Star Trek got its start in 1965 when The Original Series released its pilot, and that original series ran for three seasons from 1966 to 1969. While NBC canceled the series, the franchise wasn’t dead, and it was only just beginning. In 1973, Star Trek: The Animated Series aired, and in 1979, Star Trek: The Motion Picture was released into theaters. After a series of movies, Star Trek returned to television with Star Trek: The Next Generation, and it hasn’t slowed down since. In 2026, Star Trek introduced its 13th original series, Star Trek: Starfleet Academy, and the future will see more from the popular sci-fi franchise.

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With Star Trek closing in on 1,000 total episodes, here is a look at the 10 best from across the franchise.

10) “Chain of Command”

“Chain of Command” is an episode from the sixth season of Star Trek: The Next Generation, and it features the Cardassians capturing and torturing Picard, with the ruthless interrogator Gul Madred (David Warner) attempting to break him down. That is scary enough, with Picard stripped naked and almost broken by the time he escapes.

However, when Jellico (Ronny Cox) is named the new captain and refuses to help Picard, it creates tension aboard the Enterprise. This episode also had one of the most brilliant tests in sci-fi, where Madred ordered Picard to admit he sees five lights when there are only four. By the end, he actually believed he saw five lights because the torture was so great that it almost forced Picard to deny reality and submit to an authoritarian power. This was pure Star Trek.

9) “Those Old Scientists”

While most of the best episodes of Star Trek come from three of the shows, there was an incredible episode from a series that is still running in 2026. While the Star Trek: Strange New Worlds second-season episode “Those Old Scientists” might be a little new to rank as an all-timer, it is a universally great episode. This is also a rare Star Trek episode because it is a crossover.

Not only is “Those Old Scientists” a crossover episode, but it crosses over with an animated series (Lower Decks), and it also brings in Jonathan Franks (Riker) as the director. The episode has Lower Decks‘ Ens. Boimler (Jack Quaid) and Ens. Mariner (Tawny Newsome) traveling back in time to Pike’s time as the captain. This is an episode that is a look at how important Star Trek is for its fans over the years, and succeeds on every level.

8) “The Visitor”

One of the most emotionally devastating episodes of Star Trek in history is the Deep Space Nine episode “The Visitor.” This was the fourth season episode that really goes deep into what DS9 was always about. This episode plays out in a story told in flashbacks between Sisko and his son, Jake. The twist here is that it takes place in the future, when Jake is an elderly man, and Sisko is unstuck in time, where he briefly visits Jake.

There are so many amazing moments in this episode, including Sisko telling Jake not to worry about him and to live his life to the fullest. However, the twist here is that Jake can’t do this, even in his elder years, and he sacrifices himself to save his father and restore the flow of time, which was a heartbreaking moment.

7) “Scorpion”

One incredible Star Trek episode that is often overlooked when breaking down the best in the franchise’s history is “Scorpion.” This was an episode from Star Trek: Voyager, and it was when the franchise brought back the Borg and showed why they are the best villains in Star Trek history. This was also the episode that brought fans one of the best characters in Star Trek history with Seven of Nine.

This was a two-part episode, and it changed Star Trek: Voyager forever, as the crew worked with the Borg to beat a new threat, Species-8472. Don’t believe anyone who discounts this episode because this is where Voyager really found itself and began to soar to new heights, making it a can’t-miss episode in the franchise as a whole.

6) “In The Pale Moonlight”

“In The Pale Moonlight” is the 19th episode in the sixth season of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine. This was an incredible episode that sees Sisko having to figure out what he is willing to do to encourage the Romulans to join the Dominion War and fight on the side of the Federation-Klingons. This is an episode that goes into great detail on one of Star Trek’s best moral conundrums when it comes to dealing with personal ethics to achieve a goal.

Sisko knows that he has to do some really bad things, going against his own beliefs and ethics, to win this war, and he does so, to great effect on him mentally. He has to falsify evidence and even release a known criminal from prison. What really slams home the moral messages of this episode is that Sisko spends a large amount of time talking directly to the camera, explaining why he did what he did, and deciding if it was worth it. This was a masterpiece of storytelling.

5) “The Best of Both Worlds”

One of the best episodes on the best Star Trek series of all time, “The Best of Both Worlds,” was a Star Trek: The Next Generation two-parter, consisting of the Season 3 finale and Season 4 premiere. The first part was a tense episode that ended with the biggest cliffhanger in Star Trek history when Picard ended up captured and assimilated by the Borg.

The second half of the two-part story isn’t quite as great, but that doesn’t keep this from being an incredible experience, and it even sets up the story for the Star Trek: First Contact movie. From the acting to the intense scene of seeing Picard compromised, “The Best of Both Worlds” is one of Star Trek’s most famous episodes for a very good reason.

4) “By Inferno’s Light”

The most underrated Star Trek episode in history is the Star Trek: Deep Space Nine episode, “By Inferno’s Light.” This was the 15th episode of Season 5 and is the second part of a two-part storyline, following “In Puragatory’s Shadow.” This shows a Dominion prison camp, and this is the best Star Trek episode concerning Worf in the franchise’s history. Many of the best Star Trek episodes of all time are all about the deep meanings and ethical decisions that good men and women have to make to achieve success.

However, “By Inferno’s Light” is different because this is an episode that shows how great Star Trek can be when it just wants to have fun and deliver an epic adventure story with high tension. The allusions to Nazi prison camps are obvious, and both Harak and Worf have to deal with a lot to escape. This was epic sci-fi, and better than most Star Trek episodes in that department.

3) “Yesterday’s Enterprise”

“Yesterday’s Enterprise” is a third-season episode from Star Trek: The Next Generation that was a highlight in what might be the series’s best season. The episode sees the Enterprise-C return from a temporal anomaly after everyone believed it was destroyed 20 years earlier. However, what happens next is that it resets history and creates a long-lasting war between the Kingon Empire and the Federation.

It is Guinan who realized something was wrong and convinced Picard that things had changed and the timeline needed to be corrected. Tasha Yar’s death remains one of the most emotional in the franchise’s history, and it might be one of the most noble sacrifices in Star Trek history. At its heart, Star Trek is smart sci-fi, and this is the best time-travel story the show ever told.

2) “The Inner Light”

“The Inner Light” is the best Star Trek: The Next Generation episode from the best series in the franchise. This sees something interesting happen when Pucard is hit with a signal that sends him into the body and life of a man living on a dying planet. What happens next is the most devastating thing that has ever happened in Picard’s life as he lives half a lifetime with his wife, children, and grandchildren, all in a span of about 25 minutes.

Picard’s story on Star Trek: The Next Generation is one of a man who decided that his life as a starship captain was more important than any family, and he chose to take the job over finding love. In this episode, he sees what his life would have been like if he had chosen differently. When he learns this was a time capsule for a world that died 1,000 years ago, it was even more tragic, and it remains one of the best stories Star Trek ever told.

1) “The City on the Edge of Forever”

There are many who might consider “The Inner Light” to be the best Star Trek episode of all time. However, there are just as many who feel the show was at its best with the original crew in The Original Series, and the one episode in that series that remains a highlight of the entire franchise is the first season episode, “The City on the Edge of Forever.”

In this episode, Bones leaps through a time portal on an alien planet and changes history drastically so that the Enterprise never existed, and it is up to Kirk and Spock to travel back to stop him. The two end up in New York City during the Great Depression, and they realize that Bones saved the life of a woman who believed in peace so much that she convinced the United States to stay out of the war, which allowed the Nazis to win World War II. Kirk then has to decide if this woman’s life was worth the terrible changes to the future in Star Trek’s most difficult moral decision.

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