Deciphering the logic behind Star Trek most rewatched episodes on Netflix

Renown streaming service Netflix officially opened access to Malaysia subscribers in January last year, offering STAR TREK content from the entire franchise comprising six television series and twelve movies; the 13th movie Star Trek Beyond has yet to join the Netflix roster. Excluding the movies, the 1970's Animated Series and Trek-related documentaries, that's a massive database of 695 episodes produced in half a century logging in over 536 hours of airtime.

Star Trek first aired on 8 September 1966, creating sci-fi icons Mr. Spock (left) and Captain Kirk.

In conjunction with the 51st Anniversary of Star Trek and pending launch of the next series, Discovery, Netflix has revealed some interesting statistics on viewership of the venerable sci-fi franchise from among its 104 million subscribers across 190 countries. Firstly, 12,000 fans have watched every episode of Star Trek on Netflix. We presume these are true fans, or Trekkies, to have dedicated the equivalent of 22 days to this endeavour. Yes, Outpost and our resident Vulcan Mr. Smock salutes you hardcore Trekkies. LLAP.

Source: Netflix

Secondly, Netflix revealed the ten most rewatched episodes of the saga, and the selection certainly raises Vulcan eyebrows from the fandom. Among Trekkies, our gut feel (as unVulcan-like as it sounds) of favourite episodes would lean towards some of these titles:

• The Original Series (TOS): The City on the Edge of Forever, Balance of Terror, Mirror Miror, Space Seed.
• The Next Generation (TNG): All Good Things, The Inner Light, Yesterday's Enterprise or Best of Both Worlds.
• Deep Space Nine (DS9): Sacrifice of Angels, What You Leave Behind, Trials and Tribbleations, The Visitor.
• Voyager: Scorpion, Timeless, Message in a Bottle, Endgame; this series tends to have short titles!
• Enterprise: Similitude, Carbon Creek, In a Mirror Darkly, Twilight; some of the multi-episode arcs of Season 4 were also fascinating

Netflix's methodology omits the pilot episodes of each series, possibly since most viewers would logically watch the pilot first to sample the series before committing to its run.  So if pilot episodes were allowed as candidates, the top ten list may indeed comprise each pilot from the five series. "Rewatched" is defined as a subscriber returning to watch at least 6 minutes of a previously completed episode. Logical? Enough so.

Well the actual results did reflect some of the above picks but also contained some surprises:

Source: Netflix

To be fair, if each series were to be reflected equally in a top 10 list, that would only allow 2 episodes to be nominated from each series. TNG is no doubt a common fan favourite, hence having Best of Both Worlds and Q Who is no surprise as the most watched episodes. What does seem surprising among Trek fandom is the overwhelming popularity of Voyager taking 6 out of 10 slots in this list, and totally leaving TOS and DS9 in the dust! No Enterprise, no tears that's fine since it's often touted as the weakest series.

You must watch these: Resistance is Futile
Source: Netflix

A closer look at the selections point towards rewatching Borg-centric episodes from both TNG and Voyager: Q Who, Best of Both Worlds, Scorpion, Dark Frontier and Endgame (ranked no. 1). These episodes making up 70% of the list clearly shows continued fascination with the Delta Quadrant's most dangerous cybernetic species. Perhaps fans were selectively screening Borg episode marathons. Here's a Borg documentary which fans surely don't mind rewatching:

This is part 1 of 2 (pun intended).

One of the non-Borg episodes from Voyager The Gift is easily remembered when Kes departs the series immediately after the events of Scorpion allowing for recruitment of sexy Borg 7 of 9 as part of the main cast. The other two episodes comprise Time and Again from Voyager Season 1, and Clues from TNG Season 4. Er, what? Need a mindmeld to jog your memory? Maybe these 2 episode trailers could help:

Whilst the TNG episode trailer for Clues seems intriguing, the choice of Time and Again from Voyager's opening season defies logic when compared against so many better episodes from the saga. Perhaps if the 2-part episodes were merged to allow 2 more slots in this top ten, there would be some entries from other series and the better known episodes among the fan community.

On a global scale, Netflix reflects that TNG and TOS have bigger audiences, but Voyager and DS9 have more rewatches of favourite episodes. And despite well-known mixed emotions fans have towards the 7-year run of Voyager, many still return to rewatch the series.

Here's what American Trekkies had to say to Netflix on their favourite captain and episodes.

