Star Trek: 15 Most Culturally Significant Episodes
6. Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home
Though not an episode, the Voyage Home is one of the most overt, yet fun, examples of Star Trek preaching the message of conservationism and looking to the future to care for the present.
The central plot - fly a Klingon Bird of Prey back in time, pick up two Humpback Whales and bring them forward in time to stop a probe from destroying Earth - is as silly as it sounds. However, in the '80s, it was a direct statement on the state of the worlds oceans after the devastation that Humanity was visiting on them.
The Federation's President speaks the words 'You have saved this planet from its own short sightedness' is a very knowing speech that, were it directed directly into the camera, was only missing a wink. The future was at risk of destruction due to the casual brutality of the present.
In an age where rain-forests are falling day by day, where pollution is pumped into the atmosphere and entire species are disappearing, The Voyage Home serves as a reminder that the planet exists in a balance. If that balance is interrupted or damaged beyond repair, then who knows how this will affect the future of all things?
They choose to represent the threat as an external probe, looking for answers from a world that can't answer it. Who knows - that probe may be starting its long journey now.