10 Terrible Star Trek Episodes With Awesome Endings

[TMC]

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Further proof that Star Trek knows how to stick the landing, even on shaky flights

BY JACK KIELY
JANUARY 31ST, 2024

We can all single out our favorite awesome ending to a Star Trek episode. There are certainly plenty to choose from. Some are grandiose and dramatic, and are often the midway of a two-parter. Others are more understated, but equally as effective — Kirk's "Let's get the hell out of here" and Barclay's "Computer. End program!" for example. Others still have capped off a chef-d'oeuvre with little more than a hearty belly laugh on the bridge.

An awesome ending typically also means an awesome rest of an episode has gone before it. That final payoff has to feel earnt, after all. Sometimes, however, a great ending must swing in to bolster a not so great episode. Thankfully, this list took some time to compile, for there are very few examples in Star Trek of the bad needing last minute rescue by the good where quality is concerned.

An awesome ending doesn't mean redemption for a terrible episode either. It simply means they stuck the landing. In some cases, however, a conclusion (even years later) has provided at least a fresh perspective on a previously maligned part of the franchise.

So, like Data with a punchline to a bad joke, let's have a look at those episodes that got there in the end.