The Joy of Trek

Masks (Star Trek: The Next Generation (TNG), S7 E17) was recommended by He/him, who said: Although many find the episodes "incomprehensible" or "incoherent," I find it a joy. First, Brent Spiner gets to really through himself into an array of personality types. He gets to show off his acting chops in ways that he rarely gets to, and almost never gets to on Star Trek. Second, I truly enjoy this qui...

"The Adventures of Proton Junior" by stardustinthesky, can be found at https://archiveofourown.org/works/3717790 "It was supposed to be a quiet Saturday. Tom, Harry and Miral have a different kind of day planned for B'Elanna." The Joy of Trek is hosted by Khaki & Kay, with editing & production by Chief Engineer Greg and music by Fox Amoore ( Bandcamp | Bluesky ) Send us your recommendation...

Empok Nor (Star Trek: Deep Space Nine (DS9), S5 E24) was recommended by Nerdimus Prime, who said: Empok Nor, like The Omega Directive, is an unusual episode We have tough characters in Star Trek. We have brave ones. We have smart and sassy characters as well. And we had evil characters (looking at you Gul Ducat). But Garrak, as it turns out, is the only Terrifying character in Star Trek. And we pu...

"Life, When It Gives You Lemons" by theladygeneral, can be found at https://archiveofourown.org/works/58070146 "When another workplace accident on the Cerritos leaves the hydroponics bay and Kayshon's garden in shambles, it's Ransom to the rescue." The Joy of Trek is hosted by Khaki & Kay, with editing & production by Chief Engineer Greg and music by Fox Amoore ( Bandcamp | Bluesky ) Send...

Cease Fire (Star Trek: Enterprise, S2 E15) was recommended by nazzy (she/her), who said: For being a founding member of the Federation, the Andorians have gotten seriously short shrift over the years by various Trek series. Enterprise made that up to us, giving us more Andorians per capita than any Trek before or since! And best of all, it gave us Shran, quite possibly Jeffrey Combs's best role in...

"Wearing Your Colours" by apolesen, can be found at https://archiveofourown.org/works/19244734 "Many years after the castellanship of Elim Garak, a young man finds the courage to wear a pin of his hero in an unusual colour scheme." The Joy of Trek is hosted by Khaki & Kay, with editing & production by Chief Engineer Greg and music by Fox Amoore ( Bandcamp | Bluesky ) Send us your recommend...

Bride of Chaotica! (Star Trek: Voyager, S5 E12) was recommended by Tonks (they/them) , who said: Mwahahaha! Intrepid crew of the USS JOYager and your Chief! You have finally met your match, for I, Tonks, present you with this truly magnificent episode to end your Voyager related woes! *cough* *cough* *cough* Where was I? This episode is a beautiful homage to a piece of media that inspired so many...

"Not ready" by TFALokiwriter, can be found at https://archiveofourown.org/works/33361315 "Q fights for Picard not to be forcibly ascended by doing it the best way that he knows." The Joy of Trek is hosted by Khaki & Kay, with editing & production by Chief Engineer Greg and music by Fox Amoore ( Bandcamp | Bluesky ) Send us your recommendations , or support us on Patreon . Find us at joyoft...

Relics (Star Trek: The Next Generation (TNG), S6 E4) was recommended by Kyyanno (Kyy for short, rhymes with Sky), he/him, who said: I've always loved the engineering side of Trek, from the designs of the ships to the entirely fictional but awesome systems that make them tick. I've read "Mr Scott's guide to the Enterprise" and the TNG "Technical Manual" from cover to cover many a time. Scotty was m...

"T'Ana Takes Command" by Wooster, can be found at https://archiveofourown.org/works/25284367 "The USS Cerritos is under fire. With Captain Freeman and Commander Ransom out of commission, that leaves Dr. T'Ana in command of the California class ship… even if she has other things to do." The Joy of Trek is hosted by Khaki & Kay, with editing & production by Chief Engineer Greg and music by F...

Darmok (Star Trek: The Next Generation (TNG), S5 E2) was recommended by Toledo (he), who said: Yes, this is one of the most famous episodes of The Next Generation. That's because it's darn good. There's so many wonderful moments: the rarity of the depiction of aliens initiating a first contact with the Federation, the humor of the Enterprise crew's incomprehension, the exploration of cultural misu...

"The Debriefing Incident" by Veri_II, can be found at https://archiveofourown.org/works/52588381 "When he got back to the Cerritos, they’d say, hey, Boimler, what kind of kickass stuff did you get to do when you visited the golden age of exploration? And he’d have to respond, I stripped Mr. Spock!" The Joy of Trek is hosted by Khaki & Kay, with editing & production by Chief Engineer Greg a...

The Wire (Star Trek: Deep Space Nine (DS9), S2 E22) was recommended by Obiwanjabroni (he/him) pronounced like obi wan kenobi from star wars but the last part is..ja-BRO-nee? I guess lol just listen to the ROCK when he was a wrestler , who said: I know most people would choose this episode as a favorite because it supposedly gives us Garak's "origin story" but to someone who is in recovery and fall...

