Which of these season finales left your heart pumping, the tears flowing, or the tummy rumbling?
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00:00Now, let's get a couple of things clear from the off. First, we have already done a list of the
00:05greatest cliffhangers in Star Trek. You know, those ones where right at the end it's like,
00:10oh no, ah, cut to black. That is not this list, although there will be entries that might seem
00:17like they fit on both, but we'll go into those in each of the entries, don't you worry. Now,
00:22what we're also not doing here is the final episodes of each particular show. Again, that's
00:30another list. So, what we're doing here is going through the season finales that absolutely smashed
00:38it. Right, does that make sense? Let's find out. I'm Sean Ferrick for Trek Culture and here are the 10
00:44greatest Star Trek season finales. Number 10, Hope and Fear, Voyager Season 4. The closing episode in
00:51one of Star Trek Voyager's stronger seasons sees a resolution of sorts of the antagonism between
00:56Seven of Nine and Captain Janeway. For the entire year Seven had struggled with the individuality
01:00that had been thrust upon her. Here, faced with the choice of returning to the Collective, she finally
01:05accepts her home among the Voyager crew. The introduction of Arturus may be a bit of a
01:10Ray Wisex Machina at this stage in the season, but the performance is solid and the Dauntless is a stellar
01:15design, one that returned in Star Trek Enterprise and was the basis for the new Dauntless in Prodigy.
01:20It also gave a slipstream drive, something that would serve as crucial plot points in future episodes.
01:25Despite the high stakes of the episode, it truly feels like a character piece, focusing on the two
01:29female leads of the show. Their chemistry is undeniable and without treading well-worn ground,
01:34it's all the more impressive when we know what was happening behind the scenes at the time. Hope and
01:39Fear firmly establishes Seven's choice to stay with her new family, her new Collective, and despite the
01:45tragedy of Arturus's position, one feels that Seven and Janeway's resolution is the true happy ending
01:51of the season. Number 9, The Neutral Zone, The Next Generation, Season 1. The first season of The
01:56Next Generation had more ambition than achievement, but it did bring Star Trek back to TV for the first
02:02time in over a decade. Heading into 1988, with a writer's strike looming, there needed to be a hook
02:07in the finale that would guarantee viewers would return to the sophomore year. Thankfully, The Neutral
02:12Zone manages this with gusto. The looming threat by the eponymous region of space, as well as the
02:17frozen humans thawing and causing hassle for the crew, combine to set the stage for a wonderfully
02:21dramatic return of the Romulan Empire. Mark Olimo, offering his second role in Trek, as well as his
02:27deliberate slow style of speech, simply oozes arrogance sitting aboard the enormous warbird,
02:33We are back. With that assurance, Starfleet's lives are about to get much more complicated, and the
02:38stage was set for many more encounters with these Vulcan offshoots, as well as the initial hints of
02:43the Borg storyline. While the season is oft maligned, also by myself, the final episode is one of the
02:49true standout finales of the franchise. Number 8, Supernova Part 2, Prodigy, Season 1. Star Trek
02:57Prodigy's first season came to a close with perhaps more catharsis than anticipated, as the show relocated
03:02from the Delta to Alpha Quadrant, and the USS Protostar itself was destroyed. It was a risky move, one
03:08that had the chance of falling flat with its main audience. While Prodigy is not a kids-only show,
03:14how might they react to Hologram Janeway going the way of the dodo? The show's premise centred around
03:19belonging. Dal, Rock Tuck, Zero, Jankum, Gwyn and Murph are all outsiders and outcasts in the beginning,
03:26then grow, with Hologram Janeway's help, to become a strong family unit by the season's close. The events of
03:32Supernova see them directly save Starfleet, earning them a special dispensation from Admiral Janeway to serve as
03:38Warrant Officers. While the fate of Season 2 remains largely unknown at the time of recording, the few clips that have been
03:44released suggest that they are set to serve aboard the Voyager A, accompanied by a very familiar hologram, which seems
03:50anathema to where they were in the beginning of the first season. For season arcs alone, Prodigy's debut year
03:57smashed it with that finale. Number 7, The Best of Both Worlds Part 1,
04:02The Next Generation Season 3. Okay, so here's where we talk cliffhangers. Though this list is largely
04:08avoiding cliffhanger endings, we cannot in good conscience leave The Best of Both Worlds Part 1
04:12off this list. While much of its brilliance is served from that incredible final scene, it would
04:17be too much of a disservice to the rest of the episode to say that that was its only powerful moment.
