They missed my favorite final line in all of star trek, "Computer erase that entire personal log." In the Pale Moonlinght, DS9 S06E19. The perfect end for what i think is the best Star Trek episode made.
You cannot appreciate the full impact of “Mr. Worf, fire.” unless you saw the episode when it originally aired…and then waiting several months for Part 2.
I love cliffhangers. Best of Both Worlds’ “to be continued” really was epic, albeit, all the pent up expectation for what came next, almost four months later, made the resolution in part 2 a bit anticlimactic. Regardless, it still gives me chills (even without TrekCulture playing the dialog and music from the actual show). I still frequently imitate Picard’s line of “sleep” around bedtime to this day. I do miss these kinds of cliffhanger endings in TV shows, they don’t happen as much anymore. The X-Files mastered it though, and Fringe and Orphan Black carried on the tradition pretty well, too. I thought the cliffhanging end of The Force Awakens was great, but the flippant follow-up of Luke just tossing the lightsaber over his should in the Last Jedi really wasted all the previous build up, which isn’t what TNG did with Best of Both Worlds part 2.
It was longer for me, due to some idiot teacher screwing up (long story). I couldn't watch part 2 until I figured out how to watch it over the internet.
I also really loved Janeway's delivery of "I know" in response to literal Fear's "I'm afraid" in Voyager's "The Thaw", another moment of pure Janeway badassery.
A year late, and on a very technical note, but that line (as much as I love it) is not the actual final line of "The Thaw". That goes to the Clown's one-word reply to it, "Drat".
The last line in The Wire from DS9 is one of my favorite lines in general. Bashir: Were any of your stories true? Garak: All of them were true. Bashir: Even the lies? Garak: Especially the lies.
"Especially the lies" coupled with the smile Andrew Robinson gives as Garek is all we need to know everything about his character while at the same time knowing nothing.
Little known story, but during the summer of the Best of Both Worlds, Patrick Stewart visited a seriously ill child in hospital who was a massive Picard fan. The child had seen the first part and was scared Picard would be killed off. So Stewart sat and did a script reading of the second part to the kid so he could rest easy knowing his favourite character would make it. I'm pretty the kid pulled through the illness too. 👍🖖
James Doohan helped prevent a young girl from committing suicide by asking her to show up for the conventions he came to over the years; later, she graduated with a degree in electronic engineering.
What about "Chain Of Command"?? When Picard is tortured and was told if he said there were 5 lights, he could live in comfort. At the end, he admitted to Troi that he was going to say there were 5 lights. "But more than that, I BELIEVED that there were 5 lights." Man, that whole episode was powerful as hell
Agreed. And the way that final line undermines the power of Picard’s defiance when he yells as he leaves, “There are FOUR lights” is unsettling (but in an appropriate and thought-provoking way). A very well-written episode indeed. (And David Warner’s performance was spot on!)
@@eliselambson7448 talk head mostly the main head torturer and the tortured, with the lightest of a presences of the rest of ship? (and like in the world of the alien world with ever seeing, or even hearing it was in the room, but there was world out side the room, that sounded familiar)
I woulda swapped #4 with the final line from “The Thaw”. “I’m afraid…” “I knooow” Both great episodes, both with an amazing guest star as antagonist. The Thaw’s final scene just hits so much deeper as a commentary on fear itself vs the simple, witty jab of Think Tank’s final scene.
Agreed. I loved what that line said about the relationship between Dukat and Sisko. To those two, the baseball was a clear message. To anyone else, it was just a random object that someone left behind.
A great line to emphasize one of my favorite DS9 moments-like Dukat, we know what the baseball on the desk means, and I simply loved the defiance of Sisko’s message there. (And no pun intended, haha!😅)
So many programmes have the trope of one character saying "He's sending me a message, he's saying..." and we all sit there thinking, "Really? Reach much?" but when you catch sight of the baseball before the other characters you know what Dukat is going to say.
