Sisko and Kira are the early frontrunners, but the Captain has to leave early to take his son to bed, and Kira has no interest in staying after that point. This leaves Worf in a contest of honor versus Odo, who has somehow ended up with Quark as his toadie, despite his protests. Julian sandbags tactfully, not wanting to take advantage of his Augment powers. In the end though, the victor is O’Brien, who has been steadily capitalizing on the losses of each earlier party as the game has dwindled, while also benefitting from his best friend’s needing someone to play foil. Worf accuses him of “playing without honor,” and it nearly comes to blows

And then there are those of us whom approach the situation as would Vash

“For some reason, our capitalists eventually decided to leave all their decision making to computer programs. It didn’t go great.”

“No wonder your species has such under-developed lobes.”

I really hope they expand on this technology someday. It would be cool for it to be normal for people to have like hundreds of years of lived experiences, because they can take, like, simulated vacations in superspeed.

O’Brien’s mind prison does not count lol

One of my favorite episodes. Definitely one of Neelix’s best

I started the Ark on recommendations from folks over on Mastodon. Seems like a good option as well. I’m only a few episodes in, but it seems like they are using the idea of “these are the best of humanity,” which I always love to see.

I do think Trek is going to be gone for a while, officially, at least on screen, but I think we should see this as more of an opportunity. Last time, there were multiple attempts to get fan shows going. This time, I think we should all embrace fan fiction intentionally. Show the cronies that we don’t need their corporate input to make good Star Trek

Maybe a holosuite, but if I’m on a starship, the wonders of the cosmos are definitely getting me outside every once in a while, at least when the crew gets shore leave if I’m not allowed on away missions

I’d recommend you start with whatever you’re most excited for! Every series is someone’s favorite, and it often has to do with which Trek was their first.

The Original Series (TOS) is definitely quality television, and worth watching, but it can be jarring for modern audiences. If you haven’t seen much scifi from the 60s, it can feel very silly.

As for which series is specifically best, the debate is usually between Deep Space 9 (DS9), and the Next Generation (TNG). I personally consider Lower Decks (LD) of this same quality, but, being an animated comedy, it’s controversial in the fandom.

DS9 is widely accepted to actually be the best Star Trek. It takes itself very seriously most of the time, and has some fantastic characters. It’s probably the show that gives you the best picture of what it’s actually like to live in the Federation.

TNG is what most people think of when you say Star Trek, despite not being the original. It was the second live action series, which came out in the 80s, and the first of 3 shows set in roughly the same time period (TNG, DS9, and Voyager (VOY)). It was the most popular of all the Treks, and so gets a lot of special attention in pop culture, but suffers from some of the camp leftover from TOS, especially early on while they’re still adapting old stories.

Voyager is a bit of a dark horse. It’s MY favorite, but it has some rough episodes. It takes place outside the Federation, on the other side of the galaxy, where the Voyager and her crew have been stranded by a strange alien known as the Caretaker. The show follows their journey as they attempt to fly back to Earth, the long way, a 70 year journey.

Lower Decks takes place like 10 or so years after Voyager. It’s a workplace comedy following the crew of the Cerritos, a Starfleet support ship. They’re not super elite like the Enterprise, but that doesn’t mean the dangers they face are any less…dangerous. It’s smart, fast, and written with a clear love for the setting. They also get tons of Trek actors to reprise their roles in animation. It’s definitely best to watch once you’ve seen a bunch of Trek, but imo, it holds up on its own. I have friends for whom it was their first Trek, and they still loved it.

You could also stick with New Trek and check out Academy or Discorey next. Be aware, you will be entering a landscape of conflict. This is where Trek has always lived, but it feels different when it’s your show. A lot of people HATED Discovery, and Academy got a lot of flack from reactionaries because it was Star Trek. Personally, I liked them both, but I thought Discovery took a while to find its feet. Academy, I found fantastic, and recommended strongly. Academy is set in the far future, and includes some stuff from Discovery, but I can’t tell you why, because of the Temporal Prime Directive.

There are three other series, Prodigy, Enterprise (ENT), and the Animated Series (TAS). They’re all kind of special cases. TAS came out between TOS and TNG, but I’ve never actually seen it myself. From what I’ve heard, it’s pretty goofy. Prodigy is targeted at kids, but it’s a solid show regardless. It only got two seasons before it was cancelled, like Academy. Finally, Enterprise is a prequel, like SNW, but set even earlier. I like it, but it’s tone is often darker than Trek usually is. It feels like an early 2000s scifi show imo. It’s worth watching for Commander Shran alone though.

That’s the real show: which one of these characters is Jeffrey Combs?

I love that Tasha is Death lmao

I thought maybe they’d make an Armus card, but subtly, it appears, wasn’t among them 😜

Lower Decks only did it because the bridge crew hog the holodeck

Not cool

He was right. It’s only a matter of time before we start doing it. It’s great for typing, and helpful for spelling! Nice to meet you, my name is Mich’l Johns’n

Imagine living in a place where the people in power listen to you and act rationally 😭

Most people probably celebrate on the holodeck

But how do you create a feedback loop

They’re Tu sides of the same vix

More likely she realized the Federation needed a little backbone, so she went back in time and taught us her skills. That’s Bajoran Seat-of-the-Pants Technology™

I can’t believe the Furfly got Tuvixed with Sean O’Brien

Except they should uphold the reassociation taboo. That episode always didn’t quite work for me. That norm is more an anti-monopoly regulation than a system of oppression lol