10 Crossover Events In The Star Trek Universe (Pre-Star Trek Picard)

8. Sarek, Star Trek: The Next Generation

When: TNG: S3, Ep 23 ‘Sarek’

The early days of The Next Generation were plagued by the inevitable comparisons to The Original Series. And of course it would be. Produced nearly 20 years after TOS had gone off the air, but while there was still a very successful film series ongoing, this new show would have an uphill climb to establish itself as a stand-alone piece of television.

And did it? Frequently regarded as one of the strongest entries to sci-fi media, TNG surpassed TOS in both quality and quantity, running for 7 seasons and 4 feature films as opposed to TOS’s 3 seasons and 7 feature films (counting Star Trek: Generations)

Why It Was Great

One of the golden rules that Gene Roddenberry had for TNG was no crossovers (which was thankfully overruled, or this would be a very short list). Although he wasn’t the first TOS character to appear, Sarek’s arrival marked a shift in TNG, both in front of and behind the camera.

As it neared the end of S3, TNG had already left us with ‘Yesterday’s Enterprise,’ ‘Sins of the Father’, ‘The Offspring’ and ’The Most Toys’, showing us our now favourite characters in various challenges, change ups and returns. Enter Sarek. Showing the mental decline of the ageing Vulcan (aided by a tour de force performance by Mark Lenard) was paralleled by the decline of show creator Gene Roddenberry.

On screen, the father of Spock was wasting into senility while behind the camera, the father of all Star Trek was nearing the end of his life. In short, Sarek was an emotional connection to the maturing world of Trek.