@@danmerget it gets elevated as Dukat uses the baseball as his stress ball like Sisko does the whole time he's occupying DS9 just excellent subliminal story telling.
I would have to give an honorable mention to the final line of the TNG episode "Chain of Command, Part 2", delivered by Picard: "But more than that, I believed that I could see five lights." Definitely one of the more haunting final lines of the series, as it demonstrates how thoroughly broken Picard was by Gul Madred's torture tactics. It was only through fortunate timing that he was able to completely resist in the end.
“Maybe. But she, or someone like her, will always be with us, waiting for the right climate in which to flourish, spreading fear in the name of righteousness. Vigilance, Mister Worf, that is the price we have to continually pay.” This speech from Captain Picard from “The Drumhead” has always been one of my favorites.
That was always one of my favorites too. One of the most impactful moments was at the end when everyone is leaving the room and one of the woman's assistants stands to leave and just looks at her for a moment without speaking and walks away. And the acting of the guy who played the half Romulan was really great. And that line where Picard says, and I'm paraphrasing cause I don't remember the exact line, "...stop these...proceedings.." That pause before he says "proceedings" and the disgust with which he says the word were so awesome.
Patrick Stewart once told a story about how, after the cliffhanger had aired, that he was driving around Hollywood one day, and a car pulled up next to him at a stop light, and the guy turned to him and yelled, “YOU RUINED MY SUMMER!” (The next episode wouldn’t be airing until Sept. of that year)
@@Apocalypso64 1990. No internet, no rumors, no spoilers, no friggin' clue what was going to happen next for three months and six days. It was awful. And glorious.
"You're to late, we're everywhere." That line from the season 3 finale of DS9 so important and impactful that sets the tone for what's to come for season 4 and the beginning of season 5
I've personally always been a fan of the last line from Unification, Part I. Picard and Data are on Romulus, and when Picard says he is looking for Ambassador Spock to one of the Romulans, Spock steps out of the shadows and says, "Indeed, you have found him, Captain Picard." Bringing Nimoy back to the franchise was much-anticipated, and having him deliver that line right before the cliffhanger was awesome.
Even before that was advertised in the show's previews, I still remember watching "Entertainment Tonight" and them "spilling the beans" on the cliffhanger which was both shocking but not surprising (given the lifespan of Vulcans was close to double that of humans = would be very much alive in the TNG era). While part two was riped for potential which never occurred, the payoff was the brief scene where Spock interacts with his TNG counterpart (Data) regarding the topic of humanity. 😊
One impactful line (to me) that comes to mind, "Let history remember the name ....... Enterprise." Spoken by Patrick Stewart in the episode 'Yesterday's Enterprise'.
That was a good line, but it wasn't the final line of the episode. I'm pretty sure the final line was Guinan saying "Tell me about... Tasha Yar." That line was also good, but really needed the rest of the episode for context.
@@grega6014 That is true. It wasn't a final line. I just meant a lot to me in reference to all ships that bore the name, and the significance they had in Star Trek history and lore. But yes your right. It isn't a final line. But it certainly would have made a great one if used at the end of an episode or movie.
“Computer, erase that entire personal log.” Is the greatest closing line to the greatest episode of trek. I cannot believe it didn’t even make the list! I just assumed it was going to be #1 so I wasn’t mad that I kept not seeing it lol
@billeubanks387 I'm quite relaxed, thank you very much. Just annoyed at people who can't figure out how to follow a simple topic such as final line versus sound effects.
@@williambell3304 In the Dc comics STTOS series there is an issue where all of Kirk's past desisions are kind of coming back to haunt , one of the Iotians shows up at fed HQ with the feds share of tribue. Worth a read.
Single most emotional moment in Voyager was when Janeway said “keep a docking port open for us” when she is speaking to Starfleet for the first time in 6 years in the Pathfinder episode. I don’t know if Mulgrew pulled that tear out of her eye on her own or they used an eye drop, but her voice just sounded so genuine. Chokes me up every time I see it.
