Star Trek: 10 MORE Greatest Time Travel Episodes

2. Those Old Scientists

Star Trek Strange New Worlds Those Old Scientists Boimler
CBS Media Ventures

Star Trek has had a muddled history with crossovers, time travel or no. Trials and Tribble-ations set the bar extremely high (see our previous list), whereas 'that-one-on-the-holodeck' plundered the depths of a series-ending low. When a new crossover was announced, we had reason to get our hopes cautiously up. Those Old Scientists did not let us down. Because we all love grapplers.

The cause of time travel is straightforward; the effect is not. We were all wondering how the switch from animation to live action would be made. Those Old Scientists achieves the transition with impressive ease. Even the title sequence crosses over without the need for questions. Boimler and Mariner go IRL as if they aways had been. Puzzlement paints a thousand words.

'A California Yankee in Captain Pike's Quarters' doesn't quite have the same ring to it, but it is just as fun. Boimler's boimlering around the temporal prime directive, a certain Vulcan, and one Number One, is simply a joy to watch. In all that, Mariner also proves that you should always meet your heroes, whenever they happen to be.

Contributor
Contributor

Jack has been a content creator for TrekCulture since 2022, and a Star Trek fan for as long as he can remember. He has authored over 170 articles, including one of TrekCulture's longest, and has appeared several times on the TrekCulture podcast. He holds a first-class honours degree in French from the University of Sussex, a master's with distinction in Language, Culture and History: French and Francophone Studies and a PhD in French from University College London (UCL). He has previously worked in the field of translation. His interests extend to science-fiction television and film more widely. His favourite series is Star Trek: Voyager, followed closely by Stargate SG-1.