Hi friends and happy Thursday! I hope you’re all doing well. Today I’m posting something a little different; today I’m going to be talking about my journey through watching Star Trek for the past year.

First off, I want to state that I don’t claim to be a Trekkie. To me, a Trekkie is someone who is a hardcore fan… and that is not me. I feel I’m more of a sideline fan. I enjoy the franchise immensely but I’m not out here getting into the politics of the world. I want to add that I used the word Trekkie in my title because I could be on a journey to being one, one day, but I’m waaaaay not there yet… and hey I may never get there, but I love the world of Star Trek.

Since I have this blog where I talk about all sorts of things, I thought, why not talk about my new obsession. If you’ve been following me for the past year you’ll have seen in any of my wrap up posts that I’ve been watching one Star Trek show or another, and today I’m going to talk all about the ones I’ve gotten to and slightly rank them.

Today is not just any ordinary day that I’m posting this; I chose today specifically because this day, October 20 last year was the day I decided to take the leap and start my Star Trek Journey, so let’s get into it!

Before I dive in too deep, we should start at the beginning. My mum has been a fan of Star Trek for years and as a kid growing up, I remember seeing a lot of these shows on TV. I never really thought much of the show. When I was younger I didn’t think it looked very interesting but something changed last year when I would turn my TV on and Star Trek would always be on the Space channel. Every time I thought to myself, I should check this out, it’s intriguing me a lot. So what did I do… Google the best way to watch it and where to start. I used this website, which has been a great guide for me. This website said the best way to watch was in chronological order from when events took place in the universe, which means I started with the prequel – Star Trek Enterprise.

Star Trek Enterprise (Year: 2151 – 2161)

First off, I’m glad I started here. I truly think that if I started anywhere else I wouldn’t have fallen in love with Star Trek at all. When I started this journey I wasn’t prepared for how much I was going to love Star Trek… yet here I am… writing about it. After watching a few episodes I knew I had found something that was going to take over my life. So much so, I was Googling things and wanting to know more (and learning my lesson real quick!). I knew when I looked up lists on the rankings of the different series that this was going to rank low to people who are hardcore fans (Trekkies). I knew people weren’t going to like this one, but I loved it. Yes, it was cheesy as all hell and that theme song (😂) but it was so bad it was good? Also, I had nothing to compare this to because this is where I started. I also read that this was made to be more accessible to people who may not have checked out Star Trek before and I can tell you right now, it worked for me! That’s why if I were to rank the series I’ve seen, this is still my number one because this is the one that started it all for me.

There are other series that I think were better, but I can’t knock it down because it’s got a special place in my heart… plus I fell in love with Trip, which is crazy to me because I never would have thought that of me. Trip the good ol’ Southern boy stole my heart, plus his banter with T-Pol was everything for me. I loved watching them together. There were definitely other elements that I enjoyed, learning of the different species and such, but that stands out the most for me.

Star Trek Discovery (Year: 2255)

My next stop was Star Trek Discovery, one of the newest series in the universe. Now, you’re only supposed to watch seasons 1 and 2 in order to continue in chronological order… buuuut I loved it so much I watched all 4 seasons. In my rankings, this is number one, but as you read above, Enterprise will always be number one, so this gets a solid number two.

I’m not one who is crazy about math or physics, actually I hate it a lot but this show, it made me love it all. I loved how detailed it got and seeing a young Spock was so interesting… especially since I hadn’t met the original Spock yet. Michael as a character was everything I didn’t know I needed, she is amazing. I loved learning about her character and I of course can’t forget about Tilly! She came off as suuuper annoying but I ended up falling in love with her so hard. I mean, all the characters were so easy to fall in love with. The first two seasons start before the original series began and then it jumps… 3000 years in the future and continues on. There’s something so inclusive and embracing about this series that I love so much. No matter where they go… I love this and I really hope there will be more seasons in the future.

Star Trek: The Original Series (2265 – 2269)

I next found myself in with the Original series. This was both a joy, and a bit of a slog to get through… don’t hate me. I loved meeting the characters, especially Spock, he was my favourite, and seeing the places they went and the adventures they went on. But did the episodes need to be 50 minutes long? It felt like at times they were just filling space and time to fit an hour’s worth of television, because to me, each episode didn’t need to be so long.

Overall though, I appreciate this series because this is where it all began and it was such a joy to see it all come together and to see where the future shows span off from, it was really interesting to see. What I found funny (even in Enterprise this would happen) they would go back in time, back to Earth… to the year the world was currently in (so the 60s) and have to pretend to be so advanced. That always made me laugh – that and Spock, he made me laugh because he could be so sarcastic and witty and ‘pretend’ not to know it. 😂 Plus this gave me the phrase I love to say ‘Beam me up Scottie!” In my personally ranking this comes in at number four on my list, but it’s subject to change as I move through the Next Generation.

Star Trek: The Animated Series (2269 – 2270)

I then found myself with our same cast… just animated. I don’t know what it is about being animated, but I absolutely loved it! I think the fact that this was only 22 minutes in length was perfect because the stories didn’t drag and I would watch episodes twice because I loved them so much.

This was basically an extension of the original series and I wish this would have lasted longer than 2 seasons (sadly only 22 episodes), but it is what it is. I know there are other animated series that have come out recently that I will definitely be checking out in the coming year(s?). For now, this series will remain in my heart as great storytelling with fun adventures OH and I can’t forget the cool species we got. I feel like with animation they were able to do more with creating other species, they weren’t limited to costumes like they would have been in the live action show.

Star Trek: The First Six Movies (2273 – 2293)

My next stop was to the first six films, which I see as an extension of the original series. The first movie wasn’t it for me, if I’m being honest. It fell victim to the same thing the original series did… it was too long with not enough plot… plus I thought the plot was somewhat strange.

BUT THEN come the second film and I was back on board. The films became shorter more memorable (like how could you not remember the whale they were trying to save?!). I loved the plot line of Spock. When they thought Spock had died… that was crushing. These first films definitely found a way into my heart. The way this ended so nicely for the next generation to start I thought was so beautiful; what a great segue. In my rankings though, I’d put them at a tie at number four with the original series – it only seems fair.

Star Trek: The Next Generation (2364 – 2370)

My last stop, for now, is with The Next Generation. I’m currently only 3 seasons into this, about start the 4th very soon. I have to say my initial reaction was not extremely excited. There was something about this series that didn’t quite stick with me, I had a hard time getting into this and I can’t explain why.

Maybe it was because I had been with the original crew for so long that it was hard to let them go, I don’t really know, but once I got to season 3 the characters and plots really started to feel like home. I’ve been enjoying this series; Data is so fun to watch – he’s like a child trying to understand human emotions and interactions. It’s so easy to forget basic human things and it’s interesting when he questions them. Currently I’ve placed this as number five in my rankings, but it is subject to change as I have yet to finish the series; consider it a placeholder for now.

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’m happy about that because it means I won’t run out of content for quite some time. I look forward to coming back a year from now to see my progress and where my journey takes me.

For now here is my ranking list in 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)

What I left to watch:

• The Next Generation (seasons 4 – 7)
• The Next 4 Films
• Deep Space Nine
• Voyager
• Picard
• The Next 3 Films
• Short Treks
• Lower Decks
• Prodigy
• Strange New Worlds