It’s that time of year again! 2024 has been quite an eventful year for Star Trek. The year saw the end of some Trek shows, the return of some Trek products and events, and a few surprises. Continuing a tradition, TrekMovie’s editors and contributors have taken a look back at the last twelve months and picked out the Star Trek highlights, celebrating the products, episodes, moments, and more that made this past year special. For your perusing pleasure, we present The Best of Star Trek 2024.
Best Episode Of Discovery – “Face the Strange”
While writers didn’t know this was going to be the final season of Discovery, they still managed to deliver an episode that paid tribute to the show’s past and celebrated how far the crew—and especially Michael Burnham—had come over the years. Mixing action and humor with a timey-wimey sci-fi problem, the episode’s biggest moment in the turbolift where Captain Burnham came face-to-face with her mutineer self from the past. Having Commander Rayner along for the ride kept things fun, along with a flashback to a more surly Stamets, a surprise appearance from Airiam and Jett Reno at her snappy best. – Laurie Ulster
Best Episode Of Prodigy – “Last Flight of the Protostar: Part 1”
It’s hard to think of a more moving, dialogue-free montage than the one that opened this episode, where we finally catch up with Captain Chakotay, marooned and alone, making his way through endless, unchanging days and mourning his lost crew. When our heroes show up, he’s embittered and defeated, but they snap some life into the surly, beaten-down captain with some help from Hologram Janeway. It’s beautiful, heartbreaking, and delivers hope at the end as the kids finally get through to the man who thought his adventure was over. – Laurie Ulster
Best Episode Of Lower Decks – “Starbase 80”
The fifth and final season of Lower Decks was bittersweet but the show went out strong, with an emphasis on character development, exploration of the show’s own lore, and more sci-fi episodic adventures. The episode that exemplifies that best was “Starbase 80,” where members of the Cerritos crew had to face their own preconceptions of what was seen as the worst posting in Starfleet only to find a lot of heart and humor beneath that old rusty station, once you get past the decon gel chamber and the rest of the classic Enterprise and TOS gags. The episode introduced a number of interesting characters, subverted expectations, and then had a surprise connection in the series finale, making it a sort of backdoor pilot for a spin-off series. – Anthony Pascale
Best Cameo – Jolene Blalock in Lower Decks
We’ve gotten used to all kinds of legacy cameos on Lower Decks, but none came as a bigger surprise than the return of Jolene (now last-name-less) as Enterprise‘s T’Pol. (There should be an award for the whole production team just for keeping that secret.) Without the silly catsuit and with great insights after a decades-long marriage to Trip Tucker, Lower Decks T’Pol was the T’Pol we should have had all along. – Laurie Ulster
Best Bonus Content – “Unification”
The Roddenberry Archive has been an interesting project that has been creating digital replicas of Star Trek ships along with a collection of intriguing short films over the last few years. But their celebration of the 30th anniversary of Star Trek Generations really took it to the next level with the release of their most ambitious short “Unification.” Garnering millions of views, this bonus surprise release took fandom by storm. Without any dialogue, the short film was able to give a coda to James T. Kirk and Spock. The franchise’s most iconic pair were reunited via amazing digital prosthetic makeup, along with strong performances from Sam Witwer as Kirk (in various time periods) and Lawrence Selleck as Spock, stellar practical and digital production design, and a beautiful score. The 11-minute film is full of deep cuts and detailed connections, but can just be watched for what has been a profound emotional experience by many fans. – Anthony Pascale
Best Surprise – big stars cast for Starfleet Academy
Fans were sure that some favorite Discovery actors would find their way to the new Starfleet Academy show, but last summer brought the news that two big movie stars were joining the cast—and not just as one-off guest stars. In May, we learned that Oscar winner Holly Hunter (a favorite of mine since Broadcast News) would star as the captain and chancellor of Starfleet Academy, and a month later, Oscar nominee Paul Giamatti (The Holdovers) would be recurring as the season’s villain. Who could have predicted it? (And will we get to interview them?). – Laurie Ulster
Best Novel – TOS: Lost to Eternity
The competition for best novel was fierce with a small pool of excellent contenders, but this year, Greg Cox’s Lost to Eternity had it all: a rollicking TOS adventure, an alien first contact, and a podcast exploring the mystery of what happened to Gillian Taylor in 1986 when she seemingly disappeared off the face of the earth. Throw in a whole lot of Saavik, both on the cover and in one of three timelines covered in the book, and a smoky Klingon assassin in another, and you’ve got a winner. – Dénes House
