10 Most Trippy Star Trek Scenes

1. McKean Man!

Trippy 2 Kirk Motion Picture Star Trek
CBS

A clear contender that has to be right up on this list is Voyager's The Thaw.

In truth, this episode as a whole could just fill all ten spots on the list but to home in on a specific scene viewers need to check in just after the halfway point.

Still captured within the realm, it comes to be revealed that the Clown (the brilliantly OTT Michael McKean) is using his prisoners as his own canvas, "practicing his ghastly art".

To try and stop Harry Kim from attempting escape, the Clown makes him old. Back-patted by more masked jesters and spoon-fed medicine the ensign is then turned into a baby all the while a carnival atmosphere carries on around the main characters.

McKean's Clown continues to mock a then-restrained Harry with his own chorus of masked singers chanting "The only thing to fear is fear itself", taunting Harry's attempts to distract himself from the illusory world. The Clown recites Kim's memory of visiting a hospital and seeing a grim medical procedure before an unexpected interruption from the holographic Doctor.

Every element here is both truly frightening and utterly out of this world all rolled into one. Thank goodness Robert Picardo turns up to help make everything right again!

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Contributor
Contributor

A Star Trek fan from birth, I love to dive into every aspect of the franchise in front and behind the screen. There's something here that's kept me interested for the best part of four decades! Now I'm getting back into writing and using Star Trek as my first line of literary attack. If I'm not here on WhatCulture then you're more than welcome to come and take a look at my blog, Some Kind of Star Trek at http://SKoST.co.uk or maybe follow me on Twitter as @TheWarpCore. Sometimes I force myself not to talk about Star Trek.