If someone had never seen the Original Star Trek, what episode would you tell them to start with?

[Skip Intro]

Full series on Netflix.

I just caught the one where those flying brain cells had attacked a planet and also Mr. Spock during an away mission on an over-the-air station Saturday night. And it was so good.

I've seen them all, I think, but imagine there is someone who never had seen any of them. Which episode would you tell them to start with?

[Chan790]

1. Even as a non-fan, this is an easy one.

I'm pretty sure the consensus answer will be the episode Harlan Ellison wrote in the first season: The City on the Edge of Forever.

[nolabear]

19. Oh yeah, that one's wonderful.

It made up for a WHOLE lot of Kirk explaining the little lights in the sky to some babe.

[bluesbassman]

2. Episode 22, season 1, "Space Seed".

Where we are introduced to Khan Noonien Singh. My personal favorite episode.

[sarge43]

3. The one they did start with, Man Trap

Suspenseful story, well acted (The Shat pretty much left the scenery alone), good intro to the characters and Star Fleet

[chemenger]

4. Balance of Terror

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Balance_of_Terror

This episode introduced the Romulans. The episode is a science-fiction version of a submarine film; writer Paul Schneider drew on the films Run Silent, Run Deep and The Enemy Below, casting the Enterprise as a surface vessel and the Romulan vessel as a submarine.

Suspenseful, no monsters, what IMHO good science fiction is about.

[krispos42]

26. I second that.

The Star Trek novel "Final Frontier" (not a novelization of the movie) chronicles events that take place prior to Kirk, and sets the stage for the Romulans working on a cloaking device.

[Enraged_Ape]

5. The Doomsday Machine

Particularly the remastered version. Thrilling action and terrific acting, particularly by guest star William Windom. It's my favorite episode. And it is on par, in my opinion, with the better Star Trek movies.

[eShirl]

6. The one that had me laughing so hard my sides ached, first time I saw it

"The Trouble With Tribbles"

/ducks

[KurtNYC]

7. The one where Miley Cyrus destroys the Enterprise

[sarge43]

10. Oh my.

[Raine1967]

11. you win the DU for the day.

[OriginalGeek]

8. Maybe I don't understand the assignment

because I'd start with 1. If I had a whole series available to me and had never seen any of them (or even just parts of one or two) I'd start from the beginning and go to the end. Or as far as I could if I found I didn't like it.

That's why I love Netflix and hate Netflix - love it because I've found so many series that I had never seen before and now I can watch them and hate it because now I binge watch things or they don't have something I really want to see.

On Edit - KurtNYC's episode. I'd definitely start someone with that one. Forget all that other blather. Twerking across the universe is the one.

[patricia92243]

9. Start at the beginning - episode number one.

[RebelOne]

12. The one with the Tribbles. Funny as hell. n/t

[yurbud]

13. City on the Edge of Forever--best writing, most thought provoking, inversion of TERMINATOR

Kirk and Spock accidentally travel back in time, get stuck there, and realize that by saving an innocent, they inadvertently set events in motion that would let Hitler win World War II.

[malthaussen]

14. "The Trouble With Tribbles."

I'm in a minority: I do not think "City on the Edge of Forever" is the greatest episode, nor am I a Harlan Ellison fanboy.

-- Mal

[nolabear]

20. Fanboy? Can't one just be a fan?

[malthaussen]

27. Sure

But a measurable number of Harlan's fans seem to take it to extremes.

No excuse for being snarky, though. I'll plead indigestion.

-- Mal

[walkerbait41]

15. "The Trouble with Tribbles" has our vote

[RebelOne]

17. We have three votes here, mine, yours and another.

I think the Tribbles should win.

[Avalux]

16. My favorite is "Mirror Mirror"

It's about a mirror universe of opposites - so instead of the Enterprise being on a peaceful mission in the mirror universe, it's a warship and the crew are all savages (yes including Mr. Spock). The line between the universes gets crossed and then all hell breaks loose.

You might find this rating of all 79 episodes helpful in your decision:

http://www.hollywood.com/news/tv/55014598/ranking-star-trek-original-series-79-episodes-best-worst?page=all

[Va Lefty]

23. Love that episode. One of my favs

But if you don't know the characters, much of the irony is lost

[jrandom421]

18. A couple for laughs

"I, Mudd" and Stella "Harcourt Fenton Mudd! What have YOU been up to?" Classic fun!
although they may want to see "Mudd's Women" for some context.

"A Piece of the Action" "Fizzbin?"

[nolabear]

21. I loved all things Mudd. And the idea that beauty came from belief in one's self.

For its time Star Trek did some awesome stuff.

[Aerows]

22. The Year Of Hell

Captain Kathryn Janeway of Voyager. It's a 2 part, but it's fantastic.

[Sissyk]

24. Trouble with Tribbles!!

Just cause I love the furry things.

[edbermac]

25. Devil In The Dark was good.

Workers at a mining planet are being killed by a creature called a Horta. Kirk and Spock investigate and it turns out that the workers were unwittingly destroying baby eggs protected the Horta, which is the queen mother of its species. It ends with respectful compromise between the miners and the creatures.

Shatner has stated it is one of his favorite episodes.

[dawg]

28. Maybe this one.

[Orrex]

29. Spock's Brain

All of the other episodes will seem fantastic by comparison.

I would steer clear of City on the Edge of Forever for a similar reason: all of the other episodes will seem anticlimactic.

It might be worth mentioning to your imaginary friend that Netflix is showing the remastered episodes with updated special effects. Personally I really like how the effects were redone, but be ready to field the question if asked.