Alright, your propaganda here over the past months has worked. I want to get into Star Trek. Where do I start? Can I take an abbreviated tour? Or do I need to go to TOS?
I started with Voyager way back in the day because that’s what was on TV at the time. I picked it up just fine. There isn’t really a wrong way to start watching. If you just jump in wherever, at most you might miss out on some Easter eggs or on the impact of some callbacks, but for the most part the idea of Star Trek is so infused in pop culture you’ll pick up most of it.
I love TOS, but it seems like a major chunk of Trek fandom has either skipped it or only watched an episode or two. If you want to get to know the TOS characters but can’t get into the show, start with the second Star Trek movie and watch through the 6th movie before starting on TNG.
TNG starts out pretty rough. It has some issues finding it’s voice, with many initial episodes being recycled or heavily inspired by TOS episodes. It has good early episodes, but often feels “off”. Good episodes throughout the first two seasons, but it becomes consistently solid in the third. TNG set the baseline for modern Trek.
DS9 comes after TNG. It’s very good right from the start, although it really, really gets good when the more overarching storylines pick up.
Voyager starts part way through DS9, but it really does it’s own thing.
ENT is a prequel. People are ultra harsh on the first two seasons, which I think is somewhat overkill. The first two seasons have some bad episodes, some good episodes and a good number of “meh”. Season 3 is an attempt at grimdark Star Trek, which is a divisive taste. Season 4 is genuinely really great. The writers finally figured out their niche.
Classic start position is season 3 of The Next Generation.
If the 90s aesthetic is a deal breaker, I’ve heard a different starting spot is Strange New Worlds.
Why not episode 1? Starting in season one, you meet Tasha, Q, Lwaxana, Khalarr (sp?), Lore…
Season 1 and 2 were wacky. Not a good place to start imo.
I recommend starting with Next Generation, or the original series.
After that, it’s a jumping point to any of the other series you want to try, and any of the movies. NextGen season one is a bit clunky, but it gets much better from season two onward.
Be forewarned that:
- Even numbered Star Trek movies are much better than odds.
- Not everyone likes Star Trek Discovery as its tone is completely different than most of the other shows.
- Season two of Picard is a stinker. Skip it.
- Original series has some cheesy episodes, but you can learn to love them in the same way that people love old Doctor who episodes.
I have long held that Season 5, Episode 2 of The Next Generation is the best episode to “test” if you’ll like Star Trek or not. It is a generally well-liked and well-reviewed episode, but more than that, from both a story and a character standpoint it is representative of what your average Star Trek episode is generally about.
So, my recommendation is to watch that one episode and report back.
Okay. It’s not “Q” weird, but that is absolutely a weird episode. The whole “speaking in metaphors” thing is sort of a ridiculous concept as you’d have to have a language in place to even develop the metaphors. I loved how “out there” that episode is, and it is genuinely thought provoking, but if that was the first episode that I ever saw, I’m not sure I ever would have watched another one.
But I do like the concept of checking it out given a single episode. I’d rather recommend Season 5, Episode 18 (Cause and Effect), Season 2’s The Measure of Man.