Now Netflix's data on the most rewatched episodes for subscribers in Malaysia are indeed more curious:

Source: Netflix

Voyager dominates unanimously on the top ten list ousting even TNG. Similarly with the global top ten, popular Borg episodes Endgame and Scorpion make the list together with The Gift and Time & Again (still why?). A selection of other Season 1 episodes come into play from Phage introducing the organ-stealing Vidiians, The Cloud and Eye of the Needle. Here's a more thoughtful hypothesis on why by our Mr. Smock: "Together with Time and Again, this cluster of the four first season Voyager episodes listed in sequence are simply reflecting a number of local Netflix viewers rewatching the series from start."

Here's revisiting the Voyager with the cast Kate Mulgrew, Garrett Wang, and Robert Picardo.

Indeed the devotion of Malaysian Trekkies to Voyager may be uncharacteristically high due to airing of the series on Hallmark channel on pay-TV broadcaster Astro during the previous decade. Hallmark aired every episode every day consistently plus reruns for an extended period thereby allowing many Malaysians to be exposed to Star Trek through Voyager. In contrast, TNG was broadcast weekly on public TV during the 1980's into the 1990's, whilst Enterprise may have only been available through one of Astro's subscription channels in the early Y2K era. Deep Space Nine was only broadcast for the first couple of seasons before the host channel went off air, hence never completing the series run in Malaysia.

Crew of the Voyager can toast towards being the most popular Star Trek on Netflix in Malaysia.

For Malaysian Voyager fans out here, Mr. Smock highly recommends sampling some of the other Star Trek series on Netflix, starting with the episodes mentioned near the start of this post. Kindly note later seasons of both DS9 and Enterprise became highly serialised, hence it may be more difficult to jump into these series which may form part of a wider story arc. For more standalone episodes, select from TOS and TNG.

Of course, Trekkies across the world are standing by for the next live-action series Star Trek Discovery releasing in under 2 weeks on Netflix come 25 September 2017. Discovery takes place in the Prime timeline  10 years prior to TOS. The series lead actress is Sonequa Martin-Green (The Walking Dead) as Michael Burnham, First Officer of the USS Shenzhou. Michael Burnham has been revealed as Spock's half-sister through adoption by his Vulcan father Sarek, played by James Frain. Captain of the USS Shenzou is Malaysia's own Tan Sri Michelle Yeoh, in the role of Captain Philippa Georgiou. The USS Discovery itself is captained by Gabriel Lorca, played by Jason Isaacs (Harry Potter). Much of the series appears centred around conflict with the Klingons. Let's start the countdown to Discovery!

Star Trek Discovery lead Sonequa Martin-Green as Michael Burnham (centre) and Tan Sri Michelle Yeoh as Captain Phillippa Georgiou (seated right).

Stay tuned for our special feature on Star Trek Discovery coming soon after premiere of this new series on 25 September 2017.

OUTPOST GIVEAWAY

Thanks for the nice PR folks at Netflix who actually noticed this piece, we have some GOODIES to GIVEAWAY! Specially for 1 lucky Malaysia Trekkie, we will giving away a Netflix tote bag loaded with a notebook, lanyard, pen and 3-month subscription to Netflix.

Win this Netflix tote bag and goodies

Plus 2 consolation winners will also receive a Netflix Gift Card for 3-month subscription. Perfect for binge watching over 700 episodes of Star Trek which can be completed within 22 days of the 90-day subscription, provided no sleeping involved!

Win this complimentary subscription to Netflix and binge watch every single episode of Star Trek.

To stand a chance to win this Outpost Giveaway, just follow these few simple steps:

1. Like  / Wow / Love this Facebook post.
2. Share the Facebook post to your timeline (set privacy to public).
3. Post under Comments in the Facebook post title of your favourite Star Trek episode from those mentioned in this blog post with your reasons for selection.
4. Include in your comment hashtags #StarTrek #Netflix #TopTen #OutpostGiveaway.
5. Join local Trekkies on Facebook Group Starbase MY - Star Trek Fans Malaysia
6. Like our Facebook Page Outpost Productions

This contest will be closing on Tuesday 26 September 2017, 11.59pm. Notification of winners will be via Outpost Productions Facebook Page with instructions for prize redemption. So make sure to follow us and stay tuned!

Other Terms & Conditions:

a. Participants must be resident in Malaysia.

b. Giveaways comprise 1 tote bag with Netflix gift card (main prize), and 2 Netflix gift cards (consolation) for total 3 winners.

c. Winner of tote bag must be able to arrange self-collection of prize within 2 weeks of notification. Collection point will be in Klang Valley.

d. Only 1 entry per person.

e. Submission to Join the Facebook Group Starbase MY - Star Trek Fans Malaysia must be received before closing deadline.

f. Selection of winners are final

g. We reserve the right to amend these terms and conditions without prior notice.

LIVE LONG AND PROSPER

Follow Mr. Smock's cultural assimilation via Outpost social media channels.

