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Star Trek is always about boldly going and exploring the final frontier. But who said that frontier had to exist in the present? Many times, the voyages of the USS Enterprise and its sister ships in Starfleet go back to the past and sometimes to the future, where they get new perspectives on what has been and what could be.
With few exceptions (looking at you, Picard season two), Trek‘s time travel stories are often entertaining romps or thought-provoking adventures. But a few stand above the rest, outdoing even favorites like “Time’s Arrow” or “Trials and Tribble-ations.”
This list ranks the best of Trek‘s time travel stories, but because this is Trek, we have to make a few disclaimers. We’re only talking here about stories in which someone actually moves forward or backward in time. That leaves out holodeck stories or tales in which the Enterprise finds a planet that just so happens to look like something from Earth’s past (e.g. “A Piece of the Action”). That also means that the wonderful Deep Space Nine episode “Beyond the Stars” doesn’t quite count, as it’s more of a vision than an actual trip.
Still, even with these caveats, it was hard winnowing the list down to 10. So if one of your favorites gets overlooked let us know (nicely) in the comments. Maybe we’ll slingshot around the sun and fix it in the past.
10. Star Trek: First Contact
Star Trek: First Contact gives Captain Picard his own Wrath of Khan, subbing in the Borg for Khan and Moby-Dick for Shakespeare. Given that focus, the time-travel plot devised by Brannon Braga, Ronald D. Moore, and Rick Berman seems like an odd fit, a distraction caused by an unlikely decision by the Borg to assimilate Earth in the past. However, by revisiting the life of Star Trek hero Zephram Cochran, First Contact deals with questions of greatness and legacy.
Long remembered as the man who invented Earth’s first warp-capable vessel, thus catching the attention of passing Vulcans and setting the stage for the Federation, the Cochran who greets Riker, Troi, and LaForge is a disillusioned drunk. Ably directed by Jonathan Frakes, with a strong performance by Trek regular James Cromwell as Cochran, First Contact leans into the themes of legacy while telling a fun adventure story. It never quite gives Cochran’s partner Lily (Alfre Woodard) the attention she deserves, but that might only further prove how history has a tendency to misremember things.
9. “Blink of an Eye” (Star Trek: Voyager Season 6 Episode 12)
Voyager sometimes receives criticism for its recycling of TNG ideas, and that’s certainly the case with some of its most famous time-travel episodes, such as the ’90s set “Future’s End” two-parter and the finale “Endgame.” But “Blink of an Eye” stands out as an excellent Voyager time-travel episode, precisely because it takes a unique approach to the concept.
“Blink of an Eye,” directed by Gabrielle Beaumont and written by Scott Miller and Joe Menosky, from a story by Michael Taylor, takes place outside of a planet surrounded by a tachyon field, which causes time to pass at a faster rate. Janeway sends the Doctor to visit the planet at various intervals, during which he sees its people evolve. However, Voyager presents an enigma they cannot easily address, with some worshiping it as a deity and others treating it as an object of examination. In addition to a great supporting turn by Daniel Dae Kim as an astronaut from the planet, “Blink of an Eye” uses time movement as a compelling way to frame the debate between science and religion.
8. “Yesterday’s Enterprise”(Star Trek: The Next Generation Season 3 Episode 15)
Among the many problems in the first season of TNG was the unceremonious death of Tasha Yar, killed by a terrible-looking alien in the 23rd episode. “Yesterday’s Enterprise” serves as a much more noble send-off. When the time-displaced Enterprise-C comes through a wormhole, the present is changed. The Enterprise-D becomes a warship and Picard, flinty and haggard after years of combat with the Klingons, has lost his sense of discovery and wonder.
Directed by David Carson and written several members of the TNG staff, “Yesterday’s Enterprise” lets Yar make the more heroic choice. When Guinan realizes that time has changed for the worst, Yar decides to transfer to the Enterprise-C to give it a fighting chance back in the past, a sacrifice that saves the present.
7. “Little Green Men” (Star Trek: Deep Space Nine Season 4 Episode 7)
Most Star Trek time travel episodes involve at least a little bit of comedy, but it sometimes defies belief to have highly-trained Starfleet personeel bumbling around in the past. “Little Green Men” writers Ira Steven Behr and Robert Hewitt Wolfe, working from a story idea by Toni Marberry and Jack Trevino, get around that problem by sending the comedic Ferengi to the past instead, making for a delightful episode.
Directed by James L. Conway, “Little Green Men” sends Quark, Rom, and Nog (along with Odo hidden among them) to Roswell, New Mexico in 1947, where they are detained by military forces. Hijinks ensue, including Quark trying to cut a deal with the Americans and Odo taking the form of a guard dog. It’s a hilarious bit of fun that doesn’t always get remembered among the darker episodes of Deep Space Nine.
6. “Twilight” (Star Trek: Enterprise Season 3 Episode 8)
After the title theme, Jonathan Archer wakes up and looks with confusion at his reflection in the mirror. Of course, Archer’s performer Scott Bakula has lots of practice pulling this move on his most famous show Quantum Leap, but here its the sight of his own body that shocks him: grey and clearly aged. Upon entering the kitchen, he finds a decidedly more warm T’Pol who explains that he’s lost 12 years after an injury, which ultimately led to the Xindi destroying Earth.
