Star Trek Canon Recs

[tanithryudo]

ST:TOS Must See
1.14 Balance of Terror - introduces the Romulans
1.22 Space Seed - set the stage for STII
1.26 Errand of Mercy - cements Fed-Klingon relationships in the 23rd century
1.28 The City on the Edge of Forever - one of the highest fan-rated eps
2.1 Amok Time - introduces Vulcan; Spock gets dumped at the altar
2.4 Mirror, Mirror - introduces the Mirror Universe, revisited in DS9/VOY/ENT
2.10 Journey to Babel - introduces Spock's family (Sarek had his own following)
2.15 The Trouble With Tribbles - fluffy (literally!) & hilarious ep; revisited in DS9
3.10 Plato's Stepchildren - blah ep famous for historic first televised interracial kiss

ST:TOS Other Suggested Picks
1.15 Shore Leave - plenty of slashy subtext
1.16 Galileo Seven - great character growth ep for Spock
1.25 Devil in the Dark - introduces the popular Horta species
2.17 A Piece of the Action - fluff and crack
STII - fan favorite movie
STIV - my favorite movie
STVI - also fan favorite movie


ST:TNG Favorite Picard-centric
1.9 The Battle (backstory ep, featuring Stargazer & Ferengi)
3.18 Allegiance (kidnapped as labrat)
3.19 Captain's Holiday
4.20 Qpid (Q does Robin Hood)
5.2 Darmok (ignore the fridge logic of how language/the universal translator works)
5.7-8 Unification 1&2 (+Data +Spock)
5.25 The Inner Light (highest fan-rated Picard ep)
6.10-11 Chains of Command 1&2 (tortured by Cardassians)
6.15 Tapestry (Q does It's a Wonderful Life)
7.25-26 All Good Things 1&2

ST:TNG Favorite Data-centric
1.13 Datalore (introducing the evil brother)
2.9 The Measure of a Man (rights of artificial life in court)
3.16 The Offspring (briefly, a daughter)
3.22 The Most Toys (kidnapped by a collector)
4.3 Brothers (revisiting Dad & the evil brother)
4.11 Data's Day (a day in the life...)
4.25 In Theory (attempting to date)
5.26-6.1 Time's Arrow 1&2 (time travel with Mark Twain)
6.9 The Quality of Life (championing other artificial life)
6.16 Birthright 1 (dreaming for the first time)

ST:TNG Other Suggested Picks
3.4 Who Watches the Watchers (Picard gets mistaken for God)
3.13 Deja Q (Q finds being de-powered not-fun)
3.15 Yesterday's Enterprise (where Sela in Unification came from)
3.23 Sarek
3.26-4.1 Best of Both Worlds 1&2
4.7 Reunion (quintessential TNG Klingon ep)
5.5 Disaster (Picard in a lift with 3 kids, singing)
6.7 Rascals (Picard & others get de-aged)
7.9 Force of Nature (in it just for the cat, plus some Data/Geordi banter)
7.15 Lower Decks (focusing on the lowbies of the Enterprise)


EDIT: Various images I came across on my way to choosing my icon.

http://www.wincustomize.com/explore/sound_schemes/38/
http://superherouniverse.com/articles/startrek.htm
http://www.fabuloussavers.com/stall014.shtml
http://johneaves.files.wordpress.com/2009/04/painting2.jpg
http://onlyhdwallpapers.com/wallpaper/uss_enterprise_star_trek_the_next_generation_desktop_1280x1024_wallpaper-42562.jpg