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The Best Episodes of Star Trek Season 1

Every episode of Star Trek Season 1 ranked from best to worst. Discover the Best Episodes of Star Trek Season 1!

Binge this in 20h 52m·Peaking at 9.2/10
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Episode Rankings

  1. #1 Fan Favorite
    Star Trek Season 1 Episode 28 - The City on the Edge of Forever
    9.2/10(7742 votes)

    S1:E28

    Kirk and Spock must travel into the past in order to correct a change that will alter history.

    Director:Joseph Pevney
    Writers:D.C. Fontana, Harlan Ellison

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  2. Star Trek Season 1 Episode 14 - Balance of Terror
    8.8/10(6747 votes)

    S1:E14

    Despite the earlier Romulan war, the Romulans have never been seen in person. The Enterprise, in pursuit of a Romulan aggressor, makes a discovery that causes suspicion about a senior crew member.

    Director:Vincent McEveety
    Writer:Paul Schneider

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  3. Star Trek Season 1 Episode 22 - Space Seed
    8.7/10(6434 votes)

    S1:E22

    The Enterprise picks up a crew of genetic supermen from the 20th century... and their leader, Khan, plans to create a new empire.

    Director:Marc Daniels
    Writers:Gene L. Coon, Carey Wilber

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  4. Star Trek Season 1 Episode 25 - The Devil in the Dark
    8.3/10(5237 votes)

    S1:E25

    Kirk investigates a series of grisly murders on a mining planet that are the work of a seemingly hostile alien creature.

    Director:Joseph Pevney
    Writer:Gene L. Coon

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  5. Star Trek Season 1 Episode 11 - The Menagerie (1)
    8.2/10(5816 votes)

    S1:E11

    Apparently summoned to Star Base 11, Kirk, Spock and McCoy visit a former Enterprise Commander, the paralyzed and horribly disfigured Christopher Pike. Uncharacteristically, Spock commandeers the Enterprise, then turns himself in for court martial.

    Directors:Robert Butler, Marc Daniels
    Writer:Gene Roddenberry

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  6. Star Trek Season 1 Episode 12 - The Menagerie (2)
    8.1/10(5552 votes)

    S1:E12

    Spock's court martial reveals the actions of Captain Pike on his previous visit to Talos IV, where the powerful Talosians tried to persuade Pike to breed with women provided for the purpose.

    Directors:Robert Butler, Marc Daniels
    Writer:Gene Roddenberry

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  7. Star Trek Season 1 Episode 26 - Errand of Mercy
    8.1/10(4834 votes)

    S1:E26

    The Federation and the Klingon Empire teeter on the brink of war as Kirk investigates Organia, a humble planet, inhabited by pacifists, that is unwittingly caught in the middle.

    Director:John Newland
    Writer:Gene L. Coon

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  8. Star Trek Season 1 Episode 10 - The Corbomite Maneuver
    8.0/10(5879 votes)

    S1:E10

    Threatened by the sinister captain of a powerful alien vessel, Kirk claims that the Enterprise carries a powerful explosive which will destroy both ships. The move produces unexpected actions from the alien adversary.

    Director:Joseph Sargent
    Writer:Jerry Sohl

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  9. Star Trek Season 1 Episode 23 - A Taste of Armageddon
    8.0/10(5002 votes)

    S1:E23

    The Enterprise arrives at a planet to establish diplomatic relations and finds itself in the middle of a "peaceful" war that threatens to destroy the ship.

    Director:Joseph Pevney
    Writers:Robert Hamner, Gene L. Coon

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  10. Star Trek Season 1 Episode 18 - Arena
    7.9/10(5404 votes)

    S1:E18

    With both their ships held captive by powerful beings, Kirk and the captain of the alien vessel are placed on an asteroid to fight for their lives and the lives of their crews.

    Director:Joseph Pevney
    Writers:Fredric Brown, Gene L. Coon

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  11. Star Trek Season 1 Episode 19 - Tomorrow Is Yesterday
    7.9/10(5143 votes)

    S1:E19

    In a freak accident the Enterprise is sent back to 20th century Earth, and must find their way back without changing history.

    Director:Michael O'Herlihy
    Writer:D.C. Fontana

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  12. Star Trek Season 1 Episode 4 - The Naked Time
    7.8/10(6172 votes)

    S1:E4

    An alien virus strips the enterprise crew of their inhibitions, causing chaos as each crew member is overcome by hidden emotions. Meanwhile, the Enterprise is being pulled inexorably into a nearby planet's gravity well.

    Director:Marc Daniels
    Writer:John D. F. Black

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  13. Star Trek Season 1 Episode 24 - This Side of Paradise
    7.8/10(4824 votes)

    S1:E24

    The Enterprise crew try to rescue colonists from deadly radiation, but instead encounter strange alien spores that seem to offer paradise.

