5 Things That Worked
5. The Borg
What started off as a terrifying alien force on TNG culminating in the epic Best of Both Worlds was, over the course of the series, watered down to the point that by their final appearance they became nothing more than the henchmen of Data's evil twin, Lore. First Contact brought the Borg back as not only a formidable opponent in their actions (time travel to stop the essential birth of the Federation), but also made them frightening aesthetically in a way the television show never could on its budget and medium. Much like the Klingons were redesigned for Star Trek: The Motion Picture to make them more menacing, First Contact's Borg were the 1990's sci-fi equivalent of the modern zombies of The Walking Dead. Instead of an awkward, clunky robot with a pale make-up scheme, First Contact's Borg looked like they could eat phasers for breakfast and poop out photon torpedoes - helped by a new assimilation process that occurred virtually instantaneously.