I like Robert Picard's "Yes, but let him dream" line at the end of the TNG episode Family. It helped the character come full circle with his brother, put a bow on the 'longest summer' Borg cliffhanger, and seemed to speak directly to the audience, acknowledging the dreamers in all of us.
The conclusion of in the Pale Moonlight, listening to the infliction in Avery's voice, his posture/body language, all added weight in the last scene of the episode, as he explained how he dragged another empire into war on a false pretense. Over the course of the episode Sisko explains in detail how he had lied, cheated, bribed men to cover the crimes of other men, became an accessory to murder, but the most damning thing of all is that he thinks he can live with it, then concludes: "I can live with it..." Adjusts seating position "Computer: Erase that entire personal log."
I would add The Wounded from TNG, after seeing how the Cardasian war affected people (Maxwell and O'Brien) and how Picard did what he had to to protect the peace, to finish with the line/warning to Gul Macet "we'll be watching" was a classic
My favorite final line in a single Trek episode come from the Voyager episode The Thaw. The exchange between her and Fear was brilliant, but her telling Fear after he admitted to being afraid "I know." was the perfect end to such a chilling episode.
Just thinking about the last minute of All Good Things still chokes me up. So bittersweet. Like seeing the joyful emigration of a beloved friend you will miss desperately but are incredibly happy for. A mixture of elation, pathos, and sadness that Picard missed so many earlier opportunities.
@@AvroBellow Absolutely, and what was that episode where Sisko gets zapped and his son drags him through time - that was heartbreaking as well. So many powerful episodes. Great writing sometimes.
What about “I am now Jake. I am now” from the DS9 episode where Ben Sisko gets trapped in subspace and Jake lives his life trying to rescue his father? One of the most touching episodes of any TV program ever. And the deep meaning of Sisko’s statement, and the knowledge he had that Jake doesn’t, gives the final statement so much added weight.
One from Voyager; the episode in the seventh season when Neelix departs. At the end of the episode where he is leaving, Tuvok does a dance for him and says Live long and prosper", with the greatest respect ever seen.
@@antonnurwald5700 I'm an older millenial, and a former latchkey kid. Both my parents worked and my dad also encouraged my interest in science with Star Trek. I was 3 when TNG debuted so I grew up with the show.
@@MrTbk1701 maybe kids are different there. I was thinking specifically about the Borg episode. I'm fairly certain this would give my son nightmares for about a year.
SPOCK: Captain, the universe is safe. KIRK: For you and me. But what of Lazarus? What of Lazarus? And Kirk's "Let's get the hell out of here" was as much of an emotional gut punch as the death of Edith just moments before.
Fairly certain the Lazaruses are Lorca. His story sounds so similar to Discovery, with details left out/changed to hide his true identity. Lazarus being a fitting pseudonym as the Lorcas were thought to be dead.
I always liked the Borg episode in "Enterprise". The logs would be "forgotten" by the 24th century. But when some random engineer, who was working on ways to fight the Borg, decided to ask the computer to search the network to see if there was anything that might come up. They then had a "Holy crap" moment and reported it to their superiors. Starfleet actually still had access to the wreckage (probably some cold storage on Pluto, or someplace like it). This actually explains why they were able to do so much research so quickly.
Chakotay's final line in Nemesis about him wishing it was easier to stop hating then starting really stood out for me on a recent re-watch. That episode was a great development of his character but like with all of Voyager it felt like the reset button was pushed for the next episode.
I like that one. I also always found it dumb that the ambassador, fully aware of just what kind of conditioning Chakotay had been through, just waltzes right up to him like it's nothing. Like come on, "ambassador" show a little tact.
Didn't care for that episode. Chakotay talks to the rebels about how his people always try to find peaceful resolutions. Which is completely divorced from the fact that Chakotay was a Maquis. A group of terrorists that literally started because they disagreed with a peace treaty.
