Merry Star Trek! It's the end of December and that usually means that a lot of Star Trek fans are gathering around fireplaces, cozying up on couches, and tuning into their favorite holiday classics. If you celebrate Christmas, this time of the year carries a certain aura about it. It's a wonderful collision of gifts, lights, and dynamic designs.
Sadly, for Star Trek fans, there isn't a treasure trove of holiday specials. Really, the only time we see Christmas celebrated to any degree is in Star Trek Generations, when Jean-Luc Picard sees the family he could've had while in the Nexus.
Outside of that, not so much. So we're left with a collection of episodes that borrow themes, or telegraph the Christmas spirit in some minor way. Usually though, if a holiday is used, not even just Christmas, it's usually an idea in the background and not a major concept for the episode.
Yet, these three episodes do a good job of embracing aspects of the holiday season.
The Next Generation - Tapestry (Christmas Carol)
Follow Jean-Luc Picard through time as he relives his most important, live-defining moments. It's almost as if the episode was written by Charles Dickens himself. Having 'died', Q allows Picard to change a key moment of his past in order to change his fate. While not a one-to-one for the Christmas Carol, which sees Scrooge being forced to live through three ghostly encounters, it does have some of that essence. It's very much about knowing where you came from and where you should be going. A concept seen in both the story and the episode.
Voyager - Deathwish (Turned into an ornament)
After a member of the Q Continuum arrives on Voyager, it's quickly revealed he's trying to die. The Q-member, named Quinn, is unhappy being alive for all eternity and seeks to have a say in how his life should continue, or in this case, end. This angers Q, who is very much against a member of his own species killing himself. In trying to make the Voyager crew change their mind in aiding Quinn, he turns them into a Christmas tree ornament. Maybe not the most uplifting episode in Star Trek but it does feature a Christmas tree....and that's something?
The Next Generation - Devil's Due (Data is scrooge)
This episode is about an apparent devil appearing on an alien planet, wreaking havoc. It's not exactly a great Christmas episode, but it does feature an opening where Data performs a scene from The Christmas Carol as Ebenezer Scrooge. So, that's pretty Christmasy?