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The Worst Episodes of Star Trek

Every episode of Star Trek ranked from worst to best. Explore the Worst Episodes of Star Trek!

Space. The Final Frontier. The U.S.S. Enterprise embarks on a five year mission to explore the galaxy. The Enterprise is under the command of Captain...
Genres:Sci-Fi & FantasyDrama
Network:NBC
Episodes
79
Avg. Rating
7.3
S1
S2
S3
S4
E1
E2
E3
7.2
8.6
5.6
7.0
7.1
8.4
7.7
7.5
6.7

Worst Episodes Summary

"And the Children Shall Lead" is the worst rated episode of "Star Trek". It scored 5.2/10 based on 3617 votes. Directed by Marvin J. Chomsky and written by Edward J. Lakso, it aired on 10/11/1968. This episode scored 0.2 points lower than the second lowest rated, "The Way to Eden".

  • And the Children Shall Lead
    5.2/10(3,617)
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    #1 - And the Children Shall Lead

    Season 3 Episode 4

    Aired 10/11/1968

    On a distant planet, Kirk, Spock and McCoy find a scientific team dead, and their children who, unknown to the crew, have great powers at their disposal.

    Director: Marvin J. Chomsky

    Writer: Edward J. Lakso

  • The Way to Eden
    5.4/10(3,620)
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    #2 - The Way to Eden

    Season 3 Episode 20

    Aired 2/21/1969

    The Enterprise picks up a group of space "hippies" looking for Eden.

    Director: David Alexander

    Writer: D.C. Fontana, Arthur Heinemann

  • Spock's Brain
    5.6/10(3,843)
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    #3 - Spock's Brain

    Season 3 Episode 1

    Aired 9/20/1968

    An alien female beams aboard the ship and, after incapacitating the rest of the crew, surgically removes Spock's brain. Kirk and the crew have just hours to locate and replace it before Spock's body dies.

    Director: Marc Daniels

    Writer: Gene L. Coon

  • The Alternative Factor
    5.7/10(4,117)
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    #4 - The Alternative Factor

    Season 1 Episode 27

    Aired 3/30/1967

    Kirk and Spock encounter an alien named Lazarus who claims to be from an anti-matter universe.

    Director: Gerd Oswald

    Writer: Don Ingalls

  • The Omega Glory
    6.1/10(3,665)
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    #5 - The Omega Glory

    Season 2 Episode 23

    Aired 3/1/1968

    Captain Kirk must find the cure to a deadly disease and put an end to another Starfleet captain's cultural interference.

    Director: Vincent McEveety

    Writer: Gene Roddenberry

  • Catspaw
    6.2/10(3,830)
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    #6 - Catspaw

    Season 2 Episode 7

    Aired 10/27/1967

    Two powerful aliens threaten the well-being of the Enterprise and her crew.

    Director: Joseph Pevney

    Writer: D.C. Fontana, Robert Bloch

  • The Lights of Zetar
    6.2/10(3,076)
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    #7 - The Lights of Zetar

    Season 3 Episode 18

    Aired 1/31/1969

    Strange incorporeal aliens threaten the Memory Alpha station and the Enterprise.

    Director: Herbert Kenwith

    Writer: Shari Lewis, Jeremy Tarcher

  • The Apple
    6.4/10(3,672)
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    #8 - The Apple

    Season 2 Episode 5

    Aired 10/13/1967

    The crew of the Enterprise visits a mysterious paradisical planet controlled by a computer that is served by the local inhabitants.

    Director: Joseph Pevney

    Writer: Gene L. Coon, Max Simon Ehrlich

  • Plato's Stepchildren
    6.5/10(3,489)
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    #9 - Plato's Stepchildren

    Season 3 Episode 10

    Aired 11/22/1968

    The crew of the Enterprise encounters an ageless and sadistic race of humanoids with the power of telekinesis and who claim to have organized their society around Ancient Greek ideals.

    Director: David Alexander

    Writer: Meyer Dolinsky

  • The Empath
    6.5/10(3,364)
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    #10 - The Empath

    Season 3 Episode 12

    Aired 12/6/1968

    While visiting a doomed planet, the landing party is subject to torturous experiments by powerful aliens.

    Director: John Erman

    Writer: Joyce Muskat

  • The Mark of Gideon
    6.5/10(3,192)
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    #11 - The Mark of Gideon

    Season 3 Episode 16

    Aired 1/17/1969

    A race of overpopulated aliens abduct Captain Kirk to solve their problem.

    Director: Jud Taylor

    Writer: George F. Slavin, Stanley Adams

  • That Which Survives
    6.5/10(3,129)
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    #12 - That Which Survives

    Season 3 Episode 17

    Aired 1/24/1969

    Kirk, McCoy, and Sulu are stranded on a barren planet where a mysterious woman attempts to kill them one at a time, while the Enterprise must travel halfway across the galaxy to rescue them.

