The 20 Greatest Scenes in Star Trek

by DT Strain

20) After being convinced by Lwaxana Troi not to go forward with his planet's ritual of submitting ones self to be killed on the 60th birthday, Dr. Timicin tells his daughter, who reacts with shame and, turning the tables on our perception of the practice, scolds Lwaxana saying, "how dare you". The scene is highly emotional and philosophically charged, thanks in no small part to Michelle Forbes acting (no doubt contributing to her return as Ro Laren). [Half a Life, TNG]

19) After years of being a more stand-offish Captain, Picard finally feels close enough to his crew to join their poker game. The crew is impressed saying, "you were always welcome". As the camera pulls back on TNGs final scene from overhead, Picard deals saying, "the sky's the limit". [All Good Things, TNG]

18) In his first set of encounters with the nonlinear wormhole entities, Sisko is made to realize that he too is nonlinear. The entities refer to the moment where he was forced to leave his wife behind in a burning ship. They take him to that place in his mind, answering his explanation of linear time by telling him, "but you do not move on - you live here." [Emissary part 2, DS9]

17) Archer appears badly injured in what seems to be a World War II Nazi camp, when out of the shadows walks... [Zero Hour, ENT]

16) At the dinner table, Kirk and Kahn discuss Kahn's past. Kahn plays a keen verbal game of cat and mouse. When Kirk manipulates Kahn's sense of self pride by suggesting he cowardly left Earth, Kahn is riled into making the revealing statement, "We offered the world order!" Kahn, seeing that he has been bested in the game, recognizes the manipulation and gives Kirk a salutation by nodding and saying, "excellent". The tension could be cut with a knife. [Space Seed, TOS]

15) Spock's mother admonishes him for not leaving his post to save his father while Spock defends his Vulcan way of life. She says, "I'll hate you the rest of my life" and leaves. Spock places his hand upon the door. [Journey to Babel, TOS]

14) Having recently been bickering to the point of getting deeply personal and hateful in the event of their Captain's apparent death, Spock and McCoy watch Kirk's last orders to them both. What he says in his message to them humbles them and makes each realize what they've been doing. The scene is a touching capsule of the triad's relationship. [The Tholian Web, TOS]

13) Ridden with guild, the crushed Commodore Decker explains to Kirk, "They say there's no hell, but there is." After telling Decker that the planet he placed his crew on was gone, Decker responds in one of TOS' greatest acting moments, "Don't you think I know that?" [The Doomsday Machine, TOS]

12) The EMH Doctor, attempts to learn about family life by creating a simulated family but shuts the program down when his daughter is about to die. Convinced by Paris that he must face all life has to offer to understand it, he reactivates the program and goes to see his dieing daughter. [Real Life, VGR]

11) Science fiction author Benny Russell (Sisko) gives an impassioned monologue on his deeply personal relationship with his work (his acting in the "it's real to me" speech was truly one of the greatest moments on television). [Far Beyond the Stars, DS9]

10) Sisko must say goodbye to an alternate version of his grown son Jake, who has just failed to bring his father back after years of obsession. [The Visitor, DS9]

9) McCoy in a flashback, allowing his father to die, only to find out that a cure was to be developed soon after. [Star Trek V: The Final Frontier]

8) After the end of a long life, Picard discovers that his entire experience has been an implanted message from a people long since extinct. He sees the probe launch that will one day implant his experiences and he is left with the gift of knowledge of these people and the wisdom of a lifetime. [The Inner Light, TNG]

7) After Spock and Kirk's violent combat is over. Spock reports to T'Pau and she tells him, "Live long and prosper, Spock". He responds, "I shall do neither, I have killed my Captain." [Amok Time, TOS]

6) There are FOUR lights! [Chain of Command part 2, TNG]

5) An end of an era is marked as Kirk and crew stand on the cliffs of the planet Genesis, looking up at the legendary starship Enterprise burning as it descends across the sky. Kirk asks, "My God Bones, what have I done." to which he replies, "What you had to do, what you always do. Turn death into a fighting chance to live." McCoy's words invert and recall Kirks admonishment of himself to David after his loss of Spock. [Star Trek III: The Search for Spock]

4) Having developed the weapon that is to destroy the Borg cube, the crew discovers that their captain is now a Borg aboard that very cube. Riker commands, "Mr. Worf, fire." and the screen goes black for an entire summer. [The Best of Both Worlds part 1, TNG]

3) Kirk holds McCoy back from saving Edith Keeler from being hit by a car. His eyes shut, unable to watch the death he had to allow. McCoy asks, "Jim, do you know what you just did?" Spock replies, "He knows, Doctor. He knows." [City on the Edge of Forever, TOS]

2) Kirk, falling to the floor of the bridge in front of his captain's chair after hearing his son is dead. His friends and shipmates can only watch the breakdown speechless. [Star Trek III: The Search for Spock]

1) After heroically taking fatal doses of radiation to repair the ship's engines so his shipmates could escape death, Kirk and Spock, separated by the transparent barrier, have moments left to exchange words. Spock tells Kirk not to grieve because Spock's sacrifice was "logical". He says "the needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few or the one". Then he says he "has been and always shall be" Kirk's friend. As he slides to the floor, up against the barrier, Kirk slides down with him. Spock dies and Kirk turns and sits on the floor in utter despair as the camera pulls back showing the two back to back on the floor. When considered in the context of its first showing, after a lifetime of watching Kirk and Spock as friends on the show, the scene was iconic and intense. [Star Trek II: The Wrath of Kahn]