@@chaseteel251 That's kinda the point. He means the Federation akin general and he's trying to walk his new Starfleet path, but their tactics wear him down by showing him people being abused the same way his colonists were, and the same moral outrage that lead to him joining the Maquis resurfaces again.
"If Only..." The final words uttered by Captain Kirk in the final episode of T.O.S. It not only sums up how much better the 3rd season of T.O.S. could have been, but what might have been had they been allowed to complete the "5-year mission"...
One of my favourites is the final line of TNG's "The Next Phase". Geordi teasing Ro Laren and both of them having a laugh over it: "...if it can teach Ro Laren humility, it can do anything." Makes me laugh every time I see it.
Thanks for always showing us things, without you, we would never know. And although this is not a last line, it should be in some top ten, it is the one that stands out for me personally, The best part of "undiscovered country" is when Kirk says "second star to the right and straight on till morning." Where else would a franchise tell itself and its fans "we will never grow up" and never want to. Although the end of "city on the edge of forever " is and will always be my favorite episode.
I was hoping you'd include the final line of Duet, signifying the start of Kira's journey toward overcoming her discrimination and hatred against all Cardassians. It's a short line that's also a bit vague, but it's hugely evocative and poignant.
Jason Alexander gave a surprisingly good performance in Think Tank. More on topic, I love all the rude and surprising 7 of 9 lines. Still waiting to use, “Fun will now commence,” in real life.
We all have different favorites… but Janeway chillingly answering Michael McKean’s “I’m afraid,” with, “I know.” That showed me that she could do what it took to get them home. Oooh (shivers).
The best final line IMO is Deep Space The Pale Moonlight. Sisko reciting all the events to his computer log of all the increasingly horrifying things that happened, then at the very end, "computer-erase that entire personal log.' It still sends shivers up my spine.
Totally agree with In the Pale Moonlight should of been number 1 on the list. Though while every one they posted all fans love, i have found Star trek fans who do not like in the pale moonlight because it doesn't show a an ideal star trek morality. but that's why i love the episode, how far would Sisko go to save paradise for everyone else.
@@flamingn 💯! I understand people being nostalgic for the more shinier Trek, but DS9 fleshed out the universe in significant was and showed that, as in the real world, peace often has to be fought for and as much as we don't want to, sometimes we have to get on the levels of our enemies to survive.
For me it has to be Picar's haunting admission to Troy that for a moment "I really believed I could see five lights". Delivered so well by Patrick Stewart, you really felt how close to breaking point he had been.
The final line "Mr. Worf, Fire" setting up a cliffhanger until the next season became pretty prevailent throughout the rest of the remaining seasons of TNG and continued to be a thing for DS9, Voyager and Enterprise
It actually had bigger implications in television as cliffhangers for the season finale became common place. Remember Dallas and the Who Shot JR? It could also be a bain to a tv show such as when NBC's Las Vegas was canceled on a cliff hanger and they were not allowed to finish the arcs.
Plenty of others havw mentioned DS9s "In the Pale Moonlight" and VOYs "The Thaw", but what about Yesterday's Enterprise "Tell me about Tasha Yar"? Kind of a shame Q Who's last line wasn't "They will be coming."
When Spock wonders if there are more of those weapons out there, Kirk responds "Well, I certainly hope not...I found ONE quite sufficient!" to end the episode THE DOOMSDAY MACHINE.
"I'm coming, Chakotay." - Even for the target audience who didn't watch Voyager, this line opened up a whole new world for Prodigy. Yes, it's about coming of age. But the story wasn't just about them. "I just hate to leave you all. All my loved ones." - This turned out to be an especially poignant line as it turned out to be Roger C. Carmel's final line in any Star Trek series, dying just before The Next Generation began production. "Welcome to Section 31." - Do I need to explain this one?
The City on the Edge of Forever Kirk: Lets get the hell out of here The emotional impact of what Kirk had to do weighed heavily upon his heart, he felt guilt and those last words of that episode conveyed it perfectly.
