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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!

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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 James T. Kirk with First Officer Mr. Spock, from the

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Episode Rankings

  1. #1 Worst Episode
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    Star Trek Season 1 Episode 27 - The Alternative Factor
    5.6/10(47 votes)

    #1 - The Alternative Factor

    S1:E27

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

    Director:Gerd Oswald
    Writer:Don Ingalls

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  2. Star Trek Season 3 Episode 4 - And the Children Shall Lead
    5.7/10(42 votes)

    #2 - And the Children Shall Lead

    S3:E4

    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

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  3. Star Trek Season 3 Episode 20 - The Way to Eden
    6.1/10(35 votes)

    #3 - The Way to Eden

    S3:E20

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

    Director:David Alexander
    Writers:D.C. Fontana, Arthur Heinemann

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  4. Star Trek Season 3 Episode 1 - Spock's Brain
    6.2/10(40 votes)

    #4 - Spock's Brain

    S3:E1

    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

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  5. Star Trek Season 2 Episode 7 - Catspaw
    6.3/10(41 votes)

    #5 - Catspaw

    S2:E7

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

    Director:Joseph Pevney
    Writers:D.C. Fontana, Robert Bloch

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  6. Star Trek Season 2 Episode 23 - The Omega Glory
    6.4/10(38 votes)

    #6 - The Omega Glory

    S2:E23

    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

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  7. Star Trek Season 1 Episode 6 - Mudd's Women
    6.5/10(58 votes)

    #7 - Mudd's Women

    S1:E6

    Rescuing the crew of a ship from an asteroid belt, the Enterprise plays host to conman extraordinaire, the cunning Harry Mudd and his cargo: three beautiful women looking for suitors.

    Director:Harvey Hart
    Writers:Gene Roddenberry, Stephen Kandel

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  8. Star Trek Season 3 Episode 12 - The Empath
    6.5/10(36 votes)

    #8 - The Empath

    S3:E12

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

    Director:John Erman
    Writer:Joyce Muskat

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  9. Star Trek Season 3 Episode 18 - The Lights of Zetar
    6.5/10(34 votes)

    #9 - The Lights of Zetar

    S3:E18

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

    Director:Herbert Kenwith
    Writers:Shari Lewis, Jeremy Tarcher

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  10. Star Trek Season 3 Episode 3 - The Paradise Syndrome
    6.6/10(43 votes)

    #10 - The Paradise Syndrome

    S3:E3

    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

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  11. Star Trek Season 3 Episode 17 - That Which Survives
    6.6/10(35 votes)

    #11 - That Which Survives

    S3:E17

    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
    Writers:D.C. Fontana, John Meredyth Lucas

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  12. Star Trek Season 1 Episode 2 - Charlie X
    6.7/10(71 votes)

    #12 - Charlie X

    S1:E2

    Raised from boyhood by non-corporeal beings, 17 year old Charles Evans is picked up and transferred to the Enterprise. On board the ship, the teenager proves dangerously unable to wield his enormous psionic powers with maturity.

    Director:Lawrence Dobkin
    Writers:D.C. Fontana, Gene Roddenberry

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  13. Star Trek Season 1 Episode 13 - The Conscience of the King
    6.7/10(50 votes)

    #13 - The Conscience of the King

    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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  14. Star Trek Season 1 Episode 15 - Shore Leave
    6.7/10(51 votes)

    #14 - Shore Leave

    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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  15. Star Trek Season 2 Episode 2 - Who Mourns for Adonais?
    6.7/10(47 votes)

    #15 - Who Mourns for Adonais?

    S2:E2

    The crew of the Enterprise are held captive by an alien who turns out to be the Greek god Apollo.

    Director:Marc Daniels
    Writers:Gene L. Coon, Gilbert Ralston

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  16. Star Trek Season 2 Episode 5 - The Apple
    6.7/10(42 votes)

    #16 - The Apple

    S2:E5

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

    Director:Joseph Pevney
    Writers:Gene L. Coon, Max Simon Ehrlich

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  17. Star Trek Season 3 Episode 22 - The Savage Curtain
    6.7/10(36 votes)

    #17 - The Savage Curtain

    S3:E22

    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
    Writers:Gene Roddenberry, Arthur Heinemann

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  18. Star Trek Season 2 Episode 11 - Friday's Child
    6.8/10(41 votes)

    #18 - Friday's Child

    S2:E11

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

    Director:Joseph Pevney
    Writer:D.C. Fontana

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  19. Star Trek Season 3 Episode 6 - Spectre of the Gun
    6.8/10(41 votes)

    #19 - Spectre of the Gun

    S3:E6

    Having been found trespassers into Melkotian space, Captain Kirk and his companions are sent to die in a re-enactment of the gunfight at the O.K. Corral.

    Director:Vincent McEveety
    Writers:Gene L. Coon, Leroy Cronin

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  20. Star Trek Season 3 Episode 10 - Plato's Stepchildren