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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 3 Episode 4 - And the Children Shall Lead
    5.2/10(3980 votes)

    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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  2. Star Trek Season 3 Episode 20 - The Way to Eden
    5.4/10(4084 votes)

    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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  3. Star Trek Season 1 Episode 27 - The Alternative Factor
    5.7/10(4595 votes)

    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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  4. Star Trek Season 3 Episode 1 - Spock's Brain
    5.7/10(4242 votes)

    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 23 - The Omega Glory
    6.0/10(4040 votes)

    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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  6. Star Trek Season 2 Episode 7 - Catspaw
    6.2/10(4271 votes)

    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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  7. Star Trek Season 3 Episode 18 - The Lights of Zetar
    6.2/10(3429 votes)

    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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  8. Star Trek Season 2 Episode 5 - The Apple
    6.4/10(4164 votes)

    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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  9. Star Trek Season 3 Episode 10 - Plato's Stepchildren
    6.5/10(3871 votes)

    S3:E10

    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

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  10. Star Trek Season 3 Episode 12 - The Empath
    6.5/10(3806 votes)

    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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  11. Star Trek Season 3 Episode 16 - The Mark of Gideon
    6.5/10(3524 votes)

    S3:E16

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

    Director:Jud Taylor
    Writers:Stanley Adams, George F. Slavin

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  12. Star Trek Season 3 Episode 17 - That Which Survives
    6.5/10(3472 votes)

    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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  13. Star Trek Season 3 Episode 22 - The Savage Curtain
    6.6/10(3557 votes)

    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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  14. Star Trek Season 1 Episode 6 - Mudd's Women
    6.7/10(5729 votes)

    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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  15. Star Trek Season 2 Episode 11 - Friday's Child
    6.7/10(4017 votes)

    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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  16. Star Trek Season 2 Episode 19 - A Private Little War
    6.7/10(3875 votes)

    S2:E19

    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
    Writers:Gene Roddenberry, Don Ingalls

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  17. Star Trek Season 3 Episode 3 - The Paradise Syndrome
    6.7/10(3977 votes)

    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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  18. Star Trek Season 3 Episode 24 - Turnabout Intruder
    6.8/10(3588 votes)

    S3:E24

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

    Director:Herb Wallerstein
    Writers:Gene Roddenberry, Arthur Singer

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  19. Star Trek Season 1 Episode 8 - Miri
    6.9/10(5466 votes)

    S1:E8

    On a planet populated by children whose aging process has been slowed artificially. Kirk’s landing party members contract a virus that kills adults. Despite their violent attacks, Kirk is determined to help the children.

    Director:Vincent McEveety
    Writer:Adrian Spies

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  20. Star Trek Season 3 Episode 5 - Is There in Truth No Beauty?
    6.9/10(3774 votes)

    S3:E5

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

    Director:Ralph Senensky
    Writer:Jean Lisette Aroeste

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  21. Star Trek Season 3 Episode 14 - Whom Gods Destroy
    6.9/10(3630 votes)

    S3:E14

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

    Director:Herb Wallerstein
    Writers:Jerry Sohl, Lee Erwin

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  22. Star Trek Season 1 Episode 2 - Charlie X
    7.0/10(6573 votes)

    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:Gene Roddenberry, D.C. Fontana

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  23. Star Trek Season 2 Episode 16 - The Gamesters of Triskelion
    7.0/10(4139 votes)

    S2:E16

    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

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  24. Star Trek Season 3 Episode 13 - Elaan of Troyius
    7.0/10(3738 votes)

    S3:E13

    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

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  25. Star Trek Season 1 Episode 13 - The Conscience of the King
    7.1/10(5046 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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Worst Episodes Summary

"And the Children Shall Lead" is the worst rated episode of "Star Trek". It scored 5.2/10 based on 3980 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".