Star Trek Moments That Stunned Audiences

Now north of a half century later, "Star Trek" has persisted far longer than anyone could have dreamed when the original series was greenlit in the mid '60s. 

In a universe that has populated hundreds of hours of films and TV shows, there's nothing quite like it — although, to be fair, Disney's apparent desire to have "Star Wars" catch up with its longtime rival has so many shows and movies in development that the proliferation may soon be equalized. Amazingly, through sheer pop cultural osmosis, even someone who has never seen a "Trek" movie or series could probably tell you something about it. 

To be sure, there have been a lot of iconic moments over the years in "Trek," some great and others not. But even those that fell flat have lived on in infamy, sometimes remembered more than many episodes. Looking back over a stunning amount of entertainment produced over the years, here's a remembrance of some of the franchise's greatest highs and most head-scratching lows.

The infamously bad third season of "Star Trek" couldn't have gotten off to a worse start than "Spock's Brain."  

In this episode's absurd plot, someone has stolen Spock's brain and he only had 24 hours to find it or he would die. When Kirk confronted Luma (Sheila Leighton), the mysterious woman who has stolen it, she had no memory of doing so or even what Spock was missing, responding with the infamous line: "Brain and brain! What is brain?" On an episode of "Mad Men," Paul Kinsey (Michael Gladis) showed up with a supposedly "really bad" script of TOS that he was hoping to sell; without a doubt, he must have been trying to get it into Season 3.

In his memoir "I Am Spock," Leonard Nimoy admitted that he was embarrassed while filming the episode — and watching his performance, you can see moments of that truth shining through the artifice. "Trek" never recovered, soon receiving its cancellation as Season 3 put a once-great show out of its misery. Of course, the franchise would eventually be redeemed — but looking back now, it feels like "Spock's Brain" could have been the last nail in its coffin, if not for "Trek" fans who still saw a universe with so many great stories to tell.

Although "Star Trek" crews are never surprised when one of their own dies — hey, flying around the universe exploring strange planets is a dangerous job —  they also never seem to figure out that it usually happens to one of the "red shirts." 

As memorably parodied by Sam Rockwell in "Galaxy Quest," crew members in crimson typically have minimal lines, forgettable characteristics, and simply exist as fodder for drama to unfold, raising the stakes for the series stars.

"Skin of Evil" is a good example of this. It might not be the worst episode of TNG's (very rough) first season — which also includes the episode "Code of Honor" and its racist depiction of an alien species meant to resemble an African tribe — but the tar monster was too silly to take seriously, and not dangerous enough to dispatch someone as seemingly important as Denise Crosby's Lieutenant Natasha Yar, who met a shocking end at the monster's hands.

Sure, Crosby wanted to leave the show, but looking back all these years later, it still feels like a very lazy way to kill off a series regular. Crosby would eventually return in the episode titled "Yesterday's Enterprise," set in an alternate timeline where she hadn't perished. Guinan (Whoopi Goldberg) sensed that the Tasha from the correct timeline had died "an empty death. A death without purpose." "Yesterday's Enterprise" sought to correct that injustice, finally giving Tasha the sendoff she deserved.

While "DS9" presented many of the franchise's darkest turns and most complex quandaries, it also had some of the silliest comedy episodes. 

"Profit and Lace" (Season 6, Episode 23) centers on Quark (Armin Shimerman), a member of the Ferengi race famed for their greed and misogyny. Quark's mother wants to change Ferengi society by wearing clothes and starting her own business, but she has a heart attack right before she can argue her case. Quark decides the only solution to this problem is to have a sex change operation, and make his mother's case for her. 

It has always been a "Trek" calling card to comment on society's hot-button issues in thought-provoking ways, but this time the writers were addressing sexism in the most '90s way possible — meaning only surface-level, without much solicitation of actual female insight. Quark is supposed to be learning how to be more empathetic towards women, but when he is one, he just seems to be stereotypically obsessed with his appearance. Making matters more cringe-inducing, when Quark is almost sexually assaulted, it's played for laughs. 

"DS9" is considered to be among the best of "Star Trek," but when a show has 26 episodes per season, sometimes it's hard to keep up the consistency. 

There was a kernel of an interesting idea in the "Threshold" (Season 2, Episode 15) episode of "Star Trek: Voyager." It was based on a theory that humans could continue to evolve, adapting to their environment to the point where they would become unrecognizable. Where this episode failed, however, was is in its baffling execution. 

