Do these three Star Trek: The Original Series episodes sum up Star Trek?

Star Trek: The Original Series had a number of outstanding episodes, especially in the first two seasons.

It would be difficult to choose the top three episodes of Star Trek: The Original Series out of the seventy-nine created during its three year run. Game Rant took on the challenge, picking the three which seems to embody the franchise. Their choices were The Trouble with Tribbles, Balance of Terror, and The City on the Edge of Forever. Most fans would include these in at least their top ten favorite episodes, but are there other episodes that sum up Star Trek better or even on the same level?

In these three episodes, there are life-threatening consequences, comedy, drama,  racism, and the potential damage which could occur if history were to be changed.

Star Trek: The Original Series has many episodes which speak to the philosophy of Star Trek.

If one wanted to look to another comedic episode of the series, A Piece of the Action would fit the bill, and it adds a clever look at what happens when the Prime Directive is ignored, showing why there is a rule about contaminating the culture of a planet.

A Taste of Armageddon is an especially powerful episode that takes on the subject of war which is still applicable to today. Across the centuries, the starships and crews have been involved in numerous wars that continue, whether it’s with an entire species or someone looking for power. A Taste of Armageddon also had the life-threatening circumstances with the crew in jeopardy of losing their lives over a computer-simulated war, which supposedly made things tidier.

And then there’s The Devil in the Dark, an exceptional episode that could not be more needed today. It’s about learning to co-exist with others, even those who don’t look like you, think like you, talk like you, or live like you. That, to me, is an important lesson that Star Trek teaches.

All in all, there are many, many episodes of The Original Series that teach the values of Star Trek. Even the least liked episodes like Spock’s Brain can teach us something while highlighting an important message. Game Rant did a solid job with its choices, but would you have chosen differently?