Best Nonfiction Book – Open A Channel: A Woman’s Trek
Originally asked to write a coffee table book about the impact of female Star Trek characters, Nana Visitor (DS9’s Kira Nerys) understood the assignment but decided to take the idea a whole lot further. In her expansive book, she looks at the fictional women of Star Trek and talks to as many of the actresses who play/played them as possible, looking at what life was like for them during production and what they felt their roles were within society and their own circles. It’s a book about how women fit into the world—or don’t—as well as how far we’ve come and how far we’ve yet to go, and is likely to get you thinking and talking about your own history (no matter what your gender) in a way you haven’t done before. – Laurie Ulster
Best Comic Series/Arc – Defiant – “Hell is Only A Word”
2024 was a banner year for Star Trek comics. IDW didn’t just give us one-shots, annuals, and mini-series, but also added the fantastic Lower Decks ongoing story to the lineup. While the Eisner-nominated Star Trek ongoing remains stellar, for my money, this year belonged to Star Trek: Defiant. Written by Halt & Catch Fire co-creator Christopher Cantwell, with stunning art by Ángel Unzueta, Marissa Louise, and Clayton Cowles, Star Trek: Defiant is a gritty, character-driven masterpiece. This bold series throws together a crew of Starfleet outcasts led by Worf, with Ro Laren and B’Elanna Torres as instant ride-or-die besties, a weathered Spock, and newcomers like the mysterious Orion, Nymira, adding depth to the narrative. Its haunting “Hell is Only A Word” arc revisits the parasites from TNG season one and is messy (in the best way)—a perfect blend of unsettling tension and thrilling storytelling. Defiant isn’t just another Trek comic—it’s a love letter to Starfleet’s rebels and morally complex characters, with some of the best art the franchise has ever seen. – Joe Andosca
Best Individual Comic Issue – Star Trek Annual 2024
Best Home Video Release – Star Trek: Discovery The Complete Series
Things slowed down a bit for home video releases in 2024, but there were still some releases worth picking up, especially when you know nothing can take away your physical media (unlike streaming or even digital copies). When Discovery ended with season 5 in spring 2024, it was obvious a disc release would happen a few months later. What was a nice surprise was that not only was season 5 released, but Paramount put together a new boxed set of all 5 seasons, and it actually had its own exclusive extras, it wasn’t simply all 4 previously released seasons shoved in a box with season 5. As the home video market slows down into more of a niche market, it was nice to see Paramount Home Entertainment do a little something extra. And for $51 (Blu-ray) and $40 (DVD), it’s a good deal too. – Matt Wright
Best Home Video Season Release – Star Trek Prodigy Season 2
This one could also be called “video release we’re most grateful for,” which goes to Star Trek: Prodigy Season 2. Prodigy has become something of a red-headed step-child of the current era, and it’s a shame, as the show captures the heart of Star Trek in a way that some of the live action shows haven’t, and it is a wonderful way to engage children (or your own inner child) in what it means to be part of Starfleet and the Federation, and thus all the things we love about 24th century Star Trek. The fact that it’s been released on physical media is important, not every streaming media show gets a physical release, especially those on Netflix. This lets fans have a permanent copy of the show, and hopefully being available whenever you want it at home (regardless of streaming regions and/or licensing deals) will help get a few more eyes on the show too. – Matt Wright
Best Merch – Moopsy plush
2024 was a pretty good year for Star Trek merchandise with more releases from consistent licensees as well as some new entrants. Companies like Factory and EXO-6 are keeping high-end collectors happy with replicas, but there are more affordable finds as well including Fanhome getting die-cast Starship models going again. With Lower Decks wrapping up this year, there were plenty of ways to extend your love of the show through merchandise including a cool interactive novel. But our favorite release is something simple, a 10-inch plush from Master Replicas of everyone’s favorite bone sucking cutie: Moopsy! – Anthony Pascale
Best Convention/Live Event – Treksperts Stage at STLV
This year’s Las Vegas Creation convention featured a separate programming track from The Inglorious Treksperts, with a schedule so extensive it could’ve been a convention all its own. Packed full of anniversary celebrations, a diverse array of panels, and even a re-enactment of Plan Nine from Outer Space, it was almost a throwback to conventions of old, which were somewhat less celebrity-driven and allowed other contributors to the franchise (writers, designers, FX artists) to be recognized for their work. It was very well received by convention-goers and we hope to see more programming like this in the future. – Brian Drew