I haven't pressed play yet but I expect to see Gul Dukat's "I forgive you too" from the DS9 episode Sacrifice Of Angels. Don't let me down, Trekculture.
I remember the first time i saw The Best of Both Worlds,Part 1 (not called that at the time), I was literally on the edge of my seat. i right on the edge. one comercial after another was torture. And that final shot. HOLY CRAP! I think like many Star Trek fans screamed at the tv. That was the first season cliffhanger in star trek history after all. no one saw it coming. The great thing about watching these shows live.
HOW can you NOT include DS9 In the Pale Moon Light "Computer, erase that entire personal log."???????? That is a far better line than the TNG finale...
Not even close. That line for the ending of a series and all the encompasses it. The Pale Moon Light line basically told everyone the kind of person Sisko is and when compared to Picard, virtually everything Sisko did was a slap in the face of the uniform he wore while Picard did all that he could to work with the rules and achieve what could be the best of the situation. Picard accepted responsibility while Sisko said to hell with being responsible.
I love that Riker's "Fire" line was echoed in Star Trek Generations when firing on Lursa and B'ator's bird of prey. It has even more gravitas, and both moments are perfection.
I'm old enough to have seen BoBW on TV when it was shown. After waiting a summer and seeing what happens, I called my friend during the intro music and as soon as I heard his voice said "IT DIDN"T WOOORK!!"
I’d agree, except for me the greatest final had no words spoken. Picard at the end of “The Inner Light” is my favorite ending. So poignant that it almost led to tears.
I also shed tears, but only on the second viewing. The first time, I was overwhelmed by eerieness, it was as if Picard was visited by ghosts. The second time, it actually sunk in that he was mourning the family and life he'd never had.
Sometimes you have to cross the line to get a victory. Garek knew destroying the Romulan ship with the flimsy recording on a computer chip would bring the Romulans onto the side of The Federation.
What about, “Mr. Kim, we’re Star Fleet officers. Weird is part of the job!” Voyager Season 2 episode Deadlock. It marked the death of the original Kim and his duplicate joining the crew (a fact that was oddly never mentioned again).
Good one. Apparently, the fact that Harry Kim (and Naomi Wildman!) were out of synch with the rest of reality did come up again in a followup novel. An alien brainwashes the entire crew into thinking she's one of them to infiltrate, but Harry and Naomi are the only ones who don't fall for it, because they're brains are slightly out of synch, so the brainwashing doesn't work on them.
I like to think that although unbelievably improbable, he was picked up by the species that reanimates dead people and transforms them into their own species. And maybe he was reunited with his dead girlfriend they had transformed as well.
@@MLBlue30 I always thought that particular episode would have been so much more interesting if the Cobali trying to return to Voyager was the original Kim and then the duplicate and the original had to interact and there could have been a crisis of identity as to who was actually the real Kim. It would have been so interesting and so Star Trek - but I guess a dead girlfriend no one had heard of before is what they decided to go with. Oh, well!
Picard: Space, the final frontier. These are the voyages for the starship enterprise and her continuing mission… Kirk: To explore strange new worlds, to seek out new life and new civilisations… Archer: To boldly go where no man has gone before I mean I know “These are the voyages” sucks but the fact that the monologue was the final line was fantastic
"And in the end... I really did see five lights" (Chain of Command Pt 2). An admission that even the Captain of the Enterprise isn't unbreakable, even if the mission had succeeded.
I like knowing that Roddenberry ended up saying The Trouble With Tribbles was one of his favorites, it's like until then he'd been so caught up in using the show to deliver a serious message that he almost didn't realize how important it is to demonstrably practice what you preach. I think within his "vision of the future" he would've always said there should be room for people to not take themselves too seriously, so it helps that the show itself doesn't have to either.
one of my favourite episodes of all time is "The Thaw" when Janeway deals with "Fear" got to be the most epic way to end an episode with just two words "I know"
Ellison's original script was an absolutely fabulous script... for a Twilight Zone episode, or Outer Limits. D.C. Fontana rewrote it into a coherent Star Trek script.
