Outside of the fandom community, Star Trek is often seen as a "silly space show." And, yes, it is full of camp and nerdiness, but it also deals with serious topics in an authentic way. You never know what you're going to get with classic Star Trek. One episode is a fun little jaunt in a holodeck novel, one delves deep into philosophical questions, and another shakes you to your core.
The Star Trek moments that stay with us fall into a few different categories: heart-wrenching, spine-tingling, and awe-inspiring. Each of them gives us chills as we watch, and continues to do so in every rewatch. These moments give classic Star Trek its enduring legacy and remind us of the impact this science fiction franchise has had on us.
- 1. "He knows, Doctor. He knows"
- 2. "I have been, and always shall be, your friend."
- 3. "Now we live in you. Tell them of us... my darling."
- 4. "I am a human being... !"
- 5. "I am Locutus... of Borg. Resistance... is futile."
- 6. "I've been in this room before."
- 7. "B'Elanna, I have something I want to show you..."
- Awe-inspiring
- 8. "What is Data? ... "
- 9. "There are four lights!"
- 10. "But the most damning thing of all... I can live with it."
Heart-wrenching
1. "He knows, Doctor. He knows"
In "The City on the Edge of Forever," Star Trek: The Original Series, season 1, episode 28, Captain Kirk (William Shatner) and Spock (Leonard Nimoy) chase Dr. McCoy (DeForest Kelley), who is under the influence of a powerful drug, through a time portal to the 1930s United States. While trying to get Dr. McCoy back, Kirk meets a woman named Edith Keeler and falls in love. It turns out that Edith is destined to die, and if Kirk or his team interferes, a bleak future awaits them.
After Kirk holds McCoy back from saving Edith, McCoy screams at him, "Do you know what you've done?" Spock's answer of "He knows, Doctor. He knows," while the camera zooms in on Kirk's devastated face, deals a crushing blow to the audience. Having to stand by while someone you love dies is an agonizing choice, and it's an extreme test of the Temporal Prime Directive.
2. "I have been, and always shall be, your friend."
On of the most unforgettable and heartbreaking moments in all of Star Trek comes from the film, Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan. In order to save the Enterprise and its crew, Spock locks himself in the damaged engine room to repair the warp drive. Though he is successful, Spock has received a fatal dose of radiation poisoning.
Spock's goodbye to Admiral Kirk could bring a tear to even the most logical Vulcan's eye. His final words confess that he had always considered Kirk a friend and that, even in death, he would remain so. Again, Kirk must watch helplessly as a person he cares for dies. His eulogy for Spock is another gut-punch for fans, when he says, "Of my friend, I can only say this: of all the souls I have encountered in my travels, his was the most... human."
3. "Now we live in you. Tell them of us... my darling."
Can you imagine living a whole lifetime just to find out it was all an illusion? That's the plot of "The Inner Light," Star Trek: The Next Generation, season 5, Episode 25. Captain Picard (Patrick Stewart) finds himself living as a man named Kamin, and he literally spends decades on this planet with his wife, children, and grandchildren. And then, the planet is dying, and there's nothing to be done.
Picard eventually wakes up back on the Enterprise, but only after realizing that those people who made up his life had actually existed. They sent a satellite 1,000 years ago, just before their planet died, to have their story told. And now, Picard must live with the loss of his family and friends while trying to go back to his Starfleet life. His experience was so real, but he's expected to treat it as a dream.
4. "I am a human being... !"
"Far Beyond the Stars," Star Trek: Deep Space 9 season 6, Episode 13, sees Ben Sisko (Avery Brooks) as Benny Russell, a Black man living in 1953 America. He writes science fiction stories about a space station and the war between alien species, but reality begins to blur, and he becomes unsure which is real and which is a dream.
After dealing with the feeling of going crazy, and then being told that he's fired, Benny breaks down in front of the whole office. His speech about Ben Sisko being real is completely raw, and Avery Brooks's acting skills take the audience's breath away.
Spine-tingling
5. "I am Locutus... of Borg. Resistance... is futile."
The cliffhanger at the end of "Best of Both Worlds Part 1," Star Trek: The Next Generation, season 3, Episode 26, should have been illegal! Our beloved captain, Jean-Luc Picard, was captured by the Borg, but the Enterprise crew was not deterred and went to his rescue. Everyone's hearts sank when they realized they were too late.
When Picard appeared as a Borg, it was a huge shock, but his introduction as Locutus of Borg turned confusion into dread. For the first time of dealing with the Borg, it really felt as if resistance was futile, and that there was no hope.
6. "I've been in this room before."
Anyone with a fear of medical testing or experimentations should stay away from "Schisms," Star Trek: The Next Generation, season 6, Episode 5. It begins with several of the crew feeling tired even after sleeping all night and losing time. When a few of the crew meet together in a holodeck to help jog their memories, the tension becomes palpable.
Geordi La Forge (Levar Burton), Worf (Michael Dorn), and Will Riker (Jonathan Frakes) describe a metal table with a scissor-like tool above them. Geordi suddenly recognizes the place, and they all realize that they've been experimented on without their knowledge. This was one of the most memorable instances of Star Trek slipping into the horror genre.
7. "B'Elanna, I have something I want to show you..."
"Faces," Star Trek: Voyager, season 1, Episode 14, is not the first time we see the Vidiians and the Phage, but it does leave a more lasting impression. B'Elanna Torres (Roxann Dawson), Tom Paris (Robert Duncan McNeill), and Peter Durst (Brian Markinson) are captured by the Vidiians when one of their scientists thinks the key to curing the Phage is Klingon DNA.
The Vidiian scientist separates B'Elanna into two people: one Klingon and one human. No matter how hard he tries, though, the Vidiian can't get Klingon B'Elanna to let down her guard. So, he kills Durst and comes in wearing Durst's face. He wanted her to feel more comfortable with a familiar face. This feels less like Star Trek and more like The Silence of the Lambs.
Awe-inspiring
8. "What is Data? ... "
"The Measure of a Man," Star Trek: The Next Generation, season 2, Episode 9, gets philosophical when Starfleet scientists want to disassemble Data (Brent Spiner) in order to replicate him. They treat Data as a simple piece of machinery, and Captain Picard must prove that Data is worthy of life.
In a courtroom, Picard defends Data as a living being, and his closing argument hits hard. He argues that Starfleet is meant to search for new life, and that they found it in Data. Anyone listening to Picard's impassioned speech easily gets chills of awe, and the idea of intrinsic value of life is embedded into their hearts.
9. "There are four lights!"
Captain Picard shows his strength, resilience, and courage in "Chain of Command Part II," Star Trek: The Next Generation, season 6, Episode 11. Taken as a prisoner of war and labeled a terrorist by the Cardassians, Picard is tortured for information. Even drugged with truth serum, he refuses to break.
The Cardassians tell him that if he would just lie about the number of lights he sees, they will stop hurting him. Picard understands that if he gives in on this small thing, then he will crack on much more important information. So, under extreme agony, he continues to state that there are four lights, not five.
10. "But the most damning thing of all... I can live with it."
"In the Pale Moonlight," Star Trek: Deep Space 9, season 6, Episode 19, is not an example of the "perfect moral hero" type of awe. Instead, it authentically shows the difficult decisions that must be made, and that no one truly walks away clean from war.
Captain Sisko confesses throughout the episode about his going against Federation rules, and his own ethics, in order to save millions of lives. His actions get a Romulan senator killed, but that also leads to the Romulans joining the war against the Dominion. Sisko knows he'll be haunted by the choices he's made, but he realizes that he can live with that price.
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