With some of the finest conclusions ever put to screen, here are the lines that made them.
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00:00Of course, not every final line has to be grandioso or pithy to be noteworthy.
00:05Sometimes a good line is just a good line, and on occasion, a final line is simply the
00:09best possible end to a bad situation for the characters, whether they have left us hanging
00:15off a cliff, deep in existential thought, feeling the feels, lost in retrospection,
00:20or laughing along and everything in between.
00:23So with that in mind, I'm Ellie with Trek Culture, here with the 10 best final lines
00:28in Star Trek Episodes.
00:3010.
00:31Computer, End Program Who here hasn't uttered the words, computer,
00:36end program, whilst deep in some ontological crisis about the nature of reality?
00:41No?
00:42Well, that's the whimsical little existential query that Lieutenant Barclay makes manifest
00:47at the very end of the Next Generation episode, Ship in a Bottle.
00:50He, Picard and Data have escaped Professor Moriarty's clutches with some clever holographic
00:55mise en abyme, and the latter, accompanied by the Countess Bartholomew, is then set to
00:59live out the rest of his days inside a yellow cube of active memory, in theory none the
01:04wiser as to the true nature of the world around him.
01:07Picard further speculates that we all might be living a simulation in a device sitting
01:12on someone's table, and it's this that leads Barclay to speak the titular line that
01:16concludes the episode.
01:17Barclay was first included in this episode because it was felt that there needed to be
01:21a character who was unaware of holographic Moriarty's creation, but when it became
01:26unnecessary to the story, it was nonetheless decided that Barclay was the best character
01:32to deliver the final line.
01:34It also looks like Moriarty, presumably looking for an expansion pack, is set to return in
01:39Season 3 of Star Trek Picard, to be played by the same actor Daniel Davis, making that
01:44final line ever more prescient.
01:48Sounds to me like we've only postponed the invasion until what, the 24th century?
01:53With a note of dramatic irony, the last line of the Enterprise episode Regeneration wraps
01:59up the events of First Contact and anticipates the arrival of the Borg in the next generation.
02:04In the episode, a team of scientists find the wreckage of a ship that crashed in the
02:08Arctic a hundred years prior.
02:10With it, they also discover certain cybernetic creatures all too familiar to the audience,
02:16but unknown to the unwitting researchers.
02:18The moment they bring the alien corpses back to the lab is enough to have any fan screaming
02:23at the television, NO GET THEM OUT OF THERE, in anticipation of the move the Borg are going
02:28to pull.
02:29Further observations from the scientists such as, I think this ship was a perfect sphere,
02:33only adds to the dramatic tension that results from the viewer being in the position of familiarity.
02:39It is ultimately this disconnect of information that is key to the success of the episode,
02:44and what makes its final line so effective.
02:46It re-establishes the Borg in a position of dominance and real threat.
02:50The viewer is then allowed to be afraid again on behalf of the less well-informed characters.
02:55Wibbly wobbly borgy worgy, you might say, but this episode certainly attracted its fair
03:01share of ire for supposedly mucking around with the continuity.
03:05However, this line is actually an attempt to explain why the Borg are on our side of
03:12the galaxy when they're first mentioned in the Next Generation episode The Neutral
03:16Zone.
03:17So, parsimony, not paradox.
03:19And really, the Enterprise E crew should have done a better clean up job.
03:228.
03:2360,000 light years seems a little closer today
03:27When the Doctor is transferred back to Voyager from the Alpha Quadrant in Message in a Bottle,
03:31he returns with news that Starfleet now knows the crew is alive and will do everything to
03:36get them home.
03:37Captain Janeway gives this line in reply, and we are all a little moved as a result.
03:43In its conclusion of the episode, the line is a major turning point for the series as
03:47the tone shifts towards contact with and the eventuality of returning to Earth.
03:51Apparently, this scene was intended to take place in the mess hall with the entire crew
03:56for, according to Robert Picardo, a big emotional moment with all these extras, but they decided
04:03that this was too much like the Waltons and so they scaled back their plans and the scene
04:07took place in sickbay with Janeway, Tuvok, Chakotay and the Doctor.
04:127.
04:13Set a course for home
04:16Set a course for home, spoken by Captain Janeway, ends the Star Trek Voyager pilot caretaker
04:21that begins the series, and it equally concludes the series finale endgame just before Voyager
04:27is seen sailing towards Earth.
04:29This is a decidedly elegant way to bookend the series, using the five words that summarise
04:36the crew's overarching mission.
04:38Endgame might have had a very different ending, however.
