10 Times Star Trek Rewarded Audiences For Sticking With It

This is one of the ultimate fan service episodes, one that works because the audience has stuck with the franchise from the beginning.

Tonally, the Original Series is as different from Star Trek: Deep Space Nine as night is from the day. Yet, despite being these disparate incarnations of the franchise, they slot together perfectly here.

The USS Defiant travels back in time, encountering the original USS Enterprise. The sixties aesthetic returns and it is a laugh riot to see the modern crew in the old-style outfits. Space Station K-7 would normally be out of place in Deep Space Nine but is beautifully realized in CGI here. The Klingon D-7 ship never again looked as good, despite several re-uses of the CGI model.

The story is entirely self-contained, making it a break from the ongoing plot of Sisko's show. Having said that, knowing that Picard is not the only main captain to ever interact directly with Kirk is something that made the audience do a little dance.

This is a pay-off for 30 years - at the time - of the greatest sci-fi franchise of all time.