"Musical Alert" by AxeMeAboutAxinomancy, can be found at https://archiveofourown.org/works/57099433 ""This is the Captain speaking. Musical Alert. I repeat: Musical Alert. This is not a rehearsal."" The Joy of Trek is hosted by Khaki & Kay, with editing & production by Chief Engineer Greg and music by Fox Amoore ( Bandcamp | Bluesky ) Send us your recommendations , or support us on Patreon...

Those Old Scientists (Star Trek: Strange New Worlds, S2 E7) was recommended by Bryan Love(Blackrain), who said: Time travel, cross over, animate, live action, fan boying or girling over your historical idols. What more can you ask for in a Star Trek episode? When on routine away mission to scan an ancient time portal, Ensign Boimier is sucked in into the portal and sent to the past just at the rig...

"Our Man Paris (Of Troy)" by SocialPermaDeath, can be found at https://archiveofourown.org/works/41789019 "A holodeck malfunction leaves Tom Paris in an "Our Man Bashir" of his own playing the part of Paris of Troy in the 3rd Book of the Iliad and visions of his crew mates as various parts of the Greek epic." The Joy of Trek is hosted by Khaki & Kay, with editing & production by Chief Engi...

Tuvix (Star Trek: Voyager, S2 E24) was recommended by Alex Russet , who said: I'm honestly shocked that this hasn't shown up in the podcast yet. It's the perfect fit for what you're doing. This Episode is fascinating to me. At It's very core is a trolly problem. Save the lives of two for the cost of one, or preserve the one at the cost of two. Both sides have valid points, but equally are both fla...

"Hunting Hound" by Leah [archived by Warp5Complex_Archivist], can be found at https://archiveofourown.org/works/8080225 "Tucker and Reed hunt for a hound." The Joy of Trek is hosted by Khaki & Kay, with editing & production by Chief Engineer Greg and music by Fox Amoore ( Bandcamp | Bluesky ) Send us your recommendations , or support us on Patreon . Find us at joyoftrek.com · Twitter · Fac...

Devil's Due (Star Trek: The Next Generation (TNG), S4 E13) was recommended by IronBoomer, and he/him, who said: This episode is pure Patrick Stewart and Brent Spiner at their best, and our guest actress of Marta Dubois is so much fun. While it ends up just being a legal drama and half-bottle episode, everyone is bringing their A-Game to this episode. Devil's Due first aired on February 4, 1991, wr...

"Faith and Begorrah" by Bruce (PKSP), can be found at https://archiveofourown.org/works/34170499 "Tom Paris and Harry Kim try to repair the Fair Haven holoprogram in time for St. Patrick's Day." The Joy of Trek is hosted by Khaki & Kay, with editing & production by Chief Engineer Greg and music by Fox Amoore ( Bandcamp | Bluesky ) Send us your recommendations , or support us on Patreon . F...

Move Along Home (Star Trek: Deep Space Nine (DS9), S1 E10) was recommended by nazzy (she/her), who said: I cannot believe nobody has asked for this one yet! One of the earliest criticisms of DS9 was that it didn't "boldly go", and in its first two seasons in particular, there were a lot of episodes whose basic synopses read "Weird alien(s) come to the station, hijinks occur." And being a DS9 fan a...

"I Just Might Say it Tonight" by orcamermaid, can be found at https://archiveofourown.org/works/30425253 "Five times Garak and Julian didn't voice their feelings, and one time they finally did." The Joy of Trek is hosted by Khaki & Kay, with editing & production by Chief Engineer Greg and music by Fox Amoore ( Bandcamp | Bluesky ) Send us your recommendations , or support us on Patreon . F...

The Cloud Minders (Star Trek: The Original Series (TOS), S3 E19) was recommended by Kaleb, he/him, who said: No war but class war baby! I love this episode for being that classic campy trek, while also being a rather good simplification of how environment- particularly an environment caused by oppression in the first place- shapes the way that oppression is justified and continued. Not specificall...

Spock explores human romantic traditions, and works on a surprise for Kirk. Meanwhile, Kirk gets back at him for overuse of a title they now share. First published on February 15th, 2023 on Archive of our Own by VallesMarineris. The Joy of Trek is hosted by Khaki & Kay, with editing & production by Chief Engineer Greg and music by Fox Amoore ( Bandcamp | Bluesky ) Send us your recommendati...

Repentance (Star Trek: Voyager, S7 E13) was recommended by Rugger (They/them), who said: A lot of Voyager's preachy episodes fall flat, but this one always makes me pause. When I first watched this episode as a child, it shaped how I see justice. And, plot-wise, Repentance does a great job of combining a dialogue-heavy, philosophical discussion with real pathos for the murderer, Iko, and linking t...