04:22The opening scene, the confirmation of the Borg, the first attack, the rising tension on board the
04:27Enterprise, Shelby. Everything in this episode works, directed with Apom by Cliff Bull and written by
04:33Michael Pillar. There was much uncertainty behind the scenes as well, as both Pillar and Patrick Stewart
04:37weren't officially signed on to return in the fourth season. Therefore, Pillar wrote this as a bit of a
04:42challenge to whoever would have to write the second part. The joke was on him, he did return and had to
04:46wrap everything up. Stewart also signed on, so Locutus had to go. The Best of Both Worlds Part 1 has transcended
04:52Star Trek to become one of popular media's most discussed and analyzed season finales of all time.
04:58There's a reason that every succeeding Star Trek cliffhanger is compared to this one. This is the
05:03one that broke the mold. Number 6, Tears of the Prophets, Deep Space Nine Season 6. The sixth season
05:09of Deep Space Nine saw the Dominion War truly explode throughout the Federation. While the fifth season
05:14finale, more on that later, set the stage, Tears of the Prophets completed several arcs, offered the first
05:20true on-screen offensive by the Federation Klingon Romulan Alliance and saw the departure of Terry
05:26Farrell's Jadzia Dax. While the unfortunate details of the behind-the-scenes issues that led to her
05:31departure have since become clear, there is little doubt that the death of Jadzia ranks as one of the
05:36most shocking, upsetting scenes in the show's entire run. It's actually difficult to re-watch the episode
05:42without a growing sense of dread once she enters that Bajoran shrine, but Farrell's performance makes the
05:48effort worth every moment. Aside from this, the spectacular Battle of Chintaka as well as the return of
05:53Gul Dukat and Sisko's final scenes scrubbing oysters in New Orleans offer some of the most thrilling,
05:59affecting scenes, proving that a season that contained such greats as the sacrifice of angels,
06:04far beyond the stars and in the pale moonlight could still go out with a bang. It may have been
06:08tinged with tragedy, but Tears of the Prophets was still in its own way very much a triumph. Number 5, The
06:14Expanse Enterprise Season 2. The Expanse is a bit of an outlier on this list. While it absolutely
06:19deserves to be here, the episode has aged with a bit of controversy as the years have gone on. Airing
06:25in May of 2003, less than two years after the September 11th attacks, this story very obviously
06:31was Star Trek's take on these events. It set the stage for Season 3's Xindi arc and while
06:37Enterprise's arrival in The Expanse probably can be called a cliffhanger, it's the reactions of the crew,
06:43and particularly Trip and Archer, which truly sell the episode. Trip's sister Elizabeth is killed in
06:48the attack, but this isn't confirmed for a few scenes. Therefore, Trip becomes the stand-in
06:53character for those who are desperately searching for news of their loved ones in the hours and days
06:57following the collapse of the Twin Towers. While there is much to be said about how the show handled
07:01the Xindi arc overall, The Expanse manages to capture that feeling of shock, panic and devastation
07:07effectively. This, coupled with the rise of real world xenophobia, jingoism and anti-Muslim
07:13sentiment was a stark departure from Gene Roddenberry's hope for the future and it was
07:17a departure that was handled very, very well. Number 4, A Quality of Mercy, Strange New Worlds
07:23Season 1. Star Trek Strange New Worlds brought the franchise away from the serialised storytelling
07:28of both Discovery and Picard returning to the more familiar episodic adventure of the week.
07:33Therefore, when it came to the first season's finale, audiences weren't sure quite what to expect.
07:38It's safe to say that having two Pykes, one slightly older, greyer and monster maroonier,
07:42was unexpected. The episode also served to introduce James T. Kirk as played by Paul Wesley.
