Acquisition - S02E07 (Ferengi!)

Necessary Evil - S02E08

Armageddon Game - S02E13

Blood Oath - S02E19 (finally, they give Jadzia something to do)

The Wire - S02E22

Tribunal - S02E25

The Jem'Hadar - S02E26 (not particularly good, but sets up the Dominion)

 

Season Three

The House of Quark - S03E03 (Ferengi!)

Second Skin - S03E05

Civil Defense - S03E07 (memorable for Garak and Dukat arguing)

Past Tense: Part 1 - S03E11 (Star Trek does Occupy Wall Street thirty years early)

Past Tense: Part 2 - S03E12

Distant Voices - S03E18 (Bashir's first really solid episode)

Improbable Cause - S03E20

The Die Is Cast - S03E21

Family Business - S03E23 (Ferengi!)

Shakaar - S03E24

 

Season Four

The Way of the Warrior - S04E01 (Worf's here!)

The Visitor - S04E02

Hippocratic Oath - S04E03

Indiscretion - S04E04 (Dukat first started to work for me about now)

Starship Down - S04E06

Little Green Men - S04E07 (Ferengi!)

Our Man Bashir - S04E09

Return to Grace - S04E13

Bar Association - S04E15 (Ferengi! This one's actually almost defensible. Quark's brother starts a union)

Rules of Engagement - S04E17

Hard Time - S04E18

For the Cause - S04E12 (not particularly outstanding, but necessary for S05E13 to work)

To the Death - S04E22 

The Quickening - S04E23

Broken Link - S04E25

 

Season Five

Apocalypse Rising - S05E01

The Ship - S05E02

...Nor the Battle to the Strong - S05E04 (Jake's only good episode)

Trials and Tribble-ations - S05E06 (see the DS9 cast caper around a TOS episode!)

Things Past - S05E08

The Ascent - S05E09 (amazing Odo/Quark dynamic here)

Rapture - S05E10

For the Uniform - S05E13 (I consider around this episode that Avery Brooks finally starts taking Sisko someplace interesting)

In Purgatory's Shadow - S05E14

By Inferno's Light - S05E14

Doctor Bashir, I Presume? - S05E16 (Bashir gets an actual personality!)

A Simple Investigation - E05E17

Business as Usual - S05E18 (Ferengi!)

Ties of Blood and Water - S05E19

Ferengi Love Songs - S05E20

Soldiers of the Empire - S05E21 (one of the best Klingon-focused episodes in the entire franchise)

Empok Nor - S05E24

Call to Arms - S05E26 (the real beginning of the Dominion War)

 

Season Six

A Time to Stand - S06E01

Rocks and Shoals - S06E02

Behind the Lines - S06E04

Favor the Bold - S06E05

Sacrifice of Angels - S06E06

You are Cordially Invited... - S06E07

Statistical Probabilities - S06E09

The Magnificent Ferengi - S06E10 (Ferengi!)

Waltz - S06E11

Far Beyond the Stars - S06E13 (not really a Star Trek episode, but an amazing piece of work)

Honor Among Thieves - S06E15

Inquisition - S06E18 (Section 31!)

In the Pale Moonlight - S06E19 (easily my favorite episode of my favorite series of Star Trek)

His Way - S06E20 (Vic Fontaine! So sue me)

Profit and Lace - S06E23 (I'm beginning to feel bad about all the Ferengi episodes...)

The Sound of Her Voice - S06E25

Tears of the Prophets - S06E26

 

Season Seven

Image in the Sand - S07E01 (because you want to see Worf trash a nightclub)

Shadows and Symbols - S07E02

Afterimage - S07E03

Take Me Out to the Holosuite - S07E04 (maybe the only episode where Sisko's baseball obsession works for me)

Chrysalis - S07E05

Treachery, Faith, and the Great River - S07E06

The Siege of AR-558 - S07E08

It's Only a Paper Moon - S07E10

Badda-Bing, Badda-Bang - S07E15

Inter Arma Enim Silent Leges - S07E16

And S07E17 (Penumbra) through S07E25 (What You Leave Behind) are all part of one nine-part episode, so it seems silly to pick and choose. If you're into the series by this point, watch them all, if you're not, just watch the finale.

 

Things that are probably horribly underrepresented in my list: the Kira/Odo romance (because so much of it happens in otherwise not-good episodes), the Pah-Wraith stuff (because I find it silly), Bajoran politics (because Kira's already well represented here), and the Mirror Universe (see the Pah-Wraiths).

 

If anyone disagrees with my choices, please let me know, because I am not at all solid on any episodes not bolded.

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I can't stand the Ferengi episodes on DS9, which is weird because I like them fine when they're not the focus.

 

Probably because Ferengi episodes are comedy episodes, and Star Trek can't (With a few exceptions.) dedicate and entire episode to being intentionally funny without ending up cringe-worth.

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I can't stand the Ferengi episodes on DS9, which is weird because I like them fine when they're not the focus.

 

Probably because Ferengi episodes are comedy episodes, and Star Trek can't (With a few exceptions.) dedicate and entire episode to being intentionally funny without ending up cringe-worth.

 

I used to hate every episode with Quark in it, even though he's since become a favorite of mine, so he's definitely an acquired taste. In light of that, I'll edit my post to mark out all Ferengi episodes.

 

Actually, looking at how few of those episodes are in later seasons, I think I must be of the opinion that the Ferengi episodes are most of what makes the first few seasons watchable. They're the only really unique thing in DS9 before the writers finally begin to play up the themes of war and faith that really make the show great.

