The Joy of Trek

The Enemy (Star Trek: The Next Generation, S3 E07) was recommended by Leah (Lee-uh) she/her , who said: In lists of both favorite and underrated star trek episodes this one seems to get lost in the shuffle! I rarely see anybody talk about it which is baffling as its one of my all favorites. As someone playing an engineer in a Star Trek Adventures campaign I adore Geordi’s creativity in this episod...

The Practical Joker (Star Trek: The Animated Series, S2 E03) was recommended by FoxSan, He/Him, who said: "This desk is covered with ice! And it was almost covered with us!", romulans are knee-deep in desserts and KIRK IS A JERK! The Practical Joker first aired on September 21, 1974, written by Chuck Menville, and directed by Bill Reed The Joy of Trek is hosted by Khaki & Kay, with editing &am...

Extreme Risk (Star Trek: Voyager, S5 E03) was recommended by James (he/him), who said: I also ‘like’ Extreme Risk. I think Roxann Dawson’s acting is super subtle and she does grief really well. Really resonated with me with my own personal grief. As you probably know it’s after the news all the Marquis are dead and she is grieving. She isn’t her typical angry self (which for her is odd) she’s just...

The Elysian Kingdom (Star Trek: Strange New Worlds, S1 E08) was recommended by Chief Engineer Greg The Elysian Kingdom first aired on June 23, 2022, written by Akela Cooper & Onitra Johnson, and directed by Amanda Row 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 , o...

Kobayashi (Star Trek: Prodigy, S1 E6) was recommended by Lauren Rivers she/her, who said: When Prodigy first began I did not like Dal. I thought he was arrogant and full of himself, appointing himself captain without having earned the privilege. But this was the first episode that opinion started to shift, with him attempting the famous Kobiyashi Maru. For the first time I found Dal likeable and e...

Our Man Bashir (Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, S4 E10) was recommended by he/him Crimson like the color, who said: This one is probably pretty well liked already but...man it's just a blast so why not love on it too? Bashir's 60s Action Spy Holonovel is interrupted by a transporter emergency and all the major characters are replaced by runabout crew. We get the utter delight of the crew getting to ha...

Starship Mine (Star Trek: The Next Generation, S6 E18) was recommended by Royce Day (pronouced like Rolls Royce) he/him, who said: While this episode is safely in the "filler" category, lacking any connection to past episodes and never being mentioned again in the series, I'm fond of it because it's just FUN. It makes no bones (or McCoys) about being straight up "What if Die Hard, but on a Starshi...

Unexpected (Star Trek: Enterprise, S1 E05) was recommended by Hoofburd, he/him, who said: I would really like to hear from the writer/s if they knew that mpreg was an actual thing on certain password-protected tumblrs before they wrote this episode. This one goes in the pot because I *didn’t* see it, at least not at first. I was watching on original broadcast, I was 10, and were only a few episode...

Plato's Stepchildren (Star Trek: The Original Series, S3 E10) was recommended by Kaleb, he/him (pronounced 'Kay-lub'), who said: When thinking of which episode to recommend, this one didn't even cross my mind; I was sure it must be universally beloved! However, I found that it seems to be rather divisive, so I'm taking that as an excuse to recommend one of my all-time favorite episodes. It has som...

Night (Star Trek: Voyager, S5 E01) was recommended by Greg (He/him), who said: Night is the first appearance of Captain Proton which gets a lot of points for me right there. But more importantly, seeing the Captain's depression and her struggling with that has been very powerful to me when I've struggled with depression. I thought about this episode a lot during Covid where we were all trapped and...

Profit and Lace (Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, S6 E23) was recommended by Lauren Alexis Rivers She/Her, who said: While I saw this episode long before I knew I was trans, I always love this episode because the Ferengi centric episodes are never afraid to have fun. Exploring the Ferengi culture and the slow march towards equality, we see Quark forced to step in as a Ferengi female after his arguments...

A Matter Of Honor (Star Trek: The Next Generation, S2 E08) was recommended by Rugger (They/Them), who said: I watched A Matter of Honor when I was 13, and had black and white views of good and bad. The Klingons are first presented as repulsive and bad, with excessive violence and moving gagh. But the Klingon aggressive nature saves the day; Riker sees the virtue of its flexible culture. If Picard...

I Have No Bones Yet I Must Flee (Star Trek: Lower Decks, S4 E2) was recommended by Mark Nixon he/him , who said: Not only do we see Marriner eventually loosing the battle against acceptance and recognition by her Commander but we are met with the cutest goddamn thing in the entire Star Trek Universe: The Moopsie. The sounds that came out of me and my partner when we saw this cuddly little murderer...