Time travel was always a major part of Enterprise, in which the Temporal Cold War served as a continuing plot thread. But few episodes pulled off the concept as well as “Twilight,” written by Michael Sussman and directed by Tom Paris himself Robert Duncan McNeill. With part of the episode set after the height of the Xindi War, “Twilight” gets to relax the tension in a way that the series rarely could, letting Archer and T’Pol sit in the regret, which only builds the stakes when they return to the present and continue their fight to save the Earth.
5. “All Good Things…” (Star Trek: The Next Generation Season 7 Episodes 25 & 26)
Star Trek: The Next Generation had a rocky start, but it ended perfectly with the two-part finale “All Good Things…”, in which Q puts Picard through one more test. When the Enterprise encounters a massive anomaly, Picard gets hurled to the past and the future. He must find a way to rally his friends in all three timelines, ultimately making a bold decision to save humanity.
Written by Brannon Braga and Ronald D. Moore and directed by Winrich Kolbe, “All Good Things…” is the perfect Star Trek finale. Not only does it pay off the Q plot introduced in the pilot “Encounter at Far Point,” but it presents Picard and his crew with a fundamentally Star Trek problem. Moreover, it gives fans one last look at how far the crew had come and where they may ultimately go, complete with a final goodbye to Denise Crosby’s Tasha Yar.
4. “Those Old Scientists” (Star Trek: Strange New Worlds Season 2 Episode 7)
As demonstrated by its first season, Strange New Worlds has no problem getting silly. Even so, it wasn’t clear how the relatively straight series would gel with the self-aware Lower Decks when Ensigns Mariner and Boimler appear on the USS Enterprise under Pike’s command. Turns out, the combination had delightful results.
Written by Kathryn Lyn and Bill Wolkoff and directed by the great Jonathan Frakes, “Those Old Scientists” follows Mariner and Boimler (portrayed by their voice actors Tawny Newsome and Jack Quaid) through a time portal that allows them to meet with Pike, Spock, and the rest of the Enterprise crew. Apropos of Lower Decks‘s sense of humor, Newsome and Boimler make knowing wisecracks about meeting their heroes. However, because the observations come from time travelers, it feels less like fourth-wall-breaking and more like the excitement of a history buff.
3. “The Visitor” (Star Trek: Deep Space Nine Season 4 Episode 2)
Among the many qualities that make Deep Space Nine the best Star Trek series is the loving relationship between Ben Sisko and his son Jake. Sisko’s performer Avery Brooks took seriously his role as mentor to young actor Cirroc Lofton, and that admiration translated to the screen, making Sisko the best father in television history.
Written by Michael Taylor and directed by David Livingston, “The Visitor” finds Sisko trapped in a time anomaly after an explosion on the USS Defiant. Jake searches desperately for his missing father, but finally moves on, leaving the space station to become a writer. Throughout his adult life, Jake (now played by B-movie great Tony Todd) receives ghostly visits from Sisko, who breaks through time at occasional intervals. Anchored by fantastic performances from Brooks, Todd, and Lofton, “The Visitor” uses its time travel concept to tell a powerful story about the bond between father and son.
2. “City on the Edge of Forever” (Star Trek Season 1 Episode 28)
“City on the Edge of Forever” is arguably the best episode of The Original Series. Directed by Joseph Pevney and based on a script by the legendary Harlan Ellison (though heavily rewritten by Trek regulars Gene L. Coon and D.C. Fontana), “City on the Edge of Forever” begins with a loony premise and shifts into one of the most moving Trek episodes ever aired.
After a medical mishap drives him mad, Dr. McCoy runs through a gate that sends him to 1930s San Francisco, with Kirk and Spock in pursuit. As the duo search for Bones, Kirk meets and falls for social worker Edith Keeler (Joan Crawford). According to history, Keeler dies in a traffic accident, but McCoy’s interference has prevented that. However, saving Keeler rewrites history, to the point that the Nazis develop atomic weapons and create a dystopian future. Much more of a romantic than the womanizer that people assume, Kirk realizes with horror the truth of his XO’s declaration. To save the future, “Edith Keeler must die.”
1. Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home
It’s easy to dismiss Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home as “the funny one” or “the one with the whales,” both of which are accurate descriptions. But the real magic of Star Trek IV is the way the cast has developed such strong camaraderie. Back in the director’s chair for the second time, Leonard Nimoy takes every advantage to show off his admiration for his co-stars, giving them each standout moments.
Those standout moments cannot be separated from the movie’s time-travel conceit. By putting these familiar characters in a new setting, we get to examine them from a different angle. So we get to see Scotty as a miracle engineer, as always but also as a jovial fellow who likes talking science. We get to see Sulu as not just a great pilot, but as a smooth operator who can buddy up with any other sky jockey. Best of all, we get to see Kirk at his most charming, when dropping lines like “Double dumbass on you!” By sending the crew back to the past, Star Trek IV lets us enjoy them as characters we love, letting us laugh with them while laughing at them.
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