I don’t remember if it was the exact final line, but in Basics, part 1, when Culluh says, “A fitting end to a people who would not share their technology. Let’s see how you will survive without it.”
I remember Best of both worlds, the wait for part 2 seemed like an eternity I remember working near home at the time and running home on my dinner break to watch it....ah those were the days....thanking technology has moved on since. Happy Christmas to you.
If you guys ever do a part 2 might I recommend the end of the Voyager episode the thaw. I love when the fear entity says he's afraid and Janeway's responses is literally *I know* still gives me chills.
I definitely think #1 is well deserved, and possibly the best cliffhanger ever put on television... i'm a little disappointed you didn't mention the truly epic music hit that follows it tho, it really puts the emphasis on the intensity of the line!
From the season 6 finale of Voyager when the Doctor says, "Their life signs are destabilizing." and Chakotay utters this brilliant line "So far so good. You can take us out of here now Tom." Meaning he knew what the plan was and with Janeway, Tuvok, and Torres getting assimilated was all part of the plan from the start.
Number 1 should have been the Voyager episode where the crew found those people in statis being terrorized by the clown. At the end the clown says, I'm scared and Janeway says, I know, then it fades to black. Love it
scotty saying he transported all the tribbles to the klingon ship " where they'll be no tribble at all" is one of my favorite TOS lines. but we cannot really look past the issue that the Klingons are going to kill the tribbles...
(Along the same existential vein) Trek has always been one of my great joy's, and recently has become somewhat of a mental safety net for me in recent months. By extension, I find myself excited for new TrekCulture videos everyday. Cheers.
"Hailing frequencies closed" ? ! ? ! ? Was that not the final line in "Skin Of Evil" ? Am I in some Mandela Effect parallel reality here or what?? That was a BRUTAL line because it really let you know this was it. I just remember that, the credits rolling and really wanting to not cry. Watching the TNG episodes as an adult who has seen some shit, many of them are profoundly touching and emotionally moving. I never really understood how powerful "Darmok" was, how honorable Captain Dathan was. It even breaks me up thinking about it.
DATA: Sir, the purpose of this gathering confuses me. PICARD: Oh? How so? DATA: My thoughts are not for Tasha, but for myself. I keep thinking how empty it will feel without her presence. Did I miss the point? PICARD: No, you didn't, Data. You got it.
Great list. Enterprise had its flaws, but Regeneration was a wonderful episode that helped give the Borg their teeth back, in my opinion. And the last line was some good world-building.
Yes it was neat. But it was very flawed. That episode means that Picard just left the Borg in the past. The whole reason they had First Contact was to NOT have Borg in earth’s past. When FC was done Picard had nothing but time to “clean up “ earth before they went home. Remember they had to gather up all those escape pods… Remember that 1701-E was in no rush to get back. Leaving all that Borg stuff is just wrong. If they go with the movie and say that no wreckage was left…
If we expand to the last sentiment over the last actual line, The Thaw from Voyager will always be one of my favorites with the manifestation of fear itself saying "I'm afraid" and Janeway replying "I know"... of course then they have to go and ruin it with a random "Drat"...
@@paulonius42 my issue is that nowhere in the episode did he say anything remotely like "drat"... it just cheapens the sentiment of the moment being out of what was otherwise a superbly written character
@genlando327plays2 So what if he hadn't said it before? It's a perfectly good word with an appropriate meaning that fits the character and his general diction. Perfect for the character.
The Best of Both Worlds aired the spring before I moved out of the country as a teen and we moved to Latin America and had no cable TV, etc. it was almost a decade before I got to see the second part!
"captain picard is human. and humans turn up when you least expect them." the first time i saw that cliffhanger i was like what the #$%# why does tasha yar look like a romulan