Yesteryear (Star Trek: The Animated Series, S1 E02) was recommended by Royce Day (pronouced like Rolls Royce) he/him, who said: Yesteryear is probably the most well known episodes of ST:TAS, not only because it gives us a direct look at Spock's awful childhood (and Sarek's awful parenting), but because in 25 minutes it gives us a surprisingly dramatic and emotionally deep story, which was unusual...

Virtuoso (Star Trek: Voyager, S6 E13) was recommended by Hoofburd (hoof bird, he-him), who said: I was a kid when Voyager aired for the first time on UPN; My parents didn't tell me no when I came out to watch it on Wednesday nights. I think this is an important episode to think about as people become infatuated with programs like Midjourney and ChatGPT. Do we as a society value expression, or are...

Bar Association (Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, S4 E16) was recommended by Crimson, He/Him, who said: It's the Union Episode, what's _not_ to love about it? Is it Grand Epic Dominion War stuff? No! Is it Far Beyond the Stars? No! But is it still infuriatingly relevant, just like listening to an old Jim Crose or Woody Guthrie song? Absolutely! Does it also feature O'Brien hamming it up about all his u...

The Loss (Star Trek: The Next Generation, S4 E10) was recommended by Leslie, She/her, who said: Deanna Troi is my favorite TNG character, because she's a senior bridge officer, counselor to the Captain/ship, has a special ability, loves chocolate, is gorgeous, and she's in an on again/off again relationship with First Officer Will Riker. She's a likeable, strong female character in a male-dominate...

Acquisition (Star Trek: Enterprise, S1 E19) was recommended by nazzy she/her, who said: The Enterprise crew have to take back their ship from a bunch of Ferengi pirates, and it's just plain funny. There are some great comedy beats, everybody gets to be clever, and Trip spends half the episode in his underwear. (if, you know, you're into that sort of thing) Acquisition first aired on March 27, 2002...

Fair Haven (Star Trek: Voyager, S6 E11) was recommended by James (he/him), who said: I keep it a secret but I really like Fair Haven from ST:Voyager. I’m a huge Janeway FAN and she is really human in it (even a little vindictive when she says “computer: delete the wife”). Fair Haven first aired on January 12, 2000, written by Robin Bernheim, and directed by Allan Kroeker The Joy of Trek is hosted...

Stardust City Rag (Star Trek: Picard, S1 E05) was recommended by Khaki (he/him), who said: After an off-putting opening scene, the episode unfolds into something we get far too little of in Star Trek: a costumed caper! The stakes are high, the emotions are profound and the hats, oh god, the hats! Lauren Rivers she/her, An obsessive Star Trek nerd from Texas., recommended PIC 105 Stardust City Rag,...

I, Mudd (Star Trek: The Original Series, S2 E12) was recommended by Pico, he/him, who said: TOS's intentionally zany moments are often a blast, and this one's chock full of them. Watching the crew dance/act absurd to confuse the androids is one of my favorite moments in the entire series. I, Mudd first aired on November 3, 1967, written by Stephen Kandel, and directed by Marc Daniels The Joy of Tr...

One Little Ship (Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, S6 E14) was recommended by Lt. Commander Sheev Palpitine (Papa palps is fine He/Him), who said: As a child of the 80s it’s no surprise the Disney movie honey I shrunk the kids made a big impact on me. So if you combine a concept from my youth with technobabble about what one would need if you wanted to breathe the air as someone small and you’ve got you...

Night Terrors (Star Trek: The Next Generation, S4 E17) was recommended by Rob MacWolf (he/him), who said: It comes so so so close to being that point where space opera crosses over into cosmic horror, but then in a rare example of the REVERSE twilight zone twist veers away at the last second. It ALMOST even invents a cosmic horror trope, now commonplace, DECADES in advance of Night in the Woods wh...

Subspace Rhapsody first aired on August 3, 2023, directed by Dermott Downs Dana Horgan & Bill Wolkoff 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 | Bluesky | Instagram

Skin Of Evil (Star Trek: The Next Generation, S1 E23) was recommended by Mark Nixon, who said: This was one of my earliest experiences of horror and ultimately proved formative in the developments of my tastes and values as a storyteller. At that age I saw Riker as the coolest, bravest guy I had ever seen, and to see him being helplessly dragged by some invisible force while screaming for help? Ch...