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Early on quark basically gets by for me because of his interactions with Odo.  Not that they're amazing, but entertaining enough.

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I have a hard time taking any Ferengi related thing seriously entirely because of how they were introduced.  I know that the early Ferengi don't really resemble the later Ferengi very much, but that first impression is hard to shake.  I mean, look at this

 

Riker_faces_Ferengi.jpg

 

Their weapons were whips that shot energy.  How am I supposed to take that seriously?

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I have a hard time taking any Ferengi related thing seriously entirely because of how they were introduced.

 

I was trying to explain to my friend about everything that DS9 inherits from TNG's attempts to create a mysterious yet enduring enemy, before they settled on the Borg. That's why the Romulans are inexplicable assholes prior to the Dominion War and the Ferengi have this absurd space-Jew society that makes very little actual sense.

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You guys are just jealous that you don't have energy whips and can't get off by having someone rub your ears.

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In one of the later DS9 episodes, they have a Maurader Mo action figure that's dressed like that carrying the energy whip. I enjoyed the call back.

 

Edit: By the way, that's Quark's actor up there on the right.

 

Edit2: The Ferengi episodes are saved by Brunt, played be Jeffrey Combs who has quickly become my favorite occasional Star Trek actor. See him also as Weyoun in DS9 and Commander Shran in Enterprise, as well as a few minor parts here and there. If you really want to be mentally disturbed, watch him in Re-Animator.

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Edit2: The Ferengi episodes are saved by Brunt, played be Jeffrey Combs who has quickly become my favorite occasional Star Trek actor. See him also as Weyoun in DS9 and Commander Shran in Enterprise, as well as a few minor parts here and there. If you really want to be mentally disturbed, watch him in Re-Animator.

 

Combs also saved the Vorta, which were really bland before the writers began adding things to play to Combs' strengths as an actor.

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SAM, any chance you could bold the best of the best as well? Not sure I can handle this much Trek!

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Thanks! I very much appreciate your and Gorm's advice.

 

I just watched the TNG series finale and found it a little draggy and small, although I liked the circularity of it - reminded me of the final Quantum Leap episode.

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I bolded some episodes, but I would also suggest watching the Demon episode even though I don't think it's very good.  It sets up another episode later and that one won't make much sense if you didn't see Demon.  It's also kind of a spoiler so I don't want to say which one specifically.  Collective is also important to explain the presense of some new characters on the show.  And obviously watch the first episode otherwise none of the show will make sense.

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Okay, cool, thanks!

 

Here's a table of broadcast dates if anyone wants it: http://startreklist.blogspot.co.uk

 

I'm going to try and watch DS9 and Voyager in broadcast order now. I wish I'd realised that DS9 and TNG overlapped, as I would have done that too. Never mind.

 

Just watched the opening scene of DS9 and it was brilliant! A cool idea and a dramatic start to the series, the visual effect shots are a lot more dynamic and integrated (something that started happening towards the end of TNG - an example that caught my eye was Yar and Picard approaching the Enterprise in All Good Things), and it's very energetically directed.

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Here's a Voyager list.  It was trickier than TNG because of the ongoing plot threads.  For the most part I tried not to get too deep into the big plots while keeping some of the more interesting episodes.  In terms of how the show lines up with DS9, Voyager started about halfway through DS9's third season.  There are only a few references to events that happen on DS9 (aside from the recurring theme of part of the crew being Maquis) and they're mostly either not important or easily figured out.  Bolded episodes I felt were especially good for one reason or another.

I'm going to take the liberty of adding a few episodes I think you missed!

 

Faces - S01E14

The Thaw - S02E23 (I imagine this one is very divisive)

Tuvix - S02E24

Remember - S03E06

Future's End - S03E08/9 (two part time travel!)

Warlord - S03E10 (It's the one episode where Kes isn't boring)

One - S04E25

Drone - S05E02

Someone to Watch Over Me - S05E22

One Small Step - S06E08

Good Shepherd - S06E20

Muse - S06E22

Workforce - S07E16/17

 

 

As if this thread wasn't proof enough that I'm a Star Trek dork, this comment reminded me that Data's pattern of blinking his eyes is based on the fourier series to give it the appearance of randomness.  That fact came from the episode Inheritance (which I originally meant to put on my list but I forgot) where Data meets his mother.

I apologize for this, but OCD. Fourier series are a way of expressing periodic functions :( they aren't random, they repeat. Therefore, technobabble!

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I like a lot of those episodes too.  My list was mostly made just glancing over the series titles so I've probably missed a few here and there that might be worth watching.  Some of the episode names aren't very good descriptions of what happens so I probably just skipped over it if I didn't remember right away.

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Faces - S01E14

The Thaw - S02E23 (I imagine this one is very divisive)

Tuvix - S02E24

Remember - S03E06

Future's End - S03E08/9 (two part time travel!)

Warlord - S03E10 (It's the one episode where Kes isn't boring)

One - S04E25

Drone - S05E02

Someone to Watch Over Me - S05E22

One Small Step - S06E08

Good Shepherd - S06E20

Muse - S06E22

Workforce - S07E16/17

 

As someone whose first Star Trek was Voyager, I think SAM's list is pretty solid, but I have such mixed feelings about your additions! On the one hand, "Someone to Watch Over Me" is amazing, like everything with Bob Picardo, but on the other, "Faces"?

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