Star Trek: 15 Most Culturally Significant Episodes

15. Darmok

Darmok has correctly earned its place in Star Trek history as one of the best episodes of the franchise. The idea behind it is quite simple - strand two characters who speak a different language together on a strange world and see what happens. Add a monster.

However, the episode is far from simple. Guest star Paul Winfield, returning to Star Trek after portraying Captain Terrell in the Wrath of Khan, plays Dathon, the captain of the Tamarian ship that is facing the Enterprise.

The episode is about communication - how do we process it when we don't understand the way in which our opponent is trying to make us comprehend? So much of the ills that face the world are based on a lack of understand and acceptance. In this episode, they take that idea and put it up front and centre.

They also make the conscious choice of having 'the other guy' be the one to force through this understanding. For nearly thirty years at the time of the episode's airing, Star Trek had been an example of trying to both depict and understand opposing or different cultures, a task that they had been perfecting over the years.

They may not always have successfully achieved this, but episodes like Darmok show that the Federation and Starfleet are certainly not the only valid doctrines out there.