Where No One Has Gone Before (Star Trek: The Next Generation (TNG), S1 E6) was recommended by Pangolin - as in, that awesome mammal with scales who looks like a tank. He/him, who said: This is a very early episode in TNG and things are all over the place with the technobabble and characters, but the ideas are huge and the plot is bonkers in all the best ways. Star Trek at this stage was still very fantastical, like in The Original Series, baffling weird stuff Just Happens and the crew have to deal with it each week. This time we get Wesley Crusher's new interdimensional bff and his sidekick fakeout guy, who accidentally mash the keyboard and send the Enterprise 'past warp 10' and to the far side of the universe with no way to get home. I just love how weird everything is in this episode, and how many epic and also bizarre and awesome moments we get. We've only just got used to how The Enterprise looks when it enters warp in TNG, then things get fucky and we get a side-view of the Enterprise appearing to enter warp while at warp as it goes up to ludicrous speed. As a kid this was just mind-blowing and this whole episode evoked (and still evokes!) such a sense of awe and wonder. Things only keep getting weirder and now dangerous as reality starts breaking down for our crew, where space and time and thought are no longer the separate things we believe them to be. We can pick at plot holes and weird details but this remains a stand-out for me with just how enjoyable this episode is, and how much it is an exemplar for the heart of Trek. It's always on my rewatch rotation!

Where No One Has Gone Before first aired on October 26, 1987, written by Diane Duane & Michael Reaves, and directed by Rob Bowman

Warp efficiency tests send the Enterprise traveling far beyond known space, where the crew's imagination takes on real form. First appearance of Eric Menyuk as The Traveler.

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"Calling on a Friend" by Trilled, can be found at https://archiveofourown.org/works/45488308

"Faced with their imaginations coming to life, Kira discovers that her imagination isn't as broken as she thought"

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If Wishes Were Horses (Star Trek: Deep Space Nine (DS9), S1 E16) was recommended by Rugger (They/Them), who said: This is the episode where the crew of DS9 figured out their chemistry. The plot doesn't matter and just strings together the hijinks. But this is the episode where the crew really enjoys each other—where they become a team.

If Wishes Were Horses first aired on May 16, 1993, written by story by Nell McCue Crawford & William L. Crawford, teleplay by Nell McCue Crawford, William L. Crawford and Michael Piller, and directed by Robert Legato

Deep Space Nine is put in jeopardy when the crew's thoughts manifest themselves, and such figures as Rumpelstiltskin appear.

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"Cultural Context" by coolbreezemage, can be found at https://archiveofourown.org/works/36881002

"Tuvok and Neelix go on an away mission to gather supplies to boost Voyager's dwindling resources, a mission where they will need to make use of both their talents."

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Riddles (Star Trek: Voyager, S6 E6) was recommended by Annalise (she/her) pronounced: ahna-lease, who said: Every re-watch of Voyager, my partner and I have lightly different feelings about Neelix. During a rewatch in 2020, as we were isolated from our loved ones, his desire to make their journey more comfortable, to find connections to their homes, really makes him endearing. A little of that has stuck with me during the rewatches since then.

His relationship with Tuvok is one I find amusing and where you see how hard Neelix tries to make people feel seen and connected. Suddenly, in this episode Tuvok needs Neelix and recognizes that he feels safe with Neelix, is evidence of all of Neelix's hard work paying off. It would have been so easy (and natural) for Tuvok and Neelix to be mutually antagonistic for the whole series (Tuvok hating him for being silly, and Neelix hating Tuvok for being so serious), but Neelix genuinely likes Tuvok. He doesn't understand how Vulcans work in the slightest, but his responses to Tuvok show a genuine care and good intentions, like a kid who sees an adult in distress and offers them a favorite toy.

As a Neurodivergent person, I do love quotable TV, and I also find myself quoting the riddle about the calendar often when I'm working on my own scheduling and a little bit hungry.

Riddles first aired on November 3, 1999, written by story by André Bormanis, teleplay by Robert Doherty, and directed by Roxann Dawson

Returning from a diplomatic mission, Tuvok is attacked by a cloaked intruder and suffers neurological damage.

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"To Break in a Glove

" by TARDISTraveller42, can be found at https://archiveofourown.org/works/22854793

"Picard spends some fatherly bonding time with the three members of his crew that need a father-figure the most: Will, Wesley, and Data. Can a game of catch on the Holodeck bring out the father in Jean-Luc Picard?"

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Allegiance (Star Trek: The Next Generation (TNG), S3 E18) was recommended by NightCat He/Him, who said: Picard gets captured and sent to a room with a few other aliens.Then PseudoPicard is running the ship, singing drinking songs and apparently fascinated with dangerous pulsars!

There was a guy in that episode, one of the aliens in the room. He had a kind of robe on. His species was reputed for having been conquered over and over again. I found it interesting that they used that same concept in a Doctor Who episode during the Matt Smith era called "The God Complex". There was a kind of ratlike guy whose species had the same reputation! I've seen a lot of borrows in the new Doctor Who, although I adore the show! But this was a pretty direct lift and it was hard to miss.

I also found the PseudoPicard to be really interesting. The strange date he has with Beverly Crusher before he just kicks her out. Sometimes I remember the drinking song he does and I find myself trying to remember the lyrics. Weird stuff! But it really caught my attention.

Allegiance first aired on March 26, 1990, written by Richard Manning & Hans Beimler, and directed by Winrich Kolbe

Aliens kidnap Captain Picard and replace him with a duplicate who sends the Enterprise to a pulsar. Meanwhile, the real Picard and three other captives try to escape from their prison.

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"Commitment" by OnlySlightlyObsessed1, can be found at https://archiveofourown.org/works/21921958

""The first time T'Pol refers to him as her partner, Trip's brain shuts down.""

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