Best Online Event – Trek Talks 3
Three years in, the all-day virtual fundraiser to benefit Hollywood Food Coalition delivered almost nine hours of tasty Star Trek goodness, all to raise money for a great cause: feeding the hungry. What’s more Star Trek than that? Last year’s event included a “Tuvix” panel (including Tuvix himself, Tom Wright), a Picard season 3 reunion, a retrospective of Black women in Star Trek, a mix of old and new with Prodigy producers and Brannon Braga, one-on-one interviews, and a dive into the Strange New Worlds/Lower Decks crossover. Trek Talks raised over $100k and returns for its 4th year on January 18, 2025. – Laurie Ulster
Best Celebrity Moment – Trek eras join up at Peabody Awards
In June Star Trek was honored with a Peabody Award and a diverse group of Trek veterans showed up for the prestigious Beverly Hills award ceremony. Many fans were heartened to see celebrities spanning the eras there, including a rare sightings of Enterprise’s Scott Bakula as well as TNG’s Sir Patrick Stewart. New Trek was also represented by stars from Discovery, Strange New Worlds, Lower Decks, and even the upcoming Section 31 movie. – Anthony Pascale
Best Podcast Series – Trek, Marry, Kill
Looking for something a little different in a Star Trek podcast? This one has it. Hosts Bryan and Kristen look at episodes from across the franchise, covering their origins and history (with excellent insights) before getting to the meaty part: the categories, which change from time to time, but always deliver. ,Familiar episodes are viewed through the new and funny lens of best and worst Trek tropes, what from this episode would be taught at Starfleet Academy, could it have been hornier and would that have made it better, and more, along with the Anton Karidian Award for best acting and the Shatner award for commitment. At the end, the episode is graded by its smart and funny hosts as a Trek, Marry, or Kill, but it’s the path to get there that will keep you listening. – Laurie Ulster
Best Podcast Episode – Inglorious Treksperts 300th episode (all about Star Trek III)
Inglorious Treksperts has made our best of Star Trek list before and for good reason. Co-hosts Mark Altman, Daren Dochterman, and Ashley Miller deliver detailed and fun discussions on just about every corner of Star Trek, with an amazing list of guests offering their insights. This year they celebrated their 300th episode with something special. To honor the 40th anniversary of Star Trek III: The Search for Spock they brought in Marvel super-producer Kevin Feige, 20th Century Films exec Steve Asbell, and Picard showrunner Terry Matalas to debate the hosts on what makes the third Trek feature one of the best. The result is as enlightening as it is entertaining. – Anthony Pascale
Best Fan Social Follow – Star Trek Minus Context
Sometimes you just have to laugh, and a good place to start is the always reliable “Star Trek Minus Context” (@NoContextTrek on Twitter, Bluesky, and Mastadon). The premise is simple: The account just posts seemingly random screenshots from Star Trek films and TV shows (often with closed caption). But that is the beauty of it all as so often these moments in time can be hilarious, especially sans context. Be sure to read the well crafted Alt-text descriptions of the images, which often offer up even more laughs. The account can also be timely, like a fun election day post that got a lot of likes. – Anthony Pascale
— Star Trek Minus Context (@nocontexttrek1.bsky.social) 2024-12-31T22:21:44.796Z
Best Pro Social Follow – Aaron Waltke
Aaron J. Waltke, writer and co-executive producer for Star Trek: Prodigy, splits his time on social media posting fun things about Star Trek in general along with advocacy and insights on Prodigy as well as shedding some light onto the complex world of producing television in the streaming era. From explaining how content providers use watch time to gauge interest in a show, to posting full charts of how a story arc is planned, Waltke adds clarity to the business side of Star Trek, and does so without glamorizing his work or bemoaning the need to make tough decisions about content. Following him on social media (@GoodAaron on Twitter, BlueSky and Threads), you’re reminded that the creators of these shows often love them as much as us fan do. – Aaron Bossig
It’s heartening to see longtime fans sincerely wish for something they want to see in Star Trek, and the replies are filled with kind recommendations to watch animated Star Trek shows where they have already done it.
Keep spreading the word!
Animation is a medium, not a genre.
— Aaron J. Waltke (@goodaaron.bsky.social) January 28, 2024 at 9:43 AM
Best Meme – Ending 2024
Is there anything more meme-able than Star Trek? There is a moment for every mood, thought and emotion. And so we wrap up our Best Star Trek of 2024 with one of our favorite memers, @robintrek on Instagram who has just the right take on this year… and she’s already got something for 2025 too. – Christine Rideout
View this post on Instagram
What’s your best of 2024?
