4. Star Trek: Deep Space 9, "In the Pale Moonlight" - Starfleet Gets Evil, And There's No Conspiracy
Star Trek had
rules. Gene Roddenberry's vision of the future was absolute: there would be no interpersonal conflict between the primary cast, there would be no significant societal problems in the future, and Starfleet would be above reproach. But with Roddenberry's death, these rules got more flexible. Sometimes, people argued. Sometimes, people had psychological problems. But the rules were not outright broken until "In the Pale Moonlight". Sisko lies, bribes, and condones outright murder for the greater good, namely bringing a neutral party in to help win a near-unwinnable war. It is widely considered Star Trek's
darkest episode ever, but the fan response seemed to have endorsed the "dark is good" philosophy. it's a shame Voyager didn't take notes. Also, I'll just leave this
here.