04:41As producer Rick Berman has discussed, when the story for the final episode was being
04:45outlined, many directions were considered for Voyager's ultimate fate, including one
04:50that would have seen the crew remain in the Delta Quadrant.
04:53According to Berman, they held on to this idea for at least a month and had intended
04:57to make the point that the meaning of all this was the journey.
05:01In the actual episode, this is echoed in Harry Kim's impassioned speech as he realises that
05:06the destination is of less importance than the people he shares it with.
05:10Either way, the line may well have remained the same.
05:13It does seem fitting for both situations, however, it probably wouldn't have had such
05:18an emotional impact if Voyager hadn't have made it home.
05:216.
05:22Where there'll be no Tribble at all
05:24At the end of the second season episode of the original series, The Trouble with Tribbles,
05:29Kirk is wondering how the crew have rid the Enterprise of certain squeaky little populators.
05:34No one seems to want to answer until Scotty finally admits that he beamed them all to
05:38the engine room of the departing Klingon vessel, adding the now iconic line, where there'll
05:43be no Tribble at all.
05:45The bridge bursts into fits of laughter, and you'd be a cold-hearted viewer if you didn't
05:49at least crack a smile.
05:50This episode is regularly voted as one of Star Trek's all-time bests, and as the final
05:55line would indicate, it particularly stands out for its deliberate comedic style.
06:01It did divide the original series' producers and writers, however, many of whom, including
06:06Gene Roddenberry, weren't overly keen on the less-than-serious subject matter.
06:11Disagreements about the show's tone between Roddenberry and the then more comedy-orientated
06:17series producer Gene Kuhn are cited to be one of the reasons for the latter's departure
06:23from the show midway through the second season.
06:26After all these years, the episode and its memorable final line continue to show that
06:31Star Trek does well when it's having a little fun.
06:34Each of the subsequent series, and even the darker Discovery and Picard, have had their
06:38fair share of comedy.
06:40Gene Roddenberry also later chose the trouble with Tribbles as one of his favourite episodes.
06:455.
06:46Let's get the hell out of here
06:49The last line of The City on the Edge of Forever goes to Captain Kirk.
06:53He has been forced to allow and to witness the death of Edith Keeler so as to prevent
06:57catastrophic changes in the timeline.
06:59The line encapsulates both Kirk's sadness and his frustration.
07:03Now considered one of the greats, the episode's script, final line and production faced more
07:08problems than McCoy hopped up on Caudrazine.
07:11The pitch and original script were the work of noted science fiction writer Harlan Ellison,
07:17but contained some very un-Star Trek ideas, including drug dealing and murder between
07:22the Enterprise crew, arguments, Spock calling humanity barbaric, Kirk suggesting that Spock
07:28should be lynched, execution by firing squad, and it would have cost a small fortune to
07:33film.
07:34The script was sent for multiple rewrites by various parties and lasted for months,
07:40and resulted in years of animosity between Ellison and Gene Roddenberry.
07:44In the end, it was also the most costly episode of the first season.
07:48In Ellison's first script, Kirk hesitates and does not prevent Keeler's rescue.
07:53It is Spock who intervenes at the last moment.
07:56The episode's final line was also initially problematic for broadcaster NBC on account
08:00of its infernal obscenity.
08:02After some persuasion from Roddenberry and William Shatner, the line and its offending
08:06term were permitted, becoming one of the first uses of the word hell as such on American
08:12television.
08:134.
08:14Just give it some thought Captain Janeway's deliciously sardonic F.U.
08:19to the now-not-so-cocksure Kuros of the Think Tank comes in the Voyager episode Think Tank.
08:25Kuros appears on the bridge in isomorphic form to make one last desperate plea to Seven
08:30of Nine to join his crew, but Janeway reminds him that a good guest knows when he's outstayed
08:35his welcome.
08:36Clearly in trouble, his holographic form falters, and Janeway delivers her final blow.
08:40Voyager then warps away as the Hazari vessels continue their triumphant attack.
08:45They have all outthought the Think Tank.
08:47This line is a brilliant conclusion to an excellent episode full of twists and turns,
08:51strong characters, and underscored with enjoyable camp comedy.
08:56Kate Mulgrew as Janeway plays against Jason Alexander of Seinfeld fame, who gives a brilliant
09:01performance as the conniving Kuros.
09:04Mulgrew delivers the line with a brilliant touch of rising intonation and a wry smile.
09:10Jason Alexander is also an unabashed mega-fan of Star Trek, and has stated that part of
09:15the reason he became an actor was because of watching William Shatner as James Tiberius
09:20Kirk.
09:21He had always wanted to appear on the show, but as an alien, not a human.