07:48It would go on to serve as both a soft remake of Balance of Terror, while also solidifying the fact
07:53that, despite Pike's affable nature, the Boy Scout-like charm, that he was exactly the wrong
07:58captain to be the one facing the Romulans. It serves to help Pike and the audience come to accept
08:03the fact that Pike's fate is sealed. However, it manages to balance that with the good that will
08:08come from it. We know that he will end up in the chair, as does he. What Pike doesn't know is that
08:12by the time of the menagerie he will return to Talos IV and live a life, though illusory, but one of
08:18love. If one of the main themes of the show's first season was Pike coming to terms with his fate,
08:23then this episode manages to achieve that perfectly, setting the stage for a second season where Pike was
08:28free to explore other storylines free of that weight. Number 3, Such Sweet Sorrow Part 2,
08:34Discovery Season 2. Star Trek Discovery is a show that has been free from any drama or furious
08:39backlash or even discussion, end of entry. Now once the laughing is finished, there is very much reason
08:43that Such Sweet Sorrow Part 2 ranks so highly on this list. The show, closing out its second year,
08:49was faced with how to resolve the story of Burnham and Spock's relationship, Pike's return to the
08:53Enterprise, controls threat to the galaxy and so many many little niggling issues with historical
08:58canon. The fact that it largely succeeds with all of these points, sets up a sidewall series, closes
09:04much of the larger canon complaints and still offers a fantastic light show to boot, is a testament to
09:09the skills behind the camera and the acting in front. Seneca Martin-Green, Michelle Yeoh, Anson Mount and
09:14Doug Jones all stand out in particular here, with not one of them breaking the high tension of events.
09:19The fact that Yeoh, in fact, offers some grim humour to the story in her showdown with Leland,
09:24offers us some of the most uncomfortable smiles of enjoyment of the season. The third season would
09:28then become a soft reboot of Discovery, so if this is both the end of the second season,
09:33and the spiritual end of the first iteration of the show, then it fires on all thrusters,
09:37and Geoff Russo's score deserves a special mention as well for that wonderful soaring tribute to the
09:42ship as it blasts into the 32nd century. Number 2, No Small Parts, Lower Decks, Season 1.
09:48To completely change the mood, No Small Parts is one of the most fun finales to make this list,
09:53with all of the humour that Lower Decks injects into its episodes, along with the arrival of the
09:57USS Titan, Luna Class, on screen for the very first time. That moment, with the Next Generation
10:02theme blaring, only adds to the excitement of hearing Jonathan Frakes and Marina Sirtis revising
10:07the roles of Riker and Troi respectively. The episode is not without a mix of emotions,
10:11as there is a genuine threat in the form of the pack-led clump ships, extreme frustration in the form of
10:16Peanut Hamper, and the tragedy of the loss of Shaxx. Sure, he returned in the second season,
10:21but we weren't to know that as he disappeared into a cloud of vapour while Rutherford floated away.
10:25What is most impressive however, is the ability of the episode, in barely 23 minutes, to cram all of
10:31these moments in, yet it never feels rushed or too clumped. Instead, the audience is treated to both a tease
10:36for the second season, Lieutenant Boimler aboard the USS Titan, and a cheeky knowing wink to the audience,
10:42as Riker discusses visiting the holodeck to spend time with the crew of the NX-01. For a show that,
10:47in our opinion, was a massive success on all fronts, its first season went out on the highest of highs,
10:52which was a sign of the quality to come. Number 1, Call to Arms Deep Space Nine Season 5. This episode
10:59has everything. From the opening scenes of Sisko watching the latest Jem'Hadar convoy erupt from the
11:05wormhole, to the decision to mind the entrance, the standoff with Weyoun, and the eventual attack on the
11:10station, there's barely a moment to breathe. On top of that, there is even time at the end to get a
11:15sense of the aftermath. The station is crippled, Kira, Odo and Quark are still aboard, as is Rom
11:20and Jake Sisko. The Defiant and the Rataran are rushing to meet the Federation task force,
11:24while Dukat smugly settles himself into Sisko's office. The actual final shot, one of the enormous
11:30Starfleet-Klingon fleet heading toward the Bajoran sector, was a heart-stopping moment. While yes, this does
11:35in fact feel like another cliffhanger, the amount of time that passes between this shot and the
11:40opening moments of a time to stand serve to truly hammer home the threat of the Dominion. For sheer
11:46tension, action, exhilaration and payoff, there is no season finale of Star Trek quite like Call to
11:52Arms. Now that's everything for our list. Obviously we can do sequel after sequel, because there's
11:57something like 40 plus seasons of Star Trek. So let us know what is your favorite Star Trek season
12:02finale in the comments below, and don't forget to get in touch over on social media. You can catch us
12:07at TrekCulture on Twitter, at TrekCultureYT on Instagram, you can catch myself at Sean Ferrick
12:12on the various socials as well, and of course you can catch our editor Mel on the socials too. You are
12:17wonderful, you are awesome, you are brilliant, make sure that you live long and prosper, and we will see
12:21you soon. Thanks!