25 Best Episodes Of Star Trek EVER
3. The Best Of Both Worlds - Star Trek The Next Generation
This two-parter is more than just 'the borg episode'. It was Star Trek's first cliffhanger. It was one of the darkest episodes that The Next Generation had yet produced. It was a huge gamble, as part 1 was written without an ending in mind. It was also risky - Riker giving the order to kill Picard? Cut to black? What??
The fact that almost thirty years later this episode still tops many lists of the greatest episodes of Star Trek is a testament to its enduring legacy. Star Trek Picard has recently used moments of the episode in its story. That cold image of Locutus of Borg staring at the crew of the Enterprise is burned into retinas.
The sense dread that the Borg carry in these episodes would remain for years afterward and the Battle of Wolf 359 would stay as the Federation's greatest defeat until the Dominion War in Deep Space Nine. The fact that Deep Space Nine chose to use this show as a backstory to its main character as well shows the position of this story in the Star Trek pantheon.
It was also Trek's first attempt to introduce a storyline for Picard that would be referred back in later episodes, as serialised TV was at the time a solid no on Trek. The Best of Both Worlds and Family show the serious ramifications of the assimilation on Jean Luc, something that would of course be explored further in Star Trek First Contact and Star Trek Picard.