Hi friends and happy Friday! I hope you’re all doing well. Today I’m coming back to a post I made a year ago today, tracking my journey through Star Trek.

On October 20 2021, I decided to start this crazy project of watching all things Star Trek in chronological order of how things happen in the show. It’s now 2 years later… and I’m still going! There’s just so much content in this universe! I’m still enjoying this project; this show has become such a comfort in my life and I know it will definitely be weird once I’m done, but I’m still very far from that point. I should say that my mum is now watching every episode with me because she’s having fun rewatching all this! 😂

You can read my post from last year, here, to read all my thoughts on starting this project, and my thoughts on Star Trek: Enterprise, Star Trek: Discovery (I’m still waiting for the fifth and final season to air), Star Trek: The Original Series, Star Trek the Animated Series, the first 6 movies, and my first thoughts on Star Trek: The Next Generation (TNG).

And that’s where we’re going to begin this post at TNG. This post is probably going to be a lot shorter too because I had a lot of longer seasons of each of these TV shows to get through, but let’s beam down, shall we!

Star Trek: The Next Generation (2364 – 2370)

It’s so crazy to me that a year ago I was on the Enterprise with my buddies, Data, Worf, Jordie, Will Riker and of course Captain Pickard. I had such a fun time with this series. Last year when I wrote this, I was struggling to get into it (much like how I feel about Voyager right now, see below) but as I watched, I really began to love this crew because once it was over, I felt empty. There are so many episodes that stick out to me where we got to see each of these characters have to overcome something and how the crew were there for them. It really became a cohesive group.

The cast of characters were hilarious and I loved following them through their journey. Not only was it such a joy to watch as we discovered new worlds and planets, but seeing each of these characters grow was also worth the journey. I think my favourite will always be Data, as he struggled to find his humanity being stuck as an android. Watching as he learned more and more from the crew and his friends about how to be human was so interesting, it was almost like watching a child learn. I also enjoyed watching Will and Deanna form a relationship; they obviously loved each other so much and even when they were just friends, their love was so real and true, I loved to see it. The end where Deanna and Worf try to become a thing was… interesting.

I lastly can’t forget about Q! A villain that would crop up throughout the series, he’s so cocky and arrogant, and yet you can’t help but love the guy, he made episodes special that’s for sure. Last year I had ranked this show 5 (out of 5) but now it’s moved up to the number 3 spot (out of 7). It’s become one of my favourite series in the universe. But before we say goodbye to these characters for good, we get to see them again in the next four films.

Star Trek: The Next Four Movies (2293 – 2379)

These movies follow the events that happened after TNG and during Deep Space Nine and I’m assuming Voyager (just going by the dates these movies were released), but we follow along with our characters from TNG. It was so nice to be with them again and the adventures they went on. We got to see the original cast from the OG series pass on the torch from captain to captain. We see Picard and the crew go on their last mission.

Data gains emotions and that is hilarious because he then regrets it and doesn’t understand how humans feel all the time. Picard has to basically yell at him to keep it together, which was funny. But then we have to say GOODBYE to Data was the worst! We get it, he was doing it to save the ship, but woof, sadness.

We see Will and Deanna get married, so cute, and we learn that Worf has moved to work on Deep Space Nine. I like when Picard asks him if he’s on Deep Space Nine time because she shows up late. And of course we can’t forget about Picard’s clone and that crazy storyline. These movies were just as good as watching an episode of TNG and I loved it.

Star Trek: Deep Space Nine (2369 – 2375)

We have now entered my favourite series in the Star Trek universe, Deep Space Nine. I will admit that it took me some time to get into this, just like most series before this. It was also strange going from being on a space ship to being on a space station, but I think by season 3 I was in love.

The plots may not have always been the best, but the characters were. I can’t begin to explain to you how much I loved them all, especially the dynamic between Odo and Quark.

I wasn’t a fan of the Ferengi going into this, but I have to say Quark really changed that for me. I became such a fan of his, and I have a soft spot for him… I can see what Dax sees now. 😂 Not only did I enjoy Quark, but it was great to see his brother, Rom on the station with him, the journey he went on, and Nog being the first Ferengi to join Starfleet, I loved it all. It was great to see Worf again, and I feel like we got to see a different side of him in this series. I don’t like what they did to Dax, but I live with it. It was great to see O’Brien from TNG again and we really got to explore him as a character in this series.

His friendship with Bashir was so real, they truly were best friends. I mean, I loved Sisko too, and the whole overall series arc with the founders was just so good! I think it progressed so well… I could have watched so many more seasons of this, but I know that all good things must come to an end. This is one series that I can truly see myself rewatching (and I actually have rewatched some episodes!).

Star Trek: Voyager (2371 – 2378)

And this is where I’m currently at. I’m two seasons into Voyager and I’m really struggling with this one. Like I said earlier, I struggled with TNG, but it ended up becoming a favourite, so I have hope that this too, will find its feet. So far, I haven’t been hating it but nothing is clicking for me. The plots are alright and the crew haven’t completely sold it for me. Maybe also coming off a series I was in love with isn’t helping either.

Right now my favourite character is a hologram… The Doctor. He’s hilarious and he doesn’t even mean to be. I still have 5 seasons to go so there’s still time. Hopefully next year at this time I can come back with a different report, but for now this is going to lay at the bottom of my rankings so far.

And with that, this has been my journey so far in the Star Trek universe and I can’t wait to continue. I feel like I’ve come so far, yet I feel I have so much more to go. I feel like there is even more Star Trek to get through that I didn’t know existed from this year to last year. I’m not mad about it, since it means my project will just keep going! I, again, look forward to coming back a year from now to see my progress and where my journey takes me.

Last year’s ranking order:

1. Enterprise
2. Discovery
3. The Animated Series
4. The Original Series + the First Six Films
5. The Next Generation – seasons 1 – 3 (so far)

My new updated ranking list:

1. Deep Space Nine
2. Discovery
3. The Next Generation + films 7 – 10
4. Enterprise
5. The Animated Series
6. The Original Series + the First Six Films
7. Voyager – seasons 1 & 2 (so far)

What I left to watch:

• Voyager (seasons 3 – 7)
• Strange New Worlds
• Lower Decks
• Prodigy
• Picard
• The Next 3 Films
• Short Treks