Sound off in the comments below to let us and other fans know what you think of our list. Don’t forget to tell us what your favorites were this year, and feel free to suggest categories we didn’t include.
Unification was the highlight , just incredible.
Received Greg Cox’s novel this Christmas and looking forward to reading it
Looking to this new year,..S31, news on the Origins movie, and hopefully kelvin ST4! (even if its JJ pulling our leg again lol)
The “Unification” short was the best of Star Trek for me in 2024.
Happy New Year!
Unification.
For me I’ll list my top 3: Prodigy season 2 by far, then Unification and the LDS two part series finale. Great Trek all around!
Runner up contenders: Also loved Discovery’s episode Face the Strange as one of the show’s best and the SFA cast, the Doctor returning especially!
The Unification short was my favorite.
Star Trek Lower Decks series finale was my favorite episode of the year. There was one moment that made a lot of us fans happy in that episode.
I haven’t read Nana’s book but it is on my list. I heard it’s an amazing book. I enjoyed Make It So this year. Patrick’s insight into theatre was fascinating.
I was glad they put Prodigy season 2 on bluray. I love that finale too. Hopefully someday we can get that show back.
Unification hands down. That is ending that Star Trek Generations needed. I hope that the current gatekeepers of Star Trek were watching.
I hope so too. With the pending 60th anniversary and possible straight to streaming movies in the future, this would be an amazing opportunity to flesh out a great story just based on what we have seen. Based on the views they have they should definitely be looking at this. The Section 31 movie reaction could be crucial if we are to get more content in streaming movies. However seeing the reaction to Unification they would be fools not to take advantage of this.
I think “Face the Strange” is Discovery’s best episode period.
Probably a popular answer, but “Fissure Quest” was so damn good, and not just because of all the guest stars. Lower Decks proved once again that it just gets Star Trek…Lily Sloane talking about humanity’s potential is pure Roddenberry.
Prodigy S2 as a whole was stellar. It’s hard to pick a single episode…from the jaw-dropping revelations in “The Devourer of All Things,” to the almost Miyazaki-esque “Last Flight of the Protostar,” to the epic finale “Ouroboros.” But “Cracked Mirror” stood out to me; it was so much fun, and the Janeway-Chakotay reunion was touching.
The “stupid catsuit” argument. Stop this nonsense, for God’s sake. First of all, if her “catsuit” was silly, then so are the outfits worn by ballerinas, male ballet dancers, athletes, dancers, etc. No one seems to question or criticise their “sexy” attire. Dismissing something as ‘silly’ just because it’s form-fitting or accentuates the body feels reductive and unfair.
Secondly, women and Vulcan women have the right to dress and act sexy, and Jolene is a perfect example of this. Even during and after Enterprise, she dressed sexy, acted in films where she felt comfortable pushing the boundaries even further, and did photo shoots that were anything but modest. Why? Because she wanted to and she didn’t mind. So I really don’t see the problem with a tight-fitting alien outfit, where fashion could be anything, or maybe it was just T’Pol’s taste. End of discussion.
Third, compared to most modern shows, Enterprise was incredibly tame. Today, we have shows like Game of Thrones or Euphoria, which routinely feature full-frontal nudity, simulated sex scenes and graphic content. Yet somehow people still get upset about a decontamination chamber or T’Pol’s catsuit? Personally, I’ll always prefer a show that’s sexy to one that’s vulgarly sexual. Let’s not forget that the decontamination chamber scenes usually involved everyone – even Trip spent an entire episode running around the ship in his underwear. The only reason it stood out more with T’Pol was because Jolene is an exceptionally beautiful woman. The writers emphasised this, of course, but there’s nothing inherently wrong with emphasising beauty in art, as long as it’s not vulgar.
Finally, was the inclusion of the decontamination chamber a little unnecessary? Perhaps. I could have done without it, and I think most viewers would agree that it added little to the story. But are its few appearances in over 100 episodes really such a big deal that we’re still debating it 20 years later? I don’t think so. Modern shows have gone much further – far beyond what Enterprise ever dared – and they’re celebrated for it, even winning Emmys and Oscars. The hypocrisy and double standards here are astounding. Let’s stop the ‘exploiting Jolene Blalock’ narrative and instead appreciate the show for what it was: a solid piece of entertainment that occasionally pushed boundaries, but always remained tasteful.
I think its also ridiculous to criticize T’Pol for her outfit, but to praise Seven of Nine as one of the franchise’s best characters. T’Pol was a great character, regardless of what she wore.
