Summary

• Star Trek shows have excelled at using cliffhangers and dramatic moments to keep fans engaged.
• Cliffhangers have become a staple in Star Trek, with every series featuring them in some way.
• The best Star Trek cliffhangers leave viewers with lingering questions and set up exciting storylines to come.

Cliffhangers have long been a television staple that Star Trek has excelled at. While Star Trek: The Original Series may not have had many episodes that ended in cliffhangers, they often had dramatic moments that led into commercial breaks. Star Trek's first ever two-part episode, "The Menagerie," came during TOS' first season, and used footage from the show's original unaired pilot. Two-part episodes would become commonplace in later Star Trek shows, and the first part of these stories almost always ended in climactic cliffhangers.

After Star Trek: The Next Generation ended its third season with "The Best of Both Worlds, Part 1" in 1990, season-ending cliffhangers became a trope Star Trek has relied upon to keep fans coming back. Since then, every Star Trek series has featured cliffhangers in some way. Although many Star Trek shows follow a more episodic format, the Trek shows of the 1990s and 2000s often had two-part episodes interspersed throughout the standalone episodes. The newer Star Trek series tend to use a more serialized storytelling style, with many episodes ending in cliffhangers. Here are 10 of Star Trek's best cliffhangers, ranked from worst to best.

10 Star Trek: Picard - "Vox" (Season 3, Episode 9)

While the ending of Star Trek: Picard season 3's "Vox" may not be as dramatic as some cliffhangers, it serves as a perfect set-up for the finale that follows. After working with the Changelings, the Borg have infiltrated Starfleet and assimilated all of the officers under the age of 25. Jack Crusher (Ed Speleers), the son of iral Jean-Luc Picard (Patrick Stewart) and Dr. Beverly Crusher (Gates McFadden) was turned into Vox of Borg. Captain Liam Shaw (Todd Stashwick) has sacrificed himself to give Picard and his crew a fighting chance. The episode ends with most of the original TNG cast back on the bridge of the USS Enterprise-D, and the lingering question: how will they save the galaxy this time?

9 Star Trek: Enterprise - "The Expanse" (Season 2, Episode 26)

Star Trek: Enterprise season 2's finale, "The Expanse," begins with a devastating attack on Earth by a previously unknown foe. When Captain Jonathan Archer (Scott Bakula) and the Enterprise NX-01 set off for Earth, an informant from the future tells Archer that the attackers are known as the Xindi. The Xindi have been told that humans will destroy their species in 400 years, so they have attacked the Earth of the past to prevent their eventual destruction. Enterprise heads off to investigate the dangerous area of space called the Delphic Expanse from which the Xindi probe originated. The Xindi story arc would last for the entirety of Enterprise's third season, and "The Expanse" marked a turning point Star Trek: Enterprise embracing serialized storytelling.

8 Star Trek: Voyager - "Year of Hell, Part 1" (Season 4, Episode 8)

As Captain Janeway (Kate Mulgrew) and the USS Voyager enter a new region of space, they encounter an alien species known as the Krenim. At first, the Krenim ship is no match for Voyager's shields and weapons, but then a temporal disruption occurs that suddenly makes the Krenim much more powerful. Over the next two months, Voyager engages in several battles with the Krenim, and suffers major damage and heavy losses. In one attack, Vulcan Security Chief Lt. Tuvok (Tim Russ) is blinded and severely injured. Star Trek: Voyager "Year Of Hell, Part 1" ends with Commander Chakotay (Robert Beltran) and Lt. Tom Paris (Robert Duncan McNeill) as prisoners of the Krenim and everyone but the senior staff forced to abandon Voyager.

7 Star Trek: Discovery - "Such Sweet Sorrow, Part 2" (Season 2, Episode 14)

With the introduction of Captain Christopher Pike (Anson Mount), Lt. Spock (Ethan Peck), and Number One (Rebecca Romijn), Star Trek: Discovery season 2 proved to be a turning point. Discovery's season 2 finale, "Such Sweet Sorrow, Part 2," not only set up the crew who would become the stars of Star Trek: Strange New Worlds, but also completely changed the trajectory of Discovery. Commander ichael Burnham (Sonequa Martin-Green) becomes the Red Angel to set up the five signals that Discovery has been following, and she travels 900 years into the future to set a sixth signal for Discovery to follow and escape Control. The episode ends with Captain Pike and his crew observing the seventh signal that tells them that Burnham and the Discovery made it the future. 900 years in the future is much farther than any other Star Trek show has ever shown, so viewers had no idea what to expect when Discovery returned for season 3.