Stay tuned to Outpost Productions on the following channels for our geeky news and intel plus Trekkie meetups in Malaysia:

• Facebook / Twitter / Instagram: OutpostMY
• YouTube: MyscififanOutpost

Disclaimer: Star Trek and other trademarks are copyright to CBS and/or Paramount, referenced here for fan service announcements without intent to infringe.

Survey Mission to Star Trek: The Exhibition, Malaysia

Trekkies, Trekkers and all forms of Star Trek fans in Malaysia are up for an exceptional sci-fi experience at Star Trek: The Exhibition which has just transported over to Pusat Sains Negara (PSN) in Bukit Kiara, Kuala Lumpur. This official exhibition showcases a wide assortment of props, costumes, models and even replica sets from the entire Star Trek franchise covering 5 television series and 11 movies. And miraculously brought all the way from North America to Malaysia from now until March 2013! Fans of our immediate neighbours in Singapore, Indonesia & Thailand can also arrange their away missions coming to PSN so as not to miss such a rare opportunity in this region of the world.

What to expect at Star Trek: The Exhibition? A survey mission was conducted on Stardate 16/12/2012 by our Away Team comprising Outpost Commander, Mr. Engineer, Lucas and a pilot of some Alliance from a galaxy far, far away. This scouting party visited on the soft opening weekend of the exhibition, coincidentally in conjunction with "Festival Sains 2012" whereby PSN was invaded by hordes of kids during this school holidays period. Fortunately this also provided free entry into PSN, otherwise there would be an entry fee of RM5-6 per adult.

 

Check at the official PSN website for directions as well as opening hours and admission fees. As PSN closes at 5pm daily, Trekkies who want more time may wish to arrive earlier as our survey mission's 2+ hours was not quite sufficient to totally geek-out and read descriptions on every display. Star Trek perhaps suitable housed here as a sci-fi franchise that has inspired scientific inventions and creative thinking, e.g. Federation PADDs kinda looking like current iPads, right?

Star Trek: The Exhibition is located on the upper level of PSN. Just warp through the aquarium tunnel into the central atrium then make your way up the spiral ramp and follow wall signboards or floor stickers to the exhibit entrance. Entry fee is RM20 per adult and RM10 for students and children below 17, suitably affordable for an iconic franchise experience compared to theme parks or equivalent exhibits overseas where MYR is at currency disadvantage. Unfortunately own photography is not allowed in the exhibition so this survey report is respectfully deprived of visual information. More exhibition guidelines can be found at the official website by EMS Exhibits.

SPOILERS: If you want to be surprised by the exhibition displays during your visit, do NOT read further!

Skip until "END SPOILER" below...

Upon payment, we received a small blue ticket stub with small print terms and conditions (no smoking, no photography, audio & video recording, etc.) and an exhibit "checkpoint" pass for photo-opportunity at 3 replica sets. The 1st set comprises only The Original Series (TOS) Captain's Chair of the Enterprise. We were given opportunity to be photographed seated in the command chair whereby the TOS bridge background will be digitally added later. Surprisingly Captain Kirk's chair was more comfortable than it looks.

Exhibition photo holder; Outpost Commander on TOS Captain Chair (right).

The 1st section of the exhibit comprises background of Star Trek, showcasing posters of the movies plus screenplay from The Next Generation (TNG) episode "Sins of the Father". There is also concept art from the movies & series, of which particular interest was concept art from First Contact depicting various types of Borg drones: Labour, Transport, Maintenance, Tactical, Assimmilation, & Medical. And it seems the Federation is mainly menaced by maintenance drones!

The following section replicated a corridor from the Enterprise 1701-D adjacent to the Captain Picard's Ready Room adorned with props such as the Ressikan flute, Picard's dress uniform, Riker & Troi's wedding photo, a bottle of Chateau Picard, one of Data's paintings and a Hor Ga'hn.

The 3rd section comprises displays of starship models such as the Borg Sphere, shuttlecraft, Federation starships NCC-1701D Enterprise & NCC-2000 Excelsior (model from Voyager series), and alien starships of the Klingon Vor'cha cruiser and Cardassian Hideki class corvette. There are also uniforms of the Captains from the 5 television series plus 2 Klingon thrones (not for sitting) and Bird-of-Prey's navigation chair. And check out of the wall of chrome ships named Enterprise starting from an aircraft carrier, space shuttle, the NX-01 Enterprise prototype, and so forth until the NCC-1701E plus starships from Deep Space Nine and Voyager.

Take command of the Enterprise 1701-D!