09:25When just that opportunity arose for the episode of Voyager, he even brought his children to
09:30set to see him, adding that he was thrilled with the episode.
09:343.
09:35Well, I guess we're about to find out.
09:38This line forms the dramatic conclusion to the Season 6 Deep Space Nine episode, Favor
09:42the Bold.
09:43As Sisko prepares to retake the station from the Dominion, he first quotes an old saying,
09:48Fortune favors the bold, wondering whether his gamble will pay off.
09:53In any case, with the Cardassians and the Dominion preparing to take down the minefield
09:57at the entrance to the wormhole, they have little choice but to go then and there.
10:01The audience is left with a to-be-continued and one of the greatest Star Trek cliffhangers
10:06of all time.
10:08This two-parter forms the end of an epic six-episode story arc, a rare if not unique form of storytelling
10:15for Star Trek at the time, that sees the beginning of the Dominion War and the occupation of
10:21the station.
10:22It turns out that we very nearly didn't have this line, however.
10:25The writers had intended for this story arc, which continued the events of the Season 5
10:31finale, would be completed in four episodes.
10:35Realizing they needed more room for the plot, this was increased to five, with Favor of
10:39the Bold as the last episode, and then eventually to six with Sacrifice of Angels.
10:43And we're glad they did, because even the colloquial tone of Sisko's, well, I guess
10:49we're about to find out, it just adds to the tension and deftly anticipates the monumental
10:56space battle that would take place in the following episode.
10:59Number 2
11:00So, five card stud, nothing wild, and the sky's the limit.
11:05How do you end seven seasons of a much-beloved television show in style?
11:10With Picard finally joining the poker game and dealing the cards, of course.
11:13All good things must come to an end, until about a week and a half later when you start
11:17work on the movie.
11:18The series finale of The Next Generation is as near-to-perfect as you can dare to get.
11:23Its clever premise is an epic romp across time that allows for as much nostalgia as
11:27the old-age makeup it requires.
11:29The final scene and line are unparalleled in both their effective simplicity and emotive
11:35clout.
11:36Picard has spent the best part of the episode travelling back and forth through time, and
11:39with a little help from everyone's favourite letter of the alphabet, trying to prevent
11:42the destruction of humanity, and most of the galaxy, by a powerful anomaly.
11:47Before saving the day, although technically he started it, he is subject to the destruction
11:51of three enterprises.
11:53When Picard returns to the present, it is little wonder, therefore, that all he wants
11:57to do is kick back a little with his senior officers, all of whom are clearly now also
12:01his friends.
12:03I should have done this a long time ago, he laments, and Troi reminds him that he was
12:07always welcome.
12:08Apparently, the fact that Picard never joined a game of poker across the seven seasons was
12:13not a deliberate move on the part of the writers.
12:17They simply just never found the time to include him in one of those scenes until the finale.
12:221.
12:23Mr. Worf, Fire
12:26These are the decisive final words of what is one of the greatest episodes of Star Trek,
12:31The Best of Both Worlds, Part 1.
12:33The line itself may be rather laconic, but it certainly does the job.
12:37It is made memorable, of course, by what comes immediately before it.
12:41I am Locutus of Borg.
12:43Resistance is futile.
12:45Your life as it has been is over.
12:47Picard has been assimilated and Riker gives the order to fire the deflector weapon.
12:51Nowadays, the next episode will play as automatically as a Borg's resonance signal, but at the time,
12:58people had to wait a whole summer to find out the conclusion of Riker's fateful words.
13:03Shockingly, actually, in retrospect, at the time, Patrick Stewart was going through contract
13:10negotiations and so there was actual doubt as to whether he would be returning.
13:15And so the ambiguity of that line is even more deliberate with the writers holding on
13:21to the possibility of killing off Picard.
13:24And that in itself caused a considerable amount of buzz amongst fans at the time.
13:29Furthermore, this was only the second two-part episode in Star Trek history, the first having
13:33been the Menagerie I and II.
13:35It was also the first end-of-season cliffhanger for the franchise, and in this, the next generation
13:40really began to thrive on its own merits.
13:43Those final three words solidified the next generation's place in the Star Trek canon.
13:48It was now firmly carrying the torch.
13:51And that concludes our list.
13:52If you have another example, then do let us know in the comments below.
13:56And while you're there, don't forget to hit that like button and the notification bell
13:59as well.
14:00Don't forget to also head over to Twitter and follow us there, and Instagram as well.
14:05And I can be found across various social medias just by searching Ellie Littlechild.
14:10I've been Ellie with Trek Culture.
14:11I hope you have a wonderful day, and remember to boldly go where no one has gone before.