    Director:Ralph Senensky
    Writers:D.C. Fontana, Jerry Sohl

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  14. Star Trek Season 1 Episode 3 - Where No Man Has Gone Before
    7.7/10(7624 votes)

    S1:E3

    When Enterprise encounters a Force Field at the edge of the Galaxy, one of the crew members psionic abilities are accelerated to God like proportions causing him to become a powerful murderous being.

    Director:James Goldstone
    Writer:Samuel A. Peeples

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  15. Star Trek Season 1 Episode 5 - The Enemy Within
    7.6/10(5853 votes)

    S1:E5

    Split by a transporter malfunction into two beings with very different personalities, the resulting twin Captain Kirk proves that neither a purely evil nor a sweetly good captain can survive without the missing half.

    Director:Leo Penn
    Writer:Richard Matheson

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  16. Star Trek Season 1 Episode 16 - The Galileo Seven
    7.6/10(5084 votes)

    S1:E16

    Crash landing on a planet populated by hostile giants, the 7-man crew of the shuttlecraft Galileo find themselves unable to communicate with the enterprise or to escape the planet's atmosphere.

    Director:Robert Gist
    Writers:Shimon Wincelberg, Oliver Crawford

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  17. Star Trek Season 1 Episode 7 - What Are Little Girls Made Of?
    7.5/10(5557 votes)

    S1:E7

    Helping nurse Christine Chapel search for her fiancé, the Enterprise finds a detached Dr. Korby working on a plan to create Android duplicates of key figures, beginning with James Kirk.

    Director:James Goldstone
    Writer:Robert Bloch

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  18. Star Trek Season 1 Episode 29 - Operation: Annihilate!
    7.5/10(4393 votes)

    S1:E29

    Kirk and the Enterprise must combat parasitic aliens threatening the lives of millions.

    Director:Herschel Daugherty
    Writer:Steven W. Carabatsos

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  19. Star Trek Season 1 Episode 9 - Dagger of the Mind
    7.4/10(5211 votes)

    S1:E9

    When a wild eyed maniac escaping from the Tantalus Penal Colony turns out to be one of the psychiatric staff, Kirk investigates the institution and discovers a chilling exercise in mind control.

    Director:Vincent McEveety
    Writer:Shimon Wincelberg

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  20. Star Trek Season 1 Episode 20 - Court Martial
    7.4/10(4767 votes)

    S1:E20

    Captain Kirk's career is at stake when he is put on trial for the loss of a crewman during an ion storm.

    Director:Marc Daniels
    Writers:Don Mankiewicz, Steven W. Carabatsos

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  21. Star Trek Season 1 Episode 15 - Shore Leave
    7.3/10(5282 votes)

    S1:E15

    When McCoy sees the White Rabbit from Alice in Wonderland, the crew begins to realize that the planet they are visiting seems to have the dangerous power to turn any thought into reality.

    Director:Robert Sparr
    Writer:Theodore Sturgeon

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  22. Star Trek Season 1 Episode 1 - The Man Trap
    7.2/10(7111 votes)

    S1:E1

    Doctor Leonard “Bones” McCoy meets a former girlfriend when the enterprise brings supplies to a remote archaeological survey group. Still attractive to McCoy, the woman's current appearance hides a dark and deadly secret.

    Director:Marc Daniels
    Writer:George Clayton Johnson

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  23. Star Trek Season 1 Episode 17 - The Squire of Gothos
    7.2/10(4960 votes)

    S1:E17

    Encountering an uncharted planet in an empty region of space, Kirk and his crew are entertained by Trelane, a playful being who lacks the self-control to wield his great psionic powers with discipline.

    Director:Donnie McDougall
    Writer:Paul Schneider

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  24. Star Trek Season 1 Episode 13 - The Conscience of the King
    7.1/10(5064 votes)

    S1:E13

    Contacted by one of the other two witnesses to the crimes of mass murderer “Kodos the Executioner,” Kirk is persuaded that the criminal may be disguising himself as an actor in a traveling theatrical troupe.

    Director:Gerd Oswald
    Writer:Barry Trivers

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  25. Star Trek Season 1 Episode 21 - The Return of the Archons
    7.1/10(4599 votes)

    S1:E21

    The Enterprise encounters a seemingly peaceful civilization run by a "benevolent" being named Landru... who intends for them to join his people.

    Director:Joseph Pevney
    Writers:Gene Roddenberry, Boris Sobelman

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Season 1 Ratings Summary

"The City on the Edge of Forever" is the best rated episode of Star Trek season 1. It scored 9.2/10 from 7,742 votes. Directed by Joseph Pevney and written by D.C. Fontana, Harlan Ellison, it aired on April 6, 1967. This episode is rated 0.4 points higher than the second-best, "Balance of Terror".