The major highlight of the exhibition comes next: a set replica of the Enterprise 1701-D bridge! And everyone is invited to sit at the various stations, including Captain Picard's command seat, for a group photo opportunity taken by the exhibitor's fixed camera. Our away team of 5 almost complemented all bridge positions: captain, first officer, counsellor, ops, navigation and tactical (there is really no chair for Worf!). Our Mr. Engineer also had a major geek-fest at the rear bridge stations with "working" monitors, as well as the tactical station by pressing the torpedo firing buttons. We highly recommend the next Away Team to come suitably attired in full Federation uniform (except maybe Troi's "bunny" suit) to takeover the corresponding bridge command crew stations.

The Alien section follows with various head busts and video on make-up effects. There is also various props from TOS, such as the tricorder, and aliens, like Ferengi latinum.

After a short walk pass wall of mirrors into the next hall, there is a chronology of major events from the Star Trek saga, starting from the prequal series Enterprise until the last TNG movie "Nemesis". Then follows displays of weapon props like Starfleet phasers & PADDs, and alien weapons.

Costumers will appreciate the penultimate section of the exhibition, showcasing 42 assorted costumes from the saga. A quick but incomplete list of costumes include: Klingon & Romulan TNG uniforms, 7 of 9 jumpsuit, Ferengi clothing, Dabo girl skimpy outfit, EV suits from TNG, Reman soldier, Kai Opaka dress, General Chang's uniform, Garak's suit, Worf's uniform with bandolier, & 9 main cast uniforms from 2009's reboot.

Energise! Lenticular photo beams us away!

The final section provides the 3rd photo opportunity on the Enterprise 2009 reboot's transporter room. The exhibitor's photo options includes lenticular version whereby we can be seen to disappear from the transporter platform. Oh, there is also a large scale (11 ft?) model of the Enterprise 1701 refit to gawk at.

END SPOILER!

Rare merchandise finds: Medicom Bearbrick Kirk & Uhura,
Rubies Spock ears, and Type 1 Phaser from Galoob dating
back to 1988!

Every exhibition would not be complete without chance to take home some souveniors, so there is a merchandise retail area just before exit. Most are not official Star Trek: Exhibition merchandise though, by there are some very rare finds such as Diamond Select Toys Wrath of Khan Communicator and even a Galoob TNG Type 1 Phaser from 1988! Yes, we geeked out a few hundred MYR on these goodies, but perhaps the more essential souvenior of the 3 set photos taken on the TOS captain's chair, TNG bridge and transporter room, sold as a set for RM25 with exhibition folder / photo holder. The lenticular photos for the transporter effect or 3D starship background can be added on for RM15 each. These all seem worth the latinum price for Trek fans!

 

Other hard to find memorabilia include Diamond Select Toys
Wrath of Khan Communicator, priced at a real bargain on only RM50!

Another page in the photo holder with a Trek cold drink cup.

To celebrate the arrival of Star Trek: The Exhibition in Malaysia, Outpost Events is giving away a pair of official Star Trek 6in action figures from the 2009 movie reboot. Just submit your entries via Punchtab below by 31 December 2012 for a chance to win toy figures of Original Spock and Cadet Chekov worth over RM130. Kindly note the giveaway is contingent upon this Blog receiving 20 Followers and the OutpostMY Facebook Page getting 1050 likes. So join now and get your friends to support this giveaway!



Win these Star Trek prizes from our Holidays Giveaway!

More Trek coming our way in May 2013 with Star Trek Into Darkness, the sequel to 2009's reboot movie staring Chris Pine as Captain Kirk and Zachary Quinto as Spock. After the crew of the Enterprise frind an unstoppable force of terror from within their own organisation, Captain Kirk leads a manhunt to a war-zone world to capture a one man weapon of mass destruction. Here's the latest high-warp trailer to tease your Trek fandom!

Watch the latest extended teaser trailer on iTunes.

Live long and prosper!

Giveaway Terms & Conditions:

1. This online giveaway promo commences 18 December until 31 December 2013.

2. Giveaway becomes valid for award once 1050 Likes are achieve for the OutpostMY Facebook Page and 20 Followers join the Outpost Events Blog.

3. Participation is open to all residents in Malaysia ages 18 years and above. Outpost Events personnel are not eligible to particpate.

4. Winners will be randomly selected amongst qualified participants with correct answer to question.

5. Winner will notified within 7 days of promo closing for prize collection. If the winner does not response within 14 days of notification, the giveaway may be awarded to next qualified participant. Postage charges may be required if giveaway hamper cannot be personally collected.

6. Outpost Events as the organiser reserves the rights to change these terms and conditions without prior notice.

Thank you for participating.

Disclaimer: Star Trek and its trademarks are copyright to their respective owners, referenced here for fan service announcements without intent to infringe.