Assimilation (Star Trek: Picard, S2 E3) was recommended by Hauke he/him, who said: While it’s very hard to pull out individual episodes of Picard (especially the first two seasons) on my current rewatch this one stood out to me.

Having narrowly escaped the horrible Confederation of the alternate 2400, the crew travels back to 2024 to correct the timeline. “Let’s see what has been lost in the wake of your fear” Q whispers to Picard again as they jump to the past.

Assimilation sets up the character arcs for the rest of the season.

Raffi is racked with guilt and anger for Elnor’s death early in the episode.

Seven, gets to experience not being met with fear since the timeline hop means she was never assimilated.

Rios immediately gets into some good trouble meeting the charming doctor Teresa.

And Jurati, still racked with guilt over killing Maddox in season one is doing something difficult and dangerous: impressing the Borg Queen (played in this iteration by the magnetic Anne Wershing who sadly passed away in early 2023).

Fear, Hope, guilt, forgiveness. Picard season two is about all these things, deeply personal to both Picard and Stewart, and it doesn’t get enough credit.

“ Move backward to go forward. Shatter to mend. The past is now.”

Assimilation first aired on March 17, 2022, written by Kiley Rossetter & Christopher Monfette, and directed by Lea Thompson

Seven distracts the Magistrate long enough for the group to overpower and kill him and his officers. The ship comes under attack, and the Queen takes advantage of the situation to directly connect herself to the ship's computers. She destroys their pursuers and slingshots the ship around the sun, creating a wormhole to 2024. She tells Picard that they must find "The Watcher" in Los Angeles who knows what Q changed to cause the new timeline. The ship crashes near Chateau Picard in France, and the Queen diverts all power to sustain herself. Elnor dies of his wounds, and Raffi angrily blames Picard before departing with Seven and Rios to start searching for the Watcher. Rios's transporter malfunctions and he is knocked out, waking up in a clinic that secretly treats undocumented immigrants. Before he can leave, immigration officers raid the clinic and arrest both Rios and his physician, Teresa. Rios's communicator is left behind. Despite Picard's warnings, Agnes connects her mind to the Queen and learns the exact location of the Watcher before she can be assimilated, impressing the Queen.

The Joy of Trek is hosted by Khaki & Kay, with editing & production by Chief Engineer Greg and music by Fox Amoore (Bandcamp | Bluesky)

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The Ascent (Star Trek: Deep Space Nine (DS9), S5 E9) was recommended by Matt Kennedy he/him, who said:

Hi guys! This is my first recommendation - I've been listening for a while now and I adore the show, and it's taken me a long time to decide which episode I want to recommend.

And it's got to be The Ascent. This is a wonderful showcase for the "enemies with benefits" Quark and Odo. And the reason I love this episode is because, as someone who is firmly on Team Space Goblin, this is one of the few times where Odo gets called out for his bulls*** - I always scream and cheer when Quark calls him a fascist to his face. But this is classic Trek, because as much as they hate each other they have to learn to work together in order to survive. The B plot parralels this, with Jake and Nog learning to live together as roomates, while Sisko finds an unexpected ally in Rom. This episode is about being open to each other's differences and for that to lead to acceptance.

The Ascent first aired on November 25, 1996, written by Ira Steven Behr and Robert Hewitt Wolfe, and directed by Allan Kroeker

Forced to crash-land on a desolate planet, Odo and Quark must climb a mountain to transmit a distress signal. Jake and Nog (temporarily back at DS9) find sharing quarters isn't as enjoyable as they thought it would be.

The Joy of Trek is hosted by Khaki & Kay, with editing & production by Chief Engineer Greg and music by Fox Amoore (Bandcamp | Bluesky)

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Crisis Point 2: Paradoxus (Star Trek: Lower Decks, S3 E8) was recommended by Alex Russet, he/him , who said:

This is one of my favorite episodes of this series alongside the finale for that season (Shax's finest hour was amazing.) The central conflict of Boimler trying to find meaning to life was fascinating to watch. Fun action scenes, a couple pokes at us fanfic writers not understanding story flow or proper exposition (I like to think I improved in that department... I hope...) and of course, Captain Sulu cameos is always a plus. Overall, a fun episode with a thoughtful central conflict. Hoping we see more of Will Boimler. As of me writing this Halloween 2024, there's still time.

Crisis Point 2: Paradoxus first aired on October 13, 2022, written by Ben Rodgers, and directed by Michael Mullen

Boimler's holodeck movie sequel tries to live up to the original.

The Joy of Trek is hosted by Khaki & Kay, with editing & production by Chief Engineer Greg and music by Fox Amoore (Bandcamp | Bluesky)

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