For the record, I mock both of their outfits… and in neither case do I blame the character or the actress.
That’s good, and I never thought you blamed the actors. It just seems that you accept that Seven is a good character despite the stupid outfit, but you can’t seem to look past the outfit when you discuss T’Pol.
I’m not a fan of the character, period. Also not a fan of Reed. They just didn’t develop most of the characters much, I loved Trip and Phlox, but the others were hard to get a handle on.
You’re missing the point. The catsuits were not ridiculous because they were form-fitting and sexy. They were ridiculous because the producers made them purposefully sexy just to draw in the male crowd. This was insulting the intelligence of the male viewers because we’re going to watch your show not because of the sexy ladies but if the writing is good. It was even more insulting to the actresses who had to parade around in those outfits.
adding insult to injury considering annika’s past as a drone assimilated as a child.
the ‘catsuit’ undercut her as a character and actress.
7 was not a character who cared about such things as sex appeal and also this is someone who has been liberated from the borg after years as a drone when assimilated as a child.
basically ‘trafficked’, abused.
so turning her into a sex symbol for ratings was all types of wrong back then
men are never objectified as women are in the media
Unification was EASILY the best Star Trek of the year and arguably the best Star Trek of the last 30 years…What a waste it’s been to not include Star Trek’s biggest icon (William Shatner) as the legendary Captain Kirk…So emotional to see Mr. Shatner and Leonard Nimoy reunited as their iconic characters. It renewed my faith in what Star Trek can be.
Unification had cool effects, but the story was complete nonsense. I’m sure plenty of the new shows would love to have Shatner show up, but he doesn’t seem interested.
A beautiful year in the annals of Star Trek! (still waiting on the Blu-ray release of Lower Decks’ final season here in Denmark where it sadly isn’t streaming anywhere :-/)
And THANKS to TrekMovie for all their brilliant coverage of all things Trek in the past year! It’s been a personal pleasure for me to collaborate with you guys on a few things – including my undisputed Trek highlight of 2024 (and possibly the highlight of my entire 40 year lifespan on this planet): helping to realize Paul Giamatti’s dream of acting on Star Trek by exposing Alex Kurtzman to Giamatti’s Trek love <3
LLAP and hope to do more things together in 2025! – Johan from Denmark
We all owe you a debt of gratitude for that!
It’s been such a big year for Trek! It’s so great to see so much happening. I don’t really consume much (really any) modern Trek content, but it’s exciting to follow nonetheless. It’s such a universe, and seeing all the incredible things that the fans do and create around our favorite franchise just brings joy to my heart.
The only way Unification ends up on a “Best Of” list is as best FX demo reel. I won’t argue, the reanimations of dead and very old performers was almost lifelike. A very solid deep fake. As far as the content goes, it was six minutes of nothing. A storytelling black hole.
The legal protections for parody being what they are, now that this digital genie of a fan film is out of the bottle, someone is going to grab this, and have Spock jump off his deathbed, and Kirk and Spock will treat us to a few minutes of them doing the can-can. Now that we know we can create digital marionettes, the question is, should we? Personally, that answer is no.
I don’t read a ton of Trek material like I used to but hands down Star Trek: Open a Channel – A Woman’s Trek was the best Trek material I have read in a long time. Second was the “choose your own adventure style” Warp Your Own Way. It was funny, fun to read, accurate to LDS, a good Trek story, and on top of it all, it actually fulfilled the promise of those choose your own adventure books which always seemed like a great concept but turned out to be boring and a slog. A must read.
There’ a chooseyourown book that is a kind of sly parody of the usual ones, about a teenage kid investing the JFK assassination. SPOILER ALERT: No matter what he does, it does not end well, for the boy or for truth, justice and the American way.
Lower Decks season 5 and Prodigy season 2 was a tie for me.
Unification is definitely a strong second.
I actually enjoyed the Discovery finale too. That’s something I never thought I would say lol.
I plan to read Nana Visitor’s book, but haven’t yet.
Great list. I disagree with some choices, but that is ok. I did really like the Inglorious Trekspert’s 300th episode simply to listen to Terry, Steve, and Kevin’s thoughts and Star Trek III and Trek in general. It does make me wish even more we get a Matalas-ran Legacy show, even though it won’t happen.
I wholeheartedly agree with licensing the hell out of Star Trek but with affordable items! The Chibi-in-motion blind box Lower Decks figures? I had so much fun going to Targets to hunt for them and collect them all! It reminded me of buying loads and loads of Pokémon cards as a kid from the WB store. Stuff like that would be awesome!