After traveling beyond Warp 10 in an effort to get the crew of Voyager home, Tom Paris (Robert Duncan McNeill) began mutating, but was nevertheless convinced it could work. In an effort to prove this, he stole a shuttle, kidnapped Captain Janeway (Kate Mulgrew) and took them to a remote planet. 

Nothing could prepare viewers for the ensuing image, as the two of them become salamanders — and end up mating. In another bizarre twist, they wound up leaving their children behind. 

Looking back in 2003, even writer Brannon Braga agreed with disappointed fans: "Out of a hundred and some episodes, you're gonna have some stinkers," he said. "Unfortunately, that was a royal, steaming stinker."

You can't blame showrunner Manny Coto for the dreadful series finale of "Star Trek: Enterprise" entitled "These are the Voyages...," where writers Rick Berman and Brannon Braga reduced main characters to holodeck imitations in a misguided tribute to the long-running franchise. 

Coto was instrumental in making Season 4 of "Enterprise" its best, but just as things were getting good, the series was cancelled due to low ratings. To wrap things up, "Voyages" gave us Commander Riker, creating a simulation with the "Enterprise" crew to help him with a difficult decision that he faced in the TNG episode "The Pegasus." This allowed "Enterprise" to flash forward six years after the previous episode, showing the crew having completed their mission — which would have been the eventual ending had the show had been able to realize its full run. 

Actor Jonathan Frakes, however, was noticeably older in 2005 than he was in "The Next Generation," which was a huge distraction. In another head-scratcher, the episode set up a big speech from Captain Jonathan Archer (Scott Bakula), but Riker left before he gave it. All in, "Voyages" may have been well intended, but the results were insulting.

There's a reason why the even numbered "Star Trek" films have a better reputation than the odd numbered ones. Fans can argue the merits of the first and third films, even if they don't quite measure up to the second and fourth films — but almost no one can defend "Star Trek V: The Final Frontier." 

Burdened by a slow plot, cheap special effects, and broad humor, 1989's "Frontier" is consistently ranked among the worst "Star Trek" films. The plot was centered on Spock's half brother Sybok (Laurence Luckinbill), on a mission to find God; using the Vulcan mind meld, Sybok brainwashed as many people as he could, commandeering a starship to locate Him. When they finally do meet the divine one, they discover He needs the Enterprise to further some goals, prompting Kirk to ask, "What does God need with a starship?" 

The line is ridiculous to the point where it has been endlessly memed — but in context, it does make sense. Kirk is casting suspicion upon the so-called God's true identity, and asking a question that the audience likely shares. Of course, no matter where you stand on this particular moment, the movie as a whole is as rickety and filled with holes as the Enterprise itself after an intense space battle.

Why couldn't Benedict Cumberbatch's John Harrison have just been an entirely new villain? The franchise known for "boldly going" could have gone somewhere new, rather than simply dredging up an old, familiar character another actor had already claimed so definitively. 

Not only that, but as JJ Abrams repeatedly denied that Cumberbatch was playing Khan Noonien Singh, the obviousness of it all just became downright insulting to the fans. Looking back now, Cumberbatch certainly looks more like someone named John Harrison than Khan Noonien Singh, making for an unfortunate bit of offensive whitewashing as well. Ricardo Montalbán may not have been Indian either, but at least he was a person of color. 

Of course, the twist surprised no one. But perhaps even more ill-advised was the stunning moment when alternate-reality Spock (Zachary Quinto) of all characters delivered Captain Kirk's iconic "Khaaaaaaan!" scream from "The Wrath of Khan," one parodied endlessly in everything from internet memes to "Seinfeld." In the 2009 reboot, Spock's anger was understandable, both because he had a human mother (and thus was not 100% an emotionless Vulcan) and because he was younger and less experienced than the Spock that audiences were familiar with. Nevertheless, the character development he went through to become the more mature Spock was being thrown out the window in this scene, in favor of mindless action where he instead fistfights Khan. 

Understandably, fans were outraged at the drastic rewrite of perhaps the most iconic character in the entire "Trek" franchise, calling the film the worst Star Trek and ranking it even lower than the aforementioned "The Final Frontier." Sometimes, it seems, stunning the audience is not a good thing.