6 Star Trek: Deep Space Nine - "The Jem'Hadar" (Season 2, Episode 26)

Throughout Star Trek: Deep Space Nine's second season, there were whispers of a powerful force who occupied the Gamma Quadrant on the other side of the wormhole. "The Jem'Hadar" finally sees those rumors proven to be fact as Commander Benjamin Sisko (Avery Brooks) and DS9's crew get their first glimpse of the Dominion and its forces. The Dominion foot soldiers, known as the Jem'Hader, easily through the shields and forcefields deployed on Deep Space Nine. When the Federation starship U.S.S. Odyssey arrives to help, the Jem'Hader destroy it with a suicide run. By the end of the episode, Sisko and his crew realize that the Dominion may be a more formidable opponent than they once believed, and that their conflict with them has only just begun.

5 Star Trek: The Next Generation - “Redemption, Part I” (Season 4, Episode 26)

Star Trek: The Next Generation's "Redemption, Part 1" finds Captain Picard and his Klingon Security Chief Lt. Worf (Michael Dorn) caught up in complicated Klingon politics. Picard helps install Gowron (Robert O'Reilly) as the leader of the Klingon High Council, which threatens to cause a civil war among the Klingons. Lursa (Barbara March) and B'Etor (Gwynyth Walsh) of the house of Duras have begun assembling a fleet to challenge Gowron. The episode ends with the reveal of the Duras sisters' ally - a Romulan named Sela, who bears a striking resemblance to former Enterprise Security Officer Tasha Yar (Denise Crosby). While the next episode provides an explanation for this resemblance, it was certainly shocking to see Denise Crosby on TNG again.

4 Star Trek: Voyager - “Scorpion, Part I” (Season 3, Episode 26)

Before Seven of Nine (Jeri Ryan) became one of the main characters of Star Trek: Voyager, Captain Janeway made a controversial alliance with the Borg in the Delta Quadrant. As Janeway and the crew of the USS Voyager prepare to travel through Borg space, they encounter an alien species even more powerful than the Borg. Known only as Species 8472, these aliens attack Voyager, which prompts Janeway to make an alliance with the Borg. The episode ends with Janeway on the Borg Cube, as the Borg and Voyager narrowly escape being destroyed by Species 8472. Star Trek: Voyager season 3's "Scorpion" is significant not only because Janeway makes an alliance with one of the Federation's greatest enemies, but also because it leads to the introduction of Seven of Nine.

3 Star Trek: Deep Space Nine - "Call to Arms" (Season 5, Episode 26)

"Call to Arms" marks the beginning of one of the most significant story arcs in the Star Trek franchise - Star Trek: Deep Space Nine's Dominion War. Captain Sisko and his crew plant mines around the wormhole, effectively blocking any more Dominion forces from coming through. With Starfleet reinforcements unavailable, the Klingons help patrol the border while the USS Defiant deploys the mines. Soon after, the Dominion forces attack Deep Space Nine and Sisko orders the retreat of all Starfleet personnel. The episode ends with the Dominion occupying Deep Space Nine and Captain Sisko and the Defiant ing an armada of Starfleet and Klingon ships. It was hard to watch Sisko and the other Starfleet officers abandon the station that has become their home, not knowing how they were going to get it back.

2 Star Trek: Strange New Worlds - "Hegemony" (Season 2, Episode 10)

Star Trek: Strange New Worlds season 2 ended with a cliffhanger reminiscent of the ones that concluded most of TNG's seasons. At the end of "Hegemony," Captain Pike (Anson Mount), Captain Marie Batel (Melanie Scrofano), and Scotty (Martin Quinn) escape from Parnassus Beta only to realize that many of the remaining survivors have been taken hostage by the Gorn. Outgunned by the Gorn ship, the Enterprise receives orders from Starfleet to retreat, but Captain Pike never leaves his people behind. The episode ends with Pike facing this impossible decision, while the life of Captain Batel and the survivors captured by the Gorn hang in the balance.

1 Star Trek: The Next Generation - "The Best of Both Worlds, Part 1" (Season 3, Episode 26)

In the finale of Star Trek: The Next Generation season 3, Commander Will Riker (Jonathan Frakes) orders Worf (Michael Dorn) to fire on an attacking Borg cube, with Captain Picard aboard. While cliffhangers would become commonplace on TNG and subsequent Star Trek shows, "The Best of Both Worlds" marked the first time a Star Trek show ended on such a dramatic moment. Plus, rumors swirled at the time that Patrick Stewart might be departing the show, and fans had to wait nearly three months to find out whether Picard would survive. This finale established the Borg as the Federation's greatest enemy and began a storyline that would become important 30 years later in Star Trek: Picard season 3. "The Best of Both Worlds, Part 1" remains not only Star Trek's best cliffhanger, but one of the best cliffhangers in all of television.