    Director: Herb Wallerstein

    Writer: D.C. Fontana, John Meredyth Lucas

  • The Savage Curtain
    6.6/10(3,256)
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    #13 - The Savage Curtain

    Season 3 Episode 22

    Aired 3/7/1969

    Aliens force Captain Kirk and First Officer Spock to join forces with "Abraham Lincoln" and "Surak" to battle villains in a contest of good vs. evil.

    Director: Herschel Daugherty

    Writer: Gene Roddenberry, Arthur Heinemann

  • Mudd's Women
    6.7/10(5,096)
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    #14 - Mudd's Women

    Season 1 Episode 6

    Aired 10/13/1966

    The Enterprise picks up a intergalactic conman, Harry Mudd, and three incredibly beautiful women who harbor a dark secret.

    Director: Harvey Hart

    Writer: Gene Roddenberry, Stephen Kandel

  • Friday's Child
    6.7/10(3,625)
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    #15 - Friday's Child

    Season 2 Episode 11

    Aired 12/1/1967

    The crew of the Enterprise become entangled in a planet's tribal power struggle.

    Director: Joseph Pevney

    Writer: D.C. Fontana

  • The Paradise Syndrome
    6.7/10(3,509)
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    #16 - The Paradise Syndrome

    Season 3 Episode 3

    Aired 10/4/1968

    An alien device on a primitive planet erases Captain Kirk's memory, and he begins a new life with the planet's indigenous people.

    Director: Jud Taylor

    Writer: Margaret Armen

  • A Private Little War
    6.8/10(3,496)
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    #17 - A Private Little War

    Season 2 Episode 19

    Aired 2/2/1968

    The crew of the Enterprise discovers Klingon interference in the development of a formerly peaceful planet and is forced to help maintain a balance of power.

    Director: Marc Daniels

    Writer: Gene Roddenberry, Don Ingalls

  • Turnabout Intruder
    6.8/10(3,183)
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    #18 - Turnabout Intruder

    Season 3 Episode 24

    Aired 6/3/1969

    The Enterprise is in danger when Janice Lester, one of Kirk's former lovers, steals his body.

    Director: Herb Wallerstein

    Writer: Gene Roddenberry, Arthur Singer

  • Miri
    6.9/10(4,766)
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    #19 - Miri

    Season 1 Episode 8

    Aired 10/27/1966

    Kirk and a landing party are stranded on a planet due to a disease that causes any adult to die a painful death, and must deal with the local children who have survived.

    Director: Vincent McEveety

    Writer: Adrian Spies

  • Is There in Truth No Beauty?
    6.9/10(3,416)
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    #20 - Is There in Truth No Beauty?

    Season 3 Episode 5

    Aired 10/18/1968

    The Enterprise travels with an alien ambassador whose appearance induces madness.

    Director: Ralph Senensky

    Writer: Jean Lisette Aroeste

  • Whom Gods Destroy
    6.9/10(3,279)
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    #21 - Whom Gods Destroy

    Season 3 Episode 14

    Aired 1/3/1969

    Captain Kirk faces off with a demented shape-shifting starship captain determined to control the universe.

    Director: Herb Wallerstein

    Writer: Jerry Sohl, Lee Erwin

  • Charlie X
    7.0/10(5,850)
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    #22 - Charlie X

    Season 1 Episode 2

    Aired 9/15/1966

    Charlie Evans, the sole survivor of a transport crash, is transferred to the Enterprise from a different ship. Why are they so eager to rid themselves of him, though? There's more to Charlie than meets the eye...

    Director: Lawrence Dobkin

    Writer: Gene Roddenberry, D.C. Fontana

  • The Gamesters of Triskelion
    7.0/10(3,735)
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    #23 - The Gamesters of Triskelion

    Season 2 Episode 16

    Aired 1/5/1968

    Captain Kirk and his companions are abducted into slavery and trained to fight as gladiators for the gambling entertainment of three disembodied beings.

    Director: Gene Nelson

    Writer: Margaret Armen

  • Bread and Circuses
    7.0/10(3,497)
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    #24 - Bread and Circuses

    Season 2 Episode 25

    Aired 3/15/1968

    The Enterprise crew investigates the disappearance of a ship's crew on a planet that is a modern version of the Roman Empire.

    Director: Ralph Senensky

    Writer: Gene Roddenberry, Gene L. Coon, John Kneubuhl

  • Elaan of Troyius
    7.0/10(3,357)
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    #25 - Elaan of Troyius

    Season 3 Episode 13

    Aired 12/20/1968

    The USS Enterprise ferries a spoiled princess whose betrothal to a royal Troyian is hoped will bring peace to a star system at war.

    Director: John Meredyth Lucas

    Writer: John Meredyth Lucas