Sturgeon’s Law says that “ninety percent of everything is crap.” With 940 episodes of Star Trek so far, assuming 90% are crap, the top 10% would be 94 episodes—but let’s round that up to an even 100. Here are the top 100 highest rated episodes from IMDB, from the nearly one thousand episodes across 49 series of television and the 14 movies (though none of the movies made the list).

SeriesEpisodeRating
EnterpriseCarbon Creek8.5
EnterpriseRegeneration8.5
EnterpriseTwilight8.6
EnterpriseCountdown8.5
EnterpriseZero Hour8.5
EnterpriseBabel One8.4
EnterpriseUnited8.4
Strange New WorldsMemento Mori8.4
Strange New WorldsA Quality of Mercy9.1
Strange New WorldsAd Astra Per Aspera8.5
Strange New WorldsThose Old Scientists8.9
The Original Series“Balance of Terror”8.8
The Original Series“Space Seed”8.8
The Original Series“The City on the Edge of Forever”9.2
The Original Series“Amok Time”8.6
The Original Series“The Doomsday Machine”8.7
The Original Series“Mirror, Mirror”9
The Original Series“The Trouble with Tribbles”8.8
The Original Series“Journey to Babel”8.5
The Original Series“The Enterprise Incident”8.4
The Next GenerationThe Measure of a Man9.1
The Next GenerationQ Who8.9
The Next GenerationThe Defector8.4
The Next GenerationDeja Q8.5
The Next GenerationYesterday’s Enterprise9.2
The Next GenerationThe Offspring8.5
The Next GenerationThe Best of Both Worlds: Part 19.3
The Next GenerationThe Best of Both Worlds: Part 29.2
The Next GenerationThe Drumhead8.4
The Next GenerationDarmok8.7
The Next GenerationCause and Effect8.9
The Next GenerationI Borg8.8
The Next GenerationThe Inner Light9.4
The Next GenerationRelics8.5
The Next GenerationChain of Command, Part I8.3
The Next GenerationChain of Command, Part II8.9
The Next GenerationShip in a Bottle8.5
The Next GenerationTapestry8.8
Deep Space NineDuet9
The Next GenerationTimescape8.5
The Next GenerationParallels8.8
The Next GenerationThe Pegasus8.5
The Next GenerationLower Decks8.7
The Next GenerationAll Good Things…9.1
Deep Space NineImprobable Cause8.5
Deep Space NineThe Die Is Cast8.9
Deep Space NineThe Way of the Warrior9
Deep Space NineThe Visitor9.1
Deep Space NineLittle Green Men8.4
Deep Space NineTrials and Tribble-ations9.3
Deep Space NineIn Purgatory’s Shadow8.7
Deep Space NineBy Inferno’s Light8.8
VoyagerDistant Origin8.5
Deep Space NineCall to Arms9
VoyagerScorpion8.9
VoyagerScorpion, Part II8.8
Deep Space NineA Time to Stand8.5
Deep Space NineRocks and Shoals8.5
Deep Space NineFavor the Bold8.5
Deep Space NineSacrifice of Angels9
VoyagerYear of Hell8.7
VoyagerYear of Hell, Part II8.6
VoyagerMessage in a Bottle8.7
Deep Space NineFar Beyond the Stars8.9
Deep Space NineIn the Pale Moonlight9.4
VoyagerDrone8.6
VoyagerTimeless8.7
Deep Space NineThe Siege of AR-5588.6
VoyagerDark Frontier8.5
Deep Space NineTacking into the Wind8.7
Deep Space NineWhat You Leave Behind8.9
VoyagerRelativity8.5
VoyagerTinker Tenor Doctor Spy8.5
VoyagerBlink of an Eye9
VoyagerEndgame8.6
VoyagerLiving Witness8.7
Lower DecksNo Small Parts8.6
Lower DecksWej Duj8.7
Lower DecksFirst First Contact8.6
Lower DecksHear All, Trust Nothing8.6
Lower DecksThe Stars at Night8.5
Lower DecksOld Friends, New Planets8.6
Lower DecksFissure Quest9
Lower DecksThe New Next Generation9
ProdigySupernova, Part 18.7
ProdigySupernova, Part 28.7
ProdigyThe Devourer of All Things: Part 18.6
ProdigyThe Devourer of All Things: Part 28.7
ProdigyAscension: Part 18.4
ProdigyAscension: Part 28.6
ProdigyOuroboros: Part 18.7
ProdigyOuroboros: Part 28.9
PicardThe Next Generation8.4
PicardSeventeen Seconds8.5
PicardNo Win Scenario9
PicardImposters8.9
PicardThe Bounty8.9
PicardSurrender8.6
PicardVõx9.3
PicardThe Last Generation9.4

All but two of the episodes of the third season of Picard make the Top 100, so you might as well just watch that entire season.

The following series didn’t have any episodes rated 8.4 or higher: The Animated Series, Discovery, and Short Treks.

If I would have included all episodes rated 8.4 or higher, there would have been 113 episodes; as a tie breaker, I looked at the number of ratings. Some exceptions: I included two part-one episodes with lower ratings because the part-twos were in the list, TNG’s “Chain of Command, Part 1” (even though it was rated 8.3) and Prodigy’s “Ascension: Part 1” (8.4 but not many ratings).

As for Sturgeon’s Law’s namesake, Theodore Sturgeon, he wrote two Star Trek episodes, “Shore Leave” and “Amok Time,” which made the list. So only 50% of his Star Trek episodes are crap, apparently!