Top 5 Trek: Geordi Episodes

Ah, Geordi. Unlucky at love, luckier with warp plasma manifolds. LeVar Burton was the closest thing to an A-list actor that TNG started out with, but he really didn't get a ton to do. Moving to engineering certainly helped his character's fortunes, but he was also saddled with lots of treknobabble and expository scenes. Burton did a great job with both thankless tasks, if you ask us.

But every once in a while, the writers threw him a bone. Here are my picks for his best outings in Trek.

Honorable Mention:

Timeless (VOY Season 5)

This alternate future episode features Geordi as captain of the USS Challenger. It was really cool to see LeVar Burton without any eye covering, in full captain's uniform, at he helm of a Galaxy Class starship. It's also cool that Burton got to direct the episode.

Top 5 Trek: TNG Guest Stars

TNG is a show that has a wealth of interesting stories, and a host of skilled actors to populate them. We've waxed rhapsodic many times on the talents of the main cast, but I wanted to take this time to discuss the guest cast, and ask the question - who are the top 5 guest stars in TNG? By guest stars, I intend to exclude "Regular" guest stars, such as John De Lancie as Q, Dwight Schultz as Barclay, Majel Barret's Lwaxana Troi, and so on. To me these are recurring guest actors, as opposed to guest stars per se.

All that said, a list like this, composed by one person, is of course fraught with personal opinions and biases. So be it. Perhaps we'll do a corresponding poll when the mood strikes me and I locate the arcane instructions again. Anyway, here goes:

5. Daniel Davis as Professor Moriarty (2 appearances)

No, Mr. Sheffield... I expect you to die!

Top 5 Trek: Wesley Crusher Episodes

Young Wesley Crusher gets a lot of grief from Trek fandom. But besides Wil Wheaton seeming like a cool guy and a good podcaster, I think Wesley Crusher the character gets a bad rap.

For one thing, I can see what Roddenberry was up to in creating him. He serves two functions. Firstly, he is the "Mary Sue" character that allows young people to imagine themselves on the ship with all the super-heroic Starfleet officers. Second, he is the wunderkind that allows young nerds to imagine that "it gets better." Now, it could be that for some, these two ideas work at cross purposes - one of the most commonly leveled accusations against the character is that he "saves the day" too much or is annoyingly smart. How can we identify with a character who is so exceptional? And to some degree this is fair. But then, some of us were exceptional children, nerds, geeks, spelling bee champs, and so on. So it is at least possible that we might still find Wesley comforting and charming to watch.

OK, all that said, Let's kick things off with Honorable Mentions.


Justice 

Do I... have to take off my sweater to play this... game?

I have to start with Justice. It's kind of a terrible episode, but in that "so bad it's good" way. Why does it rate an honorable mention? Because of how Wil Wheaton described trying to conceal his boner throughout the shoot. Just imagining a teen-aged boy surrounded by all these tanned, oily, half-naked actresses who talk about sex really boosts one's appreciation for the art of acting.

Top 5 Trek: Beverly Crusher Episodes

I have waxed rhapsodic many a time about what a MILF Dr. Crusher is. So I thought, why not catalog her greatest hits in a top 5 list?

Now, it should be said, that I have two criteria for naming something a "Top Crusher Episode." First, of course, is an episode that kicks butt on its own terms, and showcases her character to great effect. But also, there is the episode that is average or even below average, but falls into the category of "fan service" - an episode with moments to satisfy the perviest of Bev pervs.

OK, so without further ado...

Honorable Mentions


Cause and Effect

Good old Aunt Adele... How many babes has she bagged me?

This is a superb episode. Beverly isn't the main character per se, but she is a main focal point in terms of discovering the repeating time loop. Gates McFadden gives some really nice solo performances that show us silently her thought processes.

Top 5 Trek: Time Travel Stories

This is a list of what I (Elizabeth Calderon) consider to be the Top 5 Star Trek Time Travel stories. In compiling this list, I had to differentiate between episodes that could be considered “Anomaly Stories,” e.g. “Cause and Effect” (TNG), “Yesterday’s Enterprise” (TNG), “Time Squared” (TNG) and stories that are considered to be “Time Travel.” For instance, in “Time and Again” (VOY), Janeway and Tom Paris, through cracks in the space time continuum, are sent about twelve hours into a devastated planet’s past (before the disaster). Is this an “Anomaly Story” or a “Time Travel story?” Sometimes it’s a little difficult to make the judgment call, and ultimately it’s up to the viewer. So without further ado…

5. Trials and Tribble-ations (DS9)

“Aren’t you supposed to be an attractive young brunette?”

Top 5 Trek: Tom Paris Episodes

As my "My Favorite Character" Essay indicates, Tom Paris is my personal favorite Trek character. So, in inaugurating this new series of essays, "Top 5 Trek," I figured why not focus on Tom Paris episodes, and determine which, personally, would comprise my Top 5?

Without further ado, here we go!

5. Caretaker

"Caretaker" is a very good pilot show for just about every major Voyager character. Chakotay is never this badass again, Harry gets some great scenes on DS9, we get to see Janeway's lost romance. But Tom's story always stuck out to me personally as the most identifiable. Here we have a guy down on his luck, reputation in tatters, who is given a second chance. He doesn't trust this lucky break at first, and there are no end of authority figures ready to judge him based solely on his past. But his baseline goodness comes out when he helps Harry on DS9, and his desire to make himself a better man guides him through the rough events to come in this episode.