After some tumultuous ups and downs, Star Trek decisively found its groove again with the excellent Strange New Worlds. This prequel set before The Original Series follows Captain Pike and his crew on the Enterprise as they partake in weekly adventures that return the series to its roots. But, of course, as a largely episodic series, there are bound to be some installments that stand apart from the rest, and to celebrate the announcement of Season 3’s July 17 release date, we’ve drawn up a list of the 10 best episodes from the show’s first two seasons. Reflecting on the series, it becomes clear just how much range it has, from episodes that are almost entirely dedicated to goofy hangout shenanigans to life-or-death struggles against nightmarish deep space enemies. With all that said, let’s count down the best episodes of the show so far.
10. “The Broken Circle” – Season 2 Episode 1
Across multiple Star Trek series, the Federation-Klingon War has loomed as something that should never be repeated, and “The Broken Circle” made use of this by bringing us uncomfortably close to that reality. After receiving a distress call, the Enterprise crew makes its way to the mining planet Cajitar IV and quickly finds themselves embroiled in unraveling a conspiracy to stop a false flag attack that could rekindle the war. Beyond the intrigue of piecing together the perpetrators and their intentions, one of the best elements of the episode is how it conveys that this war is still very much in living memory for the crew of the Enterprise, many of whom fought in it. Specifically, Chapel and M’Benga struggle with shared memories of the conflict before they both ingest Green Goo and Hulk out to punch a bunch of Klingons because this is still very much Star Trek. While “The Broken Circle’s” biggest contribution is setting up a later episode on this list, it is a fun outing in its own right.
“Lost in Translation” is a great example of how this show marries old and new Trek by combining multi-episode character-centric arcs with the types of one-off alien encounters you would expect. During the Enterprise’s visit to a deuterium refinery, Uhura starts suffering from disturbing hallucinations about those she’s lost, like her parents and mentor Hemmer, as she searches for the cause of these visions. The episode pays off Uhura’s previously established backstory, giving her time to grapple with grief as she confronts these feelings instead of suppressing them. The resolution to this mystery proves equally satisfying, as these answers tie in thematically and also deliver some far-out resolutions (which, spoilers, involve aliens).
8. “Spock Amok” – Season 1 Episode 5
Despite Star Trek’s reputation as a heady sci-fi series that asks big questions about ethics, philosophy, culture, and the great unknowns of the universe, an equally important tentpole of the series is people simply hanging out in space. While the screentime for this kind of leisurely pacing found in The Next Generation’s 176 episodes just isn’t there in a modern era of television with 6-12 episode seasons, Strange New Worlds still finds time for some slice-of-life beats. “Spock Amok” is one of the best examples from the first season, as Spock and his fiancée T’Pring get stuck in a classic body swap situation. It’s a breezy romp that slows down and shows us the friendship between Spock and Kirk, La’An and Una, and more as they attempt to navigate a diplomatic mission during these wacky shenanigans. After Strange New Worlds’ quickly paced opening, the show needed a fluffier, character-focused episode, and “Spock Amok” delivered.
7. “Memento Mori” – Season 1 Episode 4
While the first few episodes of Strange New Worlds were a bit too hasty in suddenly divulging characters’ tragic pasts without leaving enough time for these details to sink in, “Memento Mori” was a turning point in the series where these backstories finally felt real. After Pike’s Enterprise runs into the Gorn for the first time, La’An is forced to relive past traumas and use her experience surviving their attacks to save the crew. If you watched The Original Series and your mental image of the Gorn was Kirk facing off with a guy in a rubber suit from the legendary episode “Arena,” you were probably in for a nasty surprise to find that this show’s version of these space reptiles is downright horrifying, even if here we only see the cold exterior of their ship. On top of giving us more from La’An, this episode also makes good on Una and Uhura’s previous developments as these Starfleet officers give everything they have to escape an impossible situation.
In “All Those Who Wander,” the Gorn essentially solidified themselves as StrangeNew Worlds’ definitive Big Bads with a second appearance that was somehow more terrifying than the first. Doing its best Alien impression, the show goes full horror as the crew stumbles on the aftermath of a devastating attack. After sifting through the wreckage, they quickly find themselves in a fight for their lives against a baby Gorn. While this sudden tonal shift towards horror seems like it would be jarring, the imagery and direction sell icy dread as we go from a desolate tundra to a dark and dangerous ship, more than a little reminiscent of the Nostromo. Add in some genuine tragedy, and you have an episode that delivered scares, sacrifices, and further sold the dangers of these still largely unknown aliens.
5. “Charades” – Season 2 Episode 5
Working as a sort of follow-up to “Spock Amok,” Season 2’s “Charades” once again centers on Spock and his relationship with T’Pring. And like last time, some sci-fi nonsense set up an unlikely situation that puts Spock well outside his comfort zone: this time, interdimensional beings accidentally erase Spock’s Vulcan half, turning him fully human. Matters are further complicated by the fact that Spock has a ceremonial dinner coming up with his fiancée’s anti-human parents, and as you can guess, hijinks ensue—Ethan Peck plays the comedic scenes perfectly as Spock enjoys the marvels of bacon. But beyond the silly setup, the episode does a great job highlighting Spock’s mixed ancestry and his relationship with his mother as he comes to fully understand what his mom has gone through due to discrimination from Vulcans. It all leads to an emotional conclusion, made even more wholesome by the lengths the crew goes to help out their favorite science officer.
4. “A Quality of Mercy” – Season 1 Episode 10
If there’s an overarching conflict throughout this show’s first season, it’s the somewhat meta twist that Pike is aware that he will eventually end up in a life-changing accident that forces him to abandon the captain’s chair for good. In “A Quality of Mercy,” this struggle comes to a head as Pike witnesses an alternate future in which he uses his foreknowledge to escape his fate and save those doomed to die, but then suffers far worse consequences. As the episode remakes The Original Series’ “Balance of Terror,” where Kirk narrowly avoided triggering a war with the Romulans, Pike is stuck in a Ghost of Christmas Future situation where he witnesses the dire results of his current course. In the process, Pike finds some of the closure he so badly needed, rounding out the show’s excellent first season on a fittingly reflective note.
3. “Subspace Rhapsody” – Season 2 Episode 9
When it was announced that Star Trek was going to have its first musical episode with “Subspace Rhapsody,” it seemed like the kind of thing that would go one of two ways: very good or very bad. Thankfully, it ended up being the former. As an unexplained subspace fold causes the crew of the Enterprise to start spontaneously expressing their feelings in song, Uhura takes the lead in getting to the bottom of this phenomenon, lyrical monologues included. While at first glance, the episode seems like it would be a gimmicky one-off, its barrage of musical numbers perfectly captures the crew’s lingering inner conflicts, making a damn good argument for why characters’ expressing their feelings via song can be so effective. They dance, they sing, and Celia Rose Gooding flexes her Broadway experience with a booming voice that positively steals the show. While its setup is a series first, the episode’s earnestness and lack of fear over being seen as dorky is Star Trek in a nutshell.
2. “Under the Cloak of War” – Season 2 Episode 8
After alluding to Chapel and M’Benga’s experience fighting together in the Klingon War, “Under the Cloak of War” brought these haunting memories to the forefront before somehow pivoting in an even more shocking direction. As the Enterprise hosts a Klingon ambassador who defected to the Federation after fighting on the other side of the Klingon War, M’Benga and Chapel recognize him as the man who ordered brutal war crimes before their very eyes. As we pivot between brutal flashbacks framed like a war flick and the quieter inner turmoil of the present sold by a brilliant performance from Babs Olusanmokun as M’Benga, we’re forced to reflect on the cruelty of armed conflict, wartime trauma, and the limits of forgiveness. It all builds to a genuinely unforgettable ending that has us sit with difficult, unanswerable ethical questions.
1. “Ad Astra per Aspera” – Season 2 Episode 2
After establishing early on in the series that first officer Una Chin-Riley is an Illyrian (genetically humans who aren’t allowed in Starfleet), this ticking time bomb exploded in “Ad Astra per Aspera.” As Una prepares her defense against the Federation for why she broke rules to join Starfleet, we learn the horrors she and her family endured due to discrimination and mob violence as she lived her days in constant fear. Much like one of The Next Generation’s best episodes, “The Measure of a Man,” this riveting legal battle becomes fertile ground to explore prejudice, justice, civil rights, and the Federation’s failings. While this one could have easily come across as hokey or disrespectful towards real-life civil rights issues, everything is wrapped in Una’s thoughtfully portrayed experiences as she conveys how she was forced to choose between her family and a life of passing. Star Trek has always asked us to do better, often quite directly, and “Ad Astra per Aspera” does just that.
Elijah Gonzalez is the assistant Games and TV Editor for Paste Magazine. In addition to playing and watching the latest on the small screen, he also loves film, creating large lists of media he’ll probably never actually get to, and dreaming of the day he finally gets through all the Like a Dragon games. You can follow him on Bluesky @